Doubt began to niggle at the pit of my aching stomach. She always answered. Always. My doubt turned to fear when I thought of who I’d been antagonizing lately. Would that fuck Fairchild actually harm her? Ice coated my gut as I hopped on my bike and drove to Parker’s condo.

It was pouring rain, and I was thoroughly soaked by the time I got there. I rubbed the rain out of my eyes to clear my vision and headed for the stairs, forgoing the elevator, needing to run, needing to get to her as fast as I could. No one answered when I banged on the door. My fear turned to dread.

“Parker!” I shouted. “Are you there? Open up!” My shouts rang through the hallway, sounding more than a little desperate. “Parker! Don’t scare me like this. I need to know you’re okay.”

Movement sounded on the other side of the door, and finally—finally—she opened the door. My body sagged in relief, and I stormed in, hauling her close and hugging her tight.

“Jesus, Tink,” I rasped. “You scared the hell out of me. Why didn’t you answer your phone? Or the door?” She felt stiff in my arms, and I realized I was probably freezing her. I stepped back but kept a hold of her upper arms. “Were you sleeping?”

Her eyes were puffy and her face blotched. But she shook her head and stood like a plank of wood staring at me as though she’d never seen me before. “I was … distracted,” she finally said.

Distracted? The uncomfortable pinch of doubt returned to my gut.

“I’m getting your floor all wet,” I said.

Water dripped from the ends of my hair and ran over my face. But I didn’t let go of Parker. I feared if I did, she’d somehow be lost to me. A ridiculous idea, but I couldn’t shake it. Not with the cold and withdrawn way she stared back at me.

“Why are you here, Rhys?” Her voice was thick and stilted.

“What do you mean, why? You’re my girl.” My throat felt constricted. This whole night was off, filled with too much emotion that I didn’t want to face. “I needed to see you.”

When she pulled away, I let her go, never wanting to use my strength against her. But my hands flexed with the need to hold her again.

“It’s a bad night,” she said dully.

As if to punctuate her point, lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

I rubbed the water from my face. “I know. But today was … hard.” I didn’t want to admit the weakness in me. I didn’t. But I couldn’t stop myself from exposing it. “I need you, Parker.”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. Parker sucked in a sharp breath, and her listless expression snapped into focus. “For sex? Is that what you need?”