Page 81 of The Clinch
Her hands drop from my shoulders. “Leo?”
I make myself look at her. “I want more.” Silence. “I’m not doing this halfway. Or calling it casual.”
She stares at me like I’ve stepped sideways into some language she doesn’t speak. Then I watch the wall go up—fast and familiar.
Without touching more than she has to, she slides out from under me. Straightens the hem of my shirt over her thighs like she’s putting herself back together.
“Okay.” Flat. Controlled.
I sit back and give her room because that’s the only thing I know how to do that won’t make this worse.
She grabs her shorts. Her hoodie. Doesn’t argue. Doesn’t ask me to explain. Her silence hurts worse than anger would have.
Without looking back, she crosses the room. The door opens. Closes softly behind her.
I stay where I am, the bed still warm from her body.
I did the right thing.
I know that.
I’m going to keep knowing it all night.
20
THE TRAP (LIZ)
The door clicks shut behind me.
I move past Nate and Eden’s room, past the gym, into the living room without turning on a light. Then I drop onto the sofa exactly as I am.
Sleep won’t come.
Outside, the ocean keeps hitting the shore—hard, repetitive, relentless. Crickets grind in the dunes. The house sits quiet, indifferent to what just happened upstairs.
I curl onto my side and pull my knees in.
Another man. Another boxer. Another body I can’t seem to shut out.
I did that.
I touched him first. Climbed on top of him. Opened the door myself.
The worst part is that it didn’t feel reckless. It felt true.
That’s the trap.
I told myself I could take relief and walk away. Take the heat. Leave the rest of me locked down where it belongs.
Then he stopped.
Not because he didn’t want me. Because he wanted more.
I want more.
His voice comes back exactly as it sounded upstairs—steady, certain, like wanting someone completely is the most normal thing in the world.
I press my face harder into the sofa and make myself breathe until thought comes back.
