closet and pulling on a pair of jeans and a tank top. The fact that he didn't seem affected by my nakedness was upsetting, but he had a lot on his mind, as was visible from the troubled look on his handsome face.
"Edward went with me." He glanced back over his shoulder as I crawled up on my bed and dropped down on my side.
"I bet that was fun." I patted the bed beside me. "Come here."
"I hate him with a passion." A smirk lifted his beautiful mouth as he moved to sit on the side of my bed and reached over, brushing his hand down my hair. "He's a lucky bastard."
"It could be you." I cupped my hand over his and drew him up to touch my face before pressing several soft kisses on his palm.
"We have to figure out who's beating up the girls." He shifted a little to move farther onto the bed.
Excitement lit up every part of me at the very notion than he might stay and hold me.
"I'll go undercover." I scooted back but held onto his hand, dragging him farther on the bed with me.
"What are you doing, Izzy?" He moved up to lie on his side and pulled his hand from me as he propped himself up on his elbow.
I reached out and brushed my thumb over his lips as I closed my eyes. "Trying to remember why I'm good with living this fucked-up life."
"You're not going undercover. I already have you on the cop situation." His grip on my side was firm as he pulled at me, nudging me to move closer to him.
Every cell in my body woke up as I shifted to lie just in front of him — so close but not touching. "You're ignoring me."
"No. I hear everything you're saying and all that you're not." He ran his hand over my shoulder and gripped my upper arm as he laid his head down on my pillow. "I know that you're hurting again too."
"How can I not?" I reached up and wiped away a tear before it dropped. "What if this was Drake? What would you do to save him?"
"Anything possible. Everything within my reach." He leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose. "I'm going to go talk with Joe. Plan on saving some time for me this week to work through a few things together."
"About us?" I gripped the side of his face and leaned in, brushing my nose by his as the world faded. I didn't need anything but him, and yet he would deny me if I moved in for a kiss.
"Izzy." He gripped my hip as his thumb brushed over the skin just above my waistband. "Don't do this right now. If we get together, let’s make it because we're healthy enough to handle the outflow of what we'll be up against, not because we're broken."
I brushed my nose by his once more.
"And this is why I choose Edward." He sighed, and I rolled over, leaving my back to him. "Close the door on your way out."
Chapter 22
Two Days Later
Izabella
The sun streamed through the far window as I woke. The covers were far too warm to get up just yet, but I should have. In my haze I let myself go to places I tried to avoid in my memory. A groan left the center of my chest as tendrils of pleasure raced down my center and settled between my thighs.
"D," I whispered and squeezed my eyes tightly. How badly I wanted us to be two completely different people from who we were. There was far too much untapped between us. The final time we made love six years before raced across the back of my eyelids, and a soft cry left me.
"Tell me to stop, Izzy." He brushed his lips by mine, gripping the side of my face. The look of adoration and desire on his face left me weak, panting like a schoolgirl in love.
"No. Please don't," I begged and pressed myself against him, hoping to seal our fate for the evening.
I loved his apartment. The solitude where we could disappear and let everything go for a time. His lips were soft and wet against mine. I opened up and invited him in, wanting to taste him more than anything else I could be offered.
He groaned, and electricity shot through my veins. I wanted to hear him again and again, needed to.
"Fuck me," I mumbled against his mouth and pressed my