Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection

30. Eden

THIRTY

EDEN

My arms curled tighter around Trent’s waist as he slowed and eased his bike into the Absolution parking lot. I was doing my best to keep my nerves at bay but pulling into the lot for the first time after the incident had them igniting anew.

Night hovered over the earth like a curtain, a swath of black that pressed down on the blue neon lights that glowed with the promise of indulgence and revelry from the enormous brick building.

The club was packed. More people than ever were standing in a long line at the front door.

A big band I’d never heard of were playing tonight.

Apparently, it’d been in the works for months, tickets pushed to max capacity, and extra security and staff had been brought in to accommodate.

Trent had wanted to cancel it, especially since the band was from LA. I’d convinced him he couldn’t. This was his livelihood. What he’d built. Two weeks had passed, and we had to start to move on with our lives, but I guessed when you’d been running for the entirety of yours, it was hard to do.

Even though I knew we had to do this, I felt myself clinging to him so tightly. So tightly I could feel the ferocity ripple through his tense, rigid muscles. So close that I could feel every curve, line, and intonation. Sense the ruthless edge that had carved his spirit into blades.

Tonight, the aura radiating from the menacing man had turned malignant.

Malevolent.

Ready to strike at any moment.

He eased the gurgling mass of metal around to the side lot, and I tried to keep my heart from sprinting away with the bolts of fear that flashed through my mind.

With the images that took hold.

Blinks of the horrific message that had been left.

Trent guided his bike backward until he was parked beside Kult and Milo’s motorcycles. Normally, he’d leave his bike at the front and make an entrance, but he wasn’t taking any risks.

He killed the engine. In an instant, my ears were filled with a drone of voices and the thudding bass that echoed from inside.

Trent pressed his hands over mine.

Reassurance. For him or me, I wasn’t sure.

All I knew was it was a promise that he would never allow anything or anyone to harm me.

And I just kept praying it wouldn’t be him. Because that hollow space inside had transformed and shifted and reformed. Refitted to the shape of him.

I’d known after Trent Lawson I would never be the same. What I hadn’t expected was for him to write himself on my soul. For him to become the beat of my heart and the blood in my veins.

He unwound my hands that were locked against his stomach and helped me off. He followed, rising to his full, obliterating height, covering me in shadow.

That beat of my heart stampeded.

The man a paradox.

Conflict.

A crux.

Tattooed, vicious fingers were so tender as they unfastened the strap of the helmet from under my chin. Sooty eyes so soft but razor-sharp as they took me in. The defined, distinct contours of his stunning face glinted below the haze of lights.

My stomach pitched with desire and my chest stretched with that feeling I could no longer deny.

“Stay close to me tonight.” His words were barbs.

“You’ve said that a hundred times.” I managed a tease.

He grunted. “I’ll say it a hundred more. All night. All day. Forever.”

The words slipped into a murmur as he wound his arm around my waist and pulled me snug against the hard lines of his body. And I wanted to get lost in the undercurrent of what he’d said. In the promise he didn’t know how to make.

The confession danced on my tongue.

I love you.

I love you.

I didn’t say it.

He’d clam up and run. Hide behind every reason he couldn’t keep me.

He dipped down and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Little Temptress…trying to wreck me.”

My fingers curled in his shirt. “You’re the one who’s done all the wrecking, Mr. Lawson.”

He smirked, arched a brow. “Mr. Lawson, huh?”

My mouth tugged up at the side. “You are my boss, after all.”

His hand splayed across my lower back before he gripped me by the bottom, his face pressed to the underside of my jaw. “I’ll show you boss,” he grumbled at the sensitive skin.

A giggle slipped free, along with a rush of need. “You better,” I whispered back.

He groaned and chuckled. “Like I said…Little Temptress.”

He peeled himself back, the slightest smile twitching over his sexy mouth, and he threaded our fingers together and led me to the side door. Milo was there, holding open the heavy metal barricade, though the man would likely be much harder to break through than the door.

“Sir,” the bouncer said with a jut of his chin. “Little Dove.”

“Hello, Milo,” I said with a tiny wave.

“How’s it going tonight?” Trent asked, glancing around, gaze sweeping the lot.

“Crazy, Sir. Members of A Riot of Roses are in the dressing rooms in the back, and their crew is setting up. Place is a madhouse. Buzzin’ and gettin’ ready to bust.”

“Extra security is in place?”

Milo’s attention dipped to me. “Absolutely.”

“Good.”

“Nothin’ will get by,” he promised.

Trent squeezed my hand like he was the one who’d said it.

We angled into the murky dimness of the long hall. I lost my breath there again, with the way Trent shifted to look at me, with the way he pressed me to the wall. “Just want to take you home,” he muttered, his body plastered to mine and his heart beating out of control.

I tipped my face up to meet the fear in his eyes, and I scratched my fingers into the stubble on his cheek. “We’ll be fine.”

My gaze searched the severity of his. Will we be?

Taking my hand, he pressed my knuckles to his lips. “No one will get near you.”

Thickness filled my throat. “I told you I’m not weak, Trent, I just need to know what we’re up against.”

And that was the hardest part. He wouldn’t give me that.

“I’m working on it.”

The same answer he always gave.

I gave him a short nod. “I’m going to go change.”

He hesitated. I knew it was a warzone in this brutal man’s mind. A battle with every decision.

I pressed at his chest. “We already talked about this. I’m still here to help my daddy, Trent. The reason I came in the first place. You have to respect that.”

But I’d be a liar to deny some of those reasons had changed.

“Let me take care of it.”

My head shook. “No, Trent. I’m not here for you to take care of me.”

I’m here because I love my daddy and I’ll do anything to help him. And I’m also here because I love you, and I want to stand by your side, too. Support you the way you’ve supported me.

Yeah, those reasons had most definitely changed.

Did he see? Did he understand?

He stared down at me with that potent, heady gaze. “I know that, but I still want to.”

The tiniest smile tugged at my lips. “And that makes you amazing.”

He grunted like he still believed he was bad.

“Mr. Lawson.”

Our attention shifted to the end of the hall where a security guard from the temporary agency stood.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we wanted to go over a few things before the show starts.”

Trent lifted his chin at him before he returned his focus to me. He dipped in for a kiss, one that was probably a little too passionate for an audience, but right then, I couldn’t mind.

Not when his mouth moved and played, and his tongue danced and whispered.

Stealing my breath and reservations.

But there was nothing left of my heart to take.

He already owned it.

He nipped my bottom lip before he forced himself back a step. The man’s entire being heaved. He held my hand between us. “Be careful. I’ll have someone watching over you the entire time.”

“I’ll be fine,” I promised.

He nodded, and I pried myself from the wall and headed into the dressing room to change. Leann was there, shoving her purse into a locker. She squealed when she saw me, slammed the door shut, and came clamoring my way on her high-heeled boots. “Oh my god, you’re back.”

She threw herself against me and hugged me tight. “I was so worried about you.”

I returned her embrace. She was truly so sweet. “I told you I’d be fine.”

She eased back, holding me by the outside of the arms. She angled her head to take me in. “Are you? That was insane.”

I swallowed around the dread. I’d been wading in it for so long. I just wanted to rise above it. To leave it behind us so we could truly find ourselves. But until this threat was ended, I had no chance of scaling a wall as high as the one Trent had built around me. No chance of fully reaching him when his only purpose was protecting me and his son.

Our safety had become the only thing that mattered.

And I needed the man to understand he mattered to me.

“It was really scary, and we still don’t have any answers, but honestly, I’m okay.”

More than okay.

She saw it. A smirk hitched on her face. “Sometimes trauma reveals what we need the most, doesn’t it? It rips away all the questions to expose the raw truth underneath.”

My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip in the same spot Trent’s just had been. “Oh, there are still plenty of questions.”

Her head shook. “I think the only answer you need is the one written all over your face…you look…” Her mouth pressed together in some kind of awe. “Happy, Eden. So different than when you first came here.”

Then her expression turned wry. “Which is kinda a shame because oh my god, have you seen the band?!”

She fanned herself.

“I mean, I’m more of a country girl than a rocker, but I’d gladly change my stripes if it means gettin’ a little of that. Their lead, I think his name is Royce? He’s married to this country singer that I’ve listened to for years, but the rest of them…seems they’re looking for a little fun,” she drawled as she wiggled her hips.

A shot of laughter ripped out. “Well, you have fun with that.”

“Oh, I plan to.” Looking in the mirror, she swiped on some lipstick. “Wish me luck!”

She started to walk back out but not before she paused at the doorway, her voice lowered with caution. “I’ve worked here for a long time, Eden, and I know I don’t know you that well, but I’ve had this scary, intimidating boss for years who I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Now there’s a light in him that didn’t exist before. And I know that’s because of you.”

Appreciation swelled, overflowed my chest. “I hope so. Thank you, Leann.”

Her smile was soft, then she pulled away and disappeared down the hall.

I quickly changed into the Absolution uniform. Oh man, was it so unlike anything you’d ever find in my closet. The tiny leather shorts and high-heeled boots that came above my knees. But somehow, I felt confident in it. Powerful in a way I had never been before.

Or maybe it was just that Trent had helped me see myself in a new light, as well. Broken up a piece of me that had been hidden away. Opened me up, lock and key.

After I was ready, I moved out into the bar, weaving through the crowd. I said hello to a few other servers and tried to answer questions posed by those who asked for details.

Impossible, when I had none myself.

Finally, I got to work.

I figured most had assumed I wouldn’t return since there was no missing the way gazes appraised and questioned as I started to take orders and deliver drinks.

Is she really okay? Is she insane for coming back? Was she targeted or was the attack random? Is someone after her?

Others were filled with speculation.

Look, there’s the one who’s fucking the boss.

Clearly, that’s exactly what I was doing since Trent couldn’t keep his dirty paws off me every time I passed. I didn’t mind. Not at all. I liked it probably more than I should, the claiming he was doing in front of everyone.

The slide of his rough palm down my bare thigh.

The chills it lifted.

The stolen kisses under my jaw.

His hot breath on the back of my neck.

I felt no shame in it. In who we were or what we shared. People could judge me all they wanted, but the only thing that mattered was what was on the inside. Who I was to myself, and how I treated those around me.

But I also knew as I watched him, too, as I felt that dark aura moving through the thriving, living space as the band readied to take to the stage, that I wanted more than just stolen kisses and illicit hands.

I wanted it all.

I wanted forever.

The main floor had been rearranged. The tables and low couches had been moved out, and a large barrier had been set up to create a huge floor in front of the stage. People vied and pressed within its boundaries, trying to work their way closer, while others were happy to snag one of the booths that ran along the walls.

Tonight, I was working upstairs where there was a second bar and pool tables, although there was another big crowd that had gathered on the balcony that overlooked the stage below.

Trent felt that area would be more secure, and I didn’t see a point in arguing with him. No reason to add to his stress when I could already feel every molecule in the man’s body on guard.

I was delivering a tray of beers to three guys on the balcony when the dim lights flashed and a furor of screams echoed through the cavernous space.

Rising and lifting.

Feet stomped and whistles of anticipation rang through the air.

Everything went dark, the energy held, before it cracked.

Busted wide open when the flashing lights hit the stage, strobing and slashing and inciting a riot that broke through the crowd on the floor.

Apparently, the band was happy to invite exactly what their name claimed.

They drove into a loud, tumultuous song. A driving rhythm and thrashing beat. The singer’s voice was rough and smooth and everything in between.

I rushed to keep up with the orders that flooded in as the band moved effortlessly from one song to the next. The singer was all over the stage, screaming his soul out like he was laying his heart at the trampling feet.

And oh, Leann was right—the stage was consumed by these aggressively gorgeous men. Each mesmerizing in their own way.

But none were as striking as mine.

I could feel the pulse of his stare when he’d ascend the stairs. The way my heart would pound a little harder, race a little faster as I pushed through the crush and did my best to keep up with the onslaught of orders.

It was wild in here tonight, in a way it’d never been before, in a way I didn’t expect.

Maybe Trent had. Maybe that was why he’d been so on edge. Why he’d wanted to scrap the entire thing because pocketbooks and tongues and hands were freer than they’d ever been.

The faces had become a blur as I was jostled and bumped and knocked around.

At least our glasses were plastic tonight considering half of them ended up on the floor.

I’d force a smile, take their money, ignore the catcalls and the wayward touches and the unwanted advances.

And maybe it was the trauma that remained right there. Something I’d shoved down and didn’t want to acknowledge.

Honestly, I knew I’d put on a brave face and hadn’t fully dealt with the fear.

There was no missing it in the way anxiety bubbled, buzzed, and gathered in severity as the night wore on. The whole time, I was riding a terrified edge of wanting to be strong and wondering if this had been stupid, after all.

A mistake.

If I’d foolishly put us in a bad position.

An hour and a half in, I felt frayed.

Ragged.

Like I’d crack at any second as I pushed through the throng.

I finally did.

Completely overreacting when some guy who didn’t know any better grabbed me by the wrist as I passed. I yelped and my tray toppled to the ground as I yanked myself free of his hold.

“Whoa, just want another beer,” he slurred, taken aback by my reaction.

But it was Trent’s that none could have anticipated. Or maybe it was exactly what I should have anticipated.

What I’d felt steadily building over the last two weeks.

The man a furnace waiting to blow.

Gasoline dumped on a smoldering torch.

Because he had the man thrown on top of a pool table in a flash so sudden that it made the crowd split.

People scrambled to get out of the way while Trent descended like a phantom.

A vicious storm.

From out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

In an instant, he was a blur of fury and fists that rained down.

Dark aggression. Fiery retribution.

Punch after punch on the man’s face.

Blood spurted from his nose, and it only seemed to spur Trent farther. As if he could beat any threat out of the guy who had made the mistake of touching me.

I rushed for them, trying to latch onto Trent’s arm. “Trent. Stop it. He wasn’t hurting me. It’s not him. It’s not him.”

Shouts roared around us, and a few people pushed in to try to stop the madness.

While I fought harder to break through the cloud of hate that surrounded Trent.

“Trent.” My hands sank into his shoulder, gripping at his arm. “Listen to me. Stop. He doesn’t deserve this. He doesn’t deserve this.”

Trent kept wailing away.

I begged while the beast seemed removed.

Completely oblivious to anything but the wrath that poured from his being.

Finally, Kult broke through the thrashing wall of bodies. His eyes were wild as he assessed what was happening.

“Kult. Help. Stop him,” I pleaded, still trying to pull Trent off the man.

But I got the sense he couldn’t see me. Couldn’t feel me.

A black veil of antipathy was his driving force.

His demons alive and freed.

Screaming and clawing and begging for destruction.

Kult shouldered through and ripped Trent off. “Let up.”

Trent thrashed and flailed while Kult struggled to hold him back. “Cool the fuck down, man. Cool it.”

“Oh my god.” It left me on a gasp when I saw the guy who lay bloodied and battered on the felt. Coming in and out of consciousness.

Blindsided.

While Trent continued to rage. Those ferocious eyes filled with hate. With grief. With something so dark that I couldn’t see through to that level of pain.

One of the upstairs bartenders, Jason, was on his phone, calling for the paramedics.

While Kult dragged Trent back through the gaping crowd.

I rushed to the guy on the table whose wife was helping him sit up.

“I’m so sorry,” I barely managed. “An ambulance is coming. I’m so sorry.”

A Riot of Roses continued to play downstairs, completely unaware that the owner had just snapped.

It was what he’d warned would happen.

He’d warned that destructive force would one day rise. No longer contained.

Milo was suddenly there, pushing through the people who’d decided the incident was more interesting than the band, though most continued on blissfully unaware. “Let’s get him moved downstairs.” He lifted his chin. “You’ll be compensated for your trouble although it’s company policy that patrons do not touch our servers. Security believed she was in danger.”

Right.

A veiled threat and a payoff so the cops wouldn’t be called.

Taking the employee elevator at the back, Milo led the man down to the locker room and propped him in a chair, and a minute later, two paramedics came through the door.

They tended to his wounds that could have been much worse, and I had to assume that Kult had intervened much faster than it’d seemed when I was trying to break through Trent’s anger.

The man’s nose was bloodied and he had some cuts littering his face, but it didn’t appear that he would have any permanent damage.

Thank God.

While I hovered and paced, a fear bottled deep, that thing that Trent believed raged inside him freed.

Once the man and his wife left, Milo squeezed my arm and walked out, and warily, warily, I eased down the hall to Trent’s office.

I pushed open the door to the darkened room save for the small lamp that glowed from the edge of the desk.

Jud was kneeling in front of Trent who sat in a chair in the far back corner. He was bent over at the waist with his face buried in those tattooed hands.

His knuckles bloodied and his being tossed in chaos.

Jud swiveled to look at me, and he slowly rose to standing when I quietly slipped inside.

Unease blistered. A receding storm that threatened to make a rebound.

Jud moved my way, his heavy boots thudding on the ground, his understanding thick. He paused in front of me, squeezed my fingers, and leaned in to murmur so only I could hear, reiterating what he’d told me all those weeks ago. “He deserves someone who will see him for who he really is, Eden. Not for what he’s done.”

My nod was short and shaky.

He dipped his bearded jaw, edged out behind me, and clicked the door shut behind him.

With it, that intensity struck.

A flashfire of severity.

A wash of hate and wrath.

Trent looked up through the darkness.

All that loathing was directed at himself.

Still, he did that casual thing that he did, slung himself back in the plush seat with his arm draped over the back as he pinned me with that unrelenting gaze.

He angled his head in challenge. “You see it now, Eden? You see me for who I really am?”

“I’ve seen you all along.” The whisper curled through the dense air.

On a scoff, Trent climbed to his feet. A menacing refuge in the billowing night. “And just what is it you see, Eden?”

The last time he asked me it, he walked away from me.

Fear tumbled down my spine, a cold sweat that shivered across my flesh. Not because I was afraid of him, but because I was afraid of the power he wielded.

I lifted my chin and met his steely gaze. “I see a man who’s touched me in a way no one else can. I see a man who burns so bright, he might burn me alive. I see a hatred that runs so deep in his veins, and still, I want to dip my fingertips into the flow.”

A growl rolled up his throat, and he swallowed hard.

The wings of the owl on his throat flapped as he took a prowling step forward.

“Look at me, Eden,” he demanded. He grabbed my hand and pressed it to his face.

Fire flashed.

Streaked my arm.

The sharp contours searing into my being.

Into my flesh.

Branding me.

“Look at me, really look at me, and see me for what I am. A monster.”

Everything trembled.

My heart and my soul and my hands.

I shook my head and gulped around the knot that burned in my chest.

“No, Trent. I see my heart. I see my future. I see my life.”

He blanched as the admission spilled free, and the man angled back as if he’d been slapped.

“But I also see the man who is trying to ruin us.”

The shake of his head was grim. “We were ruined before we started.”

“No.”

“The things I’ve done?—”

“Stop it, Trent, just stop it. I already know. I already know. And none of it matters. The only thing that matters is right now, and right now I’m looking at the man I love. I love you.”

My hands pressed to the thunder of my heart. “I’m in love with you. I love you in a way I didn’t know existed. In a way I didn’t know was possible for me to love someone. And I’m standing here, begging you to love me back because I don’t know how to go on like this.”

Shame flashed through his expression, though there was something underlying it that tried to break through.

Vying for space.

For voice.

Then rage came bounding in to take its place.

“And I told you I don’t get that. That I don’t have that to give you. I have one reason, one fucking reason to live, and you’ve distracted me from that. Made me lose sight.”

He slammed a ferocious fist against his chest. “Made me lose focus on what I’m supposed to be fighting for. I’m losing my mind over you, and because of that, I’ve gotten careless. Sloppy. And I can’t afford that when it comes to my son.”

His teeth ground. Or maybe it was just the sound of my heart being decimated.

Destroyed.

Just like he’d promised he would.

My nod was jerky, and I blinked through the tears that rushed to my eyes. I would not cry. I would not cry. Not right then.

Still, my lips quivered and twitched, and I backed away. “I guess I do see now.”

Then I turned and rushed for the exit.

“Eden!” he shouted behind me.

I didn’t slow.

I threw open the door and flew down the hall, ignoring the bashing I could hear behind me.

His violence spilling out again.

This dark, dangerous devil who’d stolen my heart and crushed it in nearly the same beat.

I didn’t take the time to change. I grabbed my purse and rushed to the side door where Milo stood guard.

Sympathy lined his expression when he saw my face, then I cried out in devastation posing as frustration when I realized I didn’t even have a car.

My entire life had gotten wrapped up in the man who didn’t want me.

Who thought I was a burden.

Who’d built the walls up so high that he couldn’t see what we could mean if he’d just slow down long enough to see his worth.

I fumbled to get into an app to call a ride, thanking God that at least a car was nearby. I jumped into the back as soon as the Prius pulled to the curb, trying to hold it together at least until I got home.

A minute later, a single headlight pulled up behind the car.

But that energy didn’t slam me.

Need didn’t consume me whole.

I choked over a cry, the tears slipping free when I came to the acceptance of what Trent really thought of me.

He let me go but sent his brother in his place.

Like a job that needed to be done.

Ten minutes later, the car stopped in front of my house, and I fumbled out onto my weakened knees.

Agony lashed.

Ripping at my insides.

I swore, standing there, I was bleeding out.

That single headlight eased up as the car drove away. Jud slowed, barely stopped, just looked at me with remorse. Like he wished he could make it right. Like he was the one who was giving me an apology.

My head shook. “You can tell Trent he doesn’t need to worry about me any longer. You don’t need to waste your time looking out for me.”

“Eden.” Sorrow filled Jud’s tone.

“Please, don’t make excuses for him. Just go.”

Worry pinched his face, and I turned and stumbled up my walkway. I felt like I was being haunted by everything Trent had said to me.

His need.

His confusion.

Promises that he’d never let go.

Mine.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

He’d claimed it again and again, but more than that, I’d felt it in his touch.

Felt it, even if Trent couldn’t.

And maybe that was the saddest part.

Loving someone and refusing to acknowledge it.

I dug into my bag for my keys. I pulled them out, but they slipped from my trembling hands, clattering to the ground.

I choked over a sob as I leaned over to pick them up, and cries were tearing out of me by the time I managed to unlock the door and let myself into the hollowed vacancy of my home.

Loneliness howled from the depths.

Cold and stark.

This place no longer felt like a sanctuary but rather a reminder of what I had been living without.

I let my bag slide from my shoulder and drop to the ground, and I shuffled down the short hall and flipped on the light switch to the lamp on my nightstand.

I blinked against it, through the haze of tears, and I moved to my dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas.

A whimpered cry slipped out when my fingers brushed against the metal frame where I’d buried Aaron’s picture at the bottom of the drawer.

I hadn’t done it because I was trying to forget him, but because it was hard to remember him when I felt the way I did about Trent.

As if it were a slap in his face.

A disrespect.

And I would forever cherish the sweet man for who he’d been.

Harmony had been right. Aaron had been a safety net. A shoulder to lean on. An ear to listen. And I had to guess I’d been the same to him.

I unzipped the knee-high boots, kicked them off, and shoved out of the leather shorts and tank and jerked on the cotton shorts and a tee.

I pressed my hands to the top of the dresser and tried to catch my breath. To stop the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. To remind myself Trent had been worth the risk.

He’d jumpstarted my heart.

He’d shown me that I could feel.

That I could burn and need and love.

But it just hurt so goddamn bad I didn’t know how to breathe under the weight of it.

No longer able to stand, I sank down on the edge of the bed.

Weak.

Worn.

Broken.

I reached over and clicked off the light, then curled up in a ball and hugged my knees to my chest.

Let the pain bleed out.

The hopes.

The fears.

I had no idea how long I’d lain there, but I’d drifted, lost in the crashing waves of this heartbreak that beat over me time and time again.

Partially lucent, the other lost to a bad dream.

As if I were floating through a reality I didn’t want to recognize.

It only made me feel more disoriented when the doorbell rang, and I shot upright, my face still soaked as I blinked through the lapping darkness.

I rolled off the bed and stumbled out into the hall. My hand pressed to the wall to try to get my footing, and I sucked down the shuddering breaths that kept hammering my chest.

My lungs burning and my world spinning.

I made it to the front door, and my heart slammed against my ribs when I peered out through the drapes to the front stoop.

To that dark force that obliterated and shook.

So intimidating and wrong and so terribly right.

He held his sleeping son in the safety of those strong, strong arms. Gage’s face was buried in Trent’s neck, and Trent held his sweet frame like the treasure he was.

I tore through the lock and whipped open the door.

Then I froze.

Speared by the intensity that cut me to the quick.

Knocking the air from my haggard lungs and piercing me to the spot.

Because all the fury was gone, and the man stood there staring at me.

As broken as me.

Swallowing hard, he tightened his hold on his son. “You ruined everything, Eden Murphy.”

Hot tears streamed down my face.

“Everything I thought I knew.”

“Trent…”

His head barely shook. “Look at me, Eden.”

That time, it was surrender.

Everything clutched.

“Look at me. You think there’s a chance that I’m not in love with you? That I’m not gone for you? And I’m fuckin’ terrified of it. Terrified of losing someone else I love. Of failing you, too. And I could fight it forever, but I think I’d still end up standing right here in front of you, begging you to love me back.”

Sorrow lacerated the words.

His confession.

The same thing I’d begged of him.

“Trent.” I whispered his name.

“What happened tonight…” He trailed off, his tongue swiping his lips. “I lost it because of what I feel for you. Because I can’t fucking lose you. Because I love you. You said I brought your heart back to life, but Eden, you made mine beat for the first time.”