I pushed to standing, taking one step down toward Fiona, the need to touch her driving me mad. “Sorry to just show up. I tried calling you.”

Reaching up with one hand, she rubbed at the space between her eyebrows with two fingers, like the weight of her stress was starting to affect her physically. I could understand that all too well. “I lost my phone back at the office. It’s probably in the conference room or something.”

“Oh, well….” I shrugged with discomfort. “I guess that’s why you didn’t answer or return any of my texts.”

Fiona started shifting on her feet, the cold obviously getting to her. The way her nose and cheeks were burning a bright shade of pink made me want to grab her and pull her into my arms in an effort to warm her up.

“Look,” she sighed a few seconds later, “I’m not sure why you’re here, but I’ve had a really bad day, and I just want to get inside and crash.” Starting up the stairs, she was careful to keep a distance as she went around me.

I spun quickly, desperation thickening my words as I all but begged, “Fiona, please. I’m so sorry. Please, can we just talk?”

Even with her back to me, I could see the defeat in her body as she dropped her head on a deep exhale. After what felt like a miserable eternity, she finally spoke. “Fine. Let’s go inside. I’m freezing out here.”

Even as I breathed a sigh of relief, in the back of my mind I knew my battle was far from over. Walking into her house, I was hit with a shock. Before we started dating, I’d never made it past her front stoop, seeing as we were barely even friends back then. Since getting together, Fiona had insisted on staying at my house every night, claiming it felt more like a home than hers. And she hadn’t been wrong.

The place didn’t have a single ounce of Fiona’s personality anywhere. It was all undecorated white walls and monochromatic furniture in different shades of beige. It was like walking into the front lobby of a doctor’s office, uninspiring and drab. The only thing missing were the two-year-old editions of magazines no one had any interest in reading.

“So,” she said, breaking into my thoughts. “What do you want to talk about?” I watched her ass move beneath her skirt as she removed her coat and scarf, hanging them on a hook by the front door. My gaze stayed transfixed as Fiona wandered through the living space and into the less-than-appealing kitchen. It wasn’t until she looked back and snapped, “Deacon!” after catching me leering that I lifted my eyes to her face. Even seeing the fury sparking behind her eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to feel guilty for checking her out. My hands had been all over that ass, and my mouth had tasted her everywhere just a few days before. I’d fucked up, but until she said otherwise, her body was mine to gawk at.

“You wanted to talk, so either talk or leave so I can go to sleep.”

Fuck me. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “I screwed up, baby. I never should have piled my shit on you a few days ago. I was an asshole for sending you away like I did, and then I made it worse by going days without making it right. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Fee.”

After staring silently at me for several seconds, she reached out and pulled the cork from an already open bottle of wine, pouring it into a glass she retrieved from a cabinet. Once finished with that, Fiona went to the fridge, pulled out a beer, and uncapped it, sliding it toward me.

It was only after she was done with our drinks that she spoke again. “We had this conversation when I was the one with my head up my own ass. But I’ll give you a refresher, seeing as this time you’re the one who was twisting shit up.” She took a sip of her wine and placed it on the counter, resting her hands on either side of it before diving in, her tone serious as a heart attack. “We don’t shut each other out. We don’t play games. We’re honest with each other always. If you need to think, you do it with me. If you’ve got something that’s weighing on your mind so heavily that you’re in a perpetual state of grumpiness, you don’t take that out on me. If you don’t want to talk right then, that’s fine. Say so, but don’t push me away while you’re stewing over your problems. I’m not your doormat, and I never will be.”

Christ, there was that fire again. And damn, if it didn’t make me hard as hell.

“I’ll give you time to process whatever’s bothering you as long as you promise to eventually open up to me. If this is something you can’t agree with, then we need to stop this right now, because this is something I can’t compromise on any further.”

I watched, completely enraptured by her, as I lifted my beer and took a huge gulp to help alleviate the dryness in my throat. “That’s a promise I can make.” Her entire body sagged in relief. “Anything else?”

At my question, her chin tilted up and she crossed her arms, exuding an air of haughtiness. “Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Your thinking time has officially expired. I want to know about you and your dad. Everything, Deacon.”

“Okay.”

My immediate compliance shocked her, and her body gave a surprised jolt. “Oh. Okay. Well, that’s… good.”

However, I had a stipulation of my own before giving her what she wanted. “But first I need you to come around here.”

Fiona’s head tipped in bewilderment. “Why?”

“Because I’ve needed to kiss you since you climbed out of your car, and I’m done waiting. You want answers, and I’ll give you everything you want, just as long as you let me touch you while I’m doing it.”

She didn’t make me wait, coming as fast as her fuck-me heels would allow. By the time she rounded the white marble counter separating us, she was nearly at a run. I braced just in time for her to launch herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck in a death grip. I returned the gesture, holding on to her waist and lifting her off her feet.

“I missed you.” Her voice was like gravel, emotion making her words thick.

Hearing that was a solid punch to the gut, leaving me breathless. “Missed you too, baby,” I replied, my words rough and jagged. “I’m so goddamn sorry.”

She pulled back quickly, taking my face in her hands as she scowled up at me. “Never do that again. Ever. If we fight, we go to bed together. Even if we’re on separate sides and not talking, I don’t care.”

Wrapping my fingers around her wrists, I removed her hands from my cheeks and leaned in closer. “Never again. I swear. I’ve been fucking miserable without you.”

Her eyes grew glassy and bright with unshed tears. “Me too.”

“Now kiss me.”

She might have been the one to initiate the kiss, but the instant her lips touched mine I took control, tangling one of my hands in her hair and grabbing her lush, perfect ass with the other. When she opened her mouth on a moan to give me access, I nearly lost control. I growled and deepened the kiss, thrusting my tongue into her mouth and stroking it against hers. Pulling her tighter against me, I groaned into Fiona’s mouth when her tits pressed against my chest. I felt like I’d been missing this, missing us, for a goddamned lifetime, not just a few days. It wasn’t until I felt her against me again that I realized how essential she was. It was as if I’d been missing a limb without her, and now I was whole once more.

We were both breathing hard when I finally pulled back, but I didn’t let her go. With one arm still firmly around her waist, I grabbed her wine and handed it to her before getting my beer and leading us into the living room. Fiona’s sofa didn’t look nearly as comfortable as mine, but it would do for now. At least until I got her back home.

I took a seat, pulling her down right beside me so that most of her chest was pressing into my side, then propped my feet on the coffee table. “Okay, so you wanted to know the deal with my dad.”

When she tried to pull away, I squeezed her waist tighter.

“Uh, Deac? Is this really the best position for this talk?”

Her face was barely two inches away when I looked down at her and smiled. “Feels pretty perfect to me.”

She scrunched her face adorably. “It’s kind of awkward. Your face is really close.”

I tipped my head down a bit farther and pressed my lips against hers in a hard, quick kiss. “I know. That’s the point.”

“Fine,” she said with a roll of her eyes and a little sigh. Facing forward, she lifted her wineglass and sipped. “So tell me what’s going on with you and Nolan.”

At her request, I dove in and opened myself up, showing her absolutely everything. I told her everything I’d told Grayson earlier that day, how I always felt second best, how I resented my father and brother, how it crushed me when she and Grayson started seeing each other. From the way her cheeks turned pink and her eyes teared up, I knew it was almost as painful for her to hear as it was for me to say.

“Deacon,” she breathed when I finally reached the end. “I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault, sweetheart,” I said softly, winding a strand of her deep red hair around my finger. “It is what it is.”

“But it shouldn’t be,” she declared forcefully. “What you’ve done with The Black Sheep… how can he not see how amazing it is?”

That was a question I’d asked myself a million times. “I’ve given up trying to figure that out. I shouldn’t have let him get under my skin at the party, and I really shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I don’t know if things between me and Dad will ever be better than they are now, but I promise you, I’ll never take it out on your again. You have my word.”

She went silent and dropped her cheek to my chest, deep in thought. After about a minute, she snapped, “I don’t accept that.”

I leaned back and put a finger under her chin to lift her face to mine. “Don’t accept what?”

Her expression was one of fierce determination. “That your relationship with your dad is what it’s always going to be. I don’t accept that. I know you guys. I know how much Nolan loves you and Grayson, and how much you love them. It doesn’t have to be this way. If you’d just talk instead of fight, maybe you two could fix things.”

Everything she said sounded good—in theory. But I wasn’t going to hold my breath. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up, baby. You’ll just end up disappointed.”

Her gaze drifted to the side, going unfocused. “Maybe,” she mumbled a while later. “But it’s worth the risk.”

“Hey,” I called, wanting her attention back on me. “Why’s this so important to you?”

She looked at me like I’d just said something stupid. “Because you’re important to me. When you hurt, I hurt. And I’ll do whatever I can to make it better for you. That’s what you do when you love someone.”

Jesus, she was killing me. “I love you too, baby.”

She smiled up at me with that bright, gorgeous smile, and I knew down to my bones that we were back to us. And I’d never been more thankful for anything in my life.

“Around the world and back again,” she said softly.

“To Jupiter and back again.”

That time, she was the one to lift up and give me a kiss. “Good. Now take me home.”

I didn’t have to be told twice.