Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ryder
The Hollow’s quiet when I come down from the office.
I see her before she sees me.
Aurora’s at the long table by the stage, papers spread out, preparing a hostile corporate takeover. Laptop open. Hair falling out of whatever knot she tried to contain it in. One shoe kicked off. Pen between her teeth.
She kinda belongs here.
That’s the first problem.
I walk forward, boots hard against the floor.
She glances up.
Doesn’t smile.
Suspicious already.
“What are you stalking?” she asks.
“I own the building.”
“Debatable,” she mutters, and slides a stack of papers over before I even ask.
I pick them up.
Founders Day – The Hollow as Official Sponsor she’s just changed tactics.
I deepen the kiss, slower but harder. My mouth moves over hers with intention. Control threaded through heat. I bite lightly at her lower lip, and she inhales sharply, fingers tightening.
“You don’t back down,” I murmur against her mouth.
“You don’t either,” she breathes back.
Her hands slide up into my hair, and that’s it, that’s the fracture line.
I push in closer, caging her between me and the table, my body fitting against hers as if it’s been measuring the distance for weeks. The air between us is stifling with everything we haven’t said.
Finn.
Zane.
The gym.
The way she stood up.
The way she stayed.