So he rejected her in front of everybody…
Now who’s the idiot who made a scene for nothing?
“Oh.” I stare at my fingers.
“What about you, Kingston? What’s your excuse?” He scoots closer to me on the bed.
I find myself drained of any strength, emotional or physical, that might’ve resided in my body when our eyes connect. I don’t want to fight it. Haze and I are wrong in too many ways to count. We’re wrong, but we’re real. Many walls still keep us apart, and I don’t know about tomorrow but tonight… I want to kick them down. Tonight, I don’t care.
“I love you, that’s why.”
His mouth drops open.
He doesn’t reply. Nor does he react. It takes a second for my words to sink in. Then, without a warning, he smiles and gets on top of me. I didn’t expect any less, but I still struggle with something as basic as breathing when he lays a hand on my cheek and leans forward. He stops two inches away from the high only he can give me.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kiss you right now.”
I’m afraid if I give in to the temptation, it’ll never let me go. I know if I kiss him now, I’ll never stop.
“The doctor will be here soon and… Will’s in the next room and… you can’t. I’m still mad at you,” I stutter, my attempts at convincing him not even enough to convince me.
Dang it. Why is this so hard?
“Uh-huh.” He nibbles on his lip and leans in some more.
“Haze, don’t.” I muster all the will I have left.
He stops and glances up, his eyes asking me the questions I’d never ask myself. He’s saying, “Do you really want me to stop?”
The last of my self-control is blown to pieces.
I cup his face and give in to what I’m terrified to want. I kiss him with all I have. He pulls away at first, surprised that I made the first move, but quickly brings my face closer again. His lips meet mine, and my mouth responds in the only way it knows how: by kissing him back. I missed this. I missed him. I’m supposed to be mad. I’m supposed to be getting over him. This is everything but getting over him. What’s wrong with me?
The guilt in my stomach dissolves when his tongue asks for access, and I grant it to him. His fingers tug at my dress, slowly sliding along my thighs…
“Sorry to interrupt,” a deep voice says.
Haze jerks away from me, his face going from confused, to surprised, to horrified. In the doorway is a man that looks around forty-five. Next to him is Will. He’s probably the one who let him in. He must be the doctor Haze called. He seems familiar. I think I’ve seen him before… but where?
“What are you doing here?” Haze asks, and I’m tempted to elbow him. He’s the one who called this doctor guy here. Why is he being rude?
“Did you really think that I wouldn’t be notified of you calling at one of my clinics? To ask for another doctor than me, to make it even worse. Of course I’d take the opportunity to see you.” The man raises an eyebrow in my direction and stops speaking while he analyzes me thoroughly. He looks repulsed. “Still a ladies’ man, I see.”
Well, excuse me.
“No, I’m done with that, actually,” Haze hisses, the coldness in his tone incomparable to all the times I thought he was being cold. He wasn’t being cold. This is Haze being cold.
“Is that so?” The man looks at me like I’m garbage one more time. “Well, you see, I wouldn’t know about that because you never call or answer the phone.”
>
“What’s going on here? Do you two know each other?” I ask, the word confused an understatement when it comes to how I’m feeling.
“Yes, I agree with your conquest of the week, Haze. Don’t be rude. Introduce us,” the man says. I don’t let his offending words get to me.
“Richard, meet Winter,” Haze says.
Uncomfortable, he rubs at the back of his neck and glares at the man in silence. Then, he brings his eyes back to me.