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“Please, Noah, I’ve already embarrassed myself enough, please—”

Her voice got quieter and quieter until the front door opened and closed. She was gone.

I stood there for a moment, unsure of how I felt. Delane was gone. Noah and I were left together, alone. It would be easy for me to pick up where we had left off and forget about Delane entirely.

But I knew I couldn’t do that. Not now. Not after I had seen Noah with the both of us.

Things just got way harder.

Noah entered the room right as I was straightening my pants.

“You’re going too? Seriously?” The look on his face was almost too much to bear. “What happened?”

“It was me,” I said, walking to the sink to wash my hands. I smelled like sweat and was covered in lube. On top of that I had a case of major blue balls. Delightful. “I touched her, and she had clearly said no to that. I fucked up.”

Noah sat on the bed. Still naked. Still painstakingly beautiful.

“Why do you have to leave?” he questioned.

I grabbed my wallet off the counter. “Because I need to try and make amends, I guess. Somehow.”

I ushered to the dining table. “I had brought you takeout, you know, before I realized you brought that little spitfire with you.”

Noah glared at me as I made my way over to him. I bent down and kissed him.

I frowned. “Seriously, though, how do you stare at that head of hair on her all day? I had half a mind to think she was about to combust.”

“Silas—”

“It’s a joke—kind of. Anyway, I’m going. And you better stay here. I’ll check in tomorrow and see how you are doing.”

Noah seemed a bit perplexed. “What about Delane?”

I shrugged. “Text her. Maybe she’ll come back for a second round one day, after she gets over herself.”

His jaw dropped and I winked. He flushed. “Just go,” he mumbled.

With one last quick glance, I set off, not really knowing what to expect when I left the condo. Had Delane already driven away? Or maybe she was waiting out there?

I wasn’t sure how many steps I had taken before I felt an impact to the back of my head. The world turned as my knees buckled, and I had but a moment to register the searing pain before everything went black.

DELANE

The first thing I noticed was the cold.

The icy chill bit through my still damp shirt, raising the hair on my arms and sending a shiver through me. I tried to pull my knees up, instinctively, but they wouldn't move.

My eyes cracked open. My head throbbed in response.

I looked down to my legs, squinting through the shadows to try and see them. My ankles were bound together, and the more my eyes focused the quicker I realized that my whole body was tied tightly to a chair. My arms were bent backwards behind the wooden slats, clasped together and pulled tightly behind me.

Panic flooded my system.

Holy fuck, where was I?

I couldn’t tell. It was dark. The sky above me was almost purple, storm clouds still hanging low. I could see a bridge-like structure and a few trees in the distance, but only for so far. My feet were stationary on wooden planks.

Then it hit me. I was outside. I was on a deck of some sorts—a pier.