Page 28 of Splintered Memories (Ember Hollow Romance #2)

Emersyn

W e didn’t stay long after dinner. I was glad, because even though the food had been amazing, my energy was already drained from being around so many people after that week I’d had.

But there was a part of me that never wanted to leave this place. Dinner with Raleigh, Warner, Hailey, and August felt like being a part of a real, functioning family. It was something I had only dreamt of throughout the years, had glimpses of it with my siblings and my Uncle Amos.

August and I said our goodbyes, and I lingered in the final hug that Raleigh gave me. It was so easy to let her hold me like that—like a mother.

Warner wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, planting a soft kiss on the top of my head. “Don’t be a stranger,” he said as he let me go.

Hailey wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed tight. “I think I like you,” she declared thoughtfully .

I chuckled, returning her hug. “I think I might like you, too.” I gave her a wink, and she beamed at me.

August waved one last time before he grabbed my hand and led me out the front door.

It was already dark as we descended the front porch and walked across the street to the one-story house we shared the past week. I hadn’t realized we were there so long. Time had gone so quickly.

But as we approached August’s small house, the weight returned to my chest.

August unlocked the door, and we stepped inside. He pressed a button on the security system after closing the door behind us.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like August’s home.

It was a sweet place to stay. Yes, it wasn’t very big, but it was charming.

The walls were a soft, bright shade of blue and the worn, wooden floors were stained a rich, dark brown.

The kitchen and the bathrooms had been renovated and were clean and bright. I should have no complaints.

Yet, it was like all the air left my lungs when I stepped inside. Everything I’d been trying to avoid crashed down on me, invading my brain. Maybe if I had been brought here under any other circumstances, it would have been perfectly pleasant staying in this tiny home with a man I cared about.

But I lost my home. I lost my brother. I lost everything I had worked so hard for, and I didn’t know whether I was ever going to get it back.

A burn radiated through my chest. I thought August might have said something to me, but I didn’t look at him. I looked down at my feet as I mumbled something under my breath and made a beeline for my bedroom .

I closed the door behind me, leaning against it and gulping for air. That burning sensation laced across my ribs, and I choked on the sob I could not let go.

I couldn’t break. I couldn’t cry. I forced air into my lungs, and I fought down the unexpected surge of emotion until I could straighten my spine again.

My eyes locked onto the small desk, and I started for it. I was already mentally making a list of things I needed to get done tonight, when he knocked on the door. Three soft knocks.

He said my name, and I heard the tension in his voice.

I looked from my computer to the door, and back again. I didn’t have to let him in. I knew he wouldn’t force himself into my space if I didn’t want him here.

But when he said my name the second time, there was a brokenness in his tone that I couldn’t ignore.

“Come in,” I said.

I didn’t move as he opened the door and stepped inside. He looked more tired than he had two minutes ago. Maybe I looked more tired, too.

He closed the door behind him, his eyes never leaving mine. “I thought you’d enjoy dinner.” He put his hands in his pockets.

I frowned, confused. “I did.” It had been the best part of my entire week.

He leaned against the door, tilting his head back as he stared up at the ceiling. “I can’t do this anymore, Emersyn.”

The sadness in his tone had a spear of anxiety shooting through me. My hands curled into fists. “What are you talking about? ”

August didn’t answer right away. He continued to stare at the ceiling, his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans. His throat bobbed as he swallowed.

Slowly, as if every movement took effort, he moved his chin down to look at me. I couldn’t read his expression, but my gut twisted sharply.

“I can’t watch you struggle like this.”

My eyebrows screwed together. “I—I’m not struggling. I’ve had a lot of work to do. It takes longer without all my equipment—”

He cut me off with a raised palm, shaking his head. “Don’t give me all of that bull crap.”

I bristled, my teeth clipping together as I glared at him. He had no idea what this had been like. He didn’t know what it was like to lose everything in one damned night. I thought I had been dealing with everything in stride. “August, I don’t—”

But I didn’t finish as he pushed off the door and strode toward me. His eyes flashed like hot steel. He halted a breath away.

“I know you, Emersyn,” he said, his voice a growl that rumbled through my chest. “I know you enjoy your work, but you have been burying yourself in it this week. You’ve been hiding in this room since the moment you got here.

And I let you, because you need your space.

” He leaned forward; the heat from his body washed over mine.

“Don’t you think I understand what you’ve lost?

That house was more than a building to you, Emersyn.

We still can’t find your brother, the person you love most in this world, and I haven’t seen you shed one single tear.

” He held up a finger, so close it almost touched my lips.

My breathing hitched as I took in his words and his proximity. I’d never seen him so…upset. His breaths were as fast as mine. Those steely-gray eyes bored into me, pinning me to the spot .

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you want from me,” I whispered in a broken breath.

He lowered that finger, his features softening. He took another step toward me, but that made him too close. Instinctively, I stepped back. Hurt flickered across his face.

“You have always been strong, but no one can withstand storms like these forever.”

He chanced another step, but I backed away again. He didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t understand.

But he didn’t stop.

August kept walking toward me, and with each stride he took, I retreated from him. I stumbled away from him until I hit the wall. My teeth clattered with the force of it. I looked around wildly, but there was nowhere to go. The bed was to my left, the desk to my right, and August at my front.

My throat felt thick, closing up with the emotion I didn’t want to feel. I had to fight it, but August pressed his body against mine, warm and strong.

“It’s okay,” he said, his voice low. He was so close, his breath caressed my cheek.

That ball of fire flared in my chest, so hot it scalded my insides. I shook my head and tried to take another step back but I couldn’t. He had me caged against the wall. I couldn’t run.

“Let go, Emersyn,” he whispered, an undercurrent of fervor behind those words.

No .

I shook my head harder. That fist inside my chest clenched hard around the flames inside me, keeping that emotion firmly locked down. Even so, the tears threatened. I couldn’t let them go.

August let out a sharp sigh, pinching my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilting my face up to his. Those eyes were a beautiful shade of gray, slightly darker in the dim moonlight filtering in through the window.

“So stubborn,” he mused, affection saturating his tone. “So strong.”

But I wasn’t strong. I only pretended. It was a facade. Inside these walls—the walls I’d built around my mind, around my heart—it was chaos. It was nothing but fire and confusion and fear. So much fear.

“August.” His name was a whispered plea. “I can’t.”

It was his turn to shake his head, a flash of disgust flitting over his features.

“You can do anything.” His eyes held mine, and there was so much desperation in his gaze that I almost flinched.

“You need to let go of all those feelings I know you hide within yourself before it kills you. You’re safe with me,” he said, the words firm and solid. They were a promise. A vow.

My stupid heart melted from the fire I was desperately forcing down. That fist holding down the ball of heat began to tremble.

Safe.

I was safe.

But was I? Physically, I knew that I was. I knew that these arms surrounding me would protect me at all costs. This body, so close to mine, would die before anything marred my skin.

But there was nothing safe about the look August Ramsey was giving me.

There was nothing safe about the heat in his eyes, a heat that rivaled my own.

And behind that heat…behind the wanting we’d both been fighting, there was something more.

And it was the possibility of more that was utterly, completely… unsafe.

I started to tremble, and I pressed myself back against the wall, placing my palms flush against the drywall and leaning into it for dear life.

August erased the small sliver of space I’d made between our bodies, taking it like he was starving for this heat I was losing my grasp of.

Goose bumps pricked my skin as so much of him touched me.

He flattened his hands on either side of my head, and I realized I wasn’t the only one shaking.

There was a slight tremor in the muscles of his arms. We were so incredibly close, I could see the pulse fluttering in his neck, quick and frantic, just like mine.

“Let go,” he repeated. His words lowered to a whisper, but lost none of their bite. It was a command. A plea.

I couldn’t speak as I clamped my jaw shut, not trusting myself. I was barely holding it together, my grasp on my emotions coming undone under his asking.

I shook my head, but he dipped his chin, freezing me again as his face became even closer. His lips were so near to my mouth that my skin tingled.