Broken kingdom

It’s music to my ears…until I see the distraught expression on his face. 

Bringing it to his lips, he takes another deep drag. “I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m not.” He laughs, but there’s no humor. “Every woman I give a shit about ends up betraying me sooner or later.” 

Something sharp squeezes my chest. Oakley isn’t wrong. 

His mother abandoned him. 

Crystal used him. 

And Hayley lied to him. 

“I’ll never do that to you,” I tell him honestly. “You might hate me but—”

“I don’t hate you,” he says, cutting me off. “You frustrate me. Huge difference.” 

Safe to say his declaration throws me. “I frustrate you?” 

Another nod. “Yup.” 

It’s hard not to feel offended. “Why the hell do I frustrate you?” 

He snuffs out his joint. “We should head back.”

He starts to move, but I tug on his arm. “Tell me why I frustrate you.” 

He zeroes in on where my hand is locked around his bicep. “Let go.” 

Like hell I will. “Not until you tell me.” 

Those blue eyes pin me with a look so severe it steals my breath. “You know why.” 

With that, he wrenches his arm away and stalks off. 

However, I’m not finished yet. 

Correction, we’re not finished. 

“I frustrate you because you feel something for me,” I call out after him. “Something genuine and raw…and for some reason that scares the hell out of you.” 

But he doesn’t have to be scared…because unlike the rest of the women in his life, I’ll never hurt him. 

I care about him too much. 

He halts in his tracks. “The other night—”

“Was incredible.” 

I’ve never felt so close to someone—so unguarded and vulnerable—in my whole life. 

I didn’t need to wear a shield or a mask in front of him…because Oakley has a way of seeing right through it. 

He turns to face me. “It was a mistake.” 

It would hurt less if he slapped me. 

My eyes drift to the sand because it tangibly pains me to look at him. “Oh.” 

I feel like a fool. A stupid, helpless, lovesick fool. 

Taking a step forward, he presses a hand to my cheek, then tilts my chin up to look at him. “It was a mistake because I should have known better. I had no business messing—”

“Why?” My heart beats erratically against my chest, threatening to jump right out into his hands. “Why do you keep insisting we’re wrong when everything in me keeps screaming that it feels right?”

I’ve never met anyone like Oakley. 

I feel like I can tell him anything in the whole wide world and he’ll never judge me. 

And the safe feeling I get whenever he’s near—the one that tells me he’ll always protect me, no matter how much I may frustrate him—I’ve never felt that with anyone else. 

Just him. 

Only ever him. 

His hold on me tightens. “I know you think you have feelings for me, but it’s only because you’re young and inexperienced. You need to find someone on your playing field, Bianca. A nice, respectable guy who—”

“I don’t want a nice, respectable guy,” I interject. “I want you.” 

Closing his eyes, he presses his lips to my forehead. “It will pass, baby girl.” 

He makes it seem like my feelings for him are nothing more than a temporary storm cloud. 

But he’s wrong. 

They’re a typhoon. 

One that’s headed straight for him. 

The sound of frantic pounding on my door jolts me out of my sleep.

Or rather, flashback. 

Groggy, I make my way to the door, debating whether or not I should have grabbed the can of pepper spray Jace and Cole insisted I keep in my drawer. 

Wary, I open the door. 

And freeze. 

Because an out of breath and slightly damp Oakley is standing in front of me. 

“Hi,” I breathe, silently hoping this isn’t a dream or another flashback.

He braces one arm against the frame, as if steadying himself. “Hi.” 

We stand there for the better part of a minute, staring at each other like a couple of idiots, until finally, he breaks the spell. 

“I’m trying to do the right thing, but you make it fucking impossible.” 

He sounds utterly defeated. 

I’m about to apologize, but I stop myself because I’m not sorry for wanting to be friends with him. 

“Does this mean we can be friends?” 

Blue eyes that seem haunted sharpen on me and he gives me a curt nod. “Yeah.” 

My heart gallops and I can feel the smile stretching across my mouth. “Good.” 

Oakley, however, doesn’t return my delight. “One rule.” 

“What’s that?” I ask cautiously. 

“Don’t ask me to tell you what happened between us in the past.” His thick lashes lower a fraction. “Give me a fresh start, Bianca.” 

My chest caves because the way he says it makes it sound like he’s simultaneously begging for forgiveness and a second chance. 

“Okay,” I whisper. 

I start to smile again, but then it dawns on me. “I need something from you too.” 

“What?” 

I shuffle my feet uncomfortably. I hate asking this, but my life is complicated enough. 

Plus, I want something for myself. 

Something I don’t have to explain or justify to anyone. 

Something that makes me happy. 

“Can we keep our friendship on the down low for a bit since my brothers hate you and I have a…you know.” 

It’s clear he wants to protest, but he must want this friendship as much as I do because he gives me another nod. 

I open the door wider. “Do you want to come in?” 

His eyes drop down and I’m suddenly hyper aware that I’m not wearing a bra under my white tank top. 

The hand clutching the frame tightens as hunger clouds his eyes. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“Right.” I take a step back. “Get home safe.” 

He gives me a small grin as he walks away. “Get some sleep.” 

For the first time since my accident, I go to sleep with a smile on my face.