Page 28 of Fire Fight

“No, I do.” I nod, then glance up, nodding again for emphasis while he beams. “What’s playing?”

He laughs. “God knows. Give me your phone and I’ll text the listings. We can pick one together.” We exchange numbers, and he briefly touches my shoulder. “If you want a lift in the morning, text, and I’ll come pick you up.”

“Thanks.”

I head up the road, turning to look back as I reach the corner.

Hudson still stands there, watching, and gives me a wave. I return the gesture until I’m out of sight around the curve, a satisfied warmth blossoming in my chest.

CHAPTER TEN

DRAKE

Three hoursit takes Cadence to get home.

Three. Fucking. Hours.

“Didn’t realise it was raining outside,” I say, pointedly staring at her wet hair when she walks upstairs. I block her, standing in front of her door, aching for a fight to release my tension.

Last night, I barely slept, tossing and turning while images of the girl sleeping just a few metres away kept intruding. Usually, I’d smoke until those thoughts couldn’t dig in their claws, but I’d used the last of my stash the night before.

A few hours of broken rest later, I headed for a swim. The moment the invigorating saltwater cleared my head, Cadence appeared and tried to walk off the side of a cliff, forcing me to touch her.

Forcing me to hold her shivering body tight against mine while images of it smashing into pieces on the rocks below sent my adrenaline spiking.

“You’re not going to answer me?”

Her temper flashes. “Stick your head out the window if you want a weather report.”

I take a wet strand between my fingers, rolling the strands, sniffing. “Rain scented like floral shampoo. Strange.”

She slaps my hand away, grimacing. “Are you in charge of my showers, now?”

“Depends what evidence you were showering away.”

I edge further into her personal space, watching her nerves take hold, gaining back some of my equilibrium.

“Tell me, how muchaccessdid Hudson earn?” Then I snigger, shaking my head. “What precious gift of his did you have to wash out of your hair.”

She winces. “You’re revolting.”

“Says the girl who fucked someone in return for a ride home?” I press my body against hers, hand across her lower back to keep her steady. Already knowing I’ll regret it later. Unable to curb the impulse. “Was he your first rich boy? Did he measure up to the poor kids you used to ride behind the sheds at Alabaster?”

Her face flushes a furious red. “I never did anything like that, but of course you’d believe a load of lame bullshit. Are you going to call me a lesbian next for refusing to flash my tits earlier? That’s the playbook, isn’t it?”

Cadence belatedly realises I’ve cornered her and struggles, planting her hands on my chest to push me away, the force nowhere near enough to get free.

It makes me wonder if she even wants to move away and the anger surges again. My lips find her ear to whisper, “Deep down, you’ve always been a whore just like your mother.” My hand lands on her thigh, skating upwards, searching for the hem of her skirt. “Standing here, denying everything, while Hudson’s cum drips into your underwear.”

She forces her words through gritted teeth. “I didn’t have sex with him.”

“Then you won’t mind me checking, will you?”

“Get your fucking hands off me.” She gives another ineffectual push as her chest sharply rises and falls, breasts heaving as she becomes more agitated. “You’re the one whose morals are in the gutter.” Then she gives a mocking laugh. “Or is your memory too shot from smoking to remember the forfeit you demanded to get into your car?”

“That’s hardly the same.”

“They’re exactly the same because all these things exist solely in your imagination.”

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