The kiss had ruined him.
He hadn’t touched her since. Not her hand. Not her hair. Not the soft curve of her jaw where his thumb had once rested. And he hated every minute of it.
Oh, but how he remembered it. Every second. Every breath. The heat of her mouth and the way the world had gone still. How she leaned into him like she belonged there. How she stared at him afterward, dazed with want and flushed with something soft and aching.
That was the worst part. She had wanted it, wanted more, and he couldn’t give her more. No matter how much he wanted it, too. Not without her being a target for his mother and Brandon. He couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t be the reason they hurt her.
But now, she lingered.
Looked at him longer. Sat closer. She found excuses to be near him.
And Byron..
