Tanner laughed.
I slapped him.Where did that come from?! Go me!
He rubbed the side of his jaw. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Yes!”
“I really did get kidnapped.”
“I want to believe you. I really do. But if you got kidnapped, then how are you standing here right now?” He was such a dirty liar.
“DODO let me go.”
“How convenient.”
“It was convenient.”
Did he think I was an idiot? DODO probably didn’t even exist. He clearly got off on toying with my emotions. I narrowed my eyes at him. And then I realized my boobs were everywhere, so I grabbed them again. “Would you stop staring at me so I can change?”
“Since when are you so concerned about people seeing your body?”
“Excuse me?”
“You certainly didn’t have any problem stripping down at Club Onyx tonight.”
“I knew I saw you there!”
“You’re welcome, by the way. Since you know…I saved you from getting banged in front of all those people.”
I just stared at him. He hadn’t saved me. I’d just pulled the right card.Kind of.I’d thought I pulled the wrong card, but…that didn’t mean he’d fixed it. Tanner Rhodes wasn’t saving me. He was fucking ruining my life. “Oh, you saved me, did you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re my hero. Except…no, you aren’t. Because you freaking broke up with me by leaving me half-naked on a yacht and then ghosting me for three months. Three fucking months, Tanner!And for your information, I knew exactly what I was doing tonight. I love gambling my body.”
His eyes lit up for just a moment, as if he was excited by the thought. “Is that so?”
“What I do with my body is none of your business.”You freaking asshole.“So if you would be so kind, please leave. And stay out of my life.” Saying the words felt like a knife in my chest. I’d been dying to see him again. Praying that he was okay. Somehow hoping that he hadn’t ghosted me, but also hoping he had. Because otherwise the unthinkable had happened. I’d thought he was dead. I’d been so worried about him. A confusing mix of worry and hate and fear. And clearly he hadn’t been worried about me at all. Not even a little bit.
“You don’t mean that,” he said.
“I do.” I didn’t. And I hated that I didn’t. I swallowed hard. “Now get out.” I put my hand on my hip and pointed to the door.
He smiled at me and his eyes went to my chest. And I realized that I had left my breasts completely uncovered again. I quickly threw both arms over myself.
“I’m serious,” I said. “Get out.” My bottom lip started trembling. I clenched my jaw to stop it.
“It’s been a long day. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”
I shook my head. Tanner was toxic. I was only just recovering from our first break-up, if you could even call it that. A 24-hour relationship was hardly a relationship at all. “I’m sorry,” I said,“but I can’t have you in my life. Now I’ll ask you nicely one more time. Please leave.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He shook his head. “That’s not what you really want…”
“It is.” And how dare he tell me differently? How dare he? I clenched my jaw harder. He had to go. I was seconds away from falling apart.
But he didn’t turn to go. He just stared at me. So intensely that it felt like he could see right through me.
And maybe that was the whole problem. That he could so easily see through me. I just wanted him to see me. My thoughts were at war with each other. I wanted to jump him and remember what it felt like to be devoured by one of his kisses. I wanted to punch his perfect face and throw all these stupid shoes at him.
