Page 14 of Break Me Gently

I crossed my arm over my chest and rubbed my nipples, biting my lip as my eyes followed the line of his neck.

It was a sickness.

An impulsive sickness I’d never outgrown, and now Zachary Rayne was here. Home. My fingertips moved over my lips in wonder. Even after his crude words, I would let him kiss me again.

I closed my eyes with a sigh and let my phone slip from my fingers, falling onto my desk. He was leaving after New Year’s Day. He’d forget all about me—us. At least when I left for uni, Mum wouldn’t be alone. She’d be married to Luke. He made her happy, and that fatigued look in her eyes was gone.

His image was still on my phone. I did nothing to avoid it.

❧ ❧ ❧

Luke lay on the couch, watching us while sipping his whiskey. It was an expensive bottle, but that hadn’t stopped Zach from wrapping his lips around it to take a few swigs.

Mum lay beside him with a blanket.

Zach was being weird, but we continued to play the board game.

His pinkie finger brushed over my hand, and I almost pulled it away. I stared at the floor where we sat. His hand next to mine. His fingers touching mine.

“Have you dumped him yet, or do you want me to do it?” he murmured.

I glanced at my mum across the room, but they were now engrossed in each other.

“Or is that what you want? Do you want me to deck him? Do you want me to give you what you crave?”

I couldn’t answer, because it felt as if my brain was misfiring.

“Sure, I’ll help you study,” he said, loud enough to draw everyone’s attention.

He stood up and held his hand out.

I paused a beat before placing my hand in his.

He hauled me up and took me upstairs.

Not to my bedroom.

But his.

The one that had always been off-limits.

Chapter 8

Zach

The door snapped shut. My mind was already made up before I turned to face her. It was so simple I couldn’t deny it. I wanted Amber.

Her first kiss was already banked, but I wanted all of her firsts. Every single one of them.

Most of all, I wanted that prick Nolan out of the picture. The thought of him touching her, or thinking he had any right over Amber, made me irrationally violent.

My dad wouldn’t approve, but he wasn’t here.

She stood beside the window, the sun making every curl gleam. Rich chestnut brown, with sudden sparks of red, sat like a halo over her head. With each slow step I took toward her, she shuffled back.

Her big blue eyes held a mixture of wariness and a soulful sadness I didn’t want to dwell on.

“You loved me once,” I murmured, when I reached her.