I drop my hand. “You’re not here to get a tour. If that’s what you want, you can earn one.”
“Earn it? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be doing?”
“Get your ass in my bedroom, hellcat. Don’t push me right now.”
That grabs her attention firmly enough that she looks at me, no longer concerned with my furniture and slight disorganization. She pushes her hair over her back and faces off with me, keeping a few feet between us.
“But it’s so fun seeing you riled, Rowe. I used to wonder what this place looked like. Ever since you mentioned wanting to live here all those years ago.”
“It was more about getting out from under my parents’ roof than the desire to live here specifically.”
“I know. That doesn’t mean you didn’t accomplish what you set out to do. When did you move in?”
My laugh is short, scoffed. “Were you under the impression that my parents were proud when I was out on parole, clutching onto the illusion of freedom like a dog on a leash?”
“They kicked you out here, then.”
“Turns out the idea of having a criminal in their home wasn’t all that appealing.”
Her fingers slide down her bare thighs. I watch as they flex before she looks away, chest pushing out with a rough exhale.
“You aren’t dangerous,” she says bluntly.
“No? Are you sure about that?”
Her head whips back, fury burning in her eyes. “Yes, I’m fucking sure. You’ve never been a danger to me or anyone here.”
“Don’t be naïve, Tilly. I’ve got a rage burning so hot inside of me that I can taste the flames on my tongue.”
“Because of what happened to you! You spent four years in prison paying for protecting me. That didn’t come easy.”
I clutch the back of my head, shaking it. “I didn’t have to hurt him. Not that bad. I should have stopped. Should have listened to your brother and Shade when they begged me to back off.”
“We were kids, Rowe. Stupid, reckless kids. And if you asked me right now how I felt about what happened, I’d tell you that Idon’twish you’d let him go earlier. And my brother begged you to stop because he was worried about you, not because he didn’t want him to suffer. Ezra could have ruined my life. Doing just that was exactly what he wanted. You stopped him.”
I can’t close my eyes right now. If I so much as blink, I know what I’ll see painted behind my eyelids. The video that played on a loop in my head for the first few months I was in prison still haunts me to this day.
Tilly’s boyfriend beneath her as she rides him, her naked body rolling over his as she climaxes, completely unaware that he’s recording every single thing with a camera hidden behind a photo of them.
It wasn’t the first time either. And if she hadn’t broken up with him a week after that video was recorded, I’m sure there would have been more.
“Get on my fucking bed, Tilly. Don’t make me tell you again,” I snap, my lungs constricting to the point of pain.
Finally, she doesn’t argue. Without another word, she goes directly to the bedroom, hands clenched at her sides. I don’tfollow immediately. I’m too focused on trying to relearn how to breathe to do that yet.
I stare after her, but then she’s gone, doing something I can’t see. There’s a soft rustle of fabric, then silence again. I swallow the ball in my throat and take one step forward, then another. My boots are loud on the floor, so I tug them off, leaving them abandoned behind the sofa.
Hers are the first things I see when I step into my room. The dark brown boots are strewn on the small rug at the end of the bed beside her tiny white socks. I breathe through my nose and look up.
“It’s okay to be angry, Rowe. There’s another way for you to work through it. With me.”
Tilly’s gripping the hem of her shirt, drawing it higher up her thighs. Inch by inch, I feast my eyes on all the smooth, freckled skin exposed until I allow myself to stare at the patch of thin black lace between her legs. My swallow is audible. There’s a clawing sensation in my chest, like my heart’s grown claws and is trying to shred its way free.
“Careful,” I warn, my voice slightly garbled.
“I’m so tired of being careful.”
The weight of her words pulls my gaze up her body. I’m cautious as I move to the edge of the bed, reaching forward to dig my hands into the mattress. The heat from her naked legs pulses against my wrists, tempting me to shift slightly . . .
