I pinch my lips together. I refuse to tell him about the eating disorder I had in middle school. How I worked my way through it after my aunt taught me how to be healthy without worrying about being skinny. And I refuse to let him judge my life choices. I know eating one Snickers won’t change me. But at this point, I can’t very well side with the devil after all I’ve done to oppose him.
He turns so he’s fully facing me. “Why can’t you eat one Snickers?”
Why? Because I believe in health and fitness. Because I want to do the best for my body. Because I can control this one aspect of my life when everything else is so unpredictable. I was terrified I wouldn’t make it through law school, pleased when I did, only to graduate and be fired all in less than two months. This is all I have left.
After what must be a full five minutes—seriously, how do people keep time without phones?—Connor speaks up.
“So we are going to sit in silence, huh?”
When I don’t respond, he keeps muttering words like “cool” and “awesome.” “We’re just stuck in a room together and might die here. Why waste our breath communicating? It’s not like you and I talk anyway, so this is completely normal.”
Anger seeps into my veins and fills my chest. I stand, putting as much distance as I can between us in this prison cell. “You want to talk, Connor? Let’s talk.”
At my fighting words, he jumps to his feet, opening his arms like he’s ready for it. “Finally!”
I jut out my chin and pin him with a glare. “I have so many things I want to say to you.”
“Great.” He steps closer. I can feel the heat coming off him in waves. “Let’s do it. Get it off your chest!”
I stomp my foot. “I hate you!”
He doesn’t so much as flinch, which only makes me angrier. “Why?”
“Why do you think? You got me fired, remember? Or does that not ring any bells in that big empty head of yours?”
“I didn’t get you fired. You’re the one who tried to strangle me.”
“Because you accused me of sleeping with the boss!” I scream. I’ve been holding that in too long and boy, does it feel good to let it out. And I’m not ready to stop yet. “I’ve applied for jobs all over the county, but I never even make it to the interview, thanks to you.”
“You mean thanks to your anger issues?”
“I didn’t have anger issues until I met you!”
His left brow raises. “Some might mistake that kind of passion for love.”
I jerk back, making a noise somewhere between a gasp and a crazed monkey call. How dare he insinuate such a thing.
“The only place I got an offer from was in the middle of nowhere, Oklahoma. And there was no way I was going to get sucked up by a tornado because of you.” I continue on with my reason for hating him, the reasons that don’t seem to be angled at him so much anymore.
He has the audacity to smirk. “With everyone getting sucked up by tornados, I’m surprised they’d need any lawyers.”
I duck my head, clenching my fists until my fingernails create indents in my palm. My will to prove him wrong about my anger issues is the only thing preventing me from trying to strangle him. Again.
“You’ve made my life miserable. You started a fight with me before every mock trial to ensure I’d lose.”
“That’s not why I—”
“You turned me into a joke. But you just couldn’t stop until you ruined my future.”
His frown matches my own. “It was all my fault, huh? You didn’t make my life miserable at all? You didn’t show me up every chance you got?”
He’s putting this on me? I stomp forward until my chest brushes his. “I wouldn’t have had to prove myself if you hadn’t made me feel like I didn’t belong.”
My chest heaves, and his eyes lock with mine. His eyebrows furrow, and he lets out a breath. “Maybe you didn’t.”
I stumble back. “Excuse me?”
He takes the step I gave away. “Can you honestly tell me you enjoyed being a lawyer?”
