Page 80 of Entangled

Dom’s eyebrow kicks up. “Aren’t you two friends?”

My lips purse, and I smooth down the front of my shirt carefully. It’s tattered, dirty, and bloodstained. But now it’s not creased.

AmI friends with Heather? She’s infuriating and reckless. I know she was cruel to Lucky, and I’ve seen her rough tongue with Jasper and Jaykob. She led the Sinners to Bristlebrook and nearly got my men killed.

Not to mention she’s Dom’sHeat.

But shewasa friend to me when I desperately needed one. She poured her heart out in the dark and pulled me back into my fight to live. Yes, she gave my men up, but she did it for every person like me here who doesn’t have her ferocity or skills. She fought by my side in the woods when the odds were stacked against us... and she didn’t judge me for a moment when I decided to leave her in the dust.

WhenIbetrayedherlike the coward I am.

“It’s complicated,” I say primly, and Dom gives me a dry look.

Then he keeps staring at me, long enough that I start to feel self-conscious. I brush my hair over my ear, and I’m just considering making my excuses when he says, very softly, “How are you feeling, pet?”

That word paralyses me. Emotions crash in on me from every angle.

Why is he usingthatword? And why is he using itnow?

“I’m—”

He leans in, very close, and my breathing stalls. I think I forgethowto breathe.

“If you say ‘fine,’ I’m going to...” He trails off, frowning, as his eyes drop to my lips.

Going to...?I wait, expectant. Going to spank me? Heat shudders through me as I remember the bright, hot sting of his hand on my ass. Is that what he was going to say? Or something else? He’s going to... give me a firm scolding? Kiss me senseless? Split my legs over his lap and take me hard?What?

With all the manners I can muster, I say casually, “Pardon, I don’t think I caught that.”

His eyes flick up to mine. Whatever he sees there makes the corner of his mouth curve, and his voice becomes a purr. “Tell me how you’re feeling, little librarian.”

I try to work some moisture into my mouth. Why is it so dry?

How can I possibly tell him how I feel when I have no idea myself? I don’t know how to explain this heavy weight on me, or why even now, all around us, the night seems so crowded—just teeming with fears and thoughts I don’t know how to escape. I don’t know how to tell him that I want him to hold me, especially now that the woman of his dreams is here in front of him, single and sad and probably just as in need of his comfort as I am.

“It’s complicated,” I finally manage to say again, and before he can grill me further, I ask, “And how doyoufeel?”

Dom’s wry laugh comes through his nose. I know he won’t let me get away with the subject change, so I charge on before he can grill me further.

“I’m sure it’s very confusing, having Heather back,” I continue, and the humor in his face vanishes instantly.

Why did I say that? I don’t want to talk about Heather. I don’t want to hear about his feelings for her. Watching him watch her so intensely, like she’s a missing relic, has been a special kind of torture, and hearing them practically finish each other’s sentences makes me want to gag. They know one another.Intimately.

More intimately than I know him.

Dom’s eyes narrow on me. “Confusing,” he repeats, like he’s mulling the word over.

I nod. My mouth is a desert. And itburns.

“Why would it beconfusing?”

I— Is he really going to make it this difficult for me?

I lift my chin. “You were in love with her.”

“Years ago.” He cocks a brow, but something shutters behind his gaze. “Then sheleft.”

Hedidn’t end it.Hewanted her to stay. He hurt his friendship with Beau for her—the thing that meant everything in the world to him.

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