Page 53 of Heart of Thorns

“Can you let me go now?” I ask through a wince.

Thorne clicks his tongue. “I’ll let go as soon as you tell me why you and Patterson broke up.”

My spine straightens. “No.”

He scoffs. “Suit yourself.”

Suddenly, Thorne is staring at my mouth while slowly dragging his hand from the back of my thigh to my calf. Goosebumps trail behind his touch, and even through my leggings, I feel the warmth he leaves behind.

Is he doing this on purpose?

With his other hand splayed on my lower back, he brings me closer to him, stretching my leg even more.

“I’m stretched,” I argue.

“I know,” he replies. “But you still haven’t told me about you and Patterson.”

Anger sweeps throughout me, and by the amusement on Thorne’s face, he’s enjoying it.

“Ah, look at that furrowed brow.” He shakes his head. “Someone is prickly at the thought of her ex.”

“Of course I am!” I snap.

His eyebrows rise.

I almost lose my train of thought when Thorne massages my calf. His fingers knead the muscle slowly and tediously. It feels good, even with the stretching in my thigh.

“Tell me and I’ll let your leg go.”

I sigh loudly. My balance is starting to waver, and I’m not sure which of us is more stubborn. In an attempt not to fall, I end up placing my hands on Thorne’s shoulders. My fingers dig into his firm muscles, and the longer he massages my leg with his body heat surrounding me, the more I want to give in to him.

“Come on, kitten,” he whispers. “Just tell me.”

I want to bare my teeth at him.

Or scrape my nails into his shoulders to claw him like I’d threatened.

But instead, I do the complete opposite.

Our eyes lock, and the words slip from my lips in a weak whisper. “He cheated on me a couple of weeks after the fire.”

Thorne’s fingers stop moving. His jaw flexes.

I glance away because I don’t want to see the pity on his face after I tell him the rest. “I overheard him telling his friends that he didn’t want to wait until I wasn’tcharredanymore to fuck someone. So I had Lydia take me to one of the parties I knew he was at and I found him with another girl.”

The faintest growl rumbles out of Thorne’s chest. His brow is curved with anger. A heavy, hot breath escapes him as he places my leg on the floor. He keeps his other hand pressed against my lower back and gazes into my eyes. I brace myself for the apology on Ben’s behalf or some sort of sympathetic quote, but to my surprise he flicks his chin at the bike.

“Three minutes.”

We break apart, and cool air comes rushing in between us. I quickly make my way over to the machine, because the farther apart I am from him at the moment, the better.

CHAPTER 18

THORNE

Rhys followsme through the wide fourth-floor hallway of the Administration building. He keeps opening and closing his mouth like he’s going to say something, but so far, no sound has actually made it past his lips.

He probably wants to tell me that of all the girls in the world, and of all the harebrained ideas, mine is the worst.

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