I meet his unrelenting stare with my own. I want to ask what happened to him there. I want him to share it with me so he’ll know — whatever it is — it won’t scare me away. But I also don’t want to ask. Knowing for sure someone hurt him might tear me open.
But then another thought occurs to me, and I want to make this alright too.
“Eight years is a long time to… be alone. If you had someone—”
His hands on my shoulders become vices. “Evie,” he says my name through clenched teeth. Old fury glows in his eyes. “It didn’t go down like that.”
It’s like a blow to the stomach. I stagger, and Drew wraps an arm low around my back. But I shake my head, planting my feet and gripping him right back. He needs to know I’m strong enough. For both of us.
“I-I teach a class,” I say, then swallow, trying to master the tremor in my voice. Drew frowns, confusion playing in his eyes. “It’s called Yoga for Trauma. It can hel—”
“Baby.” His eyes narrow, and one side of his mouth curls up. “It happened. One time. Before I knew how to look after myself on the inside.”
I watch his face, stunned silent that he’s giving me so much truth. This is as open as any man could ever be.
One brow comes up. “I’m not saying it wasn’t a fucking nightmare. It was.” The smile is a ghost now. “But it isn’t what defines me. As soon as I got the chance, I beat the shit out of that fucker, and I was done with it.”
At first, I have no idea what to say. And then, “That’s something a Taurus would do.” I don’t mean it as a joke, but he bursts out laughing.
Drew shakes his head, his laughter dying away, and he just looks at me. And the way he looks at me, like I’m someone he’ll never see again, turns up my fear again.
“Please don’t send me away.”
His eyes narrow with what I now see is anguish. He runs his gaze up and down our bodies, pressed together as they are, arms around each other. “Does it look like I want to send you away?”
I hold his gaze. “That hasn’t stopped you before.”
His eyes close, and when they open, slowly, he’s mastered the anguish, his expression hard again. “I should walk you back.”
“No.” My voice is low but firm. “Don’t tell me what youthinkyou should do. Tell me what youwantto do.”
“Evie—”
“You’ve given yourself all these bullshit reasons why you shouldn’t be with me,” I say, fisting my hand in his shirt. “But I’ve never felt like this with anyone else, and I think the same is true for you. Am I right?”
Drew’s jaw sets and his nostrils flare. “You don’t know what’s good for you—”
“Jesus!” I push against his chest, but his arms firm around me. “Why doesn’t anyone believe in me?!”
Surprise at my outburst flashes in his eyes, but my own rage burns brighter so I barely see it.
“I’m not an idiot, Drew,” I spout, balling my fists and bouncing them off his chest. I’m too close to do more than tap, but I’m so fucking angry, I could scream. I nearly do. “I know what I want for my life. The kind of job… the kind of future…” And then I scowl at him because it hurts so much to say it, knowing it won’t matter at all. “The kind of man.”
His brows lower, the look of surprise gone. Now he just looks pissed. Seriously pissed. Well, he can join the club.
“I amdonewith letting other people tell me what I can and can’t have. Telling me I don’t know what’s good for me. Newsflash: I’m the fucking world-class expert on me, and I’ll take what I want, goddammit.” I shove him, hard this time, and he has to brace against me to keep his feet. It’s not much, I know, but it feels fucking great to set him off balance. “What about you? What do you want?”
He grabs my upper arms, and I’m sure he’s about to march me down his driveway to the curb. Instead, he gives me a shake that rattles my bones.
“You know what I want?” he growls, bearing teeth like animal. But before I can answer, he’s on me.
His kiss is violent, demanding. My breath goes at the shock of it, replaced with his. Hot. Angry. Fierce. One of Drew’s hands leaves my back and the garage echoes with a clatter as the car’s hood slams shut.
That thigh is between my legs again, but instead of pressing into me, Drew uses it to walk me back. I clench his shoulders when I start to tip backward, but he hooks his arm low, clutching me to him. His free hand braces, and then I’m lowered, gently, to the hood of the car.
Half his weight settles on me, and Drew deepens the kiss. Anger and shock give way to heat and hunger. On top of me, Drew feels incredible. He kisses me hard, and I kiss right back, tangle my fingers in the soft waves of his hair, and grip him to me.
Drew tears his mouth away, panting, and he presses his forehead against mine. My whole world becomes his eyes.