Thank you all for your reviews to the last chapter! We are nearing the end of this story...kind of. If everything goes as planned, there's only about 5-6 chapters left, not including this one, plus an epilogue. Excuse me while I get a little emotional right now, but I can't believe that I'm almost finished with my second story about the magical couple that is Naley. Back when I first started writing about them, I didn't think I'd actually get through Razor Sharp, let alone two stories! Wow.

Secondly, I did post another one-shot called "Hungover in a Hotel Room" and I posted kind of a side project thingy that I'm working on called "Beautiful for a Moment." Soooo, if you're bored and you actually like my stories, then you should go check those out. I do have another multi-chaptered fic that I'm gonna post once I get finished with this. I'll include the summary to that story at the end of this chapter!

Everything hurt—especially her head. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it and then repeatedly ran it over with a semi-truck. And the room felt like it was spinning, slowly…but still nauseating.

Haley glanced around Nathan's room as she rubbed at her temples. Her memory of the previous night was hazy, at best. She remembered going to Brooke's after the game. She'd barely made it through the front door before Brooke was pulling out her impressive stash of alcohol. Haley couldn't remember why she chose to drink, only that the burning liquid sliding down her throat seemed to numb the pain thrumming in her heart.

She remembered the torrid tears, her raspy throat as she croaked incoherent thoughts, and blurred images of sympathetic gestures from Brooke and Peyton. There might have been a small cat fight when Haley demanded that someone drive her to Nathan's apartment—one that she clearly won— but she couldn't recall the logistics of it.

A hot and deep pink blush arose on her cheeks when the next grainy memory flashed through her mind. The image of her ripping her shirt off in front of Nathan had her stomach feeling…queasier.

She propositioned him…for sex. She was crossed between being absolutely horrified with herself and absolutely angry with herself. What was she thinking?! Was she trying to self-destruct? God…

The last thing she remembered was laying on the algid tile of Nathan's bathroom, with her head in his toilet. Nathan's cool fingers had felt good against the damp skin of her neck as he held her hair back. His free had rubbed soothing patterns down her back. His soft voice had cut through her spinning head with whispers of soothing pleasantries.

Sighing, she ran her hands over her stomach. Her lips pulled downwards into a confused frown when she didn't feel the familiar fabric of her clothes beneath her fingertips. Looking down, she softened when she realized that Nathan must have changed her into something more comfortable.

Her head was spinning, again, but this time it wasn't because of her brewing hangover. Her chest felt heavy as she struggled to breathe. Tossing the blanket off of her suddenly sweltering body, she frantically searched his room for her clothes.

Nathan said it was all about sex, yet he denied her when she offered? Hell, he didn't even sleep in the same bed as her. He claimed that she was nothing but a pawn in a game, yet he'd taken such attentive care of her at her lowest?

She spent the entire night with a blank mind, just like she wanted. No confusing thoughts. No questioning whispers of her conscious. She was paying for that now. Her sanity was slipping away, as confusion and heartache filtered through her in heavy doses. She had to get out of there as fast as she could.

Quietly, she stepped out of Nathan's room. The apartment was quiet and seemingly undisturbed. Her eyes darted to Lucas' room and she held her breath when she saw his bedroom door was wide open. It was bad enough that she was during a much more pathetic version of the walk of shame. The last thing she needed was someone seeing her.

Peeking in his room, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Lucas fast asleep. That only fueled her to leave quicker.

Haley paused when she spotted Nathan sprawled out on the couch. Her heart jumped in her chest at the sight he made. His feet were dangling off the side and his body was twisted in a way that she knew couldn't have been comfortable. His sleep seemed restless, with his features creased and angry. His exhaustion was clear and the guilt hit her like a freight train.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she booked it in out of there.

~x~

Haley had barely closed the front door before Lydia was rounding the corner. She looked rattled, to say the least. Her eyes were wild with anger and a dash of concern. Haley braced herself for the reprimand she knew was coming.

"Where the hell have you been? The land of no cell-phones?! This is the second night in a row that you've disappeared. Now I know I've been lenient in the past and I know that—"

Lydia's tyrant comes to a screeching halt when Haley's appearance finally registered through her furious haze over her daughter's disappearance.

Haley's skin was sickly pale and her body was hunched over like she was in pain. Her clothes were messily thrown on, her shoes dangling from her trembling fingers. Black lines of make-up were streaked beneath her eyes—eyes, in which, were rimmed red with unshed tears. Her bottom lip was quivering, a sure sign that she was only seconds away from bursting into tears.

"Mom," Haley croaked, followed by a quiet sniffle.

Lydia was standing in front of her in a flash. Gently, she rubbed her fingers against Haley's cheek. The muscles in her face were crinkled in apprehension.

"Honey, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Did something happen?" Lydia rattled off while actively checking over Haley's body.

Haley couldn't find her voice. Instead her shoes dropped from her fingers and she collapsed in her mom's arms. Her body shook as the sobs ripped through her. She had willed herself over and over again not to cry, but there was something about her mom's warm touch and kind eyes that had brought the emotion in her out.

At this point, crying felt redundant. She felt like that's all she did anymore, but it was like she couldn't stop. The gaping hole in her chest was constantly thrumming with pain. She experienced that hole before when her mom was in the hospital, but something about it felt different. More painful.

"Shh, it's okay, honey. Just let it out," Lydia tried to relax Haley. She held her tight and soothingly rubbed her hands along the length of her back.

Time stretched on for what felt like hours, until her tears seemed to dry up. They somehow moved to the living room and were sitting on the couch, but Haley couldn't recall how she ended up there.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lydia asked as she brushed unruly hair out of Haley's face.

Haley didn't even have time to think before the words tumbled out of her mouth without any regard. She told Lydia everything—how she felt about Nathan, his basketball career, all of the secrets Nathan seemed to be keeping from her, what she knew about Damien and Nathan's past, their fight and what it led to, his hurtful words, and her drunk escapade. She never did have any reserves when it came to telling her mom things, and if she were being honest, she missed that bond with her.

Historically, her mom had the best advice. She used to be so level-headed and full of wisdom. Haley truly believed that Lydia still carried those attributes, despite her struggles.

Lydia listened to every word Haley said with earnest intensity. Once Haley finished explaining everything, Lydia seemed to mull over everything carefully.

"Why were you so quick to believe what Nathan was saying to this Damien character?" Lydia inquired. Her tone was soft and curious, rather than accusing or reprimanding.

Haley looked down at her hands and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. It was a combination of things. He's kept me in the dark about so much, mom. I guess it was easier to believe in the things he was saying, instead of the things he didn't say."

"Honey," Lydia cooed. She reached her hand out and grabbed Haley's shaking ones.

"And the way he said those…those things," Haley continued on as if Lydia hadn't spoken. "It was like someone had taken over his body. He sounded so cold and so full of hate."

"Maybe that's because the person saying those things wasn't him," Lydia countered.

Haley glanced at her mom, confused. "Mom, it was his voice. It was him."

Lydia laughed quietly and gave a quick shake of her head. "That's not what I meant. To me, it sounds like Damien means something terrible to Nathan. They have some kind of history, correct?"

Haley nodded.

"Maybe he was playing a character to placate Damien. Maybe there was a reason, unbeknownst to you, as to why he was acting the way he was."

"Everyone keeps saying that," Haley mumbled.

"Well, maybe that's something you should consider."

Haley sighed heavily. She knew that her mom and her friends had a point. The Nathan that she knew and loved would have never said those things, at least she didn't think so. The seed of doubt that had planted itself inside of her had other ideas, though. She couldn't shake it and she hated that. Was love always this complicated?

"Have you talked to him about it, besides your little drunk charade? Have you given him a chance to explain?" Lydia prompted her.

Haley abashedly shook her head. Her cheeks burned at her mom's mention of what happened the night before, though.

"Haley."

This time her tone was accusing.

"There was just so much happening at once," Haley quickly began to explain. "It just all came crashing down on me—his sudden aloofness, telling him I love him, sleeping with him, Damien—it all got way too overwhelming, way too fast."

Haley could feel her throat beginning to close up again, so she paused. It took her a couple of seconds and a plethora of deep breaths before she could speak properly again.

"I've always felt in control of my life, even if I knew that I wasn't. I always felt sure and sensible. But this…it made all of that go away."

Lydia smiled gingerly. "I hate to say it, honey, but that's what love does. It throws you off balance."

"Lovely," Haley muttered sarcastically, causing Lydia to laugh.

Lydia wrapped an arm around Haley's shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. When Haley leaned her head on to Lydia's shoulder, she began to slowly caress her hair.

"Did you know that the reason your dad first asked me out on a date was because of a bet?"

Haley tilted her chin up. Her eyes were alight with astonishment. "What? No!"

Lydia pressed her lips together and nodded animatedly. "Yep. Your dad, bless his heart, was as competitive as they come. His asshole of best friend, Marty, came up with some game to see how many girls they could get to agree to go on a date with them in a month. Your dad bet that he could get, at least, ten."

Haley cringed inwardly. She'd heard countless stories about how Jimmy James was a "ladies man" when he was in high school. He wasn't an arrogant ass who slept around and broke hearts left and right, but girls loved him. If she had to guess, it was because he always carried a guitar around with him and had the voice an of angel.

Her parents had always been consistent when it came to telling the story of how they met. They were high school sweethearts. They'd gone to school together since the seventh grade and had almost every class together their sophomore year of high school. That was also the year that her dad had asked her mom to go a local fair with him, and then the rest was history. This was the first time Haley had heard anything about a bet.

"I'm not sure I'm going to like this story," Haley mumbled sourly.

Lydia only squeezed her in response.

"I was just like every other girl at our school—madly in love with Jimmy James. The day he asked me out was the best day of my adolescent life. We'd been together almost a year, before I found out about the bet. I was crushed and genuinely believed that our entire relationship was a joke to him," Lydia recounted.

"How'd you eventually move past it?" Haley inquired

"It wasn't easy," Lydia admitted with a torturous sigh. "I didn't talk to him for weeks. I ignored all of his phone calls and told my mom to tell him that I wasn't home if he ever stopped by. I was angry and I was hurt.

"Eventually, it got to a point where I forgot why I was angry at him. I was still carrying around this hatchet for him, but I didn't know why. It all felt silly. I loved this man and I was denying myself the pleasure of being with him, because I was too prideful. I look back on that now, and I regret not trying to work it out sooner."

Haley wasn't aware she was holding her breath, until she heard a loud expel of breath brush past her lips. The pain and regret in Lydia's voice struck a chord inside of her.

"My point is that I know love is scary—opening yourself up to someone, giving them a part of you that no one else gets, giving them the power to hurt you, but trusting them not to, constantly being vulnerable—it's the scariest thing someone can do. It's also the most rewarding. You have to protect your heart, but not so much that it causes you to lose something amazing."

Haley felt lighter as Lydia's words cloaked her comfortably, like a warm blanket. Her only regret was not talking to her mom sooner. She probably wouldn't have made a fool of herself by showing up to Nathan's apartment, drunk. And she definitely wouldn't be nursing a terrible hangover.

"What are you saying, mom?" Haley asked.

"Talk to him," Lydia declared simply. "Find out his side of the story. I know he hasn't given you much of a reason to trust him and I'm not saying what he did or said was right, but you can't just shut him out. You can't just give up without a fight, especially with a love like you two have."

Haley exhaled deeply.

"That boy is crazy about you. I was doped up on sedatives and muscle relaxers the first time I met him, and I could still see the way he looked at you," Lydia jumped in quickly. "But, if it turns out that Nathan is a lying, using, dickhead, well then, I'll help you bury his body."

Haley genuinely laughed at that. A genuine smile spread across her face for the first time in a few days. Her mom was back.

"Aha! There's that laugh!" Lydia exclaimed. "You're going to be okay, Haley Bob. I promise."

"I really hope you're right."

~x~

The sound of the basketball bouncing against the polished floor echoed through the empty gym. Only one half of the court was illuminated by dim energy-saver lights and the bleachers had been pulled in. The old, steel molding creaked and rattled as the wind howled and whipped against the brick building.

His eyes scanned the vast room. Even in the subdued lighting, the waxed floor shined. Black scuff marks scarred the floor in littered areas, map markings of players' past. Pieces of popcorn and stray segments of forgotten trash still spotted the floor nearest the closed bleachers from the night before. He could almost hear the sound of shoes squeaking against the maple, drowned out by the snickers and disappointed grumbles the crowd had shot at him.

He expected those memories to slice through him and bring him to his knees with their accompanied self-loathing thoughts. They didn't. The pain they provided was dull, especially when compared to everything else he had weighing down on him.

Eventually, his eyes found the one thing he avoided looking at whenever he stepped foot in that gym—Dan Scott's framed jersey. It proudly hung on the farthest wall from him, decorated with plaques and surrounded by Tree Hill and North Carolina flags. The ache is heart bloomed even further, but so did a sense of tranquility. He looked at that jersey for guidance, like the northern star in a seaman's night sky.

He didn't look away until he felt his heart start to beat again.

The gym was eerie and not Nathan's first choice of scenery, but it provided exactly what he needed. Basketball was his escape. It provided him with clarity. It was kind of ironic how something that should've been bothering him was actually the one thing that improved his mood.

As soon as the echo of the bouncing leather had died down and he was left in deafening silence, his thoughts drifted back to Haley. Drifted was relative, because his thoughts had never really left her in the first place. He wasn't surprised, but still disappointed that she was long gone when he'd woken up this morning. A small part of him hoped that she would've stuck around and they could've talked.

There was so much that he wanted to tell her, so much that he wasn't sure where to begin. All he knew was that he had to fight for her.

He sighed deeply, a metaphorical attempt at trying to clear his mind. Shuffling his feet towards the discarded basketball, he grabbed it and spun it between his fingers a few times. Squaring his shoulders, he focused his eyes on the basket. He bounced the basketball a few times, before bending his knees and shooting the ball. It sailed through the net without a hitch.

"It's too bad that I didn't see any of that at the game."

Nathan glanced over his shoulder to see his coach walking slowly towards him. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his khakis and a gray polo adorned his upper body. A black baseball cap rested loosely on his head. The usual knitted brow scowl was absent from his face, instead graced with a soft and sympathetic smile.

"Do you ever go home?" Nathan countered.

Whitey laughed his dry and hoarse laugh. "This is my home. What about you? No Saturday plans?"

Nathan ran his fingers through his sweat sodden hair. "I needed to clear my head," He answered simply. Judging by the way Whitey's smile remained intact, he already knew why Nathan was there.

"That court down by the river not good enough anymore?"

"It was raining when I…," Nathan trailed off when Whitey's words fully registered in his head. He furrowed his eyebrows. "How do you know about the River Court?"

"I watched you play a few times down there," Whitey admitted as he shuffled closer to Nathan.

Nathan's eyes stretched in stupefaction. His mind started whirling through all the times he'd been down at the River Court, trying to remember seeing any glimpse of Whitey. "You have?"

Whitey nodded. "I made a promise Dan that I'd take good care of you. I don't break promises."

The corner of Nathan's mouth twitched into the slightest smile. "I think he meant as a part of the team, not in life."

Whitey's expression slipped into grave seriousness. "Maybe so. But son, you may have denounced basketball when your father died, but I never denounced you."

An unexpected bout of emotion exploded inside of Nathan. He cleared his throat, before speaking again. "Yeah, well, basketball seemed to have denounced me." His tone was meant to be teasing, but appeared bitter.

"I'm not sure I agree with you," Whitey grumbled. "From what I've seen, you're still just as talented."

Nathan snorted, a stint of mockery and self-deprecation. "Did you watch yesterday's game? You had to bench me before the end of the first quarter. I couldn't make the simplest shots and fouled out every chance I got."

"It's because you're thinking way too much," Whitey answered as if he'd just solved the world's greatest mystery.

"Funny, didn't you used to yell at me for not thinking enough?"

"More times than I can count," Whitey chuckled dryly. As soon as his laugh ended, he was back to the stone-faced seriousness. "Look, Nathan, I'm not trivial to the gossip that spreads through this town. However, sometimes I can't escape it. I've heard what people are saying about you."

Nathan rolled his eyes, not at Whitey, but the never-ending notion of gossip centered around him. "I've gotten used to it."

Whitey continued as if Nathan remained mute. "You don't owe anybody, anything. You don't have anything to prove."

"If only that were true," Nathan sighed.

"It is," Whitey asserted. "When it comes to something that you love and something that you're good at, the only person who have to answer to is yourself."

Nathan chewed on the inside of his cheek. Whitey did have a point. As much as it had been pushed to the side, it did bother him that he had certain expectations he had to live up to, or he was going to be eaten alive. But his main problem on the court wasn't attributed to everyone else's issues with him, it was the issues he had with himself.

"I don't think—"

"And I know that, that blonde cheerleader has something to do with your cloudy head, too."

Whitey had completely thrown Nathan off guard. "What?"

"I might be old and my eyesight might not be the greatest, but I still saw those longing looks you were giving her yesterday. You were more focused on her, than you were the game," Whitey said lowly.

Nathan couldn't be sure, but it sounded like Whitey was admonishing him. His head drooped low in shame. "Coach, I'm sorry."

"Isn't that something you should be telling her? I mean, you are the one who screwed up, right?"

"What the hell? Are you like a mind reader or something?"

Whitey shook his head. An amused smile broke through his stoic features. "No, I've just been around the block a couple of times. I don't want to know what happened between the two of you. It's none of my business. But it brings me back to my point of 'you're thinking too much.' You know how therapeutic basketball can be, or else you wouldn't be in this gym right now. Use it to your advantage and let it help you."

"I'm not really sure I understand what you're saying," Nathan mumbled.

"I'm saying that life is only as complicated as you make it out to be and running from the things that help you is a cowardice move."

~x~

Haley sighed dejectedly at she stared blankly at her homework. She thought that by busying herself with history, she could escape her own thoughts. Unfortunately, two hours had gone by and there wasn't a single word written on her worksheet, not even her name.

On the bright side, her hangover seemed to have subsided. She had a dull headache, but with all the crying she had done the past few days that wasn't anything unusual.

For the millionth time in the last hour, she tried to focus her thoughts on the paragraph in front of her. When, for the millionth time, all the words blurred together, she tossed her pencil in aggravation and buried her fingers in her messy hair. There was no sense in continuing to torture herself.

Haley knew that her mom was right, and that was all she could think about. There were a lot of things she didn't know, and she wanted answers. She deserved answers.

God must have been eavesdropping, because…

"Hey."

Haley's head shot up at the sound of his voice and her heart almost bungee jumped out of her chest. She slowly turned around to face him and sucked in a sharp gasp of air.

Nathan was hovering awkwardly in the doorway to her bedroom, like he wasn't sure if Haley was going to demand he leave or not. His shoulders were stiff and his hands cupped together in front of him. His hair looked damp, like he'd just gotten out of the shower. His clothes were rumpled, as if he'd rushed to her place in a hurry.

"Hi," She squeaked.

Haley didn't look angry or upset at his presence. She actually looked relieved. He treated that as a go-ahead to step further into her room.

"Uh, your mom…she let me in," Nathan quavered. "She told me to tell you that she's heading to the store."

Haley fought the urge to roll her eyes. She's almost certain Lydia made up the idea of having to go to the store as soon as she laid eyes on Nathan standing at their front door. Lydia's the only mother would leave her daughter alone with her boyfriend, willingly.

"Of course, she is," Haley sighed as she stood up from her desk. Slipping her hands in the pockets of her jeans, she chewed apprehensively on her bottom lip.

"How are you feeling?" He asked after a few restless pauses. He hates the awkwardness that has formed between them, but at the same time, he's thankful for it. The hostility between them was no longer present. It felt like a step in the right direction.

"Better," Haley murmured timidly. "Thanks for, err, taking care of me last night."

Nathan dismissed her thanks with a shake of his head. "You don't have the thank me, Hales."

A sliver slipped down her spine at the use of her nickname. His voice coated her skin a layer of goosebumps. She couldn't explain it, but there was just something about the way he said it.

"Still. Thank you."

Another awkward pause.

Nathan rubbed the back of his neck, as his eyes darted around her room.

Getting to her house was the easy part. After his talk with his coach, he had it set in his mind that he was going to try to fix things between them and he wasn't going to leave until she believed him. But that was before he was standing in front of her. Now, his stomach was in knots and that confidence had evaporated.

"I stopped by, because I was hoping we could talk?" Nathan finally managed.

He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

"Uh yeah, sure," Haley confirmed. God really must have been listening.

"I'm sorry," Nathan started off with. It was lame and not even close to what he really wanted to say, but it was a start. "What you heard…it wasn't…I didn't—It's not what it sounded like."

Haley continued to chew on her lip as Nathan struggled to express his thoughts.

"I just…," He trailed off. He was clearly a mess of his own mind and he could only think to do one thing.

Before Haley could fully register was what happening, his hands were tangled in her hair and his lips were pressed against hers. The intensity of the kiss almost brought her to her knees. Her trembling fingers found their way to his shirt and she fisted the material, effectively pulling him closer.

Logically, she should have pushed him away and demanded that they talk. They couldn't just gloss over their problems by getting lost in each other. But damn, if it didn't feel like heaven to kiss him again. It was…mind blowing, she wasn't sure how else to describe it.

Nathan eventually pulled away, but only far enough so their noses were brushing together. The tips of his fingers moved slowly against the sensitive skin behind her ear and along the edge of her jaw. Haley's eyes were still closed, dark eyelashes resting on porcelain skin.

His heart skipped a beat at the sight.

"I love you."

His voice was hoarse and shaky, but there was no mistaking the truth behind his words.

Haley's eyes popped open. The air was sucked out of her lungs when she saw his darkened eyes. She didn't know to respond to that. Anger, shock, and happiness made a hazy concoction that twisted through her veins.

"Nathan—"

He didn't give her a chance to protest or anything of the sort. He needed to get how he felt out now, or he feared he never would.

"I know I didn't say it before," Nathan murmured. "I should have."

"Why didn't you?" Haley finally managed to find her voice, albeit it was trembling.

His thumb brushed lightly over her cheekbone and down the curve of her lips. "Because when you told me that you love me, it was like my brain short circuited. I was…in shock. I couldn't believe that someone as perfect and gracious as you could love someone as jagged and corrupt as me."

Haley couldn't explain it, but she just knew that he meant every word he was saying. Nathan didn't talk about his feelings, so she figured it had to mean something when he did. Even if she did believe him, all couldn't be forgiven with an expression of love. There was still too much…mystery. Was she being greedy for wanting more? She couldn't decide.

Her mind was a jumble of things and she struggled to form a coherent thought.

Her silence made him anxious. Her expression was complexed—a mixture of bewilderment, complexity, and trepidation. It felt like a jab in his gut.

"What I said to Damien...," Nathan tried again. He cleared his throat, ridding it of the lump of emotion that had formed there. "I didn't mean any of it. I said what I needed to say in order to get Damien to back off. I did it to keep you safe. You…you weren't supposed to hear any of it."

"But, why?" Haley pondered ruefully…desperately. "Why do you have to keep me safe from Damien? What does he have on you?"

"It's…it's complicated."

The last put together piece of Haley cracked. She pulled away from him and it felt like a knife to her chest when she saw the dire hurt flash in his eyes.

"I can't, Nathan."

Her voice was quiet, a small and sheltered murmur of extensile pain. He could feel her pulling away from him and the panic almost swallowed him whole. He couldn't lose her like this. He couldn't lose her at all.

"Hales, please. You have to believe me," He begged, almost pathetically.

Her eyes were burning, but her body must have finally run out of tears.

"I don't know what to believe when there's some much I don't know."

"Believe that I love you," Nathan declared.

Everything in his world was turning at rapid speeds and he was willing to just about anything to make it stop.

"I believe that you love me, I do," Haley mumbled while running both of her hands through her hair. "I just can't brush this off like it's nothing. You hurt me, Nathan. Really bad."

Nathan inhaled sharply. He knew he had hurt her, but hearing the confirmation of it was almost too much to handle.

"I might know now that what you said was a lie, but I didn't at the time. You made me believe that a night that meant everything to be was some cheap encounter. You made me think that our entire relationship was just some crafted lie. And even knowing the 'truth', there's still so much that I don't know. I've been patient with you, I have. But this…I can't."

"What are you saying?" Nathan asked nervously.

"I need you to let me in, Nathan. All the way in. If not, I-I don't think I can do this anymore."

It was an ultimatum. A heady one that had his heart stopping in his chest. He was shocked to discover that the answer was clear. There was no confusion swirling around in his mind. There was no hesitation. If he let her all the way in, she would see him for who he really was and she could walk away from him. It would hurt like hell, but at least there was a chance she wouldn't. If he didn't let her in…

"Okay."

"Okay…?"

He stepped closer to her and his heart began to beat again when she didn't flinch away from him. Reaching up, he hesitantly placed his hand on her cheek. Her skin was warm and a shiver ran down his spine at the contact. His heart soared when she leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed as he caressed her skin.

"I'll let you all the way in, if that's what it takes."

Coming Soon: Hell on a Highway -Working as detective in the criminal intelligence unit in the city of New York is dangerous enough as it is. But falling in love with your partner when they're engaged to someone else, the animosity between the two of you is record breaking, and in-house romances are strictly forbidden might just make things a little...riskier. Naley.