I swallow the words that want to come out and climb over her to repeat the move.
Again, it's better, but not great.
"Try to slow it down. If you focus on each step as a move, you can nail each one before putting it all together. Just try—"
She ignores me completely and tries to fly through the move, inevitably making it worse. By the time she gets to her feet, she's practically sparking with her anger.
"God, Isuckat this," she exclaims. "I suck ateverything!"
I frown and step closer to her, being careful not to touch her. "Hailey..." I start.
"No, Jax, just admit it! I'm terrible at this. I bet even the kids class can get this damn move, yet I'm fumbling around like I just learned how to walk. God, what iswrongwith me?"
By now, her anger has morphed back into frustration, this time accompanied by teary eyes. It confirms my suspicion that something else happened today. I just don't know what.
I grip her hand in an effort to get her to focus on me. Her eyes don't turn to me but I feel her shiver at my touch.
"Hailey, what's going on?" I ask softly. I rub gentle circles on her wrist in an effort to soothe her. "Did something happen?"
She won't meet my eyes as she answers. "I suck at everything today," she whispers. "I feel like I keep screwing everything up." She wipes a tear away and then lets out a cold laugh, shaking her head. "Steve's right. It's a good thing I'm pretty because I can't do anything else. I’m only good for one thing… so maybe I am just a whore."
The name of that bastard on her lips—and the knowledge that he's still fucking with her head and making her feel like this—makes all rational thoughts fly out of my head. All I see is red.
Without thinking about what I'm doing—or whether this is a terrible idea—I shove forward until I have Hailey caged between my arms at the wall. I'm not touching her, but I might as well be with the tension radiating from both of us. I see her teary-eyed, beautifully broken gaze snap up to my face as I vibrate with rage.
"I told you before I never want to hear you talk about yourself like that ever again," I say through gritted teeth.
She jerks her attention away from me, a blush staining her cheeks as she avoids my eyes and mumbles asorry.
“No, don’t do that,” I say firmly but gently, tipping her chin back up with a finger. “I don’t want your sorries.” I study her eyes, willing her to see what I see. “What’s wrong with being a whore, baby girl?”
Something passes through her gaze at that, and she starts to stutter through some kind of non-answer. But I don’t want to hear it. I’m sick of that fucking word having any power over her.
“He’s making you feel like shit by calling you a word that should mean nothing to you,” I say softly.“Unless it’s used in the bedroom by a man whose sole purpose is to break you apart with hunger and stitch you back together with pleasure, it should meannothing.He was supposed to use that word to love you and instead he used it to hurt you. Don’t let him do that. Don’t let it be a negative thing. You said it yourself, you wanted to be treated like a whore in the bedroom. And that’s not a bad thing, baby girl. So, take the power back. Because if you say things like that again, I’ll have no choice but to show you how.”
Her lips part in surprise, and it takes everything in me not to lower my head and bite into her perfectly pink lips. "How...?" she whispers in disbelief. Her eyes show me she’s scared, but also desperate to be stronger than this. To be more than what Steve made her.
Fuck it, I'm already too deep into this.
I drop my head so my mouth is pressed against her ear. “That’s up to you, Hailey. What kind of whore do you want to be? On your knees with my cock in your pretty mouth? Or on all fours with my handprint on your ass as punishment for thinking you’re anything but perfect?”
I hear her sharp intake of breath at the same time that she starts to tremble. I know I should feel guilty about crossing so many boundaries, but I can’t bring myself to make light of the situation.
I pull back just far enough that I can look down and see her expression, keeping her caged between my arms. There's no chance I'm letting her go before we finish this conversation.
I come face to face with a Hailey I've never seen before. Her face is flushed, her breathing erratic, and her pupils are so blown out that her usually-blue eyes are almost black. She's so turned on that she can't even speak, her mouth opening and closing but no words are coming out.
Eventually, she manages a whisper. "Jax..."
All I can think about is how badly I want to take her home. How badly I want to see her on her knees, and then show her what I look like on mine. How badly I want to worship her body and erase every self-deprecating thought she's ever had about herself. I want to take her to bed and show her how a manshouldtreat a woman.
But as quickly as those thoughts come, so does the knowledge that I'm fantasizing about fucking my best friend's little sister. A woman that I've known since she was ten years old. A woman that just got out of an emotionally abusive relationship and is looking for me to be a friend.
A woman that I have no business telling I want to fuck her, let alone admitting to wanting to fuck herlike that.
The realization immediately shocks the lust out of my system. My eyes widen, and I stumble back a few steps.
Hailey must see the panic in my eyes because she steps forward, reaching for me. "Jax..." This time it sounds more like a plea.