Page 19 of What We Broke

“Do you have to look at me likethat,though?”

Utterly confused, I rest my forearms on the table and lean in, bridging the already small space between us. I watch Leo’s demeanor change, his blue-green eyes devoid of their spark, as a new, shy and apprehensive version of my mystery man makes its first appearance.

“Look at you like what?” I ask cautiously.

He huffs. “Like you want to do something stupid.”

I wait him out and he continues.

“Like you want to do something stupid and get to know me.”

CHAPTERFOUR

leo

THEN

This wasn’thow the night was supposed to go.

The man in front of me is sex personified and he wants to feed me before he fucks me.

It’s unexpected and completely unnecessary.

I spent so much time making sure that men only want me for my body, that his insistence makes me feel off balance.

My confidence is wavering, feeling myself being reduced to a quieter, more reserved version of myself who is basking in how much attention this man is giving me.

It isn’t the obvious type of attention either, not like the way his eyes ate me up at the club, full of heat and greed. This is more muted, his attention focused on the things I keep close to my chest. Fixated on the things I don’t say.

His eyes are currently zeroed in on me and I know this man is not about to let a single thing go.

“What’s the big deal?” he asks. “What’s wrong with me getting to know you?”

My tongue wants to form the words, more than they ever have before––I’m not worth it–– but instead I give him a half-hearted shrug. “The best thing about me is my body.”

It’s my default response, my shield, and very much the truth.

I watch him bite the inside of his cheek as he makes an exaggerated effort to tilt his head and drag his eyes up and down my body. “It’s a great body,” he says. “I’m sure it’s even better without all your clothes on. But I find it hard to believe it’s theverybestthing about you.”

“We could just go to your place or mine and find out.”

He just keeps his eyes on me, his silence his answer.

“You’re not going to let it go, are you?” I add.

He shakes his head. “I always get what I want.”

I make an unidentifiable noise, something akin to a half chuckle, half huff. “You’re really cocky, you know that?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “It works.”

It does, and that’s what scares me. A little bit of extra attention from a man and I’m all twisted up. I’m sitting in a twenty-four-hour diner, telling a stranger that all I can offer him is my body while ordering enough food to keep us here for the whole night.

I’m nothing but full of contradictions.

“Listen.” I swallow hard and look at him pointedly, not sure which one of us I’m trying to convince.

Surprising me, he places a hand over mine, and that immediately renders me speechless.

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