Page 107 of Rules of Association

“What the hell?” she asked. “Why are we in the closet, Connor?”

Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. “We’re hiding.”

“That explains whyI’min the closet, not why you’re in here with me.”

“Because I’m not done with you.”

“Oh really?” She barked a laugh before she remembered we were supposed to be hiding. In a whisper she hissed, “You seemed pretty done with me before.”

“What’s wrong, Ceci?”

“I'm not doing this right now,” she mumbled, pressing forward in attempts to get by me. I held onto her shoulder, putting her back in place just under a clothing rack where she had to smack old football jerseys away from her face.

“Youaredoing this,” I said. “You’ve been acting like an absolute fucking brat the entire time you’ve been here, even before I told you to shut up. I want to know what’s up your fucking ass.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck me?” I bubbled up in a laugh, sounding surprised and a little deranged. “Oh my fucking God. You’re unbelievable tonight, I swear.”

She tried to move again but I moved in front of her, blocking her path. Her eyes blazed. “If you don’t let me out right now, I swear to God I’ll scream.”

Before I could even dare her to (like I even would) she opened her mouth to do it. Thinking fast, I reached out, grabbing her around the waist as I clamped a hand down over her mouth.

A muffled gasp is all I heard as she jerked against my grip. I grunted in frustration. I was getting real fucking tired of her acting like this. Slowly, I walked her backward. Pressing her flat to the wall as I loomed over her, one hand gripping her hip as I pinned her and the other banding across her mouth. My body hovered just inches in front of hers, the heat between us feeling static and charged. I had to fight the urge not to press in further.

She bucked, struggling against the restraint of my hands, the movement bringing her front brushing dangerously close to a growing portion of my anatomy that loved being this close to Ceci no matter how mad she was. I had to turn my hips to avoid a collision because if we did touch, I really wasn’t sure what I’d do.

“Let go!” she struggled, the words sounding like a jumbled smushy version of themselves as they left her mouth and died in my hand.

Tightening my grip on her hip, I growled low and slow, “Talk. To. Me.”

She didn't. Instead, she bit me.

Hissing, I ripped my hand away from her mouth and shook it out at my side, examining the extremity before looking at her dumbfounded.

“Go talk to your girlfriend, Connor. Leave me out of it,” she said.

“What?”

“You heard me,” she said.

“No, no,” I said, waving my hand to stop her rant. “Seriously, Cee. What did you just say?”

She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at me. “You know, I’ve been waiting for weeks for you to just come out and tell me, but whatever. I already know about your girlfriend, Connor. Secret’s out.”

“What girlfriend?”

She raised her eyebrows.

“Ri?” I scoffed. “Ria is not my girlfriend.”

“Babe,” she said, mimicking Ri from just a few minutes ago and I couldn’t help but just blink at her.

“Yeah, she says stuff like that sometimes,” I said slowly. “It doesn’t make her my girlfriend, Ceci.”

She frowned but studied me. She must have thought I looked sincere because eventually she leaned away from me and crossed her arms. “Then who is your girlfriend?”

I blinked again.Was she crazy?

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