“Why are you wearing that?” Her voice squeaks at the end.
It’s cute.
I don’t like cute things.
But I like how it sounds coming from her.
I shrug. “Not sure what you’re talking about.”
She storms over to me, right in my space. I’d like to chain her to me just to keep her this close at all times.
Her small fingers grab the chain around my neck—more specifically, what’s dangling from it.
“This.”
She holds her purity ring up between us.
I can’t help but smirk. “It’s your promise to me, princess. I’m just keeping it safe to ensure you intend to keep it.”
“I didn’t make you any promises.” She drops the necklace and crosses her arms over her chest. Her shoulders roll back, showing off the stars she has tattooed on them.
“Maybe not in as many words.” I grin.
“It was an offer, and you turned it down.”
“Did you think I’d fuck you right there?” I take a step toward her, and she backs up, her legs hitting the chair in the center of her station. “Did you think your virgin pussy would be able to handle the things I have planned for it? What I did last night was a favor. Next time you show up at my door, be prepared to find out what happens when you offer your purity to a man like me.”
“There won’t be a next time.” Her voice cracks with her words. “I’m still dating your brother, remember?”
“He’s fucking his receptionist…” After her confession last night, I looked into it, confirming what she said. “Among others.”
“It doesn’t change anything.”
She doesn’t believe her own lies. I’m not sure who she’s even lying to, me or herself. Her voice catches in her throat and she takes a step back. But I don’t let her go.
I can’t.
Not now that she’s dragged me into her orbit. One taste of her part of the universe and I’m ready to float into her oblivion. She’s the moon, and I’m the ocean reaching, even if it's subtle and she doesn’t see me.
“You’re still going to stand here and pretend your showing up last night was just a means to an end?” I step toward her, and she takes another step back.
Always just out of reach.
The darkest, most heartbreaking laugh crawls from her lips as tears spring to her pretty golden eyes. “You don’t get it. It’s not that simple.”
“It never is.”
“You don’t under—” She cuts herself off, raking her fingers through her blonde and black hair. “This isn’t a game, Crew. Even if you think it is. Showing up last night didn’t mean I was going to end it with him. We’re still going to get married at the end of this.”
My heart stops. My fingers itch for my brother’s blood. I’ve never felt possession over a woman, but the fact that she had the nerve to let me make her come and then shut me down the next day has my blood boiling. The fact that I’m the only one seeming the least bit torn up about the shredder she’s putting us through has me unhinged.
The walls crack.
Or is that my brain?
“After last night, you’re actually still planning to marry him?” My gaze moves to her bare finger as she fidgets with it. The only ring that’s lived in that spot is around my neck, burning a hole in my chest.
“You don’t need to understand our relationship.” She pauses her twitching fingers at her sides, and even if it's impossible for her to sit still, in this moment, she manages it. “But Rhett is my future. I’m marrying him, and there’s nothing either of us can do about it.”
