Page 39 of A Labor of Hate
As much as it pained me to admit—and it pained me greatly—he wasn’t exactly wrong.Sure, everything he’d done in the past few months seemed to prove my conclusion right, but that was before I’d told him about Dominick.Now…
Well, now I wasn’t surewhatto think.He still drove me up the wall, but I wasn’t as confident in my assessment of him as I was before.And that rattled me.
“You’re right,” I finally said.Each word tasted rancid on my tongue, but I forced them out.“I did think I had you pegged—and with plenty of evidence to back it up—but now I think I might have…misjudgedyou.A tiny bit.Which is why I want a truce.”
His eyes narrowed, flicking over my face.Whether he was checking for sincerity or signs of psychosis, I couldn’t be sure, but it was a toss-up which one he’d find.And honestly?I couldn’t blame him.If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t trust that he’d truly want to bury the hatchet, no matter how temporarily.
“If it makes you feel better, we can go back to hating each other after the assignment,” I offered.“But aren’t you at least a little tired of constantly butting heads?”
He crossed his arms.“Areyou?”
Was I?Cataloging my grievances against him was a lot more effort now that we lived together and constantly had to interact, even indirectly.I was lonely and isolated in this assignment.He at least made contact with McBride one way or another every weekday.I had no one.And, as much as the Lex from two weeks ago would’ve gagged me for admitting as much, I preferred Colt’s company over none at all.
“Honestly, yeah.I am.”I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose.“Hating you is exhausting.”
“And here I thought it came so naturally to you.”
I snorted.“Funny, I think I can say the same about you.”
He angled his head, lips pursed as he studied me with his contemplative face.“I used to think so, too.”
“Used to?”I brightened, my body feeling lighter than it should’ve from such a vague admission.“Does that mean you accept the truce?”
“I think the waters are a little too turbulent to be building any bridges between us, even now.”
“This is because I threatened your clothes iron, isn’t it?”
He looked heavenward as if asking for patience, but I swear the corners of his mouth inched up.“It’s because you’re still you, and I’m still me.”
“So?”
He leaned against the wall, giving me a visceral flashback of his flirting demonstration that had no business flipping my stomach the way it did.“So, how will I know you’ll actually honor the truce?You’re unpredictable.”
“Compared to you,anythingis unpredictable,” I mumbled.
“See?”He pushed off from the wall and ambled toward the kitchen.“You can’t go five minutes without a snarky remark.”
I sighed and followed him.“I’m sorry, okay?You make it so easy, but I promise I’ll try my best to keep my remarks to myself.”
I leaned against the counter, smiling my sunniest smile as he rifled through the fridge for the ingredients he’d need for dinner.Same routine every night like clockwork.No wonder he thought I was unpredictable.
“See?Best behavior.”I motioned toward my winning smile, ignoring his unimpressed side-eye.“Test me out.I can take it.”
He cleared his throat and looked away, his voice still coming out a bit strained.“I’m not sure how you expect me to do that.”
I refused to let my smile slip.The fact that he was considering it was already a win, since I figured I’d have to do a whole lot more convincing for him to even do this much.“Insult me.Tell me what you really think.All the reasons you hate me.Let’s clear the air now.”
“That seems extremely unproductive.”
I placed my hands over his to stop the dinner preparation, squishing the poor, innocent veggies underneath us.He went deathly still the moment we touched, and I forced myself to keep going.This wasn’t any different than holding hands after Lamaze, short of the fact that no one was watching us as far as we knew.And Heaven knows it was purely platonic, since getting myself to declare a ceasefire between us was already pushing my limits.
“Some things don’t have to be productive to be worthwhile.”I tipped my chin up, daring him to rise to the challenge.He’d never backed down before, so why would he do so now?“Why do you hate me, Colt?”
“I never said I hated you,” he murmured, staring at our hands.
I snorted.“You never had to.Since the day we met, we’ve been at odds with each other.It’s like you took one look at me and decided you knew me.”
“Like you did to me?”he fired back, pulling his hands free and crossing his arms.“The first words out of your mouth were an insult, and that has rarely changed over the last two months.”
