Page 8 of Craving the Bad Boy

But it’s too late.

“Saxon, you dirty dog.” Her voice cuts through the harmony of the room like a saw scraping across my ribs. “I didn’t think you’d still be in a bed with a girl at this hour. Are you two…snuggling?”

Her tone is wet with venomous sarcasm, an obnoxious tickle I’m all too familiar with. No matter how hard I try, I just cannot shake Roxy from my life. She just won’t get the message.

With every fiber of my being, I pray that Tammy is asleep and can’t hear any of this, but I can feel her body tense against mine, and she’s breathing heavier too. She’s awake, she’s heard Roxy’s bullshit, and must already be formulating a thousand questions for me.

“Roxy, what the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” I growl back as I slide out of bed, my voice low and coarse with the remnants of sleep. “And didn’t I tell you to give me back my goddamn key?”

I glare at her with a stern warning in my eyes. I don’t need her causing problems for me. Especially not right now. Not with Tammy here. But Roxy reads me like a book and steps into the room, loving every second of the tension she’s created. She’s wearing a short black skirt and a goth lace tube top. She’s got her makeup done as though she’s here for date-night and is looking at me like I never broke up with her.

I feel nothing romantically for her. But we went through so much together–so many fights, fucks, breakups and makeups–that she knows just how to push my buttons and get under my skin. And she delights in it.

“I just came to chat,” she says with a cool shrug, eyeing the room like she pays the rent on it. “But you’re clearly busy.”

Aside from her earlier comment, she hasn’t even acknowledged Tammy. She’s trying to pretend like her presence doesn’t bother her, but her narrow eyes shift toward the bed, an unmistakable possessiveness in her bitter gaze.

“Tammy, isn’t it?” I stiffen at the question. How the hell does she know Tammy’s name? She tries to step past me toward the bed, but I move in front of her, blocking her way.

What the hell is going on here?

Roxy sure didn’t just come here to chat.

Tammy stays silent, pretending she’s asleep. And I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to get caught up in this shit if I was her either. This ispreciselywhy I didn’t want to bring her into my world–into the wretched mess of my past. It’s a hell of a mess, and the longer Roxy stays, the more I feel my control of the situation slipping.

“We’re over, Roxy. I’ve told you too many times.” My words come out harsher than I intended, but I can’t let Roxy fuck things up for me. Not now. Not when I’ve just claimed Tammy. Not with everything changing.

Roxy’s eyes flare. She’s not backing down. Of course she’s not. It’s not in her nature. “Oh, you think I haven’t heard you?” she asks, her sharp tone hiding something deeper, possibly threatening. “I heard you, Saxon. But I also know you’re full of shit.”

“Don’t start, Roxy–”

“You want to act like this little girl means something to you?” she spits out, pointing a threatening finger at Tammy. My protective instincts flare. This can’t continue. “Fine. Go ahead. But I know who youreallyare, Saxon. What you’rereallylike.”

Every one of her words strikes a nerve in me, and I feel the pain of our past like a knife to my spine. I shouldn’t ask her this, but I can’t help myself and snap back, “Yeah? And what’s that?”

She smiles triumphantly.

Shit. I played right into her game like an idiot.

I’m off my game now, and it’s all because of Tammy. It’s like I’m morphing into a whole new man.

“You’re in love withme,” Roxy replies smugly. I scoff, coughing out a laugh. “You broke up with me because you don’t want to admit it, but it’s okay, bubby. You can come back to Momma whenever you want. I’ll be here.”

I hear Tammy shift beneath the sheets behind me and reach back and place a hand on her waist. “Don’t listen to her,” I whisper. “She’s just trying to cause problems.”

I’m pretty sure I see her nod, but I can’t imagine the confusion and pain she’s feeling now. This is beyond awkward for both of us. I’m used to dealing with Roxy, though. She isn’t.

When I turn back, I see Roxy smiling at us with a dark, calculating gaze, her red lips twisting into an amused smile. “I think I’ll get going now,” she says, hamming it up with an overload of phony sweetness.

She turns and walks out, shaking her hips on the way like she used to do when we were together. I look away, just wanting her to get the fuck out of here, and when the door closes behind her, I take a deep breath and sit back down on the bed.

I run my fingers through Tammy’s hair, but her body stiffens at my touch. When she rolls over to face me, I see a look in her eyes that I can’t quite read. So I lean in and press my lips to her forehead, praying she won’t pull away or just grab her clothes and get the hell out of here.

Thankfully, she doesn’t move.

In fact, I’m pretty sure I hear her take a deep, happy breath as I kiss her.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, feeling like the world’s biggest asshole. I should have taken that key back ages ago. I never should have let this happen. “Roxy and I have…history. But she’s nothing to me now. I don’t want her, Tammy. I only wantyou.”

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