Page 21 of Sorrow

Next lesson.

Letting out a relieved sigh, I take a moment to admire him as he is right now. Blushing, beading with sweat, looking almost sheepish. I barely recognize the man who made my life a living hell. The man who told me I’m not welcome here.

Maybe I’m a little more welcome now.

“So when will that be?” I ask, trying not to sound too desperate. The clock constantly ticking in my mind needs to shut up. “I’m guessing not while Boo’s here.”

“Eager, hmm?” He slaps his cock down, playing in his own mess. “Course not when Boo’s here. He can’t know.”

My thigh twitches as I try to stay focused. “So weeknights from sun down to sun up, you’ll teach me? What happens all the other times?”

“Same thing that’s been happening, I guess. I can’t kiss you or touch you or he’llcatch on, so... yeah. What do you want to happen all the other times?”

That’s a loaded question. I don’t want to waste the few short weeks I have to pull this off, so stopping every day and most weekends seems stupid. Not to mention it’s going to be harder than hell to put up with his cold shoulder then magically transform into a good girl when the sun goes down. But he’s right, Boo isn’t stupid. And while it would’ve been worth telling him and forcing him to get on board if this were a real relationship, it’s not.

It’s a means to an end, albeit a hot one.

“Nothing,” I say finally. “I understand.”

“Alright.” Hayes moves off the bed and disappears into his bathroom, then surprises the fuck out of me when he walks over with a wet washcloth to wipe me down.

It’s warm to the touch, soothing in a way I didn’t expect. “Are you always like this?”

Deep brown eyes meet mine as he freezes, caught off guard by the question, but he blinks and continues what he’s doing a second later. “Always? No.”

I can’t help but wonder what the variable is. Was I simply good enough to deserve it, or is he afraid if he mistreats me, I’ll run and tell my brother?

If that’s the case, the joke’s on him. I have no baseline to judge him off of. “He won’t be home for hours, but I can take a shower and go to bed now if you’re done with me for the night. I... appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

Jesus, that was surprisingly hard to say.

Frowning, he nods his head without meeting my gaze and then gets off the bed. “Yeah, of course. I’m not always a dick, believe it or not.”

“I know. I’ve seen you be nice to plenty of people, just not me. I used to drive myself crazy wondering what was wrong with me and why I only brought out the worst parts of you, but that’s kind of just who I am, isn’t it?” I ask with a soft, humorless laugh. My legs don’t quite want to work as I stand, feeling more exposed than ever. “The cursed girl.”

“Cursed?” His rough hand grips mine before I can turn away. “Is that what you think?”

“It’s what everyone says. They started calling me that when I was just a little girl. Weird shit happened when I was around, like lights flickering and things breaking. Our class pet died on my desk. Then my parents were killed, the company I worked for inhigh school went bankrupt, the only guy to ever openly have a crush on me broke his spine and now my house burned down.” When I lay it all out like that, it’s hard not to think the universe has something against me. “So... cursed girl.”

“Don’t let any of that decide who you are, Hurricane.”

Funny he says that when he nicknamed me something synonymous with death, destruction and dread.

Shrugging, I slowly slip my fingers out of his hand. “It’s been that way for so long, it’s just easier to roll with it than fight it. It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

“Good. It shouldn’t.” He lets my finger slide out of his before he turns away, giving me my cue to leave him the hell alone for the night.

Despite the sour turn of conversation, I learned things. And I got a commitment from him to teach me more. One way or the other, I’m going to get what I want — and I’m going to get out.

Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to leave that curse behind.

11

Hayes

The second she leaves my room, I want to follow her. I don’t know why, but something about the way things ended today has me feeling off-kilter. I expected to feel weird after touching my best friend’s little sister, but that isn’t what’s giving me pause.

It’s just... her.

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