Page 82 of The Revenge Agenda

His cute face pulls into a frown. “I have to do this.”

“You don’t have to do anything.”

“No, you don’t understand.” He snarls. “I have to do this.”

“And I’ve already said you’re not.” We glare at each other for a minute, but it’s clear he isn’t going to back down. He might let me be in control in the bedroom, but there’s no way he’s giving it up to me anywhere else.

As hard as it is, I need to give him the truth.

I reach out and untangle his hands, linking my fingers through his instead. “I’m asking, Rush. Please don’t see him again. We’ll figure something else out.”

“Like what?”

“We don’t need the answer to that to make this choice. I don’t want him to get the chance to hurt you again.”

“He didn’t hurt me.”

I pin Rush with a serious look. “We both know you don’t believe that. It might not have been physical, but what he did wasn’t okay.”

“I know it wasn’t okay. I’m not saying it was okay, but I can handle myself.”

“I’m not arguing that you can’t, but I …” I swallow. “I care about you. A lot. Knowing that you were in that position because of me made me lose it. I can’t go through that again.”

His expression softens. “You care?”

“I know you’re a bit oblivious sometimes, but you have to have picked up on that.”

He shifts closer, hand tightening in mine. The way he’s looking at me is making my heart beat faster, my mouth drier.

“What does that mean?”

I try for a smile. “Literally? Or moving forward?”

“Moving forward. Like, are we in a relationship now? Do I need to change my display picture to one of the two of us? Should we tell work? What will Ted think? Oh fuck, I’ll have to be moved out of the team, or everyone will think we’re fucking so I can get ahead. People will gossip about us for sure—though probably worth it for more of your blow jobs?—”

“Rush?”

“Yeah, honey?”

I snort through my laugh. “I care about you. I’m not proposing. Take a breath.”

“So then what does that mean?”

“You need guidelines?”

“If you don’t want me obsessing over this and thinking about it for the next week until I spiral into a world of what-ifs, then that might be nice.”

Apparently, a see-what-happens approach isn’t going to work for Rush. Right. “Well, I think the first step is you telling me what you think?”

“About?”

“Me.”

He thinks for a moment. “You’re calm.”

“Right. Well, don’t rip my clothes off at once.”

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but it really doesn’t seem fair that I’ve got my dick on display and I don’t get to appreciate yours.”

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