“And you, how are you going to spend your time?” I demand. “I swear you’ve been hiding away so that I won’t see you, or is it because you aren’t man enough to witness the abuse?”
“Abuse is a bit strong of a term, don’t you think?”
“I think you need to face the truth. Your friends are no good.”
“So you think, but I disagree. They’re like brothers to me.”
“Ah, yes. Grim Reapers and all of that.” I roll my eyes. “And you’re a legend on campus from what I hear. Legendary asshole? Legendary bastard? Legendary—”
“Are you an English major, or did you eat a thesaurus for breakfast?”
I can’t help grinning. “Maybe you’re my muse but not the good kind.”
“No? If I’m your muse, do I get a whip?”
“If you ever touch me with a whip—”
“I’ll admit that I can be an asshole at times,” he says suddenly, “but there’s one promise I can make you.”
Oh, God. Here we go. I shake my head, not wanting to hear this.
“You and every other woman I’ve ever been with and ever will be with…”
Unbidden, I suppress the urge to flinch. Why is it that after everything, I don’t like the idea of him being with other women? It’s utterly ridiculous. I have no claim on him. I made sure of that when we didn’t sleep together again.
I could’ve. I could’ve been with him, and maybe I still would be with him, and honestly, I don’t know why I’m bothering to contemplate the road not taken.
“I will never do anything without consent,” Rob says, his tone unreservedly serious. “If you ask to be whipped or spanked, I’ll get my hands on a whip or I’ll use my hand, whatever you want. It’s always about your comfort.”
I suck in a breath. When he talks like this…
“My comfort or the comfort of any woman you’re with,” I sputter, trying to put some distance between us with words at the very least.
His eyes flash, and I can’t deny that at least for now, he’s talking about me and only me.
“You only have to worry about your comfort,” he murmurs. He uncrosses his arms and caresses the side of my face with the back of his hand.
I do my very best not to lean into his touch, not to sigh or give any sign of caving and giving into him because that is not why I came here.
“Rob,” I say firmly, “if you truly care about my comfort and what I want, you’ll warn your friends to back off and leave me the fuck alone because if not, I will stand up for myself.”
“Back to the threats.” Rob shakes his head. “I can’t control them.”
“If you can control your urges and not force yourself onto a girl, then you can—”
“No one can control their urges more than you can,” Rob counters shrewdly. “You wanted me the other night, and you denied more than just me. You denied yourself. Why?”
“Why turn your friends on me?” I spit out.
“After the cruise, I…” Rob shakes his head, his eyes narrowing. “Do you really think I would want them to verbally abuse you?”
“Why haven’t you been around lately? You were everywhere and then nowhere.”
“Looking out for me, huh? No other guy caught your eye?”
“Maybe they have,” I snap.
“Sure. When you want to stop lying to yourself, come on over.”