His eyes narrow, and he takes a step toward me. There’s still about six feet between us. He takes another, and I don’t back down. “You looked cozy with Alex yesterday.”
“Is that why you’re here? To tell me to stay away from him?” My nostrils flare.
“Yes.” He’s curt.
“You want to take away one of my very few friends? Why? You’re scared I’ll do something with him? Seeing that I’m the town hoe and all that.”
His nostrils flare, and he takes another small step forward. “Don’t say that about yourself.”
I laugh. Loudly, very loudly. “Soyoucan say that about me, and I can’t?” I laugh even louder. “You’re delusional. Even if I was the town hoe, I’d never do anything to hurt Freya.”
“Stop.” His voice is louder. “I told you not to say that.”
“And who are you to tell me what to do, huh? You were the one talking shit about me with your little brother all around town. What’s changed?” The switch on my temper flips on.
“You know what.” His voice is lower.
“I don’t. Not really. I’ve been asking you about your hate for me for so long. And all you kept saying was 'you know, you know yourself, keep your mouth shut and blah blah blah,' like a goddamn parrot. But now, out of nowhere, you think we can do a one-eighty? Just like that?" I snap my fingers, getting more and more mad with every word. “You think now that you know the truth, everything will be normal? Newsflash: it won’t be.”
“Kayla.” He growls.
“No. You don’t get to say my name. Go back to calling me whatever else you called me, but not Kayla. No. That name is not for you.Trailer trashis for you.Sheis for you.A little thingis for you. But Kayla is not.” My hands are balled into tight fists, itching to scratch them on his perfect face.
“Kayla!” His voice booms through the empty room. My eyes snap to his, and he growls. “Shut up.”
“You shut up yourself. You can’t tell me what to do!” I’m nearly yelling.
He moves so quickly all I see is a blur. He’s in front of me, backing me up using the sheer mass of his body. I don’t have a choice but to obey. Once my butt presses into the to-go order table, he stops.
“Oh, I can tell you what to do. And you will do as I say.” He lowers his voice even more, making it more seductive. I’m sure it’s the one he’s used to using with his conquests, but as we've established, I choose a higher ground. Justin's face is right in front of me. I decide to play a little game of my own.
I move a bit so my mouth is right next to his ear and whisper, blowing air onto his earlobe: "Are you so sure about that?"
His whole massive frame shudders as he grips the edge of the table on either side of me. His body radiates heat, and I can feel it even when not an inch of his skin touches mine. It radiates off him like from a fire. “Yeah. I’m sure. And we start with,” he inhales deeply, “you stop using those names for yourself.”
“Why? Why should I when everyone else uses them?” I try to sound confident, but his proximity places my hormones firmly into overdrive. I can barely keep up the argument.
“Because no one ever will again.” What he lacks in decency, he makes up for in confidence. The swagger pours off him.
“You can’t promise that.” I laugh at his face.
“Oh, but I can. Watch me.” His mouth is next to my ear, his voice barely a whisper.
I lick my suddenly dry lips and whisper back: “Why would you do that?”
He pulls back a few inches and stares into my eyes. “You know why.” His voice is close to a growl. Not an angry growl, like with Alex, but a sexy growl. One that makes you shiver, goosebumps running up and down your body. The good kind of growl.
"I don't," I whisper and lick my dry lips again. He’s staring at them, and I know it means he wants to kiss me. I don’t want to kiss him ever again. I don’t. Nope, not at all.
“You don’t?” He asks. Bringing his lips to the soft place under my ear. His lips barely graze my skin, but it’s enough to send my blood running south. I thought that phrase could only be used for guys, but right now, I feel that’s not entirely true. All the blood has left my brain, heading downstairs to spawn a million butterflies. It makes me feel lightheaded.
"I don't. A few days ago, you hated me, and now you’re all up in my space making promises you can’t keep.” I remind him about his recent vendetta against me that lasted for six years.
“I still do.” He answers, grazing the shell of my ear with his mouth.
“What?” I think I’m mistaken through my haze of desire, but he continues.
“I still hate you.” He whispers while keeping his lips strategically placed.
