I failed her.

She loves me.

I’ll break her.

Tristan Westdyke seems to have it all: he’s handsome, athletic, smart, and admired. What people don’t see beyond the façade, though, is the pain and guilt eating away at his soul. Blaming himself for the loss of another person, Tristan trudges through life not allowing himself to feel.

But when the beautiful and energetic Katelyn Sharp barrels into his life, Tristan is helpless to resist emotions long buried. A connection slowly grows between the two, yet secrets and deceit threaten to shatter the fragile trust and love they’ve found.

Can two people who have been hurt and betrayed open their hearts up once more? Can both accept that all may have happened For a Reason?

“You scare me.” I decided to go as honest as I could. My heart was pounding with both my admission and something else I couldn’t identify.

She scoffed. “Uh, do you see me? How can this—” she gestured to herself “—intimidate you?”

I slowly perused her from her sandal-clad feet, up the short black dress, and all the way to her now flushing face. “Yeah. I see you,” I whispered as I peered into her deep brown eyes.

She was dumbstruck at my words and let her guard down for a second. Then she seemed to snap out of it, shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts. “Screw this.” Kate turned, breaking our stare down to jam her key into the lock.

So quickly that even I didn’t know how it happened, I moved and suddenly I had her pinned against the wall next to the door. Her purse and keys clattered to the floor. “Hey!” she started to protest, but she trailed off as she realized that our faces were inches away from each other—a fact that I was now also painfully aware of. I had her hands restrained above her head with both of my own, and my lower body was against hers so that she couldn’t move. “Tristan, what—” she started to ask.

“I don’t know,” I managed to get out before my lips crashed into hers. I moaned when her mouth immediately opened to me. And she answered me back with her own sweet whimper as our tongues tangled together. She wiggled until she was able to hook one of her long legs around my waist. I let go of her hands to grab both of her legs, running my hands up and down her smooth thighs before resting my hold under her ass so I could grip her tighter against me. I couldn’t stop—I needed to explore all of her mouth, memorize the sounds she made, and show her all the things I couldn’t say with words.

After I had released her hands, Kate ran them over my chest, causing me to groan and push her harder against the wall, and then she tangled them in my hair. She anchored me to her, and I was too far gone to care about what any of this even meant anymore. Kate, Kate, Kate. I want you. But I know I shouldn’t. I don’t want to hurt you, beautiful girl. Give me what I don’t know I want.

Both our phones started to ring, the piercing tones shattering the moment. And I wanted nothing more than to stay in that moment—wrapped up in Kate. Kate was the first to break away, breathing heavily. I leaned my forehead against hers, still holding her up. Her eyes remained closed, but I kept mine open to watch her. I didn’t know what to say to her now. No words could convey what had just happened between us. All I knew was that I wanted more—more of her taste, more of her moans, more of her pressed against me—but I didn’t know how to tell her that. “Put me down,” she commanded softly as she opened her eyes.

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