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At least, that’s what I tell myself. And I guess the universe doesn’t like someone like me getting ahead of myself, because Owen calls out, “I’m not done with you yet.”
My footsteps falter before I can make myself walk again. My heart starts pounding, my stomach twisting uneasily, but I keep going, making a beeline for the door leading out of the bell tower.
The closer I get, the harder my heart beats, the faster my breath comes.
I’m convinced I’m going to make it. My hand curls around the handle and pulls.
But Owen’s hand crashes into the door, slamming it shut just as I open it. “I didn’t give you permission to leave,” he grates.
Fuck. Fuck!
I try to duck under his arm, but he grabs me by the hair and throws me back against the door. I crash face-first into the wood, the impact knocking my breath out of me. “Owen!”
He ignores both my panicked bleat and the way I dig my nails into his wrists. “There’s something you don’t seem to understand about me,” he says, tightening the grip in my hair until tears spring into my eyes. “I believe you get what you give.”
“Yeah?” It’s a struggle to stop my voice shaking, but I manage. “So do youlikepeople being assholes to you? Because by your reasoning, that’s only happening because you’re such a douchebag.”
I know I should have kept my mouth shut, but it seems my survival instinct has temporarily abandoned me.
Owen lets out a growl that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and flattens his body against mine. “I don’t like you, Evie Larsen.”
“Feeling’s mutual,” I say, my words mingling with a groan of pain as Owen twists his hand in my hair again.
“I don’t think you’re as nice as you keep making yourself out to be.”
“Says the asshole pinning me to the wall.”
He lets out a dark chuckle. “That smart mouth must’ve gotten you into a lot of trouble back home.”
If you only fucking knew.
“Let go.”
“Not until I’ve balanced the scales.”
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
I change tactics, hoping something will trigger whatever ounce of mercy is still left in his degenerate soul. “You’re hurting me…”
“That’s the point,” he hisses in my ear. “See, Evie, you say shit like I walk on water, and then think you can go around slapping people without getting punished in return. Isn’t that a touch hypocritical?”
Well, damn. He’s got you there.
I swallow, my mind working furiously to try to get me out of this situation. “I didn’t know you felt that way,” I keep my tone as civil as possible. “I’m sorry for slapping you, Owen.”
He says nothing for a moment, like he’s considering my apology. He might even have accepted it… if I’d kept my damn mouth shut. But it’s infuriating that he’s so much stronger than me. He’s an arrogant, self-centered, egotistical playboy who it’s obvious no one in this town likes. But they hang around with him because he’s aDalton.
If Owen knew me, he’d know that I don’t fall for shit like that. I take people at face value. And yeah, while that means I sometimes fall for scam artists like my ex-boyfriend, the truth always wins out.
Eventually.
So just keep your mouth shut, Evie, and bide your—
“Believe me, Owen,” I add in a sweet voice. “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known you were such a delicate little flower.”
Time stops. It’s just for a breath, but it feels like a lifetime.
Then Owen exhales slowly, his warm breath painting heat over the side of my face. When I dare peek up at him, my cheek still pressed against the door, my entire body goes stiff.
