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“Hm?”
“Can you ask my, um, girlfriend to come in here?” A half-smile pulls my lips upward. It’s not true, but it feels good to say it.
“You’ve got it, handsome.” She closes the curtain, leaving me in my cubby of isolation.
I haven’t given Shaye any reason to be nice to me, to stick around here, or to be any bit concerned about whether I live or die. But somehow, she’s here. And according to the nurse, she cares, too. Maybe more than she should.
The flimsy blue curtain jostles as Shaye pulls it back, her face pale, her eyes filled with worry. All for me; the dipshit who did something really stupid, and then did something even more fucking stupid.
“Hey.” She smiles, but I can see her eyes are watery and hear the quiver in her voice.
“Thanks for being here.” I pat the side of the bed. “Come here.”
“I’d rather stand.” She peers into the hallway behind her. “Besides, your dad will be here soon.”
“Thanks for making the call. I appreciate it.”
“I didn’t think they’d want to hear the news from the cops. Coming from me was a little better, I guess.” She twisted a lock of hair around a finger, her eyes still wandering, focusing on everything in the space except my face. And I am desperate to see those eyes, to see what Stacy saw, even though I know in my heart what’s there.
My dad. I need to warn him. Dammit. This whole thing can go sideways so fast; he has to hear everything. I pick at a loose thread on the blanket. “Shaye.”
“Yeah?” She still won’t look at me, and it’s making me crazy. I want to feel her next to me, her breath against my face. But she won’t come near me. Self-preservation, I suppose.
“Please look at me.”
Her eyes want to, I can tell. But she’s fighting against the urge. She knows the impossibility of it all, knows there’s no future. Rather, she thinks she does.
“Shaye, you have to believe that I never wanted to hurt you.”
That gets her attention. Her eyes flash with anger. Good, now we’re getting somewhere. I want to see her feel, yell, and scream. It at least proves she cares. If she was completely ambivalent…well, I probably wouldn’t be in love with her in the first place.
“You know what, Nico? Fuck you. You treated me like shit the other night, and you hurt me so badly. After all this time…we were supposed to be friends. You were…” She pauses, her head shaking from side to side. “You know what? I was right about you, about all of it. You’re a self-centered asshole who only cares about getting off. You don’t care about anyone or anything else.”
Ouch. That stings. “Did you ever think there might be a reason why I did what I did?”
“Um, yeah, because you’re a complete dickhead!”
“No.” I let out a sigh. “Look, I admit, sleeping together was the wrong thing to do.” Her face falls, despite the venom in her voice. “Don’t give me that look, Shaye. You’re killing me right now. Just let me finish. It’s not because it wasn’t good. It was fucking amazing. You giving yourself to me like that…I’ve never felt anything like it before.” This next part is gonna be hard to swallow, for both of us. “But there’s a big problem.”
“Max,” she whispers.
“And your dad. And my dad. Our lives, Shaye. When we kissed that night before you left for school, it was torture for me. I knew what I wanted and that I couldn’t have it. And after the other night?” I can’t help the grin from spreading across my face. “Mind-blowing.”
A deep pink flush inches up her neck, spreading across her cheeks. “It was,” she whispers.
“Come here.” I watch, seeing the conflict of emotions within her. But she steps closer to the bed, leaning toward me. And my heart lurches as her face lowers to mine. “Kiss me,” I whisper, pressing my luck. I know at any second someone might walk in here, see her in this position, and shoot me in the fucking head. But it’s a bullet I’d gladly take.
I’m finally clear on what I want. I want all of her, and I just don’t know how to keep what we have once I’ve claimed her.
I’ll worry about that later. Right now, I want to taste those plump, delicious lips. They graze mine, soft and demanding at the same time. Just like Shaye. It’s a perfect combination, one I need in my life.
She pulls away, panic settling over her delicate features. “Oh my God,” she murmurs, jumping backward. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she relaxes her shoulders and lets out a deep breath. “Nico, we could have been so screwed if one of our family members walked in right then.”
“In another time and place, we definitely will be.” I wink and twist onto my side. I have to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from screaming, it hurts that fucking bad. Christ, I need some more of whatever they fed me in the back of that ambulance to dull the pain I’m in now.
She puts her hands on her hips. “So, I’m just supposed to fall under your spell now? Let you call all the shots? Wait around until you get tired of the forbidden?”
I lace my fingers with hers. “No way. You’ve got it all wrong, Shaye. I’m the one caught in your net. And trust me, there’s nothing tiring about it.”
