Page 152 of Collide

He silently offers the second beer in his hand, and I take it, shaking my head with a soft huff of amusement. “Are we just sticking with that now?”

He smirks, staring out at the waves. “Well, it’s easier than calling you the woman who’s slowly driving me insane.”

Driving him insane?

The almost kiss.

I roll my eyes, but a smile tugs at my lips anyway, and I take a slow sip of the drink, hoping it’ll calm the nervous fluttering in my chest.

For a while, we sit there in silence—comfortable and tense all at once—listening to the waves crash against the shore.

Then, after a long moment, he breaks the stillness.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

I turn toward him, brows furrowing. “What was that about, Broderick?”

He exhales, running a hand through his damp hair, gaze fixed on the darkening ocean like it might give him the answers he’s searching for.

His jaw tenses. His voice is rough when he finally says, “You want the truth?”

My fingers tighten around my glass. “Yeah.”

He doesn’t look at me—can’t, I realize—his eyes locked on the horizon.

“I like you, Elena. And that night at your apartment…I haven’t been able to get it off my mind.”

The confession hits me like a wave, knocking the air from my lungs.

He likes me?

But he’s not done.

“And, yeah, I know you’re with him.” His voice drops lower, like it hurts to say it aloud. And when he finally turns to me, I see it—he’s jealous.

He shifts beside me. “I just need to know…are things serious?”

“I…don’t know. This is new to me.” I fidget with the beer in my hand.

“And if it wasn’t new? Could I be an option?” he asks, his eyes searching.

“Broderick, I don’t know.” I fight the lump in my throat, guilt clawing its way up.

The words hang between us, heavy, impossible to ignore, tangled in the salty air and the crashing waves.

Because I’m hurting him.

Without meaning to.

Trying to deflect, I force a laugh—light, almost teasing. It tastes wrong in my mouth.

“Broderick, you’re gorgeous, kind, mega successful. I’m sure there’s a queue of women waiting to fall at your feet.”

My breath catches, and something mean coils in my chest.

Jealousy. It flashes sharp across my ribs at the thought of him with anyone else.

Don’t.