“I don’t need an invitation to come see what’s mine,” I snarl, offended.
Her chest inflates on a full inhale. “I’m not yours anymore, Kellet.”
My eyes crinkle. “Stop calling me that.”
“Stop calling you what? Your name?”
She did this the other day too. Using my last name like it’s a weapon.
“What would you prefer then,Kellet?” Now she’s just mocking me.
Iceman. I want to holler, but that’s what she wants. She wants me to overreact, so she has a more legitimate excuse to get rid of me. She wants a fight because she can’t control the war waging in her mind.
She’s attracted to me, but it goes both ways.
Rory’s heart doesn’t want me, but her body tells me something different. I can see it in the way she fights it, tightening at every inch. Same as mine does for hers.
“What about asshole? Dickhead?” Her voice antagonizing, patronizing.
My lungs expand, starved for more than her demoralizing mouth. Her flesh humming off more than hot energy right now.
“You think you can pop up whenever you feel like it because we have a history? That’s not okay. I’m over following along while you pull at the strings.”
I flick at my thumb, unimpressed.
“I’m done letting you and everyone else play puppet master with my life.” Spouting off one bit of truth in all this.
The muscles in my cheeks flare. “Is that why you got the job at Hardin?”
Her eyes widen before narrowing again, unknowing I knew.
“I asked you a question.” I lean into her, climbing off the bed. “Don’t get shy on me now, Princess. You weren’t earlier.” Tone as provoking as it is calculating.
If she wants to play with fire, we both know I’ll play right back.
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” she says, pulling away so I can see the aggravation lines on her face. “But you do owemeone?”
“One?”
“Why are you still here when I asked you to leave?”
Her pupils dilate as the air shifts. A shadow crosses over them as her chest starts to rise and fall in the same pattern as earlier. Only this time, they are more untamed.
“Do you want me to leave?” I ask softly. Voice huskier than before.
Her muscles twitch against me and I hear her throat hitch. I know she doesn’t, but I need to hear the words.
This decision completely on her, giving her control. Rory already knows what I want. She can feel it pressing into her belly button.
Our breaths coexist but I can feel her fight. A catastrophe of morals at play right now. She wants me but doesn’t. Hates me but can’t fully let go either.
We are equal parts mayhem and turmoil.
My abdomen clenches as I step back, even as everything in me fights against it. Making the decision for us after she hesitates too long. We need more time.
Rory isn’t ready and it revolts my stomach.
I fucked us up and I’ll be the one who continues to pay the penalties of my sins. She already has enough to deal with.