Page 55 of Mad As Hell

“I’ll fix it, Maddie,” I vowed, meaning it with everything I had. “I promise.”

She shook her head, her blonde hair falling around her face. “You broke my heart.” Her lower lip wobbled and tears clung to her lashes.

And that broke my heart.

“I know,” I managed to get out around the ball of emotion in my throat. I reached for her hand and tangled our fingers together. “I’m so sorry, Maddie.”

Her nose scrunched up as she looked at our hands. “I hate you.”

“I know,” I repeated, her words shredding what was left of my heart. All I could do was raise her hand to my lips and press a kiss to it. I didn’t have any more words to fix what I’d broken between us. Not tonight anyway.

A calculating glint entered her eyes and, before I could figure it out, she pitched forward and pressed her mouth to mine.

I kissed her back instantly. My body knew no other option than to return what she gave and then some. My hand came up to cradle her head as I deepened the kiss. My tongue swept inside the hot cavern of her mouth as I took control while her tiny hands fisted the cotton of my t-shirt.

Great. I was going to have to fucking duel Charlie-boy at dawn, because no way could I stop kissing her now.

In the back of her throat she made a soft little noise that made my cock go from hard to granite. Then she was climbing onto my lap, her skirt around her hips as she pressed her pussy against me.

Which was, of course, when my conscience made an appearance.

“Fuck,” I whispered, pulling my mouth from hers with a groan. “Maddie, stop. We can’t.”

Not like this. Not when I knew she would hate herself—and me—in the morning. The hole I was trying to dig out of was already deep enough.

“Ryan, please,” she begged in a breathy voice that had my dick ready to punch through the zipper of my jeans.

I circled her wrists with my hands and firmly held her. “Not tonight, Madison.”

“You don’t want me?” A tremor of hurt rippled through her voice.

I lifted my hips, grinding them against her center as I gritted my teeth. “Does this feel like I don’t want you?”

She pressed against me once more with a throaty moan that made my cock jerk. “I want you. Now. Please.”

“I want you, too,” I replied, fisting a hand in her hair and holding her head back so I could look into those beautiful eyes. “But tonight neither of us is ready for that. And the next time I’m inside you? You’ll want me there as much as I want it.”

“I want it now,” she whined, but her eyes were already starting to droop. They were bleary and unfocused.

A sad smile touched my lips as I eased her off my lap. “Me, too, but not like this. Not while you hate me.”

She swallowed and slowly got off the bed. “Can I use the bathroom? I need to pee.”

I nodded. “Want me to get you something to sleep in?”

Her nose wrinkled. “I can’t sleep here.”

“You can, and you are,” I replied, not willing to give an inch on that. She was too wasted to sleep on her own. I’d tie her to the bed if I had to.

Huh. Not the worst idea. But probably not the best way to get us back on track.

She hesitated at the door, her fingers tracing the edge of the frame. “I lied.”

I barely caught her whispered confession. “Lied about what, Mads?”

She looked back at me, her blue eyes soft and sad. “I don’t hate you. I still love you. That’s what I hate. That even after you hurt me so much… I still love you.”

I rocked back at the confession, but she disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door before I could recover.

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