AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But none of my answers were painful ones,” I pointed out.
“Sinclair, my parents can’t hurt me anymore,” he said, making my heart drop to my feet. “My answers about them aren’t painful. They’re more like a simple matter of fact these days.”
“I still feel like a jerk for asking,” I muttered before stuffing a forkful of steak into my mouth.
Orion grinned as he let go of my other hand. “Has anyone ever told you that your honesty is refreshing as fuck?”
“Harley calls me crazy a lot,” I said, shrugging. “I’m not sure if that counts.”
“I like how you don’t guard your words,” he said, making me wonder if he was the one that was crazy. “I’ll never have to guess where I stand with you.”
“Some people would call that being a bitch,” I replied candidly.
“Some people are stupid,” he countered. “Honesty makes a relationship so much easier to navigate. The last thing that I want to do isguessyour wants and needs.”
“And what is it that you want, Orion Knight?” I asked.
“I want my sister to be happy every day that she breathes in air,” he answered easily. “I want my friends to all find that same happiness. I want to finish out my career with a healthy body and mind. I want my own personal happiness.” Those bedroom eyes of his were drinking me in, and I almost started squirming. “I want you to give me a chance.”
“I thought that’s what I was doing,” I muttered, feeling my face turning a bit red.
Orion shook his head. “No,” he replied. “You agreed to this date to humor me.”
Guilty.
“You were already thinking of reasons to turn down a second date the minute that I knocked on your door tonight,” he went on. “I want you to give me arealchance, Sinclair.”
“You can’t know that,” I argued, though he wasn’t wrong.
“I knew it the second that you opened the door,” he insisted. “You purposely look like you’re on your way to do laundry, and the look was deliberate.”
My eyes popped wide. “Ido notlook like I’m going to do laundry.”
Orion’s eyes raked over my body. “While I think you’re stunning in whatever getup that you’re wearing, we both know that you are not dressed for a serious date.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my dress,” I muttered, embarrassed at getting called out.
“Baby, I’m sure that your dress would be beautiful if it didn’t have that tired t-shirt draped over it,” he chuckled. “You also have your hair thrown up, not a stitch of makeup on your face, and though your sandals are cute, they’re hardly the style that most women would wear for a date.”
I felt lower and lower as Orion took inventory of my attire, and I really was a bitch. Instead of refusing his advances like a grownup, I had chosen to spit in the face of his efforts to take me out on a real date, and I felt pretty shitty about it now. From the beginning, Orion had been upfront about his intentions, and had I really not been interested, I should have just held firm with my refusals. Instead, I was behaving like a spoiled child, a diva even.
With my appetite gone, I said, “I think we should call it a night.”
“Whoa, hold up,” he quickly rushed out, sitting up straighter. “What just happened?”
Ignoring his question, I reached into my purse to pull out my wallet. I couldn’t do anything about the cost of renting out the restaurant, but I could pay for my own meal, something that I should do. I’d been hoping for a disastrous date, and I’d gotten it.
“Nothing,” I lied as I pulled out some twenties from my wallet. “I just think it’s time to call it a night.”
“What the fuck are you doing?”
I looked up, and Orion was eyeing me like he wanted to strangle me. “What?”
“I swear to God, if you’re about to pay for your dinner, things are going to get really ugly, Sinclair,” he warned.
“Orion…I…”
I didn’t know what to say as I watched him stand up, then make his way over to my chair. He dropped on his haunches, and he was so tall that we were face-to-face, though I was still sitting down.
