Page 133 of When The Night Falls

‘I’ll see you in the morning.’ Jason released me and climbed out of the bed. ‘Try not to kill each other.’

‘No promises,’ I said and folded my arms. Irritated, I watched him close the door after himself. He didn’t so much as look at me, probably because the expression on my face would have changed his mind.

‘Well, then,’ William said and raised his hands to the line of buttons on his waistcoat.

I turned over and glared holes into the wall beside my bed. ‘Could you sleep on the sofa, please?’

‘No.’

‘Then don’t touch me. I will bite off your fingers.’

He chuckled. ‘And here I thought you preferred them inside you.’

My cheeks boiled at his quip. ‘William!’

‘Cara.’

‘Urgh!’ I shuddered. I could tear him to shreds.

He sighed. ‘You’ll feel better in the morning. Jason deserved to know. You’ll see that, eventually.’

‘You could at least have warned me that you meant to tell him! Instead you made me look like the most deceitful wench on the planet!’

‘Cara, I’ll take care of it. I’ll explain things to him in the morning, and I’ll make sure he’ll forgive you.’

A sudden rush of more tears sprang to my eyes. ‘He was so hurt, Will. I really hurt him – my best friend.’

‘He doesn’t like being deceived.’

‘But I didn’t mean to. I just didn’t want to—’

‘I know, Cara, and I’ll tell him that. Don’t worry, I’ll have your back.’

I closed my eyes and turned mute on him while he undressed, killed the lights, and then climbed into my bed.

‘Give me at least a portion of your duvet, Cara.’

‘No. You don’t deserve it. I’m hoping you’ll die of cold during the night.’

He sighed. ‘It’s summer. It would prove difficult.’

‘Well, I feel like a glacier, so perhaps that might help.’

‘More like a volcano, I think.’

‘If that’s the case, then I hope the pyroclastic flow of my eruption will kill you off,’ I fired back with a frown, horribly annoyed.

‘You are such a nerd, and I fucking love that about you,’ he said, making my chest contract. ‘Pyroclastic flow,’ he echoed. ‘Honestly, I am amazed by your flair for comebacks. You’re fucking sharp. You’re going to make an exceptional solicitor one day.’

My heart was acting strange, all tingly and light, when I was supposed to be pissed off, but the way he handled my blows only reminded me why I fancied him so much. He wasn’t intimidated by me – at all. He stood up to me, and it turned me on like nothing else. I needed a man like him, or else I would grow bored within the span of a mere breath.

Suddenly he gripped my duvet. With brutal force, he dragged it off me completely and rolled himself into the entirety of it. He exhaled then, audibly satisfied.

‘William!’

‘Yes, darling?’ he replied with a tone of infuriating contentment.

‘I swear I’ll kill you one of these days!’ I whirled to face him.

---