He pressed his key fob and looked down at me with a surprised grin, his breath visible in the cold night air. He nodded toward the truck as two doors on the passenger side opened and then slammed shut. “Get in. I’m going to take them home, and then—”

“And then what?”

He shrugged. “I’ll take you home.”

I shoved my hands in my coat pocket and shook my head. “Nah. I have to go back and wait for Fin.”

“She’s with Sterling.”

“We sort of left Paige back there, too.”

“Why did you do that?” Tyler asked. “I’ve never seen a girl do that—ever. Well, maybe once in middle school, but never with so much enjoyment.”

“The bruise on his face. Is that from you?”

He nodded. “Two weeks ago. Bar brawl. It was brutal.”

“But no bruises on you.”

He shrugged. “I don’t like getting hit, so I don’t.”

“No one does.”

“But I don’t.”

“How is that? Are you trained or something?”

“Sort of. I have four brothers.”

“I thought you said you didn’t fight?”

“Not over girls.”

“Are they all like you? Your brothers?”

He shrugged again. “Pretty much.”

“Explains a lot.”

He took a step toward me with the same look in his eyes he’d had at the bottom of my stairs. “You didn’t have to do that. I had it handled.”

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for him.”

“Because you knew I’d kill him?”

I breathed out a laugh and then licked my lips when I saw him pull out a cigarette. “I’ll take one of those.”

Tyler held his cigarette between his lips while he lit mine, cupping the lighter as he puffed on his own. We exhaled at the same time, and I felt my body begin to shake.

“Come home with me,” Tyler said.

I shook my head. “I’m taking Paige home. She was into Sugar. Now she’s back there, sitting alone, feeling deficient when she’s really the most beautiful thing to ever grace that shit hole.”

“Not the most beautiful,” he mumbled, looking away. When I didn’t respond, he turned to meet my gaze. “I wanna take you home.”

“I’m in the mood for something soft tonight.”

He leaned down, kissing my lips once. “I can do soft.”

I breathed him in, feeling my thighs tense. “Not like we can.”

He slid his fingers behind my neck, backing me against his door, and then pressed his lips against mine, tasting me like he had the first night, with a yearning that made all reason melt with the rest of me.

He pulled away, brushing his thumb across my bottom lip. “Fuck Paige.”

“I intend to,” I said, walking backward a few steps before turning around.