“Your mom called me—she saw the caller ID when you called after booking and knew you were at the 5th Precinct. She said she couldn’t leave work. She apologized for interrupting my night but said I was the only one who could help you. I must admit, it was a little jarring when she called, but I’m glad she did.”

“Well, she was wrong.” I held her a little tighter. She was warmer than any blanket inside that concrete cell. “I don’t need anyone, but I’m glad you’re here.”

She held my face in her palms and shook her head as tears hovered in her eyes. “I couldn’t stop thinking there’d been some kind of accident or something horrible, but now I’m here”—she assessed my dirty clothes—“I can smell you from a mile away.”

I looped our fingers, bringing the underside of her wrist to my lips and breathing. “Caught red-handed.”

“It was bound to happen.” A small smile twitched on her lips before the receptionist thrust a stack of paperwork at me, along with my time to appear before the court tomorrow morning. “You should have a lawyer with you tomorrow.”

“Not worried about it,” I answered honestly.

I pushed the door of the police station open wide, and rain doused us in sheets before we lucked out and caught an empty cab passing by. We slipped inside the leathery cracked seat and huddled together for warmth.

“What’s it gonna take to get this out of your system, Brooks?” Devlynn finally breathed, tucked into my shoulder, exactly where I fucking loved her.

Where I’d always loved her—anywhere with me.

“You.”

She smiled softly, shaking her head. “You’re either an impossible romantic or an epic asshole, depending on the day.”

I laughed. “Depending on the minute.”

The silence lingered throughout our drive as we warmed up together. The city nightlife flowed by us in technicolor rivers, and her concern for me dulled the chaos of it all.

I was still thinking about it when we got out of the cab at her building fifteen minutes later. The doorman nodded at us once and didn’t say a word when we tramped through the lobby in soaked clothes, leaving a wet path as we went.

We dripped our way into the elevator.

And by the time we passed the threshold of her apartment, my need for her was already obsessing me.

“Why did you come for me tonight?” I asked, nearly accusatory.

“I’ll always come for you, Elis. I told you that.”

“But why? Your last name means something in this city. You risked tarnishing it when you hit Lower Manhattan to bail me out.”

“I’m pretty sure I showed you I didn’t care about my reputation when I let you defile me on campus.” She advanced on me, hands cradling my jaw.