Page 23 of Hard to Forgive

We were almost perfectly matched in height, and he was too close. I didn’t think. I just pushed him back away from me. His clenched fists tightened. “What the actual fuck?” he demanded.

“I could ask you the same fucking thing.”

“So, Isabel ran off and told you, and now you’re playing big bad protector?” he accused.

How fucking dare he make me out to be the bad guy in any of this? He was the one that had all but attacked our coworker for having the audacity to care about him. My blood boiled. I took a step closer to him.

“After I pried it out of her. And after she calmed down.”

I took another step forward. He stepped back, hitting the wall.

He looked like a trapped animal. His dark eyes were wild and a dangerous energy seemed to crackle off of him. “You made her fucking cry,” I growled. “Because how fucking dare she check on you, right? How dare anyone fucking care about you enough to follow you when you were clearly upset.”

He swallowed hard. “This is between me and her, not you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Jonas,” I informed him. “If you fuck with one of my friends, you’ve fucked with me.”

He rolled his eyes. “I never knew loyalty was such a big deal to you. You must have grown up since high school.”

The anger doubled, tripled, and then kept growing. How dare he bring up high school? This wasn’t about that. This wasn’t about my high school fuck ups. This was about him and his bad attitude. This was about him lashing out at an innocent person just because he had a stick the size of a redwood up his ass. “This isn’t about me.”

“I thought everything was about you,” he retorted. His lips curled up into an imitation of a smile. “I mean, what I said to Isabel is between me and her, but here you are. Making it about you. I was just helping you along with that.”

“Fuck you Jonas.”

“You came here,” he reminded me. “You came here to start shit with me, because I hurt someone’s fucking feelings. She can get the fuck over it.”

I saw red.

I lashed out and pushed him again. He hit the wall behind him, before pushing me back. I stumbled, almost falling backward before catching myself. In the time it took me to catch myself, he was on me.

His hands gripped the front of my shirt, and I noticed the red around his knuckles again. “Get the fuck off of me,” I demanded.

“Make me.”

I grabbed his wrist and twisted, forcing him to let go. I pushed him back again and this time, I didn’t give him time to follow up. I caged him against the wall, one arm on either side.

“Now fucking listen to me,” I ordered. He refused to meet my eyes, to let me win. I didn’t fucking care. I didn’t need him to look at me for him to hear what I had to say. “Monday, you are going to apologize to Isabel. You’re going to fuckinggrovelat her feet. You’re going to bring her muffins or cupcakes orsomethingand you’re going to make it right. Otherwise, I will make your life a living hell.”

The threat finally made him look at me. We were inches apart, and I could feel the hot pants of his breath against my face. The space between us was loaded with anger and tension and maybe a little of that lust from the night at the bar, before we knew who the other was.

“Like you haven’t already,” he grumbled.

I rolled my eyes. Why couldn’t he just let that fucking go? It had been years ago. Was it my proudest moment? No. It was one of my biggest regrets. I’d almost ruined my high school relationship when I kissed him, but it wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t understand why he hated me over it.

A part of me wanted to ask, but then he’d be right.

I’d be making this about me, and it was about Isabel.

“I already told you, this isn’t aboutme,” I reminded him.

“Could have fooled me,” he shot back.

There was a defiant jut to his chin that made me want to push him again, to pin him harder against the wall and either threaten or kiss him within an inch of his life.

“Nowwhatare you doing tomorrow?”

“Absolutely nothing,” he answered. “I’m not apologizing to her just because her fucking guard dog came to my house and attacked me for making Princess Isabel cry. She should have just left me alone.”

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