That’s what tonight has proven.
I feel too much for Dash Black.
He’s in sweats, naked from the waist up, wrapping his wrist. His body is perfect, as hard as his expression when he looks up and finds me standing there.
The instant he registers I’m the one in his room, his arms drop to his sides, his jaw flexing. “What the hell are you doing here, Allie?” His voice is low, taut like his mood.
“I came for you,” I whisper, then in a stronger voice, I say, “I came to save you from yourself.”
“You don’t belong here.”
“No,” I agree readily, “but neither do you.”
I blink and he’s in front of me, caging me to the door without ever touching me, a hand on either side of my head. I want him to touch me. God, how I want him to touch me. “Dash—”
“The person you know is not who I am when I’m here,” he growls. “Do you understand? That is not who I am here.”
I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like the pinch in my chest those words create. “You said you wouldn’t do this again.”
“I said a lot of things we both wanted to believe. They were all bullshit.”
“Say what you want, Dash. Hurt me. Grind my heart into pieces. It’s fine. I knew what I was getting into with you, but if you do this, if you fight tonight, Brandon and your father will find out. And they win. They get what they want. They will hurt you.”
“Do you think I give a shit?”
I want to touch him but something holds me back, something tells me he won’t react well. “I know you want to punish yourself,” I say instead. “I know you blame yourself for your brother’s death, even if in your core, you know it’s not your fault.”
“You know nothing about my brother.”
“But I know you. And I’ve seen how shitty your father can be. Punish yourself if you must, but don’t do it to their benefit. Keep it private. Go to another damn country and fight, Dash. Don’t do it here. Don’t do it now.”
“Go home, Allie.”
“I’m already home, Dash. We both know it. No matter what decision you make, I’m done. I’m not going back to Nashville. Not to live. Not even to work.” Someone knocks on the door and then it opens, shoving me into Dash as it does.
He catches me to him, the touch electric, powerful, and whatever was ever between us is here now. His eyes meet mine and a punch of awareness blasts into us. But Dash doesn’t react by holding me tighter. He sets me firmly away from him and his gaze lifts toward the door. I turn to find yet another big, burly man in the entryway. He eyes me and then Dash. “Mario wants to see you.”
I’m still reeling from the way he set me away from him with such decisiveness, with a decision in the action. A decision that said he chose fighting, not me, not even himself because fighting could end badly in all kinds of ways—hurt him, hurt his career. I turn to face Dash but I don’t meet his stare. “I’ll let you get back to what’s really important to you.” I rotate and duck under the giant man’s arm and all but run toward the door while my eyes blur with tears and the room spins. I can’t get out of here quickly enough and once I’m at the door, I shove it open and keep walking.
Adrian is instantly by my side. “Allie, what happened?”
“I just need out of here,” I say. “Please take me home.”
All of a sudden, someone catches my arm and I’m spun around to face Dash. “What the hell are you doing, Allie?” he demands.
“Go inside, Dash. The press will find you out here.” I try to jerk away.
He pulls me closer and his gaze lifts to Adrian. “Who the fuck are you?”
“He’s with Walker Security,” I say. “The security team for Riptide. They found you as a favor. Obviously, I should have saved the favor for a better time.”
His gaze jerks back to mine and he catches my hand. “Come with me.” He starts walking quickly. I can barely keep up. My heart is racing. My entire body is quaking.
“Dash, stop!” I call, all but falling down.
He doesn’t stop. A man I don’t know appears beside yet another SUV and opens the rear passenger door. Dash halts us right there. “Joseph, my driver, will drive you. Go home.”
My heart sinks with the realization that he’s going back into the fight club, he’s going to fight. And yes, I could argue with him, but I don’t even know what the point is right now. The sooner I’m inside the vehicle, the sooner I’m away from him. And that’s what we both want. Away. From each other. Being with him hurts too much. Being with him tells me what a fool I was and am.