“Do you think I’m that predictable?”
Those are the last words she says before stepping out of my car. I should let her get back to her dorm, but my unwillingness to part from her this soon makes me dart out, pacing to catch up. I sneak an arm around Summer’s waist, but she slaps it away instantly. Can’t say she’s learned her lesson of not denying me what’s mine.
“Why the fuck are you following me, puppy? You’re not getting inside my room tonight.”
Her bravery with me is borderline reckless, and that can be hot as fuck, but it’s time to show her who’s in charge. Grabbing her hair and wrapping it around my fist, I pull her back, enough to get her in my close orbit. Close enough for our bodies to submit to the gravity of our pull and collide. I draw my face to hers, our breaths tangling, letting my growl vibrate through her bones.
“Call me that one more time, and I won’t care where we are or who’s around us—I’ll fuck you right there on the spot until you can no longer say your own name, let alone have the audacity or the strength to insult me!”
I don’t know what my face looks like, but it’s not gentle. Still, she meets it without a shred of fear twisting her features. Stone-cold facade until the curled corners of her lips dare to further defy me.
“I’m not into the whole exhibition coitus, so no thank you,wolf.” She winks.Fuckin’ winks!“Now let go of my hair! Respect goes both ways. You want mine? Start treating me accordingly, and I’ll return the favor.”
I blink. Or I don’t. I have no fuckin’ idea, before the realization of what Summer actually wants hits me. To treat her as an equal. I’ve never given that to a woman before. And I’ve been too preoccupied with my payback to realize she’s simply reacting to my actions. She’ll attempt to push back for what I did to her tonight, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give her the respect she deserves. Or at least some twisted version of it.
Those soft-as-silk flames slip through my fingers as I release her from my grasp.
I let the back of my hand glide down her arm with one final destination—threading my fingers with hers, holding tight enough to lead the way.
“I told you, you’re not getting inside my room tonight,” she protests, but I don’t stop as I keep leading the way, climbing the first set of stairs to her building before she rips herself from my grip.
“Didn’t you fucking hear me? I said—”
“I heard you,” I cut in. “Andwith all duerespect,I choose to ignore it. But let me make you a deal.”
“No deals.”
“Then I’m spending the night in your bed. I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to.” Fuck! I do want to sleep next to her again. But after the shit I pulled on her, I might have to tie her, so she doesn’t go stabby-stab on me in my sleep. She won’t kill me. But I wouldn’t bet on waking up unscathed. “Or you can make good on the wholewanna hear something funny. Tell you what, make me laugh, and it’s up to you whether I get inside your room tonight.”
Now it’s her turn to wonder whether she blinked.
“You want me to tell a joke? What am I? Your personal comedian?” she scoffs, hands crossed before her chest.
“I gave you an option. Don’t tell me I’m not kind to you.”
I flip a strand of hair away from her face, and she takes a step back.
“Yeah, an option like suck my finger or my dick. The most magnanimous man I’ve ever met.”
I choke on a laugh, and she shifts her weight to one side, pointing at me.
“Does that count?”
In all truth, I did laugh, but I refuse to let her get rid of me that easily.
“No. It doesn’t.”
“Are you for real?”
I nod and mimic the pose she’s sporting, further irritating her with that.
“Great! I’m a fucking clown now.”
Summer goes silent for a minute or so before she lets go of the girl boss pose and starts walking up the next set of stairs. I’m a single step behind.
Grab the hand, not the ass! Grab the hand, not the ass!
“Do you know the joke about the bunny and the wolf?” she asks, glowering at me, but I use the moment to take hold of her again.
