Page 5 of Flames of Desire

“No game,” I said, meeting her gaze. “I wanted to see you, to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“About the way things ended yesterday.” I said, closely watching her expression. “I figured I owed you an apology.”

“An apology?” she laughed. “Why in God’s name are you apologizing?”

Honestly though, why was I apologizing? I thought to myself.

“...I mean, it’s you, after all.”

Hearing her say that made me feel a bit angry. What did she mean by ‘it was me, after all?’ My eyes darkened as I met her gaze. “And what the fuck does that mean?”

She laughed again. “Let’s face it Alex, you know what you are. The entire fucking town knows what you are. You may be my brother’s best friend, but to me you’ll always just be the town playboy.”

Chapter three

CHAPTER THREE - THE FIRE WITHIN

As soon as the words left my mouth, I watched Alex’s eyes darken to a near-gray color. I don’t think I had ever seen someone’s eye color change, and it felt a bit scary to witness. His entire demeanor shifted, hardening in a way that made the air around us feel charged.

He scoffed, leaning away from me. “I can’t believe I wasted all this time and effort just to be insulted,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I opened my mouth to respond, but he cut me off, sighing as he moved further away. “Mr. Ginsberg will be here shortly. You can talk with him and discuss whatever you need.”

Before I could say anything, he walked out of the living room. I stared at the empty space where he had stood, a mixture of confusion and guilt swirling inside me. Why was Alex acting that way? Was it possible that he was actually hurt by what I said? But that couldn’t be possible. He was Alex fucking Sinclair. There wasn’t a girl alive who could hurt his feelings.

I heard him at the front door, and I quickly got up from the couch. “Even if he’s pissed, he shouldn’t leave me here all alone in this cabin.”

I made my way to the front door and met Alex by the door, his hands angrily fiddling with the knob. I paused in confusion, and his eyes glanced up to look at me. He began banging the door with his shoulder, startling me.

“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

He replied gruffly, “The door’s stuck.”

I looked out through the window, and my face paled in realization. “Alex,” I called out his name a few times before he finally answered with a frustrated tone. “Alex, come here.” I called, my voice shaking slightly.

“What?” he answered with a frustrated tone.

“Come look at this.” I pointed out the window.

He joined me at the window, peering out. The next word out of his mouth was a stern “Shit.”

From the windows, it was clear that there was a huge snowstorm outside, and we were stuck inside the cabin until the storm passed. The wind howled, and snow piled up against the walls of the cabin, burying us in.

Alex cursed under his breath and disappeared deeper inside the house, only to come out a few minutes later. “The backdoor isn’t jammed, but leaving is impossible.”

I sighed, “Great. Just great.”

Alex looked at me, his expression mirroring my own irritation. “Believe me, this is the last place I want to be.”

I crossed my arms and tried to steady my breathing. This situation was ridiculous. Here I was, stuck in a cabin with the last person I wanted to spend time with. But even as I stood there, feeling the weight of our predicament, I couldn’t shake the memory of the way Alex had looked at me earlier— like I had genuinely hurt him.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ward off the chill that wasn’t just from the cold.

“Look,” Alex said, standing in the middle of the room, his voice softer now. “I’m not thrilled about this either. But we’re stuck, and we need to make the best of it.”

“Fine,” I muttered, more to myself than to him. “Let’s just get through this.”

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