Page 118 of The Heart Breaker

“Dad—”

“No.” His expression hardens. “That son of a bitch put his hands on you?” He shakes his head, turning toward the station doors. “I’m getting him fucking charged.”

He heads back inside before any of us can stop him, and the three of us just stand there for a second, the cold biting at my face, my heart beating way too fast.

I can feel the girls looking at me, wondering what to say, but I don’t want to talk about it. Can’t.

Luckily the doors open again and the guys come out, looking bruised and completely wrecked.

“Freckles,” Austin says the moment he spots Maisie, heading straight for her and pulling her into his arms. “God, I missed you. I’m not built for prison.”

Logan scoffs. “You were in holding for, like, an hour. Relax.”

Austin pulls back just enough to glare at him. “Easy for you to say. You had your boyfriend in there.”

That earns him a smug smile from Logan, who glances over at Nathan, who, somehow, is the only one of the five who came out of this without a single bruise.

But I’m not looking at any of them anymore.

My heart twists when my gaze catches on Cole’s split lip. He lifts his eyes and stops cold when they find me. Heat crawls up the back of my neck and down my spine because his eyes soften, his mouth pulling into a small smile as his shoulders drop, almost looking like relief.

I cross the lot, but he still doesn’t move, keeping his eyes locked on mine.

“Are you kidding me?” I shout, shoving at his chest, which is about as useful as shoving a brick wall. “I told you not to do anything. I told you to leave it alone.”

He just takes it, standing there with his split lip and bruised face and those dark eyes on me, and that only makes me angrier.

“You are such an idiot,” I snap. “Do you have any idea how bad this could’ve been? You could’ve been charged. You could’ve been kicked off the team. You could’ve gotten expelled. It’s not worth it. I’m not worth?—”

The rest of my words die in my throat when his hand slides around my jaw and he kisses me.

My hands stay fisted in the front of his shirt, my brain going completely blank the second his mouth covers mine.

I hear one of the guys whistle behind me, but it all fades into the background.

All I feel is him. The heat of his mouth against mine, his hand cupping my face, kissing me with a passion like he’s wanted this just as much as I have.

Instead of shoving him away and thinking about how insane this is, I kiss him back with everything I’ve got.

Relief hits me as he tightens his hold on me, deepening the kiss. I think of all those almost-moments all the times I caught myself staring at his mouth and wished he could just read my mind, lean in, and kiss me, and he’s doing it.

Finally.

My hand slides into his hair, the other still gripping his shirt, and I kiss him harder, because now that I have this, I don’t know how I’m supposed to ever go without it again.

His thumb brushes over my cheek, and he pulls back, resting his forehead on mine while we both try to breathe from the best kiss of my life.

“Don’t you dare say you’re not worth it,” he says. His thumb drags gently under my cheekbone. “You’re worth more. You’re worth everything.” His jaw tightens. “Don’t tell me to stand down. Not when someone hurts you. I’m not fucking wired that way.”

I marched over here ready to rip him apart for being reckless and making everything harder than it already was, but now my brain has gone completely useless, my mouth still tingling from the kiss.

“About fucking time,” Austin says with a laugh.

The corner of Cole’s mouth lifts, and he leans in, his nose brushing mine before he kisses me again. I rise onto my toes and slide my hands around his neck as whistles and cheers break out behind us, making me chuckle against Cole’s lips.

I should care that everyone is watching, that every rule we ever put in place is being blown to hell in the middle of a police station parking lot.

There’s no way to pretend this is casual anymore, no coming back from this.