“Leave me the fuck alone.”
But I must’ve hit the nail on the head, because James punched the mirror so hard that it broke into a million pieces. The fragments scattered all around the sink, and his hand started bleeding.
My stomach dropped, but I kept calm.
“James, can you please—” Not do that?
The words got stuck in my throat. I had to repress the impulse to turn around and leave.
James pressed the palm of his other hand on the wound then leaned against the wall and looked up.
I felt the hiss of the air conditioning in the background of our silence.
“Are you done?” I asked, irritated.
“What the fuck are you still doing here? I thought Will brought you home.”
“You’re the one who asked me to come. Do you have gaps in your memory?”
I took two steps closer to him, clearly intriguing him because he lowered his head and aligned his gaze with mine. We were close and facing each other, and when he looked at me like that, I was at a loss for words.
“I was just pissed off at him.”
“Why did you want me here?”
“Get out if you don’t want to stay,” he whispered, looking down on me.
“Maybe you have, um—”
I met his angry face, and it made it hard to continue.
“What? Go on, say it,” he urged.
“No, it’s dumb.”
“Say it,” he demanded, pursing his full lips.
I gulped loudly because his defiant tone seemed like a shield that didn’t match his gestures. I couldn’t say a word when I felt him press his forehead to mine.
I struggled to look up because my gaze was stuck on his mouth.
“Maybe you need me and don’t even realize it, James.”
The distance between us was too short, and I wanted to collapse.
Why hadn’t I learned to wise up for once and quit saying everything that came to my head?
“I have other important things to think about, and you’re not one of them, White,” he shot back, without taking his forehead off mine.
Fine, go to hell, asshole.
“Then I better go,” I hissed, bowing my head.
“I screwed up big-time.”
His gruff voice was a rope tied to my ankles, preventing me from moving.
“I’m sure that it isn’t anything that can’t be solved,” I retorted coldly.
