Page 117 of Roaring Flames

No, I’m going to murder Dyson, andthenI’ll go after the twins.

“Look, Reid.” Izzy pushes up on her tiptoes and cups my cheeks, forcing my gaze to hers.

I hate that she can no doubt feel the pimples on my skin. Smell the sweat that’s always prevalent. See the dirt and grease in my hair. But she doesn’t look disgusted the way so many have before. She just looks…determined.

“What Michelle did to you was fucking awful. I want to murder the bitch, bring her back to life, and then kill her again. You were violated in a way that no one should ever be. And to be blamed for what that bitch did?” Her hands tighten on my cheeks. “But what happened was not your fault. And you’re definitely not some disgusting creature.”

I release a harsh, humorless laugh. “Don’t fucking patronize me, Izzy. Iamdisgusting. I saw the way you flinched away from me when you first met me in art class. Even my parents don’t want anything to do with me. Did you know that? They abandoned me months ago. Left me alone with a bank account that they refill monthly. Last I heard, they were in London.”

God, that still hurts, even after all this time.

I’m too disgusting for even my own parents to love.

Too ugly.

“They’re fucking dumb, then,” Izzy says fiercely.

I try to shake her off of me, but she holds firm. “Look, I didn’t tell you all of this for you to pity me. I don’t need your damn sympathy.” I grab her wrists and force her hands off my cheeks. “I just want you to understand why I don’t want anything to do with this damn mating bond.”

“Because you think you’re too disgusting?” Disbelief darkens Izzy’s tone.

“Because IknowI am. I’m a big, ugly brute. You deserve better.”

“Don’t tell me what the fuck I deserve!” she snaps, anger tightening her features.

“I know you deserve better than me.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“I’m a mean son of a bitch, Izzy,” I tell her with a scowl. “And I have baggage that the others don’t.”

“I’m not afraid of Michelle or Dyson,” Izzy says fiercely.

“You should be.”

“Stop telling me what I should and shouldn’t be!” She throws her hands up in the air. “You’re infuriating!”

“Why can’t you see I’m trying to do what’s best for you?”

“Shut the fuck up, Reid,” Izzy hisses, grabbing the front of my shirt.

I stumble towards her, more out of surprise than anything else, and she once again grabs my cheeks.

But instead of holding my face steady, she pushes up on her tiptoes and kisses me.

The rest of the world falls away.

Forty-Five

IZZY

Our lips touch for a fraction of a second. His stubble grazes my jawline in a way that shouldn’t feel as good as it does.

But before I can deepen the kiss, before I can take things further, Reid pulls away, practically stumbling over himself in his haste to escape me. The lightning zipping through my veins transforms into a tempest, tumultuous and all-consuming. A strange combination of panic and embarrassment seizes my lungs, especially when I catch sight of the disgust on Reid’s face.

“I’m…sorry,” I say, though my words feel inadequate.

Reid just confessed something horrific to me, and I immediately go and assault him. I can’t even imagine what he thinks of me.

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