His brow furrows slightly. “How so?”
“You’re getting irritated. You never let that happen, at least, as long as you can help it,” I muse, well aware that I’m hitting every point and forcing him to focus on me rather than his work.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” I say, a small smirk tugging at my lips. “You were more controlled before.”
“I’m still controlled.”
“Sure you are.”
His jaw tightens again, but it doesn’t stop me from taking a step closer, deliberately invading his space now. As his eyes connect fully with mine, revealing more of his irritation now, something strange scurries down my spine.
“You don’t like not being able to manage me,” I say quietly.
“I am managing you,” Zane retorts, saying it like he means it, but I already know he’s starting to doubt his grip. I just need him to doubt it even more, and maybe I’ll start getting somewhere.
I shake my head slowly, not afraid to hold his gaze. “No, you’re containing me. That’s different.”
His gaze drops briefly to where I’m standing, far too close, before lifting back to mine. I catch as something unreadable moves through his features, only deepening my curiosity. If only I could peer into his mind.
“And you don’t like being contained.”
“No,” I agree softly. “I don’t. You should already know that by now.”
The silence that sticks between us now is charged and almost familiar in a way I don’t want to think about. As much as I want to keep pushing and annoying him, I step back first to break that tension.
The way it pulls me in isn’t something I’m ready to deal with. Not now, and especially not when everything else is already shifting under my feet.
“Face it,” I say as I turn away again, my voice lighter and easier, as if I weren’t up to something. “You’re stuck with me just as much as I’m stuck with you.”
“I noticed,” Zane says dryly.
“And if you’re not going to let me leave, then I’m going to make this as difficult as possible for you.”
I expect him to fight back, or to warn me to watch myself, at the very least. Instead, he murmurs, “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
I smile, but not kindly.
If I’m going to be trapped here and forced to endure knowing I’m no use to anyone in the meantime, then he’s going to feel it too.
Chapter 7 - Zane
Twenty more minutes is all I can take of her pacing, her talking, and her deliberate attempts to push every button she can find just to prove she can still get a reaction out of me.
It’s working, and that’s the problem.
Pushing up from the stool, I drag a hand down my face as I exhale, accepting my new resolve. “Get your shoes.”
Naia pauses mid-step, blinking at me like she didn’t hear that right. “What?”
“You heard me.”
Her eyes narrow immediately, skeptical like usual. “Why?”
“Because if I have to listen to you complain for another hour, I’m going to lose my mind.”
Something caught between surprise and suspicion crosses her face, but she resists any sort of celebration until she has a better scope of the situation. “Where are we going?”
