Crash (Sinners and Saints #1)

by Kathy Lockheart

“Nothing.” “And yet you’re looking at me like you’ve got a doctoral thesis forming in that head of...

“I’m not romanticizing rejection. You got hurt on that terrace, and that absolutely sucks. But this isn’t some random guy from a dating app. This is Blake. Your history together is practically a novel of its own. Of course he’s overthin...

“That’s exactly m...

“His control snapped. And the minute he got an ounce of it back, he started fighting the current again. If you want proof he’s in love w...

“When you got sick, he moved you into his penthouse and personally took on your case on top of his already-excessive workload. He gave you your first orgasm.”

“And now his knuckles are bloody because of whatever your ex did.”

“I hate you for being rational right now,” I said. “You know I need you to be my shoulder to cry on, not my voice of reason.”

“That’s not what this is.” “That’s exactly what this is. My question stands.”

“I have a pretty good guess. His parents died in a car accident, so he’s probably traumatized.” “You’ve been friends for years and the best you can give me is ‘probably’?” “What difference would it make?”

“Based on everything you’ve told me, it could make all the difference. If you understood why he runs for the hills, maybe you could stop being so angry with him. D...

“And for some reason, it sounds like if he explores a relationship with you, he’s scared he’ll lose you. Maybe you should ask him why.”

What makes you think he’s afraid?” “Because every action says that he’s in love with you, Tessa.”

“But every time you get too close to the fire, he backs off.”

Truth

“Well, I can ask him some other day,” I muttered, shoving another handful of clothes into my suitcase. “Right now, I need to get all my stuff and move out.”

“And go where?” “Home.” “I thought you said a preliminary inspector found possible signs of mold?”

“You can’t sacrifice your health over your feelings.” “You’re just a bucket of advice today, aren’t you?”

“Sorry. I’m just …” “Come stay with me,”

“Your new apartment complex doesn’t even offer parking. I wouldn’t be able to leave for work.” “What about your brother?”

“He would literally drag me to specialists all over the country. I have a wedding to plan, Scarlett. On an impossibly compressed timeline. Or else my business? Kaboom.” “Then stay here.” “Absolutely not.”

“How have you felt since you moved out of the townhouse?”

“Yeah.” She nodded slowly. “That’s what I thought.” “It’s probably just because I’ve been eating more regularly,” I argued weakly. “Or maybe because you removed the source that was poisoning your body.”

“Listen to me. You can spend most of your time in your bedroom and office, avoiding Blake completely. But the most important thing is your health. If you go back to your place

and get sick again, you won’t be able to pull off this wedding.” “Why did you h...

“Stay,” a deep voice bellowed from the doorway.

“Tessa, I’m really sorry.” “Let me stop you right there.”

“I don’t need the sorry for giving you the wrong impression speech.

Message received. You work long hours; you don’t do relationships. Done. See? We never ha...

“Don’t leave. We can work something out where you never have to see me. I’ll be like a ghost.”

“I want to make one thing clear.”

“What happened on the terrace was a mistake. Just hormones. Nothing more.”

“Good.” I turned back to my suitcase, pretending to reorganize things that were already perfectly arranged. “We’re both adults. Let’s just pretend this never happened.” “Does that mean you’ll stay?”

“No.”

“I can stay at a hotel,” Blake offered quietly.

“I’m not kicking you out of your home.”

“Just … think about it until morning?” he pleaded.

“Fine,” I said, the word barely a whisper. “I’ll think about it until morning.”

“No matter how this turns out, I want you to know that I really am grateful for everything you’re doing for me, Blake.”

“If there’s anything I can ever do to return the favor,” I continued, “don’t hesitate to ask.”

“All I want is for you to get better, Tess. So, please, stay.”

Seven weeks. Could I survive seven weeks of this exquisite torture, of wanting something I couldn’t have, of living with a man who’d drawn a line I hadn’t even known existed until we’d crossed it?

Like the night I’d been assaulted, I pressed my palm to the door while Scarlett’s voice echoed in my head. “Every action says that he’s in love with you.” God help me, but I was starting to think she might be right. So, why did it feel like the closer he got to love, the harder he pushed it away?

“No drowning your sorrows until after we talk.” “We’re not talking.” “Agree to disagree. You need to talk to someone.” “I have friends for that,”

“She’s angry because she has feelings, and when Tessa doesn’t want to have feelings, she lashes out. Like a tiny, angry Chihuahua.”

“I don’t want it to be like this between us,”

“I want things to go back to normal.” “Which normal?”

“The one where you both pretend you don’t have feelings for each other? Because I gotta tell you, that ship has sailed, capsized, and is currently hanging out with t...

“You have exactly one get-out-of-jail-free card that’ll make this all better. It’ll be like magic pixie dust that erases everything that happened.”

“And what, pray tell, is that?” “The truth.”

“Tessa’s so angry and hurt right now that I don’t know if she’ll even bother asking you why. She’s too busy being all I am woman, hear me roar. But she doesn’t know why you push everyone away. Maybe if she did, it would heal that ...

“I didn’t mean to hurt her.” “Oh, I know.”