She swallows. “Thank you for understanding.”
“You don’t deserve my anger, Callie. My family does.”
“Donny, I—”
“Damn it, Callie.” I advance on her, pull her off the bed, into my body, and crush my lips to hers.
It’s an angry kiss, but she is not the object of my anger. Perhaps she should be, but she’s not.
How do you hold a high school girl responsible for a decision made based on her knowledge of who my family was?
You don’t.
And I can’t.
I kiss her. I kiss her hard, and I kiss her with raw passion and anger. I kiss her with a little bit of remorse as well.
My baby sister was drugged. Poisoned.
And I went back to Denver once she had recovered. I went back to Denver to live my own life.
I should have stayed on the western slope. I should have uncovered the untruths about my family. Some of which, it turns out, appear not to be untrue after all.
I melt into Callie, taking her with this kiss. I devour her mouth, and I know, before this night is over, I will also devour her body.
Why she covered up the evidence no longer matters to me.
None of this is her fault.
It’s mine.
It’s mine for deserting my family. For deserting my sister. For thinking I could find a life outside the western slope.
I should have been here.
I never should have left.
I rip my mouth from hers and push her—not gently—onto the bed.
“Undress,” I say calmly.
She widens her eyes, parts her lips.
“Undress,” I say again, this time a bit more forcefully.
She kicks off her shoes and then removes her socks. “Donny…”
“No talking. I don’t want to talk anymore right now.”
“But there’s more…”
“Yeah, I’ve got a lot more too, but we’ll deal with it later. Now, undress.” This time I say it through clenched teeth.
“Are you going to…?”
“Callie, I swear to God, if you don’t undress right now, I’m going to turn you over my knee and spank that pretty little ass of yours.”
Her cheeks redden.