Page 37 of Dare To Take

“It wasn’t funny.”

I dip my head to kiss her, but she turns her face away. “Come on, it was just a joke.”

“A bad one.”

My lips find her ear and I nip it gently. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not a whore, Eli.”

“I never said you are. Those were your words, not mine.”

“You’re the only guy I’ve fucked.”

“But not the only one whose dick you’ve sucked.” But I know that’s a lie. Because I know whose dick she was sucking on the video that was shared.

“You’re such a fucking asshole.” She shoves me away and storms off to the bathroom.

I consider going after her and telling her that it’s me in the video but decide against it. Trying to explain why I did it—how to begin with, it was to punish her and that my original intention was to share the footage with the school—will just make her more convinced that I am guilty of releasing it.

How could I explain that our meetings stopped being about getting ammunition to prove she was a money-hungry gold-digger and turned into a need to fulfill the fantasies she talked about in her diary? The more I read, the more time I spent with her as Sin, the more I realized she hadn’t lived, and I wanted to give her all those experiences she was missing out on and dreamed about.

Telling her that the second I touched her, tasted her, all my plans shifted and became something else will sound like a lie and the fragile friendship we seem to be building will crash and burn before it even takes root.

I clear up the food, dump it all in the trash and walk through to the bedroom. The shower is running, and I’m so fucking tempted to strip off and join her. But that will open the door to a whole new set of problems, so I distract myself by tidying up the bed.

When she finally comes out of the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy white robe, her cheeks pink from the heat of the water, I’m lying on the bed messing with my cell.

“Bathroom’s free.” Her words are stilted.

Still angry with me, then.

“I should hope so. The room costs enough. I’d hate to have to pay extra for bathroom perks.” My voice is dry as I swing my legs off the bed.

She rolls her eyes, but I see her lips twitch as she fights to stop a smile. I tweak a lock of damp hair on my way past her to the door, and head into the bathroom to take a shower.

***

I wake up to the strangest sensation, and it takes a little while for my brain to decipher what is happening. First thing I register is that I’m lying face down, my face buried into the pillow. Second thing that comes to mind is that I’m naked. But it’s the third thing that has me snapping my eyes open and shoving upright.

Someone is touching me. More specifically, my back.

There’s a soft exhalation of air as I knock whoever is there away from me, and that’s when sleep finally releases its grip and my mind catches up to where I am.

“Fuck.” I twist on the mattress to see Arabella on her back, staring up at me, eyes startled. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

She shakes her head.

“What time is it?” I search around for my cell, spot it on the floor and reach down to grab it, but I don’t ask it to tell me the time. “Get dressed. We’ll go down to the restaurant for breakfast.” I stand and snatch my clothes up, dragging the t-shirt over my head.

“Eli.” Her voice is soft.

Tension zips through me. I pull on my underwear and jeans.

“Eli—” she tries again, and I know what she’s going to say so I speak over her.

“Fuck it. Manhasset is around a ninety-minute drive from here. We’ll skip breakfast and go straight there. We can find somewhere to eat once we arrive.” I drag a hand through my hair and go into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

Movement in the mirror brings my head up as I spit out the water. Arabella. Staring at me out of big blue eyes, bottom lip caught between her teeth. Our eyes meet in the reflection, and her lips part.

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