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"Oh osh, Phineas" She set the box of food down and moved closer to hiasped and touched his shoulder "I’ed my life I’d been a little kid before that with no purpose or direction I was a lousy student and a lazy athlete, but that day, I woke up I realized I needed to ood job to support the faym every afternoon to learn how to box"

Man up? Brynley’s heart ached for the twelve-year-old boy who’d tried to becoht so he could provide for his family and protect theood boxer I won a few local bouts And I was as tall as ood"

He shook his head "It didn’t last He caht and started in on my mom That time, I beat the crap out of him"

"Wow," Brynley breathed He’d stood up to his dad So she’d never had the nerve to do with her own dad

"Then I told him to leave and never coed "Turned out he had another wo"

"He got what he deserved His girlfriend had cheated on hihed "He’d passed it on to my mom"

"Oh no"

Phineas was silent for a linted with unshed tears "She died of AIDS when I was nineteen"

"Oh, Phineas" Brynley leaned her head against his shoulder and rested a hand against his chest "I’m so sorry I kno it feels"

"Do you?" He placed his hand on top of hers

"Yes" Tears filled her eyes "I lost hteen"

"Really?" He squeezed her hand "I thought olves could live for centuries"

"Not with lung cancer" Or a broken spirit She’d always suspected her ht to survive

"I’ers with hers

"Do you still have your aunt?" she asked

"Yes" He leaned his head back against the wall "She worked hard to support us And I won soht But toward the end when Mom was really sick, we ran up some bad medical bills And then there was the cost of the funeral" He grireed to throw a fight for a lot of ht it would solve all our proble off, but"

"It screwed up your career?"

He nodded

"Oh, Phineas" Tears crowded her eyes once again He’d destroyed his boxing career in order to bury his ht after that Or when I did, they expected me to throw it, and I refused They didn’t want ular job, but it wasn’t enough to support everyone, especially when Aunt Ruth had to retire She has diabetes really bad I felt responsible for er brother and sister I was the one who’d chased off their father So II s?"

"Please don’t ever tell my family It would kill them Itwell, it did kill me The Malcontents attacked and transfor sigh "So now you knohat a screwed-up, miserable excuse for a mortal I was And why I didn’t want to tell you You’ll probably hate me now"

She blinked away the tears in her eyes She could never hate him "Why did you tell me, then?"

"ReuessI want you to like ," she finished his sentence She’d been right He was a survivor Like her He’d lost his er siblings like she had All this ti in common, when in truth they were veryout to each other

And she was falling for him A tear rolled down her cheek God, no She didn’t want to feel this strongly for him Not when there was no future for them

"I know you hate va that ever happened to ood job now, and I provide forto keep the world safe from Malcontents"

She wiped her cheek "You’re able to be a hero now?"

"I try to be Angus and the other guys have given ood examples to folloant to behonorable like them"

"Phineas" She touched his cheek "How can you be so dense?"

He blinked "What?"

"You were always honorable"

He scoffed "I was a da man, desperate to take care of his faet the money to bury your mother You were brave and selfless" Another tear fell down her cheek "You were always a hero"

He regarded her with a stunned look "You don’t think badly of me then?"

"I think you’re wonderful" Desire swelled up inside her She wanted him so bad But she didn’t want to love hi awful if she lost him And she would definitely lose him if her father and his minions found out about him

Then don’t love him, her inner hispered Just screw him

She drew in a sharp breath, and her inner wolf latched on to Phineas’s scent Ani her womanly desire Take him You know you want him

Her heart raced She couldn’t do this She was just distraught, and that always ressive Give in to me Trust the wolf The wolf knows best

Moisture seeped between her legs, and she stifled a groan It would kill her if she got close to Phineas, only to lose him Don’t think about the future Take him now!

Phineas stiffened when she suddenly straddled his lap "Brynley? What are you doing?"

Her hands trembled as they skier--"

"I brought you a haer--" He inhaled sharply when she popped the snaps open on his shirt "What--"

"Oh osh" She sht Your chest is pure, hard ave her a dubious look "What happened to last night’s ‘you’re so easy to resist’ strategy?"

"Why fight it? You want me I want you" She brushed her hand over his jaw, and the prickle of his whiskers made her all fluttery inside Just like his voice did "Say it for me"

"Say what?"

"You know The line you say in the commercial ‘Hello, ladies’ I love it when you say that"

He frowned "I don’t knoomen like that"

"Don’t you kno sexy your voice is?" She skimmed her hand down his neck to his chest "You’re sexy all over" She leaned closer, pressing her hands against his chest "Say it Say the words"