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“You’re clearly attracted to me, too, buddy.” She wasn’t the only one who felt things they shouldn’t. She wasn’t the—
“Of course I am. But, unlike you, I’ve never denied that fact.”
She stared. Just stared for a moment. Then she huffed out her frustration and stomped out of the cabin.
Chapter Four
THIS WAS THE QUIETEST drive she’d ever been on. After their awkward moment back at the cabin, Anna and Hayden had used the restroom, made the bed for whoever showed up next, and hopped into the jeep to continue on their journey.
And they hadn’t said a single word to one another. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
All she could think about was the heat of his hands on her hips, how tightly they’d gripped her, the way his hard body felt beneath her. She desperately tried to divert the thoughts, but they just kept coming back.
First, she tried to be mad at him. That worked for a little, sure, but then she thought about hot, rough, angry sex, which obviously wasn’t what she was going for.
Next, she tried coming up with a plan for when they got closer to the Eastern Stronghold. But in doing that, she just thought of how long a journey it would be, and how many more nights they’d be spending together in the cold, and, yeah, that quickly devolved.
Finally, she focused on the end goal. A very dead Joseph Greene. That helped her feel better for a while, but even that didn’t stick.
No matter what she did, she could not keep her mind on track. Whenever they stopped for the night, she’d have to sneak off and take the edge off a bit, because this was ridiculous.
That only made her wonder if he was expecting something to happen? Sure, maybe she was a little more enthusiastic than she should’ve been, but he knew how she felt, right? He must have. He better have.
“Nothing’s changed,” she blurted out. It didn’t matter that she’d been dry humping him back at the cabin, or that she’d been thinking about it, and so much more, ever since. “I still hate you.”
Phew, okay, now that that had been cleared up…
“Why?”
She turned to look at him, staring at his face as he focused on the road ahead of them. “Why?” she repeated.
“Why do you hate me? Why so much animosity?”
He couldn’t be serious. “You held a—”
“I held a gun to your head, and then I let you go. You are the only UNR officer that survived me during that siege, by the way.” He glanced her way for a second, then faced the road again. “Next reason.”
He… might’ve had a point on that one. Not that she’d admit it. “You forced me to he—”
“I forced you to help your friend, by telling you she was in danger and asking nicely for your help.” He rolled his eyes. “So terrible of me.”
Her jaw dropped, just a little. It… might have gone down that way, okay. She wouldn’t have willingly helped had he not found her and grabbed her and dragged her back to the Resistance headquarters, but… that’s pretty much how it went once she was there. She definitely could have chosen not to help, but Julia was her friend, and Derek was a good man. And maybe she’d already been planning to help out in her own way before Hayden had intervened.
Dammit.
“How about the handcuffs and—”
“Yes, the handcuffs. You stole a vital piece of technology from us, and your punishment was being carried back to the compound while cuffed. What torture that must have been.”
“Why did you even bring me back? Why not take the device and leave me there?”
“Because I didn’t want you running into danger alone and getting yourself killed.” His voice was snappier than usual, but he took a deep breath and seemed to return to his normal self. Too late, she’d already seen the crack in the mask. “We’ve had this conversation multiple times. Hell, we just had it yesterday. You have yet to list one good reason why you dislike me. Instead, you keep reiterating the same points that you and I both know have no merit.” He took another slow breath, a few seconds passing by before he continued on. “I know it’s shocking, Anna, but I genuinely am trying to help you.”
She leaned back into her seat, staring forward and watching the bare trees go by one by one. As much as she wanted to deny his words, Anna was afraid he might be right. Maybe she didn’t have a good reason for hating him as much as she did.
But then she remembered her plan. She’d put years of work and ass kissing into that plan, only for the Resistance to rush in and foil it. But even that hadn’t been Hayden’s fault… he was there to liberate those trapped in the district. He saved hundreds of lives in doing what he did.
She was so mad about her plan for revenge being burned to ash, that she barely acknowledged the beauty that had risen from those ashes.
