Page 217 of Bound By Fire
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Ridge
I pace up and down the hallway, going over everything in my head like I have been doing for three days.
I felt like Robyn needed space and some time to work through everything. I didn’t want to bombard her. At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself. I’m also a coward because there is a big part of me that is too afraid to face her.
Every excuse I come up with sounds hollow. I’m not sure how to tackle this. I’m tempted to leave and to come back another time.
Shit!
“Are you going to keep pacing all night?”
I turn my head. Smoke is standing at the far end of the corridor.
“I’m thinking,” I say.
“You’ve been thinking for a while now.”
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Nope.” He doesn’t move. “I’m on guard duty. You assigned me. Just knock on the door already,” he says.
“You know I’m your boss, right? You shouldn’t be giving me orders.”
“I say it like I see it. Knock!”
I turn toward the door and roll my eyes.
Fuck!
I don’t want to do this.
Smoke is right, the longer I stand out here, the worse my anxiety gets. I’ve never felt this nervous about anything. Not even when I was a fighter on the frontlines and facing death on a daily basis. I’d rather go back there than face a tiny human female.
I pull in a slow breath, raise my hand, and knock.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he says from down the hall.
I give him a hard look, and it wipes the smirk off his face.
My mouth has gone dry.
It doesn’t take long before there are footsteps on the other side of the door.
The lock turns, and Robyn is there. She smells amazing and is dressed in old sweats; her dark hair is down around her shoulders in a tumble. So, fucking beautiful that I just stand there like an idiot.
She takes one look at me, and the warmth that was on her face fades.
“Ridge.” Her voice is careful. “Why are you here?”
I swallow thickly and clear my throat.
“I need to talk to you.”
She looks at me for a beat. Something moves behind her eyes and closes off just as quickly.
“You already apologized,” she says. “I heard you. I get that you were doing your job. I know that, and I hold no grudge about it. I mean that.” She glances briefly at the hand I have resting against her door frame, then back up at me. “Thank you foreverything you did to get me out. I told Flint to pass it along. I hope he did.”
