I rolled my eyes.
“I did. I thought it would get him to open up. It didn’t.”
“He wants to help you.”
I laughed dryly. “Could’ve fooled me. He just
dumped me in the parking lot.” I looked up from my fake work and saw a look of surprise on his face.
“Oh. I don’t know how I’m supposed to respond to that.” He kicked off the wall.
“Fair enough.” I sighed.
“Do you want me to go?” He put his hand on the doorknob.
I shrugged. “I don’t care. Honestly. You can sit and chill if you want.” I motioned to the chair I had in front of my desk. “I’m not doing anything.”
He hesitated but finally took his hand off the door and sat down. I watched him pull a candy out of his pocket and pop it into his mouth.
“You don’t get tired of cinnamon?” I raised an eyebrow.
He shook his head. “Nope. So, he told you about us, and then you told him aboutthat?” He pointed to my tattoo, visible from how low my shirt was and how I happened to be leaning forward. I sat up straight to stop giving him a show.
“I didn’t give him details. Which is probably why he ended things. I mean, what’s the point if we can’t even talk to each other?” I frowned.
“Can you talk to me?” he asked. I blinked and shook my head.
“About my curse? No. I don’t tell anyone about that. I’ve learned from the past that it’s no one’s business but my own.”
“Can you break it?”
“Can you break yours?” I replied sharply.
He rolled his eyes. “I can. Look, I’m just trying to help.”
“I don’t need help. See, this is the same shit that Arsenio was trying to do. I’m not some helpless damsel waiting for a hot guy with tattoos and a death wish to come save me. If this is what you came in here for, then you can bounce.” We both stood at the same time. I froze, but he stalked around the desk. Finding my legs again, I stepped back until I hit the wall, but he brought his hands out, pinning me to it. He moved his hand to pinch my chin, tipping my face up to look at him. His eyes were so cold it sent a shiver through me.
“Don’t compare me to Arsenio. That’s your first mistake. You don’t want help? Fine. But I’m not covering for you when you show up with bite marks all over and blood-stained clothes. Figure it out your own damn self.”
I pulled my face away from his grasp. “I have been this far. You think I need some fucking savior to come in at the finish line and act like he was the one who broke the curse? Fuck that noise. Get out!” I pointed to the door, and when I looked back up at him, I saw his eyes had relaxed. His face was blank. It took me a minute, and then it dawned on me what I had just said.
“You’re close to breaking yours too?” His eyes, so fascinating, went glossy. “Interesting.”
“Get out.” I reiterated through gritted teeth.
Without another word, he turned and disappeared into his own office. I plopped down in my chair and threw my head back in frustration. How had I let him get under my skin? One minute he was awkward and oddly charming. The next, I wanted to kill him.
But could you imagine the sex?No! I shook the dirty thoughts about how things between us could be and pulled out my sketchbook. I had to focus on something else.
I opened my book and flipped to the last thing I had been working on. I stared down at a sketch of that stupid, awkward smile. God damn it.
“No, you know what-” My door burst open, and Desi stormed back in. He stopped short when he saw the drawing on my desk. I picked it up quickly and pressed it to my chest.
He grinned. “Is that me?”
“Fuck off.”
“Did you draw me? I want to see.” He leaned forward and put his hand out, but I swatted it away.
