We walked out in silence; both of us jogging down the front steps, the white mist of our breaths puffing out before us. She walked briskly, a step ahead of me, and spun on her heels as soon as we reached the door to hercar.
“Whatever you’re doing, pleasestop.”
"You really want me to stop?" I argued. She hesitated, the smallest bit, and I stopped her from talking by putting my finger against her lips. "Addison asks about you every day. Please just come over once in a while, just to seeher?"
She sighed and leaned her back against the driver's side door. "You're playing up the whole ‘Addison misses you’ bullshit. It's prettycheap."
“I’m pretty desperate.” I tried to sound flirty, but desperation was plainly what itwas.
“What the hell do you want from me, Dylan? You want to fuck me? Fine. Let's just fuck." She yanked her keys out of her bag and clicked the car open. The keys fumbled to the ground, and she swiped them up and swung the door open all at once. Her face was dark and distraught. “Go ahead, get in.” She banged an open palm on the roof of her car. “I’ll give you twenty minutes to get me out of yoursystem!”
An instant rush of hot electricity screamed up my spine. I flinched back as if she slapped me.That’s all she thought Iwanted?
“You think I want to fuck you?” Iraged.
Her entire body stilled, her eyes, big and round, flashed up tomine.
“That’s all you think you’re worth to anyone?To me? To my kids?” I slowly stepped closer to her, closing the small space between us. “You saved both my children that night. You brought in your own team of superheroes and saved Sheri’s life. Then you savedmine." I pushed my arms out on either side of her and clenched my fists around the top edge of the car. "Do I think you're beautiful? Yes. Do I believe you're sexy? Yes, God forgive me, I do. But what I think about you most is how you deserve to be happy and loved and for once in your life cherished and worshiped.” I took a shaky breath, my eyes glaring into hers. “Do I want that person to be me? I would give anything to be able to fill that position, but I wouldn’t be able to give you all of me. God, Callie, you deserve all of someone. You deserve so much more than you give yourself. And to my children and me, it's an honor to have you in ourlives."
