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“Yeah. I did.” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “I earned whatever shit you gave me, June. And more. I was an asshole to you. A punk kid who didn’t understand?—"
“I. Don’t. Fucking. Care. Your excuses are just that. Excuses. You didn’t see anyone else being that awful to other people. Just you and that twerp who followed you around all the time?—"
“Tag.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Like that’s even his real name.”
“Oh, it is. Well, it’s his name, anyway.”
“Sure, whatever. You two were nightmare fuel for me for years. And then, to see you at college? It was like being stalked by my own personal bully. Because that’s what it was. So, to have you come in here and try to talk to me like you’re a human being now … no. Just no.”
“If—"
“Throwing your money around doesn’t get you my time. Not my forgiveness, either.”
He closes his eyes and takes another breath to steady himself.
His lips pull into another smirk. “You always had a mouth on you.” His eyes flicker to my lips before he meets my gaze. “A pity I didn’t appreciate that more when we were younger.”
Why is he being so soft on me right now? It makes no sense. Anderson couldn’t keep a prank going this long back then. That was why he had to have Tag call the school about my cat—when a joke had gone on too long, Anderson would always start laughing. It was the only reason I survived his bullshit back then. He was all malice, but had no stamina to keep going. He preferred the hit-and-run style. A bra strap pull here, an insult there. Nothing that took this kind of planning.
Maybe he’s developed more of a backbone for this kind of thing.
“Are there cameras in the room or something?” I ask as I look around. “Some kind of feed going to the internet so you can broadcast my desperate disgrace around the world? Because if so, I’ve already run to the bed naked, so you can stop this bullshit regretful act. You got me. I’m naked and embarrassed for the world. Congratulations, asshole.”
“No. Nothing like that.”
If that’s true, good. If not, fuck him. But also, if not, then why? I still need that money, as much as I’d like to leave. Of course, then the question becomes, if he’s here for real, then can I even do this? With him, of all people? A night with my bully in exchange for twenty-eight years of my life … can I say no to that just for the sake of my pride?
“You still haven’t told me why you’re here, Anderson. The real reason.”
“I came for you, June.”
Either he’s learned how to be a better liar over the years, or something else is going on.
Chapter 12
ANDERSON
“Yeah, you keep saying that, but why?” she snaps.
Even the snap in her voice gets to me. When she’s angry, her deep brown eyes smolder. Her voice gets low, and there’s a growl to it that makes me want to grab her for a kiss. The angrier I make her, the more she reacts, and the more she reacts, the more I want her.
It’s a vicious cycle. How can I explain this to her succinctly?
“The answer remains the same. I’m here for you, June.”
“Liar!”
It’s my own fault that she hates me. I am self-aware enough to know that. I had tormented her for years, and though she always gave as good as she got, it left a mark. Clearly. Otherwise, she wouldn’t spit venom at me with every word coming out of her perfect mouth.
“If I could wring the neck of my teenaged self for what he did to you, I would?—"
“Don’t do me any favors.”
“I mean it.”
She rolls her eyes and glances away. “And don’t talk about your teenaged self like it’s someone else. You’re one and the same. You’re still the boy who tried to make me hate myself.”
