He tilted his head slightly, his eyes never leaving mine. “I wanted to know you were okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You were with Powers. You have to stay away from him.”
“Tell me something. Is he a threat tome? Oris he a threat toyou?”
“Come on, Jada. Cut me some fucking slack here.”
“You can have all the fucking slack you want. I never asked you to pick up the end of the rope.”
Cane’s jaw clenched. “What are we doing here, Jada?”
My eyes squeezed closed as I tried to create a barrier between the two of us. “We aren’t doing anything.”
“Can you honestly say that?”
“No.Youdid.”
“Fuck,” he growled out in frustration. “Why do you have to make this so fucking hard?”
“Seriously, Cane?” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “This is all you. I’m done. I’m finished getting sucked into your web, having my head spun, and then watch you act like you’re doing me some fucking favor by speaking to me.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the ground. “That’s not what’s happening.”
“That is exactly what’s happening, and I’m over it.”
He snapped his eyes back to mine, his mouth in a thin line. “You’re over it? I see. Was Simon that interesting at dinner? Because you don’t have any idea who he is, Jada. He isn’t someone you need to be fucking around with.”
“Fuck you.”
He laughed. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”
“And it will never happen.”
“Why?” He smirked. “Are you afraid you’ll like it?”
His words set me off, the anger I had fought to control erupting like a volcano.
“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t, actually,” I fumed, slamming the bottle on the countertop and whirling around. Cane stepped back and watched me as if I were a caged animal.
“All assholes are the same, and I’ve had more than my fair share of them. They seem to be the only thing I attract,” I spat.
Cane shifted his weight, crossing his arms in front of him. He clearly wasn’t expecting my reaction.
“I don’t know why you won’t just go away.”
I turned to walk around him, but he blocked my path. “You don’t really want me to go, Jada.”
“No, I do. I promise you—I reallydo,” I seethed. “I’ve told you repeatedly that this is what I don’t want. I’m not a chess piece. I don’t want to be fucked with, Cane.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?” he asked, his eyebrows lifted in astonishment. “You think I’m just fucking with you?”
“You’re either cruel or you’re just really, really stupid. You were an asshole when we met, then you were sweet. You deliver me dinner, then grow cold. You come into my room, break me down, and then walk away.”
I grabbed the ledge of the counter, my hands shaking with fury.
“You send me flowers—no, wait. I stand corrected. You haveLucysend me flowers and then are an asshole. I’m noticing a pattern here,” I spouted. “But that’s going to stop now.Leave. Me. Alone.”
