Page 68 of Savage Crown

And his eyes darken.

His fingers tilt my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.

"You think I want her?" he murmurs.

I don’t blink. Don’t let him see the truth clawing its way up my throat.

"I don’t care what you want," I say, voice flat.

A lie.

A lie.

A lie.

His thumb traces along my jaw, slow, deliberate.

I hate how easily he unravels me.

I hate that the heat of his skin lingers against mine, even though I should push him away.

He exhales sharply.

"I didn’t kiss her," he says, voice lower than before.

I swallow.

"Would you have?"

A flicker of something in his eyes.

A hesitation.

I shove his hand away, stepping back before I can do something stupid.

Before I can let him see how much this has unraveled me.

"Do what you want, Rylan," I murmur. "It doesn’t matter to me."

A shameless, shaking lie.

And from the way his smirk curls, from the way his gaze flickers over me like he’s already picked me apart.

He knows it, too.

25

RYLAN

Ishouldn’t go looking for her.

Not after that last conversation. Not after the way she looked at me—like my answer actually mattered.

Would you have?

She asked me twice. Like she needed to be sure.

And the truth—the ugly, unshakable truth—is that I don’t know.

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