UNDYING: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 3) by Tabatha Kiss

that exactly?”
    “Taking a break.”
    “A break?” I repeat. “Tobias, I can’t take a break right now.”
    “It’s only for a few days,” he whispers.
    “We may only have a few days left!”
    He inhales slowly. “Not if I keep my focus now.”
    “Six months,” I point out. “That wasn’t a long enough break for you?”
    “Claire—”
    “I’ve been back less than three days !”
    He closes his eyes. “I know.”
    I stare at him, hoping that he’ll say something else, anything that’ll kill the darkness devouring my insides, but he stays quiet. “I don’t have a say in this at all, do I?”
    “Please don’t make this harder than it already is, Claire,” he deflates. “I’m trying to get us what we want.”
    “What we want? I leave town and I completely lose my mind, but it’s what you wanted.”
    “I never wanted that—”
    “I come home, which is what I wanted, but you push me away. If you ask me, we don’t want the same things at all anymore, Tobias…” I turn back to the door, intending to leave him behind in the hallway, but he pulls me back to him, cradling me with one, swift movement. I feel his lips on mine, cold and firm. They tremble with his kiss, begging for more, but he holds himself steady.
    “Do you remember back then?” he whispers with closed eyes, his voice at the edge of a growl. “Before we were together, I said I wanted to take comfort in you, but I couldn’t . We had to wait. Do you remember that?” He opens his eyes and waits for me answer him.
    “Yes.”
    “This feels worse… ” His lips brush against mine. “Now I know how you feel against me and what you taste like…”
    My entire body shakes. “We’re stronger together , Tobias—”
    “I think about you like that… with him. I think about the things you’ll be forced to do if I fail and I just…” He stares into my soul, his hands trembling against my face.
    “You made me promise not to leave your side,” I whisper. “We don’t break our promises…”
    “I know… but this is what I have to do, Claire.”
    My heart breaks in two and tears form behind my eyes. “Then go,” I finally say, giving in to everything my love for him rejects. He claims my lips with one more kiss, hard and true, before letting me go and turning away. “I love you, too.”
    He looks back at me for a brief moment, but he doesn’t let his eyes linger on me for long. “I’m going to fix this, Claire. I promise…”
    I manage to hold it together until he rounds the corner and disappears from view. My body convulses with thick sobs and I fall back against the door. With my eyes shut tight, I imagine our perfect morning again. Waking up with him after months apart was a dream, a fucking cloud nine of emotional satisfaction. I don’t even want to the think about the possibility of it never happening again.
    I turn around and push open the hotel room door. Amy’s voice breaks the silence as I step inside. She has her phone against her ear and she bites her lip in frustration.
    “Uh huh… uh huh …” Her head jerks back and forth as anger fills her eyes. “This is crap, you know that, right?”
    I sit down on the bed and wipe the tears off my eyes, but they spill over again.
    “Ryan, I’m sorry , but I didn’t have a choice. Desperate times call for— No, you’re being immature! ... Fine.” She heaves a sigh and tosses the phone down onto the bed behind me. “Boys are so stupid!” she mutters through clenched teeth as she plops down beside me.
    “Yeah?” I sniff. “What did yours do?”
    “He’s still mad at me for quote dragging him into this tournament unquote,” she answers. “Doesn’t want to see me for a while. What did yours do?”
    I wipe my cheek. “He loves me too much.”
    She chuckles before tossing her arm around me. “What a jerk .”

Chapter 10
    Out Of Practice
     
    “Tobias!”
    I don’t know how long I’ve been screaming. My throat burns with each new breath I take. I