Page 201 of Securing the Pucking Rebound

“Fucking hell.”

I pull my cell out as I walk across the room and discover messages from my best friend.

Bea: I’m sorry, but you two need to talk.

Bea: Call me later x

I shake my head at her antics, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a small smile on my face.

Sure, Calvin and I might have a few things to work through, but seeing him made me realize just how much I’ve missed him.

I grab all my things, and I’m back in the salon in record time.

I find Calvin staring at the wall of photos we’ve been building since Bea started this place.

“You love your job,” Calvin comments, his eyes moving from image to image of us all laughing and joking together on nights out.

“Yeah, I do. But it’s the others that really make it. We’ve got a great little family here.”

“I can understand that,” he says, turning to me.

His eyes find mine before he lets them trail all the way down to my toes.

Fire licks inside me, and when his eyes find mine again, they’re blazing just as hot.

I swallow nervously but find myself stepping closer to him.

His lips twitch, but his smile doesn’t quite emerge as he reaches for my hand.

I might have been touching him for the last thirty minutes or so, but that was work. I didn’t feel the sparks shoot up my arm like I do now.

My breath catches as he twists our fingers together and tugs me closer.

Only an inch remains between our bodies, and the heat radiating from him burns in the best kind of way.

I stare up at him, my heart beating erratically in my chest, my temperature soaring.

His eyes bounce between mine as he rolls his lips between his teeth like he’s stopping himself from saying something.

Time stretches on and no words are said. They’re not needed.

The silence in this moment is enough. All the things we’re not saying wrap around us, and it takes all my self-control not to close that final inch and step straight into his body so I can feel his strong arms wrap around me like the most comforting blanket.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers finally.

It’s so soft, so quiet that if I weren’t this close, I probably wouldn’t have heard it.

“I know,” I whisper back.

“I never wanted to hurt you.”

“I know,” I repeat.

There’s nothing but regret and pain in the depths of his eyes.

“I need you, darlin’. I had no idea how hard I was fighting until you came back into my life. It was like I was finally able to breathe again. Last night, after hearing the news…all I wanted was to come home to you. Knowing I couldn’t fucking killed me.”

Emotion burns the backs of my eyes. I hate that I wasn’t there for him when he needed me. Hell, I’ve hated that he hasn’t been there for me when I needed him, but I’m aware that I’m the one who kept him away. He messaged me every day. He apologized over and over again. He was there, literally right above my head a lot of the time, but I kept the door closed.