Page 35 of Playing My Rivals

I turn my head her way. “Did you go anywhere else?”

Her brows knit together. “Um…no. Why are you acting this way?”

I try to shake it off. The last thing we need is another fight.

“It’s been a long week.” I force my shoulders to relax. I have to appear calm, or I’ll pay for it later.

Jamison packs his briefcase and addresses Dorothy. “How are you getting home?”

His question hits my nerves. I nearly shoot across the room and take him to the ground, but I stay where I am.

“She’ll come with me.” I grit my teeth.

She huffs. “Hunter, I can’t go in your car.”

My head whips back to her. “We have some things to discuss.”

Dorothy looks at Jamison. He studies us like he’s assessing if he should step in.

I need him gone, so I ease my stance. “Thanks for having her safety in mind. I’ll make sure she gets home, so you need not worry.”

He hesitates but resigns when Dorothy nods to him. “In that case, you guys have a good night.”

Jamison picks up his stuff and marches toward the door. I stare him down as he leaves.

That’s right.

Don’t fuck with me right now.

Once he’s gone, I face her. Her mouth hangs open as she stares at me.

“Please get your things and let’s go.” I gesture to her bag with my head.

“I’m walking. Thank you very much.” She grabs her stuff and glares my way.

“Since I know you need to be the one who makes the decisions, I’ll give you two choices. One, you can ride with me. Or two, I can follow you down the street in my car. The choice is yours, my love.” I step back and wait.

She studies me for a moment and then relents. “Fine. I’ll go with you in your car.”

She flips her hair over her shoulder as she stomps out of the office. We ride the elevator down in silence. I have to figure out how to best handle this if I’m going to get any information from her, so I breathe in and out as controlled as I can. I will my body to relax.

Once we’re on our way home, she addresses me. “Would you like to tell me what this is about?”

“You weren’t answering your phone. I was worried about you, so I came looking for you. You knew I was coming home tonight, so I figured we’d meet like always.

“Imagine my surprise when I found you out with Jamison after we discussed the need for you to distance yourself from him. He wants you and he can’t get it through his thick skull that you’re mine.”

Her eyes burn my way. “Now you own me?”

“Not really own you, but you are my girlfriend. So, in a way, yes.”

She looks out the window and huffs. “I’m not a thing you can possess. I’m a person with feelings. You know I wouldn’t cheat on you, so why are you being like this?”

I take another breath. She’s angrier than I anticipated.

“Jamison gets under my skin when it comes to you. Not to mention how worried I was. I hate when you don’t answer my texts or phone calls.”

My gaze searches for hers as I count everything I love about her. That alone will help me not panic.

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