Page 68 of Perfect
“No.” He’s obviously irritated but gives me a polite smile.
“Okay,” he says slowly, drawing out the vowel. “Anything else?”
“Idon’twant you to pay for me.”
He cringes slightly, shaking his head. “I was raised kind of old school, so that one’s off the table. It’s nothing against you, but I’m pretty sure my grandfather would come back from the dead and shoot me on sight if he saw me letting a woman pay for herself.”
I scoff at him. “That’ssosexist.”
He shrugs. “Oh, absolutely, but it’s not a concession I’m going to make. What else do you want?” I blink at him for a second, figuring out what else to ask for.
“Um, I want to choose the movie. There’s a new superhero thing I want to see.”
His face falls immediately. “There’s that special showing ofSingin’ in the Rainyou were looking up times for? It’s a classic, and I know we both like it,” he says, sounding hopeful. I do want to see that instead, but hereallydoesn’t seem to want to see the multiverse thing, so I shake my head, smiling at him spitefully, and he sighs. “Fine.” He’s being so acquiescent, and I’m angry enough that I start pushing.
“I don’t want you to touch me.” He frowns, looking slightly concerned. “I don’t want you to stand close to me.” He rolls his eyes at me, catching on. “I don’t want you to talk to me.” He sighs heavily and pushes off the couch, grabbing his keys and opening the front door. “I don’t want you to come with me,” I snap, trailing after him.
He laughs, shaking his head. “Oh, I’maware. Can we go? All I want is to have a nice day with you.” He seems to mean it, and I stare at him for a second before walking through the door, getting close to him and jamming my finger into his chest.
“Youare not going to have the dayyouwant.” He raises his eyebrows, seemingly amused.
***
I do everything I can to ruin Theo’s day.
I tune the car radio to a conservative talk radio station, and when he changes the station quickly, I change it back, telling him I want to listen to it. He shoots me a disgusted look, and I spend the car ride reveling in his increasing irritation and muttered rebuttals to what’s being said on the show.
Once we get into Portland, I choose a greasy spoon diner that I know he’ll hate, order the worst-sounding thing on the menu, and then sweetly ask him to switch plates with me. He gives my food a horrified look before he takes it, reluctantly handing over his omelette. He doesn’t eat much, he just drinks coffee and tries to talk to me, and I give him vague, mostly one-word answers, which I know he hates.
I drag him around stores and ignore him, chatting animatedly with any halfway attractive male employees. Theo has a tight, polite smile plastered on his face as he watches, but I can tell I’m pissing him off.
At lunch, I choose a burger restaurant, order the greasiest thing on the menu, and make him switch food with me again. His jaw clenches as he swaps our plates.
“Are you having a good day, sweetie?” he asks, his tone tense and condescending. I give him my most saccharine smile, enjoying how miserable he seems.
“Oh,absolutely. Aren’t you?” I ask, mimicking his tone. He leans across the table with a small smirk.
“No,” he says quietly, “but Iamenjoying how hard you’re trying to turn me on.” My nipples harden and I look away from him, and he lets out a low, mean laugh.
He shouldn’t get to make me feel like this.
I sneak my card to the server when I go to the bathroom, and when he realizes I’ve paid for lunch, he seems to lose his patience. As we leave the restaurant, he slings an arm around my waist and pulls me tight, not letting me go when I push away from him.
“You need to stop being a fuckingbrat, Alex,” he whispers into my ear. The harsh tone of his voice sends an anticipatory shiver down my spine that I can’t ignore. I cross my arms, my anger flaring as I look up at him.
“You think we’re together? Fine, butthisis what you’re going to get from me. I hope you fucking like it, asshole.” He pulls me to a stop and looks down at me, leveling me with a warning look.
“I don’t thinkyou’lllike what you get if you keep acting like this,” he says, his voice sharp, and he gives me a cold smile. “Consider that a warning. Also, I’m done with your bullshit rules for today.”
He hurries me into an expensive lingerie shop and doesn’t leave my side, his hands constantly on my waist or my lower back. He starts talking to me under his breath as he picks things out for me, telling me how sad it is that I can’t come anymore and that he’d love to help if I would just open my pretty mouth and ask. I keep my arms crossed and try to ignore him, which is extremely difficult.
I hate that what he’s doing is turning me on so much.
When we get into the car to drive to the movie theater, he pulls my face towards him and kisses me hard. I don’t kiss him back, but he seems amused rather than frustrated as he kisseshis way down my neck. I have to bite my lip to keep from moaning and clench my fists to keep from touching him, and he can tell. He plays with my hair as he drives, dragging his fingers down my scalp and trailing them down my neck in a way that makes me shiver. He’s overly affectionate in line at the theatre, so I make him sit behind a group of loud teenagers that I hope will be annoying. He looks displeased, and his leg starts bouncing the second we sit down.
Half an hour into the movie, I’m bored and wish we’d gone and seen the movie both of us actually like, and Theo looks zoned out. He’s not entirely focused on the screen, but he’s also not focused on me for the first time all day. The teenagers in front of us are being irritating, and I eye Theo’s bouncing leg.
Fuck it, I’m going to push him.
