Page 134 of Forbidden You

Of course I don’t hate him.

Fucking hell, if anything has become clearer in the last week, I’ve fallen harder than a brick.

When he asked me if I trusted him at the carnival, it was that final piece that I had to admit the one thing Rae already suspected since last summer: I’m in love with Bodi McKay. And I thought he was in love with me too.

But after the way he just treated me, I realize that’s the biggest lie I’ve ever told myself. Trent fucked me up, showing me a kind of love that was nothing but a way to control me, but Bodi? Bodi has always been nothing but caring toward me, giving me the feeling I mattered.

And now, he’s erased all of that in two minutes by yelling at me like I was a stray dog he needed to get rid of.

“He’s a dick,” I blurt, unable to come up with grown-up sentences, apparently.

“What did he do?” Rae questions with a bit more worry this time.

“He kicked me out of his office, telling me I needed to get back to work.”

“Okay,” she drawls.

“Bodi doesn’t kick me out of his office, Rae. It’s what we do. I burst into his office, he scolds me for it, and we kiss and make up. Literally. AndthenI get back to work,” I add.

“Hold up, you’ve been having office sex with him?”

“Not today, I haven’t.” I keep stomping down the pavement, my body feeling rigid and tense. Maybe it’s a childish thing to do, running off like a drama queen, but it hurts. It hurt more than breaking up with Trent, who made me doubt love in general with his toxic behavior. But Bodi brought that back. Bodi reminded me how sweet love can be. Bodi didn’t make me feel like I was dumb or stupid.

Until now.

The cold look in Bodi’s eyes was new and something I hadn’t seen before while it was pointed at me. It felt like he sliced through my heart with a butter knife. Dragging, painful, and definitely not a clean cut.

“Oh my God, Kayla!”

“You sound impressed.”

“I am. It sounds—hot.”

“It was,” I confess, rolling my eyes. “But not what I was calling for.”

“Right, sorry. What happened?”

I sigh, trying to figure it out myself. “I don’t know? I walked into his office, finding an excuse to steal a kiss like I do every day, but it’s like he flipped a switch. He was icy.”

“Bodiicy?” There is disbelief in my cousin’s voice, and I can’t blame her.

I don’t think I’ve seen Bodi acting like an asshole to anyone. He’s sweet, loving, caring. Funny, most of the time. A little broody, definitely grumpy half of the time, but never an asshole just for the sake of it.

That roll is reserved for Jensen, and he’s a star at it.

“Yeah, trust me, I didn’t see it coming either. But he was. He told me to leave, shouting at me. He shouted atme!” I huff, incredulous. “I’m the shouter in our relationship. Not him.”

“So did you two fight about something?”

“No. But something is different. I just know it.”

“What do you mean?”

“He used to scold me about my in-your-face-behavior in the beginning, but not like this. He treated me like his annoying little intern.”

“Well, he is your boss?”

“He’s not the same, Rae. He’s looked at me like I’m an inconvenience while last week he was telling me how I washisgirl with his dick shoved inside of me.”

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