Page 106 of Play Me
His chest rises and then falls, as if this information is a relief to him, too. “Have you ever shared this with anyone?” Gray asks softly. “Or have you kept this to yourself for all of these years?”
Dad’s voice, followed by Trace’s, echoes through my brain, making it hard to swallow. It’s devastating to remember such moments, but it’s also heartbreaking that I chose to deal with this sort of man a second time. I survived them both, but I’ll never, ever deal with it again.
“You want me to spend my money on tampons? Fuck no. That’s not my fuckin’ problem.”
“You’re a selfish little bitch. It’s no wonder your father had to knock you around.”
“How about this? Don’t turn a light on, use any hot water, or eat any of my fuckin’ food. Then maybe you’ll realize how much I do for you around here!”
“I’m either going through your phone or you’re getting the fuck out. I can’t help you grew up like a piece of trash and don’t know how to act. I have to protect myself here, Astrid.”
My inhale shakes. I slip my foot over Gray’s legs, craving his proximity. “I told Trace. He just used it to pick up pointers on how to hurt me.”
“Where’shenow?” Gray’s body tenses again. “Just curious.”
His tone sends a ripple of energy through me, like there’s a buffer between me and my trauma. It offers me the space to breathe, to recalibrate from the memories, in a way I’ve never experienced before. It’s as if I can set down my sword and rest. “I don’t know. But now you know why I have trust issues.”
“And that’s why you jumped to the conclusion that I was a bully at the gas station.”
“No, youwerea bully at the gas station.” I extricate myself from his grip and sit up, facing him. “You could’ve picked any other pump. There was no reason for you to growl and beep your horn at me.”
He smiles, amused. “I couldn’t pull up to another pump without backing up and making a whole production out of it. Some of us don’t drive little cars that can spin on a dime.”
“Because some of us are confident in our manhood.”
Before I know what’s happening, I’m being tossed on my back. Gray hovers over me with a decadent smirk. I giggle, squirming unsuccessfully to get away—not that Ireallywant to get out from under him. I really want to see what that smirk is all about.
“Are you sore?” he asks, kissing me on the tip of the nose.
“Yes.”
“Oh.” He frowns. “Well, then …”
He starts to roll off me, but I wrap my legs around his waist. Placing my hands on his face, I peer into his eyes, and what I see startles me.
Kindness. Concern. Safety.
And, most of all,attraction.
That’s a plethora of conditions that, together, are a little too much to take at once. But I do know what I can take instead …
“Hey, Truck Boy,” I say, smiling at him. “Will you shut up for once and fuck me?”
He growls before capturing my lips with his own and making me forget about everything except him.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Astrid
I yawn, rolling from my stomach onto my back. Sunlight streams into the room, filling it with the promise of a new day. Birds chirp outside the window, and something pings in the distance.
Where the heck am I?
My eyes struggle to open. My brain takes even longer to process my whereabouts. Once it all comes together and forms an accurate picture of my location, I sink into the mattress and release a satisfied sigh.
Gray’s bedroom.
