Page 37 of Hate Mates

My nose crinkled, steeling the tears burning in the bridge. “What?”

“‘Make me yours,’” he echoed, circling me. “I did, and how did you thank me?” His journey ended when we were toe-to-toe. “By leaving me.”

Aghast, my mouth opened and closed. “That’swhat you’re pissed off about?”

“Excuse me for being a little peeved my girlfriend ran off without letting me know first. My fucking bad, baby.”

He’d made that present tense. Why had he made that present tense? I flicked a finger between us. “We’re not together.”

“Semantics.” He hooked a hand around my chin, forcing my eyes up to his. He was looking at me too intensely, and the bumpy three-inch mutilation stung in response.

Clapping his hand away, I squared my shoulders. “It doesn’t get any less ugly, no matter how long you stare at it.”

His eyes narrowed. “There isn’t a single part of you I think is ugly.”

“You should have killed me.”

“Because you’re so full of life now, right?”

“Go away.” I was a broken record, and he’d had enough.

“You left me!” he snarled. “You left me, and now you’re here, and I’m collecting on what I’m owed.”

“I owe younothing.”

He stepped into me, and I treaded back. “That’s where you’re wrong, Sut. You owe me everything. Your life. That sweet space between your legs, and”—the bed hit the back of my legs, my equilibrium tilting. Damien’s arm hooked around my waist, catching me. “Your heart, because we both know I sure as shit waited long enough for it the first time.”

“Not interested.”

His chest rose and fell rapidly, his eyes working over my face, absorbing the traitorous words I hadn’t meant to free.

“Why not?” he asked softly.

Ugh.I slammed my hands against him, but this time, he didn’t move, didn’t mislead me into believing I had any kind of physical power over him.

“A life where you don’t exist?” His features collapsed, frustration sewing in his constricting jaw. “Thatisdeath.” He was quiet for what felt like forever. All the while, my teeth chattered in my mouth. “I loved you and would have loved you no matter what you looked like.”

He cupped my right cheek, tracing over the scarred tissue, his fingers traipsing, memorizing the pattern the way I had. “You left me once.” Damien tipped my head back, my mouth turning gummy as a rattle set off inside of me. “But you’re not leaving me again.”

FIVE

Damien

Falling in love with Sutton had been easy.

Telling her, though? Not so much.

I still remembered the day she’d moved in next door. You would have never suspected such a sprightly six-year-old had already experienced that much loss with how she carried herself, how freely she played, how deeply she lived.

Sutton was a magnet who drew everyone in without even trying. Some part of me hated it because I didn’t want to share her with anyone. I wanted to keep her for myself, cocoon her in a place where no one could reach her. Where I was quiet, Sutton was loud, almost obnoxious, and uncomfortable with long stretches of silence. Vibrant and strong-willed, competitive and sharp. She climbed trees, played in the river, and danced freelythrough the fields of lavender dotting her family’s property, picking sprigs and weaving crowns for her hair.

I found pleasure in living vicariously through her joie de vivre that set her apart from every other rotten asshole in this shithole of a town. Being in her presence calmed the noise in my head. It made my thoughts less loud. Bearable. We talked about everything and nothing, and without me realizing it, I was a goner for the girl next door.

But she was a butterfly—too pretty to keep contained but too delicate to be set free. I knew what it meant when those sweet cherub-like features morphed into something equally soft yet womanly, for those lush lips and gorgeous curves to take shape, for that wicked smile to hold a double meaning, and what wars men would start with a mere fanning of those dark lashes framing her otherworldly eyes.

Every day, the confession hung heavy in my mouth, desperate to spring free, but the words never surfaced. What if she didn’t feel the same? What if I lost her forever?

And then it happened. The one thing I’d feared most.

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