Because if I do, I’ll go right back to Ansel’s place. I’ll camp out there until he gives me another fucking chance, or at least tells me what I did wrong.
I’m torn between doing the selfish thing and the selfless. Selfishly, I want to pin Ansel down until he’s ready to talk.
Selflessly, I know I need to stay away. Like he’s asked me to. Repeatedly.
He even screamed it.
I should’ve known Ansel would be my undoing. I’ve never been able to say no to him.
Then again, I didn’t think he’d ever leave me. I thought what we had was real. Unconventional? A little unhealthy? Sure.
But it was fuckingreal.That’s what I believed.
Guess I was wrong about lots of things.
I want to respect what Ansel’s asked, but let’s be honest, my willpower to stay away from him is about as strong as an umbrella in a hurricane.
Hence the panic room.
So, unless Wylder’s summoning me to tell me Ansel is ready to listen, I don’t give a shit. It’s not like I can leave here without someone letting me out, anyway.
Like I’ve summoned them, there’s a beeping noise telling me someone is opening the door.Fucking great.
I don’t bother to look at who’s entered, just continue bouncing the ball. “I’m not leaving.”
The metal headphones are yanked off my head, and one of the padded ear cushions comes loose, drifting to the floor.
“What the fuck is this? Why did you resurrect an old Walkman?” Samson asks.
“I like to reminisce about the good old days.”
He kicks at my leg—not as hard as he could, but enough that it stings.
“Fuck off,” I murmur.
“No. You need to come with me. You don’t have a choice.”
“No.”
“Don’t make me pick you up.”
Samson really is the most fun to be around when I’m in this mood. By which I mean, he’s the fastest to resort to violence. “Think you’re going to make me?”
“Not alone.”
There’s a shuffling sound of feet as more people join us. I wearily turn my head to see Samson, Matthias, Harley, and Dalton. “Aw, I’m touched that you realize it’ll take that many of you to get me to move.”
Matthias is rolling up his shirtsleeves while Dalton and Harley fan out. They’re covering the edges of the room, stopping me from being able to dart past. Samson doesn’t move, just smirks at me, ready for whatever tantrum I’m going to throw.
Sometimes it really fucking sucks to know how well my brothers have been trained. There’s no way I’m getting out of this.
Doesn’t mean I’m going without a fight though. I’ve got a lot of pent-up anger, and lookie here—four men just waiting for me to beat on them a little.
I should thank them, really.
“Wylder should’ve just come down here,” I drawl. “He’s the only one missing.”
“You’ll understand why when you join us upstairs,” Dalton says in clipped tones. His fingers are twitching, preparing to pounce. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, asshole.”
