Anger was good. Anger prevented me from dwelling on the truth behind his statement, and anger coated my words with venom when I spoke again.
“You’re one to talk.” I tilted my chin up, my eyes searing into his endless midnight ones. “Josh Chen, the golden boy. The adrenaline junkie. You want to talk about chasing highs? How about you putting your life on the line every time you pursue some stupidly reckless new activity even though you’re Ava’s only family left? How about the fucking moral high horse you ride around on because you’re a doctor and everything you do is for the supposed greater good?”
My nails dug tiny crescents in my palms. “You’re the one who can’t let go of shit that happened years ago. He lied to me, he betrayed me.” I mimicked his voice. “Tough shit. That’s the way the world works. You survive and get over it, or you get stuck in your own martyrdom. You say I hide behind my act? I say you hold onto your grudge because that’s all you have left to hold onto. It’s the only thing keeping you alive, and you don’t give a damn if it hurts the people you supposedly love.”
It was a low blow to match a low blow until we were both in hell, caught in the culmination of years of animosity and words we would’ve never uttered to anyone except each other. Lies stripped away, truths uncovered only to be disguised as insults.
Part of me was disgusted. Another part sang with exhilaration.
In a world that expected politeness and praised restraint, there was nothing more freeing than finally letting it all out. No holds barred.
Fury carved savage lines into Josh’s face. “Fuck. You.”
“You. Wish.”
The white plumes of our breaths mingled in the cold. The air around us fell unnaturally still, like it was waiting with bated breath for our next move.
“I don’t need to wish, Red.” His voice turned dark. Smoky. It slithered past my defenses and kindled a heat in my lower belly that had both nothing and everything to do with my anger. “I could fuck your brains out right now. Make you take back every word you said and have you begging for more by the end of it.”
It was a warning, not seduction. And it made the fire burn even hotter in my veins.
“You know what they say about men who talk a big game.” Anticipation climbed up my spine at the danger swirling in the air. We were one step away from crossing a line we couldn’t come back from, and I was riding high enough I didn’t care. “They’re overcompensating for the smallest packages.”
A smile slashed across Josh’s face, vicious enough it introduced a seed of trepidation.
“Oh, Red. You’re about to find out just how untrue that is,” he said softly.
He moved so fast I didn’t get the chance to draw another breath before he yanked me against him and crushed his mouth against mine.
And my world as I knew it shattered into a million pieces.