“Oh, sweet, merciful, Lord,” Navie prayed, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to find divine intervention.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, that would explain his lack of a shirt.”

Navie let out an adorable growl. “You don’t talk! Cassidy, will you get some ice for these two idiots’ faces? Rowan and I need to have a little chat.”

“You got it, sweetie,” she replied as Navie grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward what I could only assume was her bedroom. Under different circumstances, I would have gotten hard from the walk to her room alone, but seeing as I was undoubtedly about to get my ass handed to me, I wasn’t feeling the excitement.

When she turned to face me after slamming the door, I was overwhelmed by my sudden and intense desire to touch her. Even with her face scrunched in anger and her hands planted on her hips in a don’t fuck with me pose, she was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. Maybe I needed to have my head examined, because at that very moment, with her standing there pissed to high hell and my face beginning to throb, I couldn’t remember ever wanting her more.

Yep.

I was crazy.

I was furious.

I was beyond furious.

Carson was already a pain in my ass when it came to who I dated. No one was ever good enough in his opinion. And having the guy I was currently seeing—the guy I was head over heels in love with, even though I wouldn’t admit it to him—sock my overprotective brother in the face upon meeting him most certainly didn’t scream stellar first impression.

“You want to tell me what that was all about?”

“You didn’t return my text,” he answered simply, like that was supposed to explain everything.

“What text?”

“The one I sent right after you told me you had company.”

Walking past him, I snatched my phone off my nightstand and scrolled through our message exchange. Sure enough, there it was.

“I was in the shower, Rowan. I didn’t see this. If I had, I would have responded.” I felt my level of frustration rising at the knowledge that he clearly didn’t trust me. “So, what? You convinced yourself I was shacked up with some other guy and came over here to prove a point? Was that it?”

“No. Yes. Shit! I don’t know. I just…” He raked both his hands through his shiny black hair and plopped down on the side of my bed, elbows to his knees as he hunched over and looked up at me. “I was going out of my mind,” he admitted, embarrassment shining in his clear, icy gaze. “You didn’t respond and I lost it. I jumped to conclusions and didn’t think.” I couldn’t help myself. He just looked so… lost. While I hated that he hadn’t trusted me, I hated the fact he was so torn up over the ‘what if’s’ of our situation even more. “I may have over reacted,” he finished.

“You think?” I laughed, coming to stand close to him. When I moved within reach, his hands went to my hips, pulling me between his knees so he could rest his forehead against my stomach. “I’m not her,” I spoke softly as I ran my fingers through his hair.

He exhaled heavily, his breath leaking through the cotton of my shirt and caressing my skin. “I know.”

“I don’t think you do,” I responded. Holding tighter to his hair, I used it to tilt his head back so I could see his handsome face. “I’m not her,” I repeated emphatically. “I’m not a cheater. I’m not a manipulator. I would never do that to someone I care about. You have to trust me, Rowan. If you can’t do that then we might as well call this off right now.”

“No.” His tone held so much vehemence as he spoke that one word through gritted teeth.

“Then no more jealous, Neanderthal bullshit. You got me?” I grinned down at him and his lips tilted up in response.

“I got you.” As soon as the tension bled away, Rowan’s hands slid from my hips around my back, pulling me even tighter against him. My pulse picked up speed and my body heated. It was the same reaction every time he touched me. I couldn’t get enough of it. “So,” his grin turned wicked, “you care about me, huh?”

I did. I really, really did. But I refused to admit anything beyond that.

“Maybe,” I teased, holding my thumb and index finger less than an inch apart as I squinted. “About this much.” I squeaked and tried to squirm away when he gave my hip a hard pinch in retaliation. “Keep that up and I’m telling Carson.” I laughed. That got him to stop.

“So, what now?”

“Well, we’re going back out there and you’re going to kiss ass like you’ve never kissed ass before.”

One corner of his mouth tilted up in a grin. “You really think that’ll work?”

“Oh, hell no,” I answered with brutal honesty. “Carson’s going to hate you until the end of time now. But at least sucking up will keep him from trying to kill you in your sleep.”

“Fucking brilliant,” he grumbled toward the ceiling, causing me to giggle.

“Pucker up, baby.”

For the first time in my life, things were perfect. I was enjoying my job, I had amazing friends, and I had been seeing a guy for over a month who I was one hundred percent completely in love with. And that relationship was going surprisingly well.

But when you live a life where it’s guaranteed that the other shoe is going to drop sooner or later, it’s hard to sit back and relax. It’s impossible to bask in the joy of all the good because you’re constantly worrying, waiting for the day to come when it all blows up in your face.

I wanted to believe that I’d reached a turning point in my life where the good outweighed the bad. I wanted to believe that things with Rowan had nowhere to go but up. I wanted to trust that I was finally getting the happy I deserved. I just couldn’t stop looking over my shoulder, nervously waiting for the inevitable to happen.

I lowered my guard. I’d handed my heart over willingly so when that boom was lowered, it hurt so much worse than I had anticipated. I should have known better. I never should have gotten my hopes up. Because that just made the crash back down to rock bottom all the more painful.

“Ouch, Harlow! You’re about to rip my damn hair out!” I whined from my place in front of the bathroom mirror.

“If you’d sit still, it wouldn’t hurt so much!”

“You’re pulling too hard!”

“Just take a deep breath. I almost got it.”

“Ow!

Pepper’s voice spoke up from behind us and we both turned to see her leaning against the bathroom door. “You know, if I were a guy and had no clue what was happening back here, I’d probably be sporting a chubby right about now.”

I rolled my eyes just before slamming them shut in pain as Harlow ripped the comb through my hair once more. “She’s trying to scalp me!”

“Stop being such a baby,” Harlow complained. “It’s just a tangle. Ha! Got it!” she crowed triumphantly as the comb finally slid through my strands of hair unimpeded.

“I hate you,” I grumbled, reaching up to touch the tender section of my scalp.

“You love me. Now, shut up and let’s get you beautified.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glowered at my reflection in the mirror. “I don’t understand why we have to go through all of this anyway.”

“Uh, maybe because one of the hottest guys who’s ever graced our planet told you he wanted to take you out on a date?” Pepper asked sarcastically.