The sun is high above us, warming the beach, ending another perfect night that means we have one day less together.

Keeping a safe distance in case someone sees us, we walk back to the main building. The morning and afternoon pass quickly. I breeze through my mandatory behavioral therapy session and return to the apartment.

All is quiet, meaning Kaiden’s not back yet. I head for the bathroom to freshen up, content that I’m alone with my thoughts. The conversations with my therapist have become less heated. I think we’ve even started to get along. There are times when I talk about my feelings, masking them as best as I can, pretending it’s all about Bruce when, in reality, everything has become about Kade.

My therapist is adamant that I need some time alone.

I don’t necessarily agree with her.

I strip and twist my hair into a bun before taking a shower.

Closing my eyes, I let the warm water cleanse my body, and gradually, I find myself relaxing as the thoughts in my mind are reduced to a distant hum.

“Mind if I join?” Kade’s rumble wakes me from my reverie.

I turn slowly.

He’s standing in the doorway, fully dressed, but his presence is enough to send an electric current down my spine.

My body begins to tingle all over. In the last few days, we’ve barely slept. My core’s still pulsating from his touch, my clit’s still swollen from his tongue, and yet I find myself longing for him.

Always more of him.

“You forgot to lock the door,” Kade says, misinterpreting my silence, but he makes no move to leave. The way he says it, it sounds as though I did it on purpose.

My breath hitches, rendering me speechless, as he slowly peels his clothes off and inches toward me, his eyes roaming over my naked body, taking in every inch of skin.

And he seems to like what he sees because a small, wicked smile tugs at his lips.

I don’t think anyone has turned me on like he does. The water keeps pouring over me, burning my skin. Or maybe it’s the intensity of his gaze that scorches me.

He stops mere inches from me. Flooded by memories of us together, I try hard not to stare at his perfect body, at the strength and familiarity of it.

The silence is unnerving.

“Kade?” My voice sounds shaky, nervous as I try to break the silence. I need him to say something, anything, before I lose myself in those eyes of his.

“You’re beautiful, Vicky.” His voice is soft and serious, with a hidden meaning I can’t grasp. It doesn’t fit the scene of two naked people who clearly want each other in all possible ways.

“Why does your words sound so heavy and meaningful?” I ask.

“Because one day you’ll find someone who says it to you and you’ll fall in love with him.”

I regard him for a few moments, wondering what brought on the sudden change in tone.

“Don’t choose someone who’s no good for you,” Kade says slowly. “You deserve someone who looks at you like he’s just won a galaxy with all its stars.”

“That’s impossible, Kade.” My eyes turn moist, but not from the water pouring over me.

How can I tell this beautiful yet unreachable man that I could never go looking for the person he describes because I’ve already found him?

“I know.” He sighs and turns the faucet off. “No one will be good enough for you.”

“I don’t understand.” I shake my head. “Do you want me to end up all alone with only a few cats for company? Don’t you want to see me happy?”

“That’s the thing, Vicky. I think I can make you happy. That’s why we need to talk.”

I stare at him, unsure whether I’ve heard him right.

He can make me happy?

For a moment, I’m so paralyzed, his words keep replaying in my mind. Like in a loop, they keep swirling around, too fast to understand.

I do feel like I can make you happy.

My heart jumps into motion as realization dawns on me. If there’s one thing Kaiden Wright can’t do, it’s commitment.

It’s like he’s allergic to it—he joked about it.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly as I gather my thoughts. “My therapist says we’ll relapse, Kade. Not necessarily now, but it will happen eventually. She says that friendships, relationships, any form of bonding formed during rehab never lasts.”

“She’s right. People relapse. And then they get their shit together and get better,” Kade says slowly. “But that’s not us.”

I raise my brows. “And you know this how?”

“Because we don’t belong here.” He pulls me into his arms, skin against skin, his heat warming me, his eyes piercing into mine, filling me with the kind of hope I shouldn’t allow myself to feel. I look up at him, sucking in every word as though my life depends on it. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. You make me feel like I’ve only just now started to live. Like everything before you was just existing, floating with no meaning. I’ll never get enough of you. And I sure as hell won’t ever share you with anyone.”

Sweet words…so meaningless, so much hope.

I don’t know what his game is, but I don’t feel up for playing, and yet I can’t walk away.

Everything inside me is trapped in a storm wreaking havoc.

“I’m not telling you that I love you. I’m saying that I crave you so much I cannot imagine you being with someone else,” Kade says.

My heart sinks, breaking just a little bit.

He presses his lips against mine.

“Love is not an accident. It’s a verb. You don’t wait for it to happen. You make it happen. And I have every intention of making you mine,” he whispers into my mouth.

“You don’t do commitment, Kade. We’d be friends with benefits.”

“You would be my only friend.”

I should feel offended that he’d ever proposition something like that to me, but all I can feel is hurt and want. I want him so much even though it hurts. And it hurts like hell that he doesn’t want me the way I want him.

When did things take this turn?

When did our little uncomplicated thing become so messy?

“I don’t want to lose you,” he whispers.

I press my mouth against him, taking everything he can give me, even though I know it’s never going to be enough.

Could I keep on seeing him without actually being with him? Could I ever kiss his lips without wanting them to be mine—and mine only?

I can’t let him into my world, only to feed my obsession, which would lead to stalking, then to misery—a never-ending circle I couldn’t possibly break on my own.

Things with Bruce started out the same way. Except, Bruce never saw me the way Kade does.

Kade makes me feel wanted while still keeping me at arm’s length. He created feelings I never had before while doing nothing. His kisses are like soft breezes and roaring hurricanes, his touch a warm rain shower and a cascading waterfall.

“I think it’s time we change things up a bit,” Kade says as he begins to trail soft kisses down my neck. “How about I take you out to dinner? Just the two of us.”

I shake my head. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I want to. I want a date with you.”

I frown. “You want a date?”

“Something like that.” He grimaces, as though the very notion pains him.

“But I thought you don’t date?”

“There is an exception to every rule.”

“I don’t understand.” I take a step back to regard him. “What changed your mind?”

“You,” he says softly. “And the fact that we only have a few days left. It seems like there’s never enough time for the good things in life.”

My heart starts to pump a little harder, stupid fool that it is.

He wants to be something like friends with benefits, but exclusive, and also take me out on a date.

Only Kade could be so complicated.

“I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me.” I smile at him, suppressing the sadness that hovers on the bridge of my soul.

“Let me see what I can do, given the circumstances.”

As I watch him get out of the shower and gather his clothes off the floor, I realize the only reason he’s offered to take me out on a date is that he doesn’t want to hurt me. People say one thing, and maybe they mean it in that one moment, but as soon as they step into the real world, all plans turn to dust.

“Where are you going?” I ask, also realizing that this is the first time we’re both naked and he’s not taking advantage of the situation.

“Workout.” He pecks my lips absentmindedly and heads out, calling over his shoulder. “I’ll pick you up after the group session tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

As soon as the door closes, I turn the shower back on, shaking my head at my own stupidity.

Kade Wright doesn’t date; he only fucks. And right now I’m not even getting that.