Suddenly, everything slid into place. Radleigh leaned back on my bed, smirking. I picked up the nearest thing to hand, which happened to be my hairbrush, and threw it at him, enjoying the satisfying smack it made as the wooden handle hit his arm.
“Bree, I was not in the shower! McCoy is just being a pillock. You don’t think I would have let him in here while I was …” I trailed off, reluctant to use the word ‘naked’ in front of him, “ … showering.”
“Well, I … no. But I panicked when he answered the phone because it’s early and he lied and-”
“You thought I’d gone over to the dark side? Bree, I am immune to sexual predators like McCoy.”
He grinned at me as if he was proud of the title. I had to turn away because his smug smile made me want to throw something else at him.
The next nearest thing was a heavy lamp.
“So, everything’s okay?” Bree asked.
“Everything’s fine.”
“Oh good. It would be so icky if you did anything with him!”
“The only thing I plan to do with him involves a shovel and a big hole in the ground. Can I call you back later?”
“Sure,” she giggled. “Bye Leah.”
Taking a long breath, I turned back to Radleigh. “What the hell did you think you were doing answering my phone?”
“I thought I was doing you a favour,” he said, smiling.
“No you didn’t, you smug piece of crap. You were trying to cause trouble.”
“Relax. Bree wouldn’t have told anyone.”
“That’s not the point! I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea about us!”
“Maybe she got the right idea,” he said, tilting his head back slightly the way he always did when he was challenging me. “Maybe the reason she believed what I said is because she knows you’re in to me.”
“Or maybe you have way too high an opinion of yourself.”
I tried not to think about the unavoidable fact that he had every right to. For the first time since he’d arrived in my room, I looked at him properly. The dark circles under his eyes had gone, and the colour had returned to his cheeks. The tattoos on his upper arms were just visible, peering out from underneath the short sleeves of his black t-shirt, and my eyes kept drifting back to them as he spoke.
“That doesn’t stop what I said being true,” he said, standing up. “You could have gone home with Miguel but you chose to stay here with me. And I saw the look on your face when you came to visit me. You were worried.”
“You were in pain. I’d have been worried about anyone in that condition.”
“It was more than that.”
“You’re delusional,” I told him, forcing my gaze back to his face.
“Cut the crap, Leah. You didn’t stay here because you had to. You stayed because you wanted to.”
“I stayed because nobody else wanted to be stuck here with you!”
I turned away, ready to open the door for him to leave but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. As I stumbled against him, my fingers twitched with longing as they gripped the taut muscles beneath them. Without giving me a second to think, his hands grasped my hips.
His lips were infuriating. Soft, full, and unquestionably hungry. Every time they brushed against mine, my anger was replaced by excitement, and something resembling relief. His tongue found mine, dancing in rhythm as his hands dug into my sides, keeping me close.
‘No, no, this can’t happen!’ a voice said from the depths of my mind. ‘Stop. Now.’
I moved away from him slightly, my heart racing. I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe.
“Don’t even try telling me you want me to stop,” Radleigh said.