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“You saw what you wanted to see! You didn’t learn, did you? Who’s going to protect you now, Sean? Who’s going to dig up evidence, hunt down witnesses, and turn over every stone to find proof of your innocence now? Who’s going to keep your ass from jail next time? Not me. Never me. You can rot there for all eternity as far as I’m concerned.”
“Getting closer to super-bitch status, Sparkle.”
One more step and I’m so close I need to crane my neck to look him in the eyes. “Getting closer to the unemployment line, Sean.”
Ouch! Did I just say that? I drag my bottom lip between my teeth. That one is a little below the belt, even for me.
“Don't...” Sean swallows. His gaze drops to my mouth and back up again. The war raging inside him is on display for me to see. He doesn’t want me. And yet, he does. “...do that.”
There’s no air in this room. My mouth is drying up. My breathing grows shallow. He has me caught in an invisible grip and I can’t break free. Because I feel exactly the same. I don’t want him. But I do!
It only adds insult to injury. To be attracted to him after he abandoned me to deal with my hard-won battle with my injuries. I had to endure months of painful and frustrating rehabilitation to learn to walk again! Where was he then?
But what can I say? Why didn’t you answer my calls? He made his choice to ignore me. His hurt is his own making. It's over between us.
I swipe my tongue over my dry lips.
“Oh jeez.” Sean’s eyes roll skywards with a strangled cry. “Now you’re a super-bitch!”
When his eyes settle on mine again, his face is closer, his breath whispers across my face.
“I can’t do this with you again,” he murmurs on a hard sigh.
Still, he disappears behind my closing eyes, my lips reaching up for his, even as I beg him not to kiss me. “Please don’t...”
“What the hell is going on in here?”
Sean pushes me. It’s unintentional, I’m sure. We both practically leap out of our skins, and spring apart when we notice the intrusive third person in my bedroom.
The sudden movement sends a shockwave through my spine. I sink back against the dresser and glare at Ryder standing in the doorway.
He’s wearing a towel, slung low around his hips and his hair is wet. So maybe he wasn’t sleeping after all. “Sean?”
What was I thinking? Kissing Sean!
This is the man who left me lying in a foreign hospital alone when I needed his love and support more than anything in the world. This is the stubborn-ass jerk that refuses to talk to anyone, including me, and therefore doesn’t know my sister was sleeping with the movie star. Not me!
He's right. We can’t do this again. I won’t do this again. Not with him. He’s no longer a God in my eyes. He’s a snake and he has as much right to be in my bed as Justin Ramirez. And I can’t stand Ramirez. I deserve better than Sean Asshole Anderson!
“We were just having a disagreement,” I tell Ryder and focus on maintaining my poker face as another wave of pain threatens to sweep over me. “It’s probably best you came in when you did, Ryder. We'd only say or do something we'd regret.” I turn to Sean. “I have enough regrets over you. Sixteen years’ worth. Let’s not waste another second making more. Goodbye, Sean.”
“We need to—”
“Talk about it another time. Now go.”
God! I’m not fooling anyone with that strangled meow.
I train my focus on Sean. He’s going to argue black is white with me just because I’ve dismissed him. But I can’t handle him and the numbness rapidly climbing my legs. He has to go, and he has to go now.
“But—”
“Get out!”
The color drains from Sean’s face. A stunned and pained expression remains in its place and guilt floods my bloodstream. My fingers grip the dresser behind me as I block out the image of his hurt. But it remains burnt into the backs of my eyelids when I close my eyes.
I’m getting weaker. So weak I reach out to him. “Sean—”
He brushes me off, without even looking. He just turns and walks away.
