“I’m un-agreeing.”
“No.”
She let out a muffled growl. “You can’t say no.”
“I can, and I fucking did.”
“Why do you even care? Why are you bothering? Is it because I’m still a challenge? Fine. Whatever. I’m yours.”
“You’ve been mine since that damn roof.”
“Awesome. Now there’s no challenge. I’m no longer a prize to win and get bored with after a few hours. You’ll come to the same realization that everyone else has. You’re out of my league, I’m boring as hell, and I’m too ugly to be with you.”
I thought my heart broke when Greer said we were a mistake, but it was pulverized hearing her talk about herself like that. “Baby?—”
“Don’t. Please, Tripp,don’t.”
“Who am I?”
“Don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
I let it drop—for then—to focus on the more important part. “Who the fuck said any of that to you?”
“It doesn’t matter. You agree with it.”
She’d said a lot that hurt or pissed me off—or both—but that took the poison cake.
“The fuck I do,” I bit out.
She kept talking like I hadn’t. “I knew it was coming. That your attraction to me was fading. I just wanted one last time with you before everything ended, but I couldn’t. I can’t. So let me go.Please.”
“Why the fuck would you think anything so asinine and wrong?”
Greer raised her hand to gesture to her face. “You told me to wear more makeup because you know I’m not pretty enough to be with you. You’re embarrassed.”
“No, I wanted you to wear more makeup so when I hurt you, it streamed down your face with your tears.”
“That’s not any bett?—”
“And then I was going to use that mess to prove to you how much you trust me. How I’m the only one you let see you as anything less than perfect. How much that means to me because I am so outta my goddamn head in love with you, I can’t keep letting you put up these walls between us. And I sure as shit can’t keep hearing you tell me that we’re casual. It fucking kills me every time, like you could walk away without a backward glance. I thought I knew loneliness, but it was nothing—fuckingnothing—compared to having everything I ever wanted so close, but always out of reach.”
“You love me?” Her eyes were so big with so much green in the golden brown, I fell a little harder.
“Been half in love with you since the first time you rolled those pretty eyes at me. Fully in love since you trusted me enough to give me your submission.” I ducked down closer so my face was right in hers. “But you want to know what really sent me over the edge?”
The one word was barely above a whisper. “What?”
“Watching you handle that three-hole punch. Sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I’ve ever been so damn hard.”
She made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh, a scoff, and a sob. “You’re sick.”
“For you? Fuck yeah.” I stroked her hair back. “Who said that shit to you?”
She swallowed hard. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I’m not giving you a choice.”
Despite the firm bite in my voice, she kept her mouth closed tightly as she stared defiantly up at me.
