“Hi.” My voice sounds small. I hate that. I need to woman up.

I take a fortifying breath. All I managed to do is breathe Tom in. His familiar scent. It reminds me of times lost.

Pain lances across my chest.

Tom’s eyes flicker to Cale’s hand on my shoulder, and they harden. Then, his eyes come back to me, and they soften in my gaze.

“Are you…” He scratches the stubble on his chin before his fingers work up to the hair on his head. He tugs on the strands. “Can we, um…talk?”

I don’t know why, but I look at Shannon. Maybe it’s because I know she’ll encourage me to talk to him, and encouragement is what I need right now because my head is saying to tell him to fuck off. Even though my heart is reaching her grubby little fingers out in desperation for him.

Shannon does encourage me. Talk to him, she mouths.

I look back to Tom. I can see the unease lining his face, his body tense, as he waits for my answer.

It hurts to look at him.

I look over his shoulder and say, “I don’t know.”

“Please, Lyla.”

The angst in his voice has my eyes coming straight back to him.

He looks afraid.

I take a deep breath. “Okay…”

That one word from me has him visibly relaxing. It has me wondering what’s so important that he needs to talk to me urgently.

I turn to Cale, causing his hand to slip from my shoulder. “Head on home without me. I’ll see you there.” Then, I remember that I’m Shannon’s ride. “Could you give Shannon a ride home? If that’s okay with you, Shannon?”

“Sure it is.” She smiles big. She’s happy that Tom’s here to see me. I think beneath her cool exterior, is a closet romantic.

Cale hasn’t even looked at me yet. His eyes are angry and on Tom. I don’t know if Cale is going to be difficult about this or not. Then, he drags his stare from Tom to me. “Ly, I’m not gonna try to talk you out of speaking to him. You do what you gotta do. But you need me, you call me, and I’ll come straight away.”

“I know. Thank you.” I smile, touching his arm.

He turns his eyes back to Tom, jaw clenched. “I don’t care who the fuck you are. You hurt her again, and I’ll come after you—”

“We’ll come after you.” Sonny steps up.

My heart plummets. Tom’s not exactly a pacifist, and I really don’t need a confrontation between them all right now.

Tom looks between the both of them, then, he sighs. “I fucked up. Hugely. I know. I’m not planning on hurting Lyla again, if I can help it. But if I do, then I deserve whatever I have coming.”

Well, holy shit. My heart flutters back to my chest, and begins to beat double time.

Cale looks at Tom with a renewed sense of respect. He gives Tom a sharp nod and turns to walk away. Sonny gives Tom a hard stare and follows Cale.

Shannon lingers a moment, giving me a big smile and a mini thumbs-up, before she trails after Cale and Sonny.

Listening to her heels clack against concrete, I ease my eyes back to Tom to find his eyes on my chest with an unnamed emotion on his face.

“You’re wearing”—he gulps down—“the shirt I bought you.”

There’s something resembling hope in his eyes.

Shrugging, I toss my hair over my shoulder. “Don’t read anything into it. I just happen to like the shirt. How did you know I was here?”

He pushes his hands in his back pockets, rocking on his heels. “Shannon. She called me when you first arrived here. You were talking with the doctor.”

I frown at her retreating back. That sneaky little biatch. We’ll be having words later.

“Don’t be angry with her,” Tom says softly. “She thought that you might, um…need me. Well, she said that after she chewed my ass out for hurting you.” His jades meet with my blues. “I’m so sorry, Ly.”

I want to tell him that I don’t need his apologies, and I don’t need him here, but it would be a lie.

I look away. “When did you get here?”

He shifts on his feet. “I came as soon as I got the call. I’ve been here a few hours or so.”

My heart squeezes. I hate that he can make me feel this way. “You waited out here all that time…for me?”

His shoulders lift, his eyes pinned to the ground. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Why didn’t you come inside?”

The doors whoosh open behind me, and some people walk out.

Tom and I move away from the doors, giving us a little privacy.

Standing before me, closer now, he says, “I wanted to come in and see you, but I didn’t know…how things stood with you, whether you would want to see me. I know what Shannon said, but when you saw me earlier, you bolted…so I wasn’t sure.” His eyes dim.

A chill attacks my body as I remember exactly how I felt when I saw him on the street with that woman. “You were with someone.”

“I can explain that. I called you before Shannon called me because I saw your face. I knew what you were thinking.” He takes a step nearer. “We need to talk.”

I look up into his face. “About?”

“Us.”

“There isn’t an us.”

He shakes his head. “No, but there should be.”

His words shake me to my core. I can’t find any of my own to attempt speech.

“But before us…” He lifts his hand like he wants to touch me, but then he lowers it. “Are you okay? Your brother…is he okay? Shannon didn’t know anything when she called.”