Page 106 of Corrupt Me

“No shit,” I snapped. “I won’t wait around forever. In fact, I’m done waiting, Tristan. You either want me or you don’t.”

He strode to the dresser, opening the top drawer. “It isn’t that black-and-white, and you know it.”

I frowned again. “I know that I love you and that should be enough.”

He whipped his grimy shirt over his head. “You’ve always been too good for me. I can’t give you what you want.”

Glancing over his golden chest, I crossed my arms at the fluttering of my betraying heart. Now was not the time to beswayed by his body. That was how I ended up in this situation, listening to my heart and giving in to my desires. “When will you be good enough? How long until you figure your shit out?”

He yanked the clean shirt over his head. “I don’t know.”

Heat flooded my veins. “How dare you do this to me. How dare you stand here and express your love for me only to throw it back in my face. Why tell me you love me at all? It would have been better if you hadn’t said anything. You made me believe we had something. You made me believe you love me. How can you do that to me? I won’t let you break my heart a second time. There’s only so much a person can take, and you’ve rejected me for the last fucking time, Malone.” The rant felt good, but once the anger faded, hurt and sadness would take over.

“Ever—”

“Don’tEverme.” I refused to listen to his excuses. I’d heard enough. “Thanks for the horribly unforgettable night and for ruining what was the one bright spot in an otherwise shitty day.” I went to go around him and head for the door, but the asshole stepped in my path. I glanced up, pinning him with a fuming glare. “Get out of my way.”

Resolve reflected in the hard set of his features. “You’re not going anywhere.”

I tried to go around him, but he only sidestepped again, blocking me. “Let me go, Tristan,” I choked out.

“I promised,” he reminded, taking me back to our conversation where I made him vow to stay with me. “You know I never break a promise. Not to you.”

My chin lifted as I met his stare, tapering my eyes. “I relieve you of your promise, seeing as I can no longer stand to be in your presence.”

His fingers splayed on either side of my hips as if he needed to touch me to keep me from trying to run. “Too fucking bad. Atleast for the next eight hours, you’re stuck with me. It shouldn’t be difficult since we’ll be spending most of it asleep.”

A short snort of outrage expelled from my chest. “You think I’m getting in the bed with you?”

His sigh was long and the first break in his steadfast exterior. “I don’t want to fight, not on this. I’m too fucking tired, but if I have to tie you to this bed to make you stay, I will. Don’t test me. Not after the night we’ve had.”

I flinched at his tone, one I knew well. “This is fucking absurd. You know that?”

Releasing his hands from my hips, he strode to the door and checked the lock. “Perhaps. You can scream, curse, and hate me all you want after I’ve gotten at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.”

“Unbelievable. You have some nerve.”

Leaving me fuming in the center of the room, he returned to his dresser and dug out another clean shirt before coming to stand in front of me. I realized after the fact that I should have used those brief few seconds to run to the door. Too late now. He went to pull off my shirt.

I jerked away, swatting at his hand. “Don’t touch me,” I hissed.

“Have it your way. Put this on.” He handed me the tee. “The sooner we sleep, the sooner you can leave this room.”

With a humph, I ripped the gross shirt off my body and slipped into Tristan’s. And because I couldn’t stand to wear my pants any longer, I unbuttoned those and let them fall to the floor. My lips thinned at the soft material touching my skin. I refused to admit how fucking good it felt to have something clean on my body even if the damn thing smelled like him.

“Get in bed, Shortcake,” he ordered in his no-nonsense voice that made me want to do the very opposite.

I rolled my eyes and marched to the bed, flinging the covers aside, and crawled in. A million thoughts circled inside my head, and in bed with Tristan was the last place I wanted to sort through them. It was impossible to think straight with the warmth of his body so damn close.

The mattress shifted under his weight as he settled in, but I kept my back to him. Seeing his face before I fell asleep or when I woke would only cause confusion and more pain I didn’t need.

“Don’t think about leaving once I’ve fallen asleep,” he murmured, his hot breath on the back of my neck, torturing us both.

My fingers curled into the blanket. “Go fuck yourself.”

His chuckle was the last thing I remembered before the world of dreams and nightmares took me. Every part of me was too exhausted and succumbed seconds after I closed my eyes.

I shouldn’t have been surprised my mind went back tothatnight after all that happened. The trauma of tonight opened a flood of memories from the other agonizing event. It trumped what happened with Angelo. How could it not?

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