Chapter 4
LUNA
Luna should have walked away the second Rocco said he was going to stop being polite.
Instead, her entire body heated because the look in his eyes when he said it wasn’t teasing anymore.
He was sending her a warning, and God help her, she wanted to see exactly what happened when Rocco stopped holding himself back.
“You keep saying things like that,” she murmured, stepping closer again, “and I’m going to think you’re trying to seduce me.”
Rocco’s hand settled on her hip automatically, his fingers flexing against her leggings.
“Trying?” he asked quietly. Her breath caught.
Damn him. He knew exactly what he was doing to her, and he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it, too.
The gym suddenly felt too small, too crowded, and too full of tension that had nowhere left to go.
Luna knew she should slow this down and take a breath.
She should maybe spend more than two dates before getting involved with a former patient who already had the ability to turn her entire brain to static.
But then he looked at her like that again, like she was something precious and dangerous all at once, and every rational thought in her head disappeared.
“You hungry or not?” she asked, mostly because she needed to say something before she dragged him into the locker room and made several terrible life choices.
Rocco studied her for a second too long. “Do you want to grab something to eat?” he asked. No—not even a little bit, but she wasn’t ready to admit that out loud.
So Luna lifted her chin slightly and said, “Maybe.” His mouth twitched like he knew she was full of shit, and unfortunately for her, he was getting very good at reading her.
“Give me fifteen minutes, and I can be ready to go,” she offered, turning toward the locker room. She needed to get herself together, and a very cold shower was just the way to do that.
They made it exactly three steps toward the locker rooms before Rocco caught her wrist gently. Luna turned back toward him, one brow lifting. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“You’re doing that thing again,” he breathed.
“What thing is that?” she asked.
“You’re running,” he said. The words hit harder than she expected, because yeah, maybe she was running.
Not physically, but emotionally. The second thing started to feel too intense; Luna’s instinct was always to pivot.
Her go-to moves were to joke, tease, and distract, and that was exactly what she was doing with Rocco.
She was overthinking everything, and now, she was running scared, but she’d do anything to keep herself from standing still long enough to really feel something for another person.
Rocco stepped closer slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, but she didn’t. “You don’t have to do that with me,” he said quietly. God. That voice wrecked her every damn time.
Luna swallowed hard. “You make it sound very simple.”
“It is simple,” he said, shrugging like it was no big deal that he had just talked her down off a proverbial ledge.
“No,” she said softly. “It’s really not.
” For a second, neither of them moved. The sounds of the gym faded around them until all Luna could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Then Rocco lifted his hand and brushed his thumb lightly along her jaw, gently.
He was always so unexpectedly gentle with her.
“I’m not gonna hurt you, Luna,” he promised, and maybe that was the problem—because she believed him, completely. That kind of trust didn’t come easy for her, but somehow, it came easy with him.
Luna exhaled slowly before making the most reckless decision she’d made in years. “My apartment’s closer than yours,” she said quietly. Rocco went completely still, and she knew that she had just knocked him a bit off center.
“You sure?” he asked. That question made her heart flutter because he wasn’t assuming anything about what she was asking.
He didn’t push her for more. He was asking her to make sure that they were on the same page.
He was giving her control even when he clearly wanted her just as badly as she did him.
Luna stepped into him until their bodies brushed again. “I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure.”
His jaw flexed hard, and then he nodded.
“Okay. Let me grab my stuff. Give me just a second.” She nodded and watched Rocco walk back to the men’s locker room, and a part of her wondered if he was the one who was running now.
Only time would tell, but for the first time, in a damn long time, she was willing to let her guard down—and that was a fucking big deal.
The drive to her apartment was torture. They left her car at the gym, and she rode with Rocco.
Heavy silence filled the truck, thick with anticipation and everything waiting between them.
Rocco kept one hand on the steering wheel while the other rested on the center console dangerously close to her thigh.
Twice, Luna caught herself staring at it.
The third time, she slid her hand over his, and his fingers immediately threaded through hers, and that tiny gesture somehow felt more intimate than all the kissing.
By the time they reached her apartment, Luna’s pulse was racing hard enough to make her dizzy. She barely got the door unlocked before Rocco’s hand settled at her lower back, grounding her. He wasn’t rushing her, and she appreciated that more than he’d ever know.
They walked to her apartment, hand in hand, and the second the apartment door shut behind them, the tension snapped.
The kiss was deep and hungry, like he’d been holding himself back before.
Luna’s hands tangled in his shirt as she kissed him back just as hard, stumbling backward until her spine hit the wall beside the door.
He caught himself instantly, one hand bracing beside her head while the other stayed firm on her waist. He was still being careful, even now.
“Rocco,” she breathed against his mouth. He made a rough sound low in his throat that sent heat spiraling through her entire body.
“You have any idea what you do to me?” he murmured.
Luna smiled faintly, feeling breathless.
“Probably,” she admitted. He was probably feeling the exact way that she was.
Her honesty earned her another kiss. It was lower this time, and more deliberate, like he was learning her, and feeling every reaction she gave him.
Luna realized something terrifying right then—she wanted him to.
She wanted all of it—the closeness, the heat, but she especially wanted the way he looked at her like she mattered.
Rocco’s forehead rested against hers for a moment while both of them tried to catch their breath. “You tell me if you want me to stop,” he said quietly. The sincerity in his voice nearly shattered her, because no one had ever handled her this carefully before—like she was worth protecting.
Luna touched his face lightly, holding his gaze. “I don’t want you to stop.”
That was all it took. “Where is your bedroom? He asked.
“Down the hallway to the right,” she gasped between kisses. Rocco kissed her again while walking her backward toward the bedroom, both of them laughing softly when she nearly tripped over her own shoes halfway there.
“You okay?” he asked immediately.
Luna burst out laughing harder. “I’m fine, just embarrassed. That was incredibly smooth of me.”
His grin hit her straight in the chest. “You’re still the hottest thing I’ve seen all night.” God. She was in trouble—real trouble, because somewhere between the boxing ring and this moment, Luna had stopped thinking of Rocco as temporary.
Luna should have been nervous, and maybe she was, but it was buried under something hotter.
Something stronger—her need for Rocco. By the time they reached her bedroom, her pulse was racing so hard she could feel it everywhere.
In her throat, her chest, and even between her ribs, every time Rocco touched her.
And he kept touching her like he couldn’t stop.
Like maybe he didn’t want to, and honestly, neither did she.
The second they crossed into her room, Rocco slowed down again, his hands settling on her hips while he looked at her like he was trying to memorize every detail about her. The intensity of it made her breath catch. “What?” she whispered.
His thumb brushed lightly against her waist. “Just making sure this is real.”
Luna stepped closer until there wasn’t any space left between them. “Feels pretty real to me.” A rough laugh left him before he kissed her again. She noticed that now, there was nowhere else for the tension to go. This was happening, and there would be no more running for either of them.
Her fingers slid under the hem of his shirt, finally touching warm skin and hard muscle beneath it. Rocco inhaled sharply against her mouth, his hands tightening on her hips. She found that interesting. The big, intimidating boxer liked being touched.
Luna smiled faintly against his lips. “You’re very responsive,” she teased softly.
Rocco groaned quietly. “You talk too much.”
“You don’t let me get a word in edgewise, because you keep kissing me,” she pointed out.
“That’s because shutting you up is becoming one of my favorite hobbies,” he teased.
She laughed, and the sound melted into another kiss as he backed her slowly toward the bed.
Rocco never rushed her, and that was what got to Luna the most. Even now—when the heat between them was practically unbearable—he still handled her carefully.
Like he was making sure she stayed with him every step of the way.
It made her feel wanted, chosen, and even safe.
It made something in her chest ache unexpectedly.