My hand slaps the car door in frustration, and I turn my head away. “You don’t get it.” My voice is lower but still full of vitriol. “Of course, you don’t.”
Shane pulls into a driveway, and, for a second, I think it’s so he can fight with me. My body goes rigid from shock and the anticipation of yet another confrontation.
When he speaks though, his voice is firm but not angry. “I do get it, Avery. I do.” He turns off the engine. “I’ll be right back.”
He exits the car and goes to the door of a red brick house. After he knocks, the door opens, revealing the silhouette of a woman. She disappears from view and then returns, handing him a small gold gift bag.
After he puts it in the trunk, we finish the ten-minute drive home. I stay stonily silent, still stewing in my rage. Shane’s countenance continues to be languid. Instead of calming me, that feeds my discontent.
Once inside the house, he sets the mysterious gift bag on the couch.
“Is it a gun?” I ask hopefully, standing a few feet away.
“No. You don’t need a gun.” His arms fold across his broad chest, and his gaze captures mine. “As the world saw tonight, you’ve already got a weapon.Me.”
That’s not good enough, I think defiantly.
Does Shane want me to stay powerless? A part of me wonders whether he wants to keep me feeling vulnerable so I’ll need to stay with him and continue to be his sex toy. A little current of electricity runs through me at the thought.
But imagining Todd’s smug face also makes me want to blow holes in the wall right now. Breathing through my nose, I try not to clench my teeth. “I’ve said I’ll barter for a gun and lessons. Isn’t there anything you want from me?”
His gaze rakes over me slowly. “You know there is.”
My teeth grind at the thought of trading my virginity for a gun, but maybe that is what’s meant to happen. All my innocence gone in one quick exchange. And good riddance to it. The world is not a place that rewards naiveté.
The next words catch in my throat, but I force them out. “So help me get a gun, and you can have it. I don’t want to be reliant on anyone else’s protection.”
Arms folded across his chest, Shane looks impatient. “No. Guns are dangerous to their owners. Plenty of people have their own guns used against them.”
“Is that the only reason you don’t want me to have one?”
“Why else?” he counters, motioning with a head tilt for me to sit.
I walk over and lower myself onto the dreaded couch. Not because Shane indicated I should, but because my feet hurt from wearing heels all night. I circle my feet with a slow grimace.
Shane sits on the coffee table and rests my legs on his knee so he can unbuckle the straps of my shoes. With the straps slack, I’m free to kick them off, which I do with considerable force.
“Fuck Todd Bardoratch.” A shoe bangs against the wall, leaving a mark as it drops to the floor.
“Easy. Let’s not spend the night patching dry wall.”
“Why was Todd’s giant afraid of you? Because you carry a gun, right?”
“Avery,” Shane says slowly, shaking his head.
The rage inside me makes my entire body vibrate. “Don’t. Don’t tell me it’s all right for you to have a gun and not me.”
“Listen to me.”
“No.” I shoot up and move around the couch toward the stairs. “If you won’t help me, fine. I’ll find someone who will.”
“Wait,” he commands.
I ignore him and hustle up the steps. Behind me, I hear his pursuit. I don’t make it to the guest room before he grabs me.
“Do not manhandle me.” My voice cracks from the strain of trying not to yell.
“Then control your temper.”
