“We?”I admonish.“There is no we.”
His jaw goes tight, and he shakes his head.
“Look, I know I’m not your favorite person, but you’re being ridiculous right now.It’s fucking late.Just get in the goddamn car and let me take you home.”
I scoff.“That’s cute.Tell me, do you bark orders at all the girls?”
“No.”
“Well, sorry to disappoint, but you picked the wrong girl tonight.I don’t take kindly to men ordering me around.”
He bites the inside of his cheek, his gaze tracking me from head to toe.“That’s not how I remember it.”He takes a step closer and pins me with a heated stare.“I’m not other men, and you liked it just fine whenIordered you around.”
Shocks swarms me for a moment, but I quickly recover.For over a decade we danced around what happened between us, pretending as if that summer never existed.
As if he hadn’t abandoned me, completely altering the trajectory of my life.
But if he wants to take a trip down memory lane, and air out our grievances, then I’m game.I got years of resentment to unleash, and not a single fuck left to give.
“That was a long time ago.We’re not hiding out in the stables of your barn testing out ways you can make me come without actually fucking me.”
His tongue sneaks out of his mouth, tracing his bottom lip.“We could be.”
This time I can’t hide the shock that courses through me and my mouth gapes open.
“You are of legal age now, and I’m not feeling very responsible tonight.We could burn the world down, baby.Just say the word.”
There isn’t a single part of me that believes Maddox will follow through.Before I can stop myself, I take a step closer to him, erasing the little distance between us.
My problems will still be my problems when he walks away.
And he will undoubtedly walk away.
It’s what Maddox does best.
Meeting his gaze, I twist my fingers around the front of his shirt and pull him toward me.
“You’re all talk, cowboy.”
“Why don’t you get in the truck and see if that’s so?”
I laugh, but there’s no humor to it.“What are you going to do?Fuck me on Main Street, where anybody can see?”
His big hands move to my hips, and he squeezes slightly as he holds my gaze.The courage I felt moments ago teeters as the air between us thickens.I don’t remember the last time I felt like this… so out of control.
So damn needy.
“Look around, sweetheart.Ain’t nobody in sight but you and me.”
I hum thoughtfully, my fingers flexing around the thin fabric of his shirt.
“That checks, then.I’ve always been your dirty little secret.”
It’s a truth I never allowed myself to speak, one that stings.Swallowing thickly, I cock my head to the side.Maybe this isn’t a cruel twist of fate or God doing his worst.Perhaps the stars aligned for me to change the past and make this moment mine.If that’s the case, I shouldn’t squander the opportunity.
My gaze flits to his lips then back to his eyes.“We should change that.Tonight, you can be my dirty little secret, and tomorrow I can pretend like you don’t exist.”
My God.I bet that would feel powerful.To use him and leave him like he did me.A little karma if you will.
