Is he going to kiss me this time?
This is the closest he’s come to me since the party. I just want things to be right between us. If he’s ready to move past his grudge, then I’ll forgive and forget his cruelty so we can go back to how things should be between us.
Licking my lips, I strain toward him with want.
He releases a gruff, arrogant sound of amusement. “Do you seriously think I’m going to kiss you?”
The cutting tone makes me flinch.
“I…”
“How pathetic.”
Oh god, I’m an idiot. The alarm returns, winning out over the fog of desire. I can’t believe myself right now for losing sight of common sense. This is that damn party all over again, the intoxicating invisible tether cinching tight between us, but all it brings is heartache. How could I forget?
Fox scoffs. “You look so fucking desperate right now, little daisy. It’s a terrible look on you.”
Hurt stings the newly opened wounds and I shrink back against the tree. How could I think he was ready to move past why he hates me? He didn’t that night he finally acknowledged me. I swallow the hot embarrassment and glare at him.
“Fuck you,” I mutter.
His grin is scary. “You make me want to end you. Right here, right now. There’s no point in dancing around it.”
My eyes widen. The reality slams into me once more. Fox can and will hurt me without a second thought.
“Why do you hate me so much?” I whisper, despising the painful fire in my throat. “Why?”
Fox’s lip curls and he brings his mouth to my cheek. “Stop acting like you don’t know. It’s making me sick. Everything about you makes me so goddamn sick.”
My chest collapses with a hoarse breath. The acidic hostility in his tone is unmistakable.
A phone rings and he curses, tearing away from me. I lean against the tree, unsure of what he’ll do if I move. Whoever is calling makes his sharp jaw tic when he clenches it. His glare finds me once more.
“Get out of my sight before I change my mind,” he commands. “Don’t let me catch you here again. You won’t like what I do to you.”
The thought of staying away from the tree drives a white-hot lance into my chest. I want to argue instead of letting him win, but I’m still reeling from allowing myself to think for a second that he wanted me. God, he’s right. I am desperate, but all I want is to make things right between us.
When I haven’t answered, he takes a threatening step toward me, his glare intensifying. “Got it?”
I hate this.
Heart lodged in my throat, I manage a stiff nod before I walk to my car on trembling legs. I won’t run. I refuse to let him believe he can control me like that, snapping his fingers and barking commands to make me hop fucking to it because he said so. I deal with it enough from Mom and Dad, but no one gets that power over me.
Behind me, I hear the deep murmur of his voice as he answers the phone. “You got something new for me?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I watch him pace by the tree, pushing a hand into his messy dark hair in agitation. The hint of a tattoo is visible at the neckline of his t-shirt. Curiosity tugs at me. I didn’t get to see it at the party, but I caught a tiny glimpse of black feathers.
I don’t stick around long enough to listen. Once I reach the SUV, I get in and drive away in a shaken daze. I don’t even roll the windows down to let my fingers ride the waves of the wind whipping by the car. Dad would be really annoyed if he knew all his lectures about safe driving were flying out the window in the face of self preservation.
It doesn’t make sense how Fox Wilder can simultaneously draw me in with magnetic force while also throwing off dangerous vibes that make me want to get away.
Nothing makes any damn sense to me anymore. It has to be the fact that there’s so much history between us. Throw in his grudge against me and…whatever it was that went down at the party, the line between us is mottled and blurred by the ferocity of our feelings. One minute he ignores me, the next he’s pushing me against the nearest flat surface to ignite a fire in me with his body, only to turn around and lash out at me in punishment. I never know what to expect from him.
Gripping the wheel hard enough for my knuckles to turn white, I head for Thea’s bakery. My racing heart doesn’t slow.
Fox is the only person who gets under my skin and riles up my easy carefree spirit. He makes me want to fight him. I’m more of a peace and love type of person, but when it comes to Fox, a fierceness I didn’t know I possessed breaks free.
I should stay away from him—it’s what he wanted. But I can’t. Not until I know why he hates me enough to forbid me from coming to our tree.