Page 38 of Quiet Rage
“Yeah, and now you came to rub it in, right?” She jerks her thumb toward the dumpster, smirking. “Are you going to throw me in here next? Might as well. Though what will your excuse be this time?”
“What do you mean?”
“Hello?” Tapping her knuckles against the side of her head, she screws her face up in disbelief. “Are you high? You got what you wanted. I dropped out. So now you don’t have any excuse to ruin my life. You’ve already done it.”
Success doesn’t feel very satisfying. “It was the right move,” I grunt, wrestling with the guilt. I did what needed to be done. It wasn’t my fault.
I don’t think she would understand even if I explained it. I don’t know if I could find the words. It would mean swallowing my pride, too, and I doubt I could do that without choking.
“I’m glad you think so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back inside.” A bitter snarl twists her mouth as she storms past me… or tries to.
She doesn’t make it before I take hold of her shoulders. “What are you doing?” she barks when I back her against the wall next to the door, pressing her against the brick.
Instead of telling her, I show her, lowering my head to cover her mouth with mine. She tastes just like I remember. Sweetness, freshness. So totally unlike anything I ever experienced before she shattered my world.
It would all be so much better if she would kiss me back.
Her little hands slap weakly at my chest, and she does her best to get me off her. Instead of soft, pleasured sighs, there’s nothing but angry grunts as she fights me. No matter what I do—tilting my head to deepen the kiss, forcing my tongue between her lips—she doesn’t respond like I need her to.
I am that disgusting to her. She hates me that much.
“Fuck you,” she grits out when I let her up for air. Shoving at my chest, she growls, “Get off me now. I have to go back in. The door is unlocked.”
“Kiss me back,” I whisper, letting my nose touch the top of her head. There’s that scent I’ve missed. I inhale deeply, soaking her in. “Just kiss me, and I’ll let you go back inside.”
“You are sick.” She pulls her head back, twisting my sweater in her tiny fists. I could drown in the cold, endless hatred in her baby blues. “You know that?”
“The clock is ticking, Dragonfly.”
She sneers at me, rolls her eyes…but she also tips her head back, offering me her mouth.
This time, her lips are softer. She parts them for me without resistance. Instead of having to press her against the wall, I let my hands slide down her sides, taking hold of her hips, pulling her against what’s starting to twitch and swell in my jeans.
And instead of grunting in anger, she sighs, even whimpers softly. Her fists loosen before her hands run up to my shoulders, then around to the back of my neck. Her touch is electric, even if I know she doesn’t mean it.
But I can pretend she does. That this is real, that she wants it. That she likes it as much as I do—and I do like it. I’m getting harder with every stroke of my tongue against hers, with every soft sigh she can’t hold back. Her body wants this even if she hates me. For now, that’s enough.
Pulling her bottom lip between mine, I suck it until she groans, then graze it with my teeth before plunging my tongue inside her mouth again. Her fingers twist my hair, tugging, making my body sizzle. Just a little more. A little longer. I need something to get me through the long, empty nights.
But it can’t last forever. Already she’s thinking about the store, pulling back, turning her face away. “That’s enough,” she whispers while I run my lips over her throat. “I mean it. I need to get inside. The register is unattended.”
Like I give a shit, but I’m not going to beg. “Was that so bad?” Pushing away from the wall, I rake my fingers through my hair. My hands are trembling.
“You don’t want to hear the answer to that.” One last filthy look, and she disappears through the door. The squeal of the rusted hinges isn’t as loud as the thumping in my head as blood rushes, boiling hot.
I already know I’ll be jerking off later to the memory of that kiss.
For now, I’ll settle on going back to the truck and watching her until her shift is over.
Chapter 18
Tamson
I don't particularlylike leaving Dad to lock up the store by himself, but I’m just so exhausted that when he offers to let me leave early, I happily accept.
Gathering my things from behind the counter, I stuff my phone into my pocket and head out. I wave goodbye before pushing the door open and stepping onto the sidewalk.
I see him right away. Kellen’s car is parked at the side of the road, a few feet from the store's entrance. As soon as he notices me, he gets out of the car and heads towards me.
