He was standing just a few steps away, his face set, his stance conveying the same note of warning as his voice. Zane’s hand slacked around mine and, seizing the opportunity, I pulled myself from his grip.
Zane had to angle his head upward because Jason towered over him. “Who the hell are you, her bodyguard?”
I felt Jason’s eyes on me, but I refused to look at him.
“I’m the guy who is going to beat you to a pulp if you don’t get the hell out of here.”
“Whatever,” Zane muttered. “Fuck it, anyway.” He gave me a look of annoyance and disappointment. “I hope I never see you again,” he said then hurried over to his car, lacking all the confidence with which he’d grabbed me earlier. I watched him drive away with a loud screech of his tires, and only then did I look at Jason.
He was watching me, silent, waiting for me to say something. I dragged in a shaky breath, unnerved by how much I wanted to feast my eyes on him, to rediscover every plane and angle of his features, every hard line of his body. I was weak with longing. How had I survived without the sight of his face, without the sound of his voice for the past week and all my life before I met him?
It was hard not to walk into his arms and let him hold me. His eyes raked my face and every look felt like a heated touch on my skin. My body weakened, and I closed my eyes, reaching inside to drum up all the reasons why I was mad at him so I wouldn’t forget.
“What are you doing here?” I spat out the words.
He let out a bitter chuckle. “Hell if I know,” he said.
“No, I’m serious,” I said. “I don’t want to see you. I don’t want you anywhere close to me.”
“My parents are in town, Daphne,” he said tiredly. My breath hitched at the sound of my name on his lips, and I clenched my fists.
“We all had dinner together,” he continued. “I gave Amy a ride back here. Does that satisfy you?”
I didn’t answer.
“I saw your lovers’ quarrel, which did not seem to be going well for you.”
“It was none of your business.”
“You’re right,” he agreed, his jaw tight. “I should stay away from your apartment, even though my sister lives there. I’m not allowed to call you or even try to explain myself to you, and when I see some loser assaulting you on the street, I’m just supposed to walk away.”
“You’re not supposed to be here in the first place,” I said. “And he might be a loser, but you’re no better than he is.”
I saw him flinch, and I got no satisfaction from tongue-lashing him. It felt almost as if I was hurting myself instead of him.
“I want you to leave,” I said stubbornly.
“God! Daphne!” He ran a hand through his hair, frustration showing in all his movements. “I screwed up. I made a joke to my sister long before we met. I talked about nailing a girl I didn’t even know. Are you really going to hold on to that forever?”
I folded my arms and refused to respond.
“This is just you pushing me away,” he said bitterly. “Just like you did before. Just when I think I’ve gotten through to you, you found something to hold on to, a perfect excuse to put your walls back up.”
“Don’t you dare,” I cried. “Don’t fucking dare put this on me.” I was on the verge of breaking into sobs. “I don’t know what you want, but I would put up a thousand walls to keep out a liar like you.”
“I wasn’t lying about my feelings.”
I shook my head. “Just go away, Jason.”
“For how long?” There was a note of desperation in his voice. “How long are you going to do this?”
He said it like he was waiting for me to change my mind, as if it was a misunderstanding we could overcome and then he would be mine again, the way he’d been for one short night. I closed my eyes, wanting him but knowing I could never forgive him.
“For how long, Daphne?”
I didn’t reply. Instead, I turned on my heel and walked away from him, blinking furiously to keep my tears from falling.
The next morning, I caught Amy on her way out of the apartment.