Page 61 of Mine to Take

The second I turn off the ignition, the driver’s side door is popped open and he’s assisting me to the sidewalk. With his muscular arm wrapped around me, there’s no escaping him.

Part of me wonders if I even want to.

I’ve never felt more conflicted.

In silence, he steers me toward the front porch and up the rickety stairs before shoving open the front door. Barely do I catch a glimpse of the people sitting around the living room, playing video games. A few call out greetings, but he ignores them, hustling me up the staircase to his room.

Once I’m over the threshold, he closes the door and leans against it. He doesn’t say a word as his gaze stays pinned to mine. Only now do I realize that he’s been keeping himself firmly under control this entire time.

That’s no longer the case. The thin veneer has been torn away.

A potent concoction of nerves and excitement bursts at the bottom of my belly as I rip my attention away from him, needing to get all the emotions careening out of control back under submission.

All it takes is one fleeting glance at the queen-sized bed for memories to press in at the edges, threatening to suffocate the life out of me.

Am I the last girl who’s been there?

Or have others already taken my place?

The thought sickens me. It’s enough to have bile rising in my throat.

And it shouldn’t.

Our worlds were never supposed to collide again. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t been able to banish him from my thoughts.

“I’m curious… Does River know I fucked you?” The question comes out sounding as if his voice has been scraped from the bottom of the ocean.

Air leaks from my lungs as my wide gaze slices to his and fear scampers down my spine.

When I remain silent, he growls, “Does he?”

The thought of my brother finding out about what happened between us makes me sick to my stomach.

He would be furious.

I have to moisten my lips before forcing out the response. “Of course not.”

His eyes narrow. “Do you plan on telling him?”

Is he really asking this?

“Well, sunshine? I need to know.”

I clear my throat and force out the words that have become lodged there. “Why would I do that? We slept together one time. It’s over, and we’ve both moved on with our lives.”

A muscle in his jaw tics as one sculpted brow rises. “Is that all it was to you? A fuck in the sheets?”

No.

But to admit that to him would be dangerous.

It would only send us tripping down a path neither of us wants.

My attention slices to the door he’s leaning against. It’s so tempting to race past and escape his suffocating presence.

“You’re not really thinking of running away from me, are you?”

I straighten my shoulders and focus on the reason I’ve returned to the scene of the crime. “I’d like my necklace.”

---