“About what?”

“About tonight. Him … touching you like that.”

Shit. It had been so obvious. I winced. “I’m fine, Evan. What? You think I don’t like being touched?” I snapped childishly.

His brow furrowed.

“Sorry.” I blew out a breath. “No. You’re right. But it’s not about being touched. Or maybe it is. I don’t know what that was. It kind of came out of nowhere. I want … I …” I craved touch. I hadn’t been touched properly in years. My eyes prickled at the edges, and the truth bubbled its way forward. I’d been scared. My fears tonight had erupted out of the deepest parts of me I thought I’d dealt with.

His expression softened, his head cocked to the side. He was letting me talk. His hand was on the galley counter between us. Before I could think about it, I leaned forward and touched his fingers. His whole body stilled. I let my hand cover his, willing him to flip his hand over under mine and hold it. His skin was slightly rough even on top. I’d been right.

He was rigid.

What the hell was I doing? I snatched my hand back.

Shit. “I shouldn’t have drunk so much wine,” I said instead, forcing everything I was about to spill out back down into my gut. I hated him treating me like a wounded animal. I’d been thinking I’d make some chamomile tea before bed, but now I just wanted to get out of Evan’s space. “Can I get by? I appreciate you getting me back here. Good night.”

He reached out to stop me, and I flinched at the same time he yanked his hand back.

“Jesus. Sorry,” he said.

I squeezed my eyes shut for a second. “You just took me by surprise.” Dammit. “I’m fine,” I gritted out.

“It seems like it,” he said, and we stayed in a stare off. Finally, he sighed. “You drinking too much wine didn’t have anything to do with what happened. Or with you feeling unsafe out there. I haven’t seen anything in his background that would suggest—I could be wrong though—”

“Evan, just stop. It wasn’t Christian. I think I overreacted. And I was blaming the wine more for loosening my tongue around you than anything that happened on the beach. I mean, nothing happened. It was harmless. He was harmless. I was balancing on one foot to adjust my heel. He was probably just steadying me. I got spooked. I’m just …” I trailed off. I just think I’m broken. I couldn’t do this, I made to turn away again before I begged him to hold me. To see if maybe Evan was my cure. Because I was about to.

“Please,” Evan begged quietly. “You can talk to me.”