I didn’t know what to say as I stared up at him. A shiver danced over my shoulders.

His chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “The guy—­the hostage situation. There was no talking him down.”

I held my breath.

“When he started shooting out the windows, we were ordered to go inside.” As he spoke, his blue eyes darkened to a stormy sky. “It was too late. He’d shot his wife and himself. Wasn’t a small caliber, either. The kids saw it. One of them was too young to understand, but the boy . . . yeah, he knew what happened. He’ll always know.”

Tears rushed my eyes as my mouth dropped open. “Oh my God, Reece, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.” Not a part of me had thought that night would end like this for him. I’d known it was a serious situation. Obviously, I’d known it could end badly, but it was hard to fathom how he’d felt waking up this morning and making plans, then getting that call, having no idea he was about to see someone end another person’s life and then their own. The same with that poor woman and those kids.

But then, in a way, I guess I did know.

When I woke that morning when I was sixteen, it had never crossed my mind that I’d lose my best friend that night. One never knew when their life was about to be irrevocably altered. There was no warning. If anything, it always came when everything was calm and good.

“What can I do?” I asked, blinking back tears—­tears for a woman and family I had never met, tears for the fact Reece had to be within ten miles of that situation, especially given his history. I wanted to ask if he was okay, make sure that he was, but before I could do anything, he was on the move.

Reece said nothing as he crossed the distance between us. Tension poured into the air, thickening it. He grasped my cheeks, the touch so incredibly gentle. He lowered his mouth to mine, and there was nothing soft about the way he kissed me. No slow seduction of my senses. He hijacked them with a kiss that swept through me, heating me up like I’d spent the entire day under the sweltering summer sun.

“You,” he said, lifting his head. “I want you. Badly. And I need this—­need you right now.” His fingers splayed across my cheeks. “But if you want to slow this down, I can do that. I will do that. Just tell me now, Roxy, because I’m feeling like a live wire and when I get you naked, there’s going to be no fucking around. I’m going to be in you.”