His fingers gently glided through my hair and down the back of my neck. “No. But it gets easier.”
It was the first time he told me something private about himself, and I was grateful he shared it. “Thanks for telling me.”
“You can trust me. And I can trust you.”
“Yeah…it seems so.”
He kissed my neck before he sat up and eyed the time on the clock. “It’s getting late…” It was his somewhat polite way of excusing me.
My neck practically snapped at the whiplash I just received. One moment, he was sweet and open, sharing a secret he never told anyone else. And the next, he was kicking me out of his bed again.
What was his deal?
“I have to work in the morning, and I know you do too.” He pulled the covers back and sat up. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”
“Uh, seriously?”
“Seriously, what?” He turned his body and looked at me, his chiseled physique unable to save him this time.
“Don’t couples sleep together?”
“Yeah. But what does that have to do with this?”
“Why don’t you want me to sleep over?” I sat up and pulled the sheets over my chest, hiding my nakedness now that the sweet and tender moment was over.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to sleep over. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Then why are you kicking me out?”
“I’m not kicking you out,” he argued. “It’s just getting late, and we should get some rest.”
“And we can’t do that here?” This guy was perfect in every way except for this. It seemed like he was hiding something, but what? “Are you seeing someone else?” I said the words but couldn’t force myself to believe them. I said them because I was mad more than anything.
Now his eyes turned hostile. He glared at me like I’d just crossed a line drawn in the center of the bed. “Don’t insult me like that ever again.”
“I’m just asking—”
“Then don’t ask. I told you I’m yours and you’re mine. Don’t doubt me like that ever again.”
“Then explain to me—”
“I don’t owe you an explanation. I don’t owe you a goddamn thing.” He got out of bed, his body thick and threatening. “All I asked was to take you home, and you turned it into something else. Maybe I’m not ready to sleep with you yet. You won’t fuck me, and I respected that, so you need to respect this.” He grabbed my clothes and threw them at me. “Get your ass dressed, and let’s go.”
My jaw dropped to the floor because I was shocked by what he said. With the snap of a finger, his anger exploded, and he told me off like I did something terrible to him. Just a second ago, my heart was aching for him. Now, I just wanted to slap him upside the head. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
He pulled his shirt over his head and got his jeans on. “I’ll say whatever I damn well please. Get over it.”
Now my anger reached an all-time high. He turned into a different person right before my eyes, and I didn’t like it one bit. My rage took control over my body, and I marched to him then slapped him hard across the face. I put my entire body into it and hit him as hard as I could, making my palm slap audibly against his hard cheek.
He turned with the hit, his face snapping to the right as the momentum of my palm collided with his skin. The rest of his body remained stationary, his wide and powerful shoulders not shifting a single inch. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, his body tense to the breaking point.
He slowly turned his gaze back to me, his blue eyes suddenly looking gray. His heavy breathing continued, and his powerful chest rose with every breath. His nostrils flared as he looked down at me, and like a rhino free from his cage, he was about to charge.
I held my ground and dared him to make a move.
He suddenly reached for me, grabbing me by the neck and pulling me into him.
I threw my elbow down and severed the touch before I slapped him again.
His eyes widened, and his body tensed even further. “Fuck.”
I didn’t know what was happening between us, but I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad. I should’ve felt threatened, even in danger, but I didn’t. Scorching heat flowed between us, and I felt it burn me all the way through. Inexplicably, I wanted to slap him again—and again.
He snatched me again, this time, getting both of my wrists behind my back before he threw me onto the bed. He pinned me down with his size and kept me pressed into the mattress without any hope of escape.
He squeezed my wrists so hard they started to ache.