Page 59 of Worth the Trouble

Swirling the ice around in the glass, he keeps his focus on me. “You’re too good for all this shit. And if I was a good guy, it would make me let you go. But all it seems to do is make me want to fuck you up more.”

His eyes narrow, and I’m about to open my mouth to argue, but he ticks his head, assessing me and stopping my thoughts in their tracks.

“If you were smart, you’d have taken my warning and run when you had the chance.” He bites his lip.

“So, you’re saying I no longer have a chance?”

The corner of Rome’s mouth curls up, and I feel my insides liquify. “I don’t know. Do you?”

I swallow hard but can’t answer because it would either be too revealing or a lie.

“Tell me, when’s the last time you did somethingyouwanted, Lili? For yourself, no one else.”

“This morning.”

If I’d have been smart, I would have left, but instead, I got tangled in this web. Rome threaded my mind like the ink laces his skin—everywhere. Embedded.

Rome drops his hand from the back of the couch to my knee, tracing circles over it, and on instinct, I feel myself opening in all the ways I shouldn’t.

“I don’t lose control with people,” Rome says, his eyes on my leg and his fingers tracing it. “And that’s all you make me want to do.”

This might be about sex. This might be about more. I don’t care because underneath, the answer to either of those things is a need I’ve never had fulfilled. Tipping my legs open a little further, I watch as he drags his hand from my knee to the inside of my thigh, gripping tightly, like if he doesn’t hold on, he’s going to fall apart.

“You shouldn’t do that, Lili,” he warns.

“Are you telling me you’re already calling chicken?” I challenge, hoping he isn’t.

We’re standing on the train tracks, and it’s headed straight for us. Headlights closing the distance. Air leaving my lungs. Bracing for impact.

I’m not sure why Rome’s been holding back, but all it does is make me want to be the temptation that breaks him. And I want him to be the hammer that shatters the glass around me because I’m curious if I can survive.

“One chance, sweetheart.” Rome smirks, one hand holding my thigh as the other one grips the glass. Beads of water drip over his skin. “Because if you don’t run now, I might not let you.”

I lean forward, which opens my legs further, bringing my face right in front of his. “Do your worst.”

The dark that drinks his eyes seeps through me. Amusement, challenge, ferocity flood his gaze. One shift and I’m reacquainted with the man I first met on the sidewalk. The one who wasn’t holding back. The one who would eat me alive and enjoy every moment of my destruction.

“Can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Rome leans back against the couch with a wicked smirk on his face. “Take off your clothes, Lili.”

Five words, and I see the train’s headlights again. I feel it moments away from crashing into me. I feel the moment like a palpable thing playing out in Rome’s eyes as he waits to see if I’m going to run or meet him. And I want more than anything to soak in his chaos and prove myself.

I stand up, sweeping my hair to one side of my shoulder, feeling his eyes on me more intently than they’ve ever been. I reach for the hem of his band’s T-shirt first, stripping it off in one movement, appreciating how Rome’s gaze trails my bare skin. He doesn’t so much as flinch as he watches me toss it to the side.

I spin until my back is to him, wrapping my hair over my shoulder to expose my back, and I reach for the clasp on my bra, unhooking it and slipping it off one shoulder. Rome’s gaze is fixed on every movement, every piece of clothing coming off. And I want so badly to be on display for him. For the sight of me to be the cause of his racing heart.

Maybe it’s the performer in me, or maybe it’s whatever his eyes are doing to the blood in my veins, but as I toss the bra to the side and swish my hair over my back once again, I can’t take my eyes off him.

Teasing, just so I can drown in his reaction.

There’s no doubt in my mind this man can possess me without so much as a touch, and I want all of it.

Reaching for the band of the sweatpants, I hook my thumbs in, catching my thong with it, and bending at the hips as I strip them all the way down my legs. Pausing when I’m fully bent in front of him, knowing my ass and pussy are on full display and loving the power it gives me over a man who makes women beg.

Straightening back up, I step out of the sweats, and I’m fully naked, standing in front of him.

I turn with all my vulnerability, knowing he’s going to do what he wants, and anxious for it.

Rome’s gaze travels the full length of my body. No secrets, no holdbacks, no reservations. He claims me with one snap of his gaze.

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