“I’m supposed to keep you safe, Winter. How do I do that when you’re locked in a restroom with some random guy?”
“I didn’t realize I can’t date while I’m under your protection.” There’s enough venom in her words that I’d drop dead if she were a spitting cobra. “I wonder what Hailey would say about that. Or Carter for that matter.”
Blood boils in my veins faster than a volcanic eruption. I snatch my phone off the counter and stalk up to her, towering over the petite brunette.
Her scent invades my senses, making me regret my outburst. Both the jealous fit earlier, and this now. Her proximity is as intoxicating as it is frustrating.
“Call him,” I say, shoving the phone into her uninjured hand, the touch of her skin inducing those infuriating tingles. “Go on, call Carter and ask him what he thinks about me leaving you unprotected while you’re fucking a stranger in a filthy restroom. Unless you want Arthur or me to sit in the corner and watch?”
She shoves the phone back into my hand and slaps my face hard enough that it sends my head lolling to the side. “You’re a cold, heartless asshole,” she seethes.
A humorless chuckle falls from my lips. “That’s rich coming from a girl who struts about all day pretending nothing bothers her.” I take another step forward, and Bianca starts backing away. “I’m scorching in comparison to you. You’re the cold, heartless bitch. Not an ounce of real emotion in you.” Her back hits the wall by the mouth of the corridor, big eyes staring up at me. “All you do is assert your independence, how tough you are, how much you don’t need anyone.”
“Because I don’t!” she snaps.
Liar, liar. She says one thing, but the hurt in her eyes says something else entirely.
“Do you really believe that, or are you so scared of getting hurt that suppressing all your feelings is the safer way out?”
Her hand shoots up to slap me again. She got one already. That’s enough. I grab her wrist, then the other, and pin her hands far above her head. I’m fucking fuming, but I’m extra careful, too, remembering the inch-long wound between her knuckles.
“Anger’s a feeling, isn’t it?” she spits out, struggling against my hold.
“Yes, your go-to emotion. Best smoke screen for everything you don’t want to feel. Is a quick, hard, meaningless fuck the height of your emotional abilities?”
Her throat bobs as she swallows, summoning my attention. Fuck, the curve of her neck, the spot between her collarbones... not dipping my head and kissing her there is physically painful.
“Maybe I wanted to date him?” she challenges.
“Don’t insult my intelligence.” I lean further into her. “There’s no point in dating while you push yourself so hard just to avoid feeling. You wanted him to fuckmeout of your system. It scares you how much you want me.”
“What if I did?! I came on to you more times than I can count, but you don’t have any interest in pinning me against the wall again for any reasons other than yelling—”
“As pretty as you are, as often as I imagine fucking you again, we’re done. Once was enough. I can’t touch anyone who acts like they’re dead inside, Winter.”
“I’m notdeadinside!” she yells, the words raw, her lip trembling, eyes tearing up. “I’m not! I’m just...” She chokes back a sob, the tears falling free, staining her pink cheeks. “I hate how much it hurts when I give a piece of me and get nothing back!”
In the most twisted way, my cock stirs, straining against my zipper as I watch another tear trail from down her cheek all the way to the corner of her pinched lips.
“God, you’re so fucking gorgeous when you cry,” I whisper, my inhibitions disappearing.
I press my whole body into her, taking her mouth in a greedy, desperate kiss I’ve waited for since the moment I saw her.
She lets out a startled moan, broken by a tearful whimper. I use that opportunity and sink deeper, pushing my tongue pasther lips, the salty taste of tears mixing with the sweetness that’s uniquely hers.
She’s rigid for a second, almost petrified, but with barely a pause, she melts against me and kisses me back with every ounce of suppressed emotion bottled up inside her.
She wiggles her wrists, fighting for freedom, and I oblige, much more interested in sinking my fingers in her hips than holding her hands hostage.
“This is what you wanted?” she whispers, inching away to draw in air. My lips immediately latch onto her neck, sucking the flesh over her pulse point. “To make me cry?”
“To make you feel,” I correct, palming her hips, my face buried in her neck, the scent of her skin putting me under a spell. “I had to know there’s a beating heart in that chest, that youcandrop the mask even if you choose not to.”
She weaves her fingers in my hair, guiding my face back to hers for another kiss. “It hurts,” she whispers before taking my lower lip between her teeth and pulling slowly.
“I know.” I grab her by the waist and pin her further against the wall, my hard cock pressing against her tummy. “It’ll hurt forever if you don’t let it out.”
She whimpers into my mouth, jutting her hips and demanding more as her hands rove my shoulders, back, and neck, pulling me closer. “It feels like I’m falling,” she chokes out.
