Panic takes over me.
“Relax. It’s just for a few hours,” Haze says, unbothered.
“Relax? How am I supposed to relax?” I prowl around the bedroom, my breathing unsteady.
“Winter, calm down.”
“I can’t,” I say, strangled.
“Yes, you can.”
“No, I can’t!” I continue to drag myself deeper and deeper into an anxiety attack.
He snatches my wrist into his hand. “Winter, stop. What are you so afraid of?”
“I’m afraid to be alone with you!” I almost scream.
Stunned, he stares at me in silence.
I take my wrist back.
After a few seconds, I let it all out.
“Don’t you get it? I was fine with my decision. Up until yesterday, I was completely, one hundred percent fine with never seeing you again, but then… then you had to show up in court and fuck with my head and…” My voice wavers with emotions. “I need to get out of here.”
I make my way to the door—I swear I will kick that door down if I have to—but he grabs my waist with one arm and spins me right around.
My breath hitches in my throat. His chest, hard as rock, welcomes mine, and he cups my face firmly with both hands. I squeeze my eyes shut to avoid eye contact. If I don’t see it, it’s not real. If I don’t see it, it’s not real.
“Why can’t you be alone with me?” he whispers.
He knows. He just wants to hear me say it.
No reply.
“Winter, tell me why.”
Tears build up behind my eyelids, threatening to fall the second I open them.
“Because you hate me?” A twinge of vulnerability lingers between every word.
I peel my eyes open.
And surrender.
“Because I don’t hate you at all.”
His lips part.
He stares at me in shock for what feels like forever.
The room is so silent you could hear our beating hearts.
Then he slams his mouth against mine.
No warning, not a word, he just kisses me. Hard.
I’m confident my heart is on a countdown to self-destruction when I return the kiss. His tongue pushes past my lips. He’s such a good kisser it’s almost painful. Painful to think that I went without this for a year. But what hurts even more… is how quickly he pulls away.