Page 209 of Rush

“Well, now you know how it feels,” I spit. “But it’s over now.”

“Is it because you’re withhim?” he says through clenched teeth.

My eyes narrow.

“That…real estate guy?” he adds.

As if Broderick’s name isn’t worth remembering.

My spine straightens. Something burns in my chest—protective, certain.

Broderick is the salve. The steady hands. The safety net. The man who never once asked me to shrink. And he didn’t deserve to be belittled to feed Alex’s fragile ego.

I step back, jaw tight, the space between us suffocating.

He has no idea.

Not anymore.

The bandage I wrapped around myself to stop the bleeding.

That’s what Broderick was. He held me when I couldn’t hold myself.

“So, what if I am?” I shrug.

Alex doesn’t flinch. “I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care.” My words slice through the air, sharp and fast. “You lost the right to have an opinion the minute you dumped me.”

“I had no choice!” he screams, frustration pouring out of him.

“What does that even mean?” I yell back. “I’m tired of your games, Alex.”

His jaw twitches.

Then he smiles—“I had you first.”

I stare him down, blood roaring in my ears.

“And he had me last night. Over and over again.”

His eyes flare. Something primal flashes through them.

And then—he’s on me.

Alex grabs my wrist, pushing me against the dressing room wall. I gasp. His chest presses into mine—solid, scorching. His scent—clean, crisp—wraps around me, dragging every cell in my body back to him like gravity. His nose is in my hair, breathing me in slowly.

I can’t help the reaction my body has to him. How his touch amplifies every current coursing through my veins.

A quiet traitorous moan escapes my lips.

If he kissed me, I wasn’t sure I could trust myself not to kiss him back.

“The thought of his hands on you—his mouth—makes me crazy.” His voice is gravelly. “I hate him,” he breathes, the heat of it splashing across my throat like lava. I catch the faintest scent of whiskey—he’s been drinking.

“You’remine.”

My skin prickles. The ache pulses between my thighs. Pleasure and pain in equal measure.