Not running. Not lying. But taking and giving it back. No layers. Just her.

Tori Rivera.

Fucking Tori Rivera. Jesus.

Thought about how good that would be more times than I could remember. Nine months of fantasies building expectation she might not meet, building obsession, too, ’cause I wanted her hot ass in my bed and she was making that shit a challenge, then I get her there and Tori doesn’t just live up to what I’ve been pining for, but proves I’ve been underestimating her this entire fucking time.

Shit wasn’t just good. It was really fucking good, even without the sex.

She held on. Fucking held on to me. Legs was giving it back.

Fuck. So good.

And I wanted to stay there. I wanted to keep her like that, pressing close and open, but I was edgy. Alive with anger. I couldn’t stop seeing her crying. I couldn’t stop hearing her begging words while she broke apart.

I wanted to find that prick and knock his teeth down his throat. I wanted to kill him. Rip him apart for what he did to her. It felt like a fever was running through me. My hands clenched around soft skin that burrowed against my side. I couldn’t stay in that bed. I needed to move.

I needed to burn it out.

Being on the water did that. It calmed my mind and cleared my head. There was nothing like it. So I texted Dash and made him aware, then I grabbed my board and paddled out.

The water under me. The power of it. Feeling the air. Hearing the break of the waves. Fucking heaven.

I got some time in and I felt better. Not much. I still wanted to beat the shit out of this asshole, but there was a chance now I might not kill him. Slim, but it was there.

After changing out of my board shorts and finding Tori still asleep, rolled on her side as if I was still behind her, I left her there, wanting her to get as much rest as possible after what all went down last night. I figured she needed it. Then I went downstairs, got the coffee brewed, and poured myself a cup.

I stood at the island, drinking my coffee and flipping through a magazine while I waited. Noise of the front door opening lifted my head, and I watched Syd walk into the room wearing her blue hospital scrubs, her quick steps bringing her in fast and her anxious eyes scanning.

She stopped halfway into the room. Dash followed in behind her.

“Where is she?” Syd asked when she didn’t find Tori standing in the kitchen with me or sitting in the living room. “Is she okay? What happened? Did he do something to her? I’m gonna tear him apart and then light him on fire. I swear to God …” She curled her hands into fists and held them in front of her chest. Her face burned red.

“Babe, take a breath.” Dash came to a stop next to her, looking at his girl. “Jamie’s got her. If she wasn’t okay, he would’ve called and had us coming over a lot sooner. You know that.”

Syd lowered her hands and looked at me, face soft, asking, “She’s okay?”

“She’s asleep,” I told her. “Crashed in my bed last night.”

Syd’s eyes brightened, then her mouth twitched the slightest bit. She was upset and worrying for her friend but she liked hearing that. Liked it so much she gave that quirky look she was wearing to Dash and let him see it.

He shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.

I went on elaborating. “Slept good all night, but that cocksucker made her cry. She was pretty torn up when she got here,” I shared, not keeping the truth from Syd ’cause this was her girl and she deserved to know. I braced my hands on the island on either side of the magazine and leaned forward, keeping her eyes. “Showed up at her place sayin’ some shit about Tori wantin’ to keep what they had going even though she knew he was married. Like that didn’t matter to her.”

“Jesus,” Dash mumbled at the same time as Syd flinched.

“He said that?” she whispered.

I jerked my chin and watched her shoulders pull back.

“On second thought,” she began, raising her voice and lifting a finger to gesture. “I’m gonna light him on fire before I rip him apart. I want him feeling those flames.”

“You can do whatever the fuck you wanna do with him. But that first shot?” I jabbed a finger at my chest. “That’s mine, babe. First person he’s seein’ is me.”

Syd blinked, lowering her hand. She looked on the verge of tears. “You’re gonna defend her honor again,” she stated softly, not as a question but as if she already knew. “Just like you did when you messed up his car. You’re going for her soft.”

“I’m goin’ for her what?” I asked, brow furrowing as I lowered my hand to cool granite.

“Her soft. You want to hit it again.”

“What the fuck is her soft?”

“Her heart, Jamie.”

I stared at Syd, seeing she was serious. Then I shook my head, laughing under my breath and looking to Dash to watch him give his girl the same reaction I was giving her. I looked back to Syd and shared, “Sunshine, like what you’re tellin’ me, appreciate it, too. I’m glad I’ve hit that spot in her. Means I got a shot at hittin’ it again. Straight up, that’s good to know. But right now, the only thing I’m thinkin’ about hittin’ belongs to one dead motherfucker.”

“I understand that,” Syd replied. “I just want to make sure you’re aware of what this might mean to her since, you know, she might not tell you.”

Syd knew her girl. That was for damn sure.