Page 7 of The Chemistry of Us

I wasn’t prepared for that.

The reality of him was much more than I remembered. I never wanted to be one of those girls. His groupies.

Especially not now.

His condescending tone finally broke the awkward silence. “Problems with you?” he stated as a question with a crooked grin and a cocked head, eyeing me up and down once again.

I watched as he slowly engulfed every inch of my body, making me feel much more exposed. He bit his bottom lip again when he sensed my feelings.

“Yes,” I affirmed. “That’s what I said.”

We locked eyes.

“I’ll take my chances,” he arrogantly replied.

“Oh my God! You’re such a fucking asshole.”

“Tru, I think we’ve already established that.”

“I’m just stating facts. None of which you’re denying.”

“Cinderella—”

“Stop calling me that.”

He pushed off the kitchen counter he was leaning on and strolled over to me with such purpose that I felt it down to my bones. He stood right in front of me, lowering his face too close to mine.

“Cinderella,” he bit out yet again. “I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want. This is my place, and don’t you forget that.” He smiled, breaking the harshness of his statement.

Something about how he looked at me made me more uncomfortable than I already was, if that was even possible. I could feel my guard escalating higher and higher as the seconds passed between us.

“I mean, if we’re calling a spade a spade, I’m not the one who came at you, am I?”

I said nothing because, honestly, what could I say to that?

Bastard.

“I didn’t think so,” he added as if reading my mind. “You’ve called me a fucking asshole more times than I care to count in the past hour, and I’m still not clear on what I did wrong. So try again.”

“I forgot you being an asshole isn’t an act; it’s a personality trait. Along with you using anything in a short skirt.”

He shook his head, narrowing his eyes at me. “I used them? That’s not the way I remember it. I’d get your story straight before you go playing martyr, Tru.”

“Unbelievable. You’re going to try to deny it?”

I don’t know how long we stayed frozen at that moment, but he suddenly leaned forward, closing the gap between us and bringing us back to the present. His cheek grazed mine as he moved closer to my ear, and I faintly felt his breath on my neck.

“You smell good.” He lightly brushed his lips on the sensitive area just below my ear, causing shivers to ripple throughout my entire body. The rhythm of my heart escalated, betraying my mind from the asshole before me.

“What the hell?” I snapped, roughly pushing on his hard chest.

He didn’t budge.

“Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t just go around sniffing me!”

Why is he staring so hard? “I just did.”

“So what? You expect me to just spread my legs open for you now, like every other girl?” I crudely mocked, letting him know he couldn’t intimidate me. “I will tell you one thing… I’m not impressed. You’ve always just been a boy trying to be a man, and not a good one at that.”

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