“What do you think you’re going to do? Just turn your back on them and go your own way?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. The thing about my friends is, you’ve got to stay in the same phase of life together; otherwise, the relationship will end. At the same time, I can’t just get married to stay within my social group. I guess our priorities have changed. Vacations and clothes are enough to satisfy them but not me.”

He nods solemnly. “Those don’t sound like good friends. And, the way you make them sound, I want to tell you to lose them. You’re more than they are. Actually, you’re more, period.”

My heart pauses. No man has ever said that to me. I’ve always been the hot girlfriend or the arm piece as a date to whatever gala. Never the more. He makes me want to be.

“Learn to stop hanging on to things that aren’t working. Life will be much simpler. You’re better than those girls.”

With his words, a strange feeling comes over me, like a warm hum. His thumb rubs the center of my lips. For Slade, they part.

“You’ll find it.” He pushes my hair back away from my face. “Just make some new friends. For a woman like you, it’s easy, right?”

I choke up as my mind roves in hundreds of directions. The shooting. This man. My life as it currently stands. All the friends, all the bullshit.

“I guess I’m not too good at change or falling behind.”

He smiles, his straight white teeth glimmering in the dark. “You aren’t behind. You aren’t lagging either. You’re at a crossroads. Gotta use more mental strength, babe.”

“Is that Navy SEAL talk?” I smile.

“You know it.”

“Is it true that they tie your hands behind your back and bind your feet together and then dump you in a pool to swim?”

He smiles. “Sure is.” A hint of a Southern accent peeks through.

I feel absolute wonderment. “But how?”

He laughs. “You’ve gotta get mind and body on the same page.”

“Right now, my mind and body are scattered.”

“I know. Just sleep.”

I press my lips to his. At first, he doesn’t move. But, when he opens his mouth, I have the strangest feeling. A sense that I’m meant to be in this exact moment in time. My hands grip the back of his head because I don’t want to let him go. With Slade, I feel so alive. Our kiss deepens as he takes control, but then he pulls back.

Breathing heavy, he turns me around so that he’s spooning me again. He puts his head into the back of my neck, inhaling. I shudder.

We might not be having sex, but still, he holds me. The heat from his body transfers into mine, the connection soothing and perfect.

I fall asleep with his mouth on my mind, and blessedly, my dreams are nothing but static.

* * *

I wake up with a start. It’s 6:03 a.m. The events of the night before come tumbling back. The club shooting. The dead girl, blood drenching her clothes. All of the screaming. Slade washing the blood from my thighs.