We were now almost nose to nose. “Are you really? It feels like you’ve done nothing but shut me out since I got here.”
“Bullshit. You need to look closer to home when it comes to shutting people out,” his fingers tightened. Those words fell between us like an invisible barrier.
“What?”
“You’ve been a hormonal bitch from day one. How can I talk to you when you’re still punishing me for what happened with the Jacksons?”
“You left me there!”
“I had no choice. But I get why you’d be upset. So be mad, shout at me, hit me, and then give me a chance to explain what happened. Cold-shouldering me and being a bitch isn’t going to resolve things, Harper. That shit doesn’t work that way.”
One of the straps on my PJ top had slid down and was now hooked on his thumb.
I carefully lifted my hand and pushed it back in place, conscious that Phoenix was watching the movement. Shit, I was half drunk and half naked, now was not the time for deep and meaningful discussions. “Maybe we should talk about this another time when we’re both less frazzled.”
He didn’t like that, and his eyes narrowed. “Now’s as good a time as any.”
I shook my head. “I’m tired, and I’m going to bed.”
I twisted away and set off towards the door, but his words stopped me.
“No, you’re running away because you’re terrified of hearing my side of the story.”
Spinning back, I held out my hands. “Why would I be terrified of that?”
Stalking towards me, he took my jaw in one hand. “Because then you wouldn’t have someone to blame for your misery. Someone to use as your own personal punching bag.” Releasing me, he added hotly. “Poor little Harper Radcliffe. Well, newsflash sunshine, you’re not the only one with a story to tell.”
“No, I get that, but mine is worse than most. You must admit,” I said in a small side voice. “What happened to us, Nix?”
“We grew up,” he replied softly. Phoenix’s fingers then started to trace my collarbone. “Fuck, I missed you, though.” His smooth tone dragged pleasantly over my skin.
His declaration should have warmed my blood, but it only fed my pain. “You said you’d come back for me,” I whispered.
“And I did, I checked up on you when I could. I knew you saw me there,” he stated, lifting his hand to touch my face. The gesture was almost my undoing butI thought about what had happened to me when Nix was gone and pushed his hand away. When his visits had stopped, I had cried myself to sleep most nights.
“Yes, for a few weeks until you slacked off, and then nothing. You have no idea what it was like for me when you left.” That time Dalton came into my room in the middle of the night, cruelly penetrating my thoughts.
He must have read something in my face, and the atmosphere became more charged.
Phoenix moved forward as if to take me in his arms, but I placed both hands on his chest and held him back. He inclined his head and raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “Then tell me, help me to understand.” The way he trapped me there was possessive, and a thrill ran through me. His warm breath started to tease my throat.
It was on the tip of my tongue to spill my guts, but I seriously didn’t know where to start; my head was hazy from the alcohol, and my legs had begun to ache.
“I can’t talk to you, not like this,” I stuttered, motioning between our state of undress.
His body language suggested an unleashed aggression as he struck out with. “But you can talk to Cash, is that it? Your knight in shining armor?” He used a thumb to point towards the window of his room.
“We talked for all of twenty minutes in the pool. I hardly bared my fricking soul.”
That was rich. Did I even have one? Surely my father killed that when he tried to murder me. For a second, that temptation to not feel anything was overwhelming, but after a beat, I was dragged back.
Nix barked out a laugh, one with little humor in it. “He had his hands all over you, and you allowed it.”
My mouth opened as I thought back to Nix’s behavior at the party. He was such a hypocrite. “And, so, you decided to get drunk with Courtney. Was it to make me jealous?”
Nix raked a hand through his hair. “No. She was sad about her ex, and I was trying to cheer her up. Courtney was never in the race, Harper.”
“Yet you care about her enough to want to improve her mood and protect her reputation. I can’t remember the last time you attempted to cheermeup.”
