Page 427 of Hate Mates

“No.”

God damn it. I slip my hands around her waist and lift her ass to the countertop so we’re eye to eye. She turns her head away and I turn it back. My fingers tangle in her hair, and I tug hard. “Tell me.”

“You’re hurting me.”

“I know. Now spill it.”

Closing her eyes, she attempts to shut me out but that isn’t an option. I pull harder, making her lids pop up.

The tears shining in them kill me. They’re not from physical pain. She’s hurting desperately.

“I woke up alone.”

Confusion overtakes me. Of course, she wakes up alone. Every damn day, I make sure of it. No man touches what belongs to me.

Her lip quivers with a shuddering breath.

“You used me and then you left me.”

Never have I seen her cry. Not once.

It’s even worse when I realize I’m the one who made her. “In New Orleans?”

Silence. Which is not okay. I have to draw the story out of her. “I wasn’t using you. I wanted you…Jesus did I want you…before it was time. I should have waited until the wedding.”

Lines cross her forehead. “Why?”

Why?I’m not a good man. We both know that. I might as well be honest. “Because I can’t stop thinking about that night. Every. Fucking. Day. I think about how amazing you are, how amazing we are together. And I need more. I need you.”

Her tears dry up, and she shoves at my chest. Angry again.

Thank fuck! I’d much rather see her rage than her sorrow.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that? You just disappeared, and I never heard from you again.”

“Cause you blocked me, remember?”

“Only because you ghosted me.”

She’s yelling now and sexy as hell. “I didn’t ghost you. I text you that I had a meeting, so I had to go but I’d be back to pick you up. And I told that to your fake blonde friend too when she came beating on the door.”

The frown returns, deeper than before. “But I didn’t get a text, and Mirabel didn’t say anything about talking to you.”

“Then your phone’s broken and your friend’s a bitch. I came back to fly you home and you already checked out. Next thing Iknow you hate me even more than normal and go out with some asshat who doesn’t deserve you.”

I cup her chin and squeeze hard to ensure her full attention. “You’re not a whore, and I swear to God I’d never treat you like one.”

Chapter Six

COLBY

He seems legitimately upset.

I guess he’s right. He never really has. I just felt like one. But I felt safe to let go with him that night and thought he was disgusted. I don’t know how to explain all that to him, so I nod.

His solid body softens slightly.

After he releases my face, warm lips press against my forehead. The tenderness amidst his anger surprises me.

---