‘Maybe I just let you think I’d fallen for it,’ I said angrily.
‘So this is what you came for tonight, then, to attack me?’
I stopped advancing on him. ‘I really did come here to congratulate you, but I can see what a mistake that was now.’
His entire demeanour changed, as if that information somehow suddenly changed things. He sank onto the edge of his bed and his shoulders slumped. Suddenly he looked totally defeated, and something about that caused a strange, sharp sensation in my gut.
‘You know, for a second there, when I first opened the door, I thought, well, maybe . . .’ His words were soft now.
‘Maybe what?’
He leaned back and looked up at me. ‘I thought that maybe, after all these years, you’d finally come here for something else.’ Cam raised his brows as if he’d just asked a question and was waiting for an answer. I shook my head.
‘Really, Lizzy. You don’t know where I’m going with this?’
I looked at him for what felt like the longest time, and as I did, little snippets of sense floated towards me. My brain was taking its time processing the snippets tonight, but once they had been sequentially pieced together, like a puzzle, I gasped.
‘Wait . . . you thought . . .’ I gestured to the space between us, flicking my hand back and forth. ‘That we might . . .’ Shit, had he seen what I’d been thinking and feeling this entire time? Realised what power he could wield over me?
I straightened up quickly and tried to flip it all around. I had to; I couldn’t let him win this moment, couldn’t let him think he could disarm me like this again.
‘Oh my God, Cam. You thought that you and I might actually . . .’ I forced a laugh, hoping he would buy it asSeriously, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, as opposed toPlease throw me down on the nearest horizontal surface and have your way with me already.
And I think he did. Because the look that swept across his face, contorting his features into something that looked almost ugly, was clearly driven by pain. He stood up suddenly, his demeanour totally changing.
‘It’s late. I’m tired, and I think you should go.’ He gripped my shoulders and started walking me backwards towards the door.
Something inside me started to panic. Something told me that if I walked out of his room tonight and didn’t show him what I was really feeling, I would regret it. Even if that meant making myself vulnerable.
He reached for the door and began to open it. I reacted instantly, kicking it shut, the sharp sound echoing through the room. Then, mirroring what he’d done to me, I placed my hands firmly on his shoulders and started pushing him backwards.
‘Maybe I don’t want to leave,’ I said.
‘Well, maybe I do want you to leave.’ He seized control back and started pushing me towards the door again. When we reached it, I planted my hands firmly against it to stop him from opening it.
He looked at my hands, and for a second I could see the wheels turning in his head as he contemplated how to prise them off. I jumped into action before he could, shoving him in the chest. Hard. He glanced down at my hand, still on his chest, and then back up at me.
‘You know I could just snap that little wrist of yours with one hand if I wanted to.’ He started to lean forward, pressing all his bodyweight against my palm, bending my wrist backwards. I knew immediately there was no way I could hold him back – especially since it was my left hand doing all the work.
‘So do it. I dare you. What are you waiting for?’ I hissed in his face, our noses almost touching. His weight was pressing into my wrist, and in a second it was all going to . . .
Collapse.
His body slammed into mine, crushing me against the door. Our heads banged together, and pain radiated across my skull. But despite all of this, neither of us pulled away. He pushed his forehead into mine, and I slipped my hand to the front of his neck, wrapping my fingers around it and squeezed. He let out a moan. It was not from the discomfort. He pushed me even harder into the door, pinning me there . . .and I fucking loved it.
‘Lizzy,’ he said, his lips grazing mine.
‘Cam.’ I let go of his neck and ran my fingers into his hair, tangling them there and pulling. He moaned again, and I couldn’t take it any longer. Not for one more second. It had been two years, and it was time to put an end to this torturous game we’d clearly been playing with each other.
‘You were right, I didn’t come here to congratulate you,’ I said, tightening my grip on his hair and then bringing his lips down to mine.
Her kiss caused the universe around us – the one that held up all the galaxies and solar systems and planets – to suddenly disappear. It shrank down to a small dot, until there was nothing left of it except us.
Just like it should be. Like it should have been for the past two years. We’d wasted so much time fighting, and it was time to put a stop to that. Finally we were here, where we were always meant to be, and I wasn’t going to let anything come between us again.
CHAPTER 14
I tossed and turned the entire night. Waking up in hot and cold sweats and then falling back to sleep, but only for short moments. Because every single sound sent me flying off the bed. Sent my heart racing and my thoughts spinning. Every time I woke up, I half expected to see Cam standing over me.
