“You’re no longer on a date,” Arlo counters.
“I’m right here. You don’t need to talk around me. No need for the dick-measuring contest.” I roll my eyes before standing up from mychair. “I’ll be right back,” I tell Tyler. I know Arlo will stand here the entire time if I don’t figure out why the hell he’s here, so this is the only choice.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Tyler practically yells.
“It’ll just take a minute.” I grab Arlo’s arm and don’t give in to Tyler’s outrage. Yes, this is not normal, but it’s a first date. He doesn’t have any say over what I do either.
Dragging Arlo away from the table and outside, I pull us around the side of the restaurant and out of sight for anyone to see or overhear us.
I spin around after I drop his arm. “What the actual fuck, Arlo?”
“You can’t go on a date with that asshole.”
I stare at him in disbelief. He’s got to be kidding right now.
“How in the world do you think you have any say in what I do?”
“Rina…”
“No. We’re settling this right now. How dare you think you have any say over what I can and can’t do? And how did you even know I was here?”
He has the decency to look shameful as his head bows.
“I can’t stand to see you with someone else,” he murmurs.
“Then you should have thought about that fifteen years ago!” I yell. “I’m not having this conversation again. You know exactly what you did and exactly how badly you hurt me. We may have fucked, but that does not mean we are anything more, Arlo Steel,” I say at a calmer level. I’m proud of myself for standing my ground. The date with Tyler was almost immediately a wash, but Arlo didn’t need to know that. He needs to know he doesn’t have access to me anymore.
“I know!” he yells, attempting to pull at his hair. “I know. But my chest…” He pounds it with his fist, right where his heart is. “It fuckinghurts thinking of you out with someone. I can’t breathe, I can’t think, and I sure as hell can’t work. I can’t pretend to be okay without you anymore.” The strain in his voice almost has me. It’s like I can see the pain over every inch of his body, and it makes me soften toward him.
“Why now? I just don’t understand whynow? It’s been years since you came back, and you’ve treated me like just another citizen. You’ve never shown an ounce of interest, so what the fuck is going on?" His emotion is breaking through my walls, and I hate it. I hear it in my voice, this ache, letting me know I’m not as far removed as I’d like to be.
"I don’t know, and I know I need to work on that, and figure out all of this shit and why I’ve done what I have. But I couldn’t sit by, knowing you were on a date. I couldn’t sit by, knowing you’re meant to be mine. For God’s sake, Rina, my cock was inside of you less than a week ago!”
Just hearing the words makes my legs clench together.No, I should not be turned on right now.
“And that gives you the right to just come in here and pull me away from a date?” I hold strong.
We stare at each other. The tension, the sparks, are always so prevalent. My skin tingles, the hair standing on end, and the need in his eyes probably matches mine. It pisses me off. I’m not supposed to be feeling this with him still. I’m supposed to hate him—Idohate him—but I can’t deny he does something to my body that no man ever has.
In a flash, his hands wrap around my jaw, and he pushes me against the side of the building as he kisses me. I grip his biceps and do the only thing I can at the moment—hold on tight.
I don’t know why I don’t shove him away.
No, that’s not true. I don’t shove him away because deep down I want what only he can give my body. He can give me the release I have cravedsince the last time we were together. But that’s all this is, nothing more, nothing less.
It has to be just this,I plead with myself, begging me to not fall for him.
He kisses me like he’s starving for it, like he’s been dying for me, and I melt into it. My brain rebels and I bite his lip hard, just to piss him off. He growls in response as he jerks back. His tongue swipes over the broken skin, and I smirk as his eyes flash to mine.
“Dirty play, Marina.”
“Don’t fucking call me that,” I whisper with less heat than I want.
He leans forward and whispers in my ear, “I’ll call you anything I want while I’m buried deep inside of you.”
Fuck it.
My hands frantically reach for his jeans and pop the button. He shoves my hands and spins me around.
