Page 37 of Loving You

When I finally emerged from my room, Eric picked up the beer he’d snagged for himself and the glass of water I presumed was for me.

“Where’smybeer?” I asked, forcing out a hint of a smile.

He snorted. “I’d rather have you sober for this conversation. Besides, it’s a little late for hair of the dog.”

“Hair of the dog would’ve been tequila anyway,” I mumbled.

“Let’s talk.” His tone was clipped, and he didn’t even look at me as he handed me the water before leading me toward one of his plush leather couches.

I sat beside him, wincing as the cold bit into the backs of my thighs and massive goose bumps pebbled along my skin.

“Are you cold?” he asked, his all-seeing gaze tracking over the evidence on my bare legs.

I lifted my chin. “Your couch was not made for shorts.”

He chuckled, then got up to retrieve a tartan throw from the back of an armchair. He jerked his chin for me to move, laid the blanket over the spot I’d just vacated, then pointed for me to sit again.

I did as he bid me. Now wasn’t the time to snip at him over bossing me around, and it definitely wasn’t the time to think about how much I’d miss it when he was done giving me my marching orders.

“Better?” he asked, reclining against the cushions and draping one of his gorgeous arms over the back of the couch like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Well, maybe he didn’t have a care in the world until I came along.

After what he’d told me the other night, the man had probably been enjoying some weird version of empty-nest syndrome now that all his siblings were settled and happy. And then along came April, the woman he’d once seen as a confident, competent, badass who also happened to be his work-related frenemy.

Now he probably saw me as more trouble than I was worth.

Ew.Was that self-pity?

If so, I didn’t like it. I’d worked hard for the last few years to overcome thoughts like this, and Eric kicking me out of the safety nest he’d welcomed me into wasn’t about to make me turn into that weaker version of myself.

Not today, Satan.

“Spit it out, Walker,” I snapped, sitting straighter and holding my head high. “You want me to leave? Just say it.”

His brows flew up. “Leave? Why would I want you to leave?”

“Um, how about because you had no idea what you were getting yourself into when you offered to let me stay here, and I obviously fucked it all up with my obnoxiousness on Friday night? I get it, okay? Your perfect, controlled, well-ordered life and home are no place for the mess you think I am, and you want me gone.”

Yep, I was being a brat. But I was rattled and confused and sad and mad and—

Uh-oh.

Anger—no, white-hot rage—blazed in his eyes as he simply stared at me. His pose was still relaxed, but thoseeyes.

It should have freaked me out, but honestly…damn.

It kinda made me wanna straddle him.

And that mental image was just as unsettling as the fact that he hadn’t spoken yet, so I pushed on. “Hello?”

The earlier fire morphed into dark amusement as he watched me. “You seem a little… piqued.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m notpiqued.I’m pissed. First, you tell me I’m safe here for however long I want to stay, and now, you’re kicking me out.”

“Again, I’ll ask, why do you think that?”

His tone was so measured it made me want to shake him. Instead, I put my water down with more force than necessary and hopped up to pace between the flat screen and the coffee table. “It’s obvious. You clearly want to know what’s going on with me, you’re clearly annoyed I haven’t told you, and the way I acted on Friday nightclearlybugged the shit out of you. But I’m sorry we’re not all as perfectly in control of our feelings as you are.”

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