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Her eyes don’t leave mine but there’s so much tension in her gaze that I’m not sure what she’s thinking or whether my words are getting through. She surprises me when she finally speaks. “Well, I could have called you so I’m not holding it against you.”
She might not be holding that against me, but she’s sure as hell not backing down from being upset with me. “So I take it if you’re not upset I didn’t call, you’re still angry from last night?”
“I never said I wasn’t upset you didn’t call. I simply said I couldn’t hold it against you. There’s a d
ifference, Jett.”
Jesus, remind me never to piss Presley off again; she’s a ballbreaker when she’s upset.
“Okay, so you’re angry at me. I get that, but we need to find a way to sort through it all. Yeah?”
The daggers she’s staring at me with aren’t a good sign she’s ready to talk, but I remain hopeful. “I told you I don’t think tonight’s a good time to go over it. I’m too angry.”
My hangover from this morning has cleared, but I’m exhausted, and while I’m trying to hold it all together and stay calm while she continues to cling to her anger, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to. “You’re giving me mixed signals, sweetheart. One minute you say you wanted me to call you today and now you’re saying you don’t want to talk. Which one is it?”
Her eyes widen and she raises her voice when she says, “I wanted to know you were thinking about me. I just needed a sign.”
I scrub my face. “Well, I can’t go back and change it now but I was thinking about you. I fucking woke up thinking about you.”
The hard set to her face softens a little but she doesn’t cut me any slack with her words. “Next time you wake up thinking about me, you might wanna tell me.”
My temper snaps. There’s only so much bitch I can handle. I close the distance between us and get in her face. “I’ve gotta tell you, I’m not loving the bitch you’re bringing out, baby. I can handle pissed off and I can take angry and ranty, but when I’m standing in front of you and I’m doing my best to be honest with you and admit that, yes, I fucked up, I don’t appreciate you throwing that back in my face. I’m not a pro at relationships, and I’ll be the first to admit that, but a little give and take would go a long fucking way here.”
I thought she was angry before, but hell if my words don’t bring more anger out. She pushes her face closer to mine and lets loose. “You want honest? I’m so angry with you right now. I was happy by myself, happy without a man, and then you came along. I just wanted some fun, but you turned it into more and chased the shit out of me until I gave in. So I took a chance on you and I told you what I went through with Lennon. I fucking shared that with you, so you knew how I felt; that I can’t go through that kind of relationship again. And I believed you when you said we’d be different. And so, I fell for you. And you didn’t follow through!”
The passion behind her words blows me away.
She’s in this with me.
One hundred fucking percent, she’s in.
I grab her arm and pull her against me. “How didn’t I follow through?” I demand while putting both arms around her and sliding my hands down to her ass. Our lips are almost touching and while I know I’m going to kiss her soon, I’m delaying so I can hear what she has to say. I need to know how I’ve let her down so that I never do it again.
An angry moan falls from her lips. “I know it may sound pathetic, but I need to know I come first to you. It hurts too much when I think otherwise.”
Fuck.
It’s her fears of coming second best that are driving all this. And while I think she’s being slightly irrational, I understand that when you fear something, everything is magnified and easily blown out of proportion.
I move one of my hands to cup her cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m listening to everything you’re saying, and I won’t let you down again.”
My apology seems to make its way into her heart because her body softens against mine and she says, “I’m sorry I didn’t call you either.”
I finally give in to my desire and press my lips to hers. She opens her mouth and lets me in, and I spend the next couple of minutes showing her with my lips and tongue how much I want her. This kiss is just what we need; it’s our way of expressing what our words can’t always say.
When we end the kiss, she holds my gaze and whispers, “Thank you.”
I smile. “You need to do something for me, too.”
“What?”
“Please don’t turn bitchy on me again. You could rip a man’s heart out with that shit.”
A hint of a smile crosses her lips. “I’m sorry. I try so hard not to flip that switch but it just happens, and I have no control over it.”
I place my hand against my heart. “Well, it’s still intact so we’re all good for now,” I say with a grin.
My joke lightens the mood and a full-blown smile graces her face. “Thank God for that, huh?”
