“I have a water boiler,” she blurted. “You don’t need to do that. Nobody who’s civilized heats tea in the microwave.”
“You fucking ran from me.”
The words fell like blades, looming between them until the microwave bleeped. Pulling his eyes away from her atlast, Nicholas topped the mug off with more cold water before carrying it over to her, and she tried not to flinch at his nearness.
“I wasn’t running.”
“Oh really? Is that why you fucked me like you were saying goodbye? And then sent me a picture to bait me, like youwantedme to have something to use against you?”
The glacial calm scared her more than his anger did, because there was nothing there to fight against, only a cold, hard truth that had her sliding down towards the inevitable as he pressed the warm mug into her hands.
Mistaking the cause for her alarm, he said, “Oh, we’ll be discussing the photo, too—after you tell me what your mother said to you to get you so worked up that you decided to go full no-contact.”
“Nick—”
“Don’tNickme. You’ve been giving me the runaround for days and I’m not putting up with it now.” He paused. “Not until I get to fuck it out of you.”
She nearly dropped the mug. The sting of hot tea on her bare thighs made her hiss. Nicholas took it from her trembling hands and set it on the end table.
Fuck it out of me.The cushion slipped out from beneath her arm.
Nicholas took that away, too, tossing it aside as he knelt in front of her. She backed from him and he put his hand on her bare knee, looking up at her from his spot between her legs.
“Tell me what your mother said.”
The left knee of his jeans was frayed and she wondered if it was intentional or he just liked the pair too much to throw them away. “I don’t want to,” she whispered, staring at the threads.
“I didn’t fly almost four hundred miles forI don’t want to, little bird.”
“You’re going to be angry.”
“I already am.” He drew his thumb over her kneecap. It sent goosebumps soaring up and down her legs, eliciting a dull throb from her clit. “Tell me anyway.”
Feeling winded, Jay gasped out, “She called me—a . . . a whore.”
“And?”
She glanced away, rubbing at her tea-dampened shorts. Her eyes were stinging and far too warm. “She said I was just like her, only w-worse because I was t-too stupid to get paid. She hates me,” she cried out, her voice rising. “She sold me toyoubecause she—h-hates me.”
Her voice broke into a raw sob, tears escaping before she could stop them. His face was too blurry to see his expression but Jay recognized the offensive set to his shoulders.
“Oh, god—” her voice came out sounding clotted and pathetic “—don’t—”
“That dried-up oldcunt.”
“Nick!”
“You’re really going to defend your mother to me now?”
“N-no, but—”
“Your mother, who gave me your number and home address for less than it costs to buy a fuckingcar, because she knew damn well what would happen if I showed up on your front step and maybe,” he finished, moving slowly to circle behind the couch, “she even wanted it to?”
There was a terrible silence, so loud it was nearly deafening. Her breathing left her in a shaky rush when one of his armsslipped around her waist from behind.
“She knew what I wanted to do to you.”
The words slid into her like a knife.
