Mr. Heartbreaker Jordan Marie Page 0,28
in my life. I want her more than I could ever find words to explain.
“I value life,” I shrug, lying out of my ass. I just have no desire to climb out on the peak.
“Hmmm…” she hums, but she lets it drop.
“I don’t want you dancing at the Beaver, Violet,” I breathe out, preparing for a battle. I expect her to immediately begin yelling out curses that would make sailors cringe. Slapping me across the face or pushing me off the ledge were also contenders. Violet doesn’t do any of that.
She laughs.
“That’s a good one, Mikey.”
“I’m being serious with you, Violet. I don’t want you dancing there anymore.”
“You’re serious,” she says when she finally stops laughing at me.
“Deadly,” I confirm, getting agitated.
“You’re just going to have to get over it,” she exhales, and I can tell she’s upset with me, but I don’t give a damn.
“I don’t want you dancing there. I don’t want other men seeing what’s mine. I don’t want it on display for them.”
“Whoa,” she exclaims, holding her hand up as if to stop me from talking. “Are you even listening to yourself? I’m not yours. I don’t belong to anyone but myself. I sure as hell don’t belong to you. Let’s not forget what’s between us here, Mike. You’re actually blackmailing me to be with you, remember?”
“Don’t play that card, Violet. You know as well as I do that there’s more than just the blackmailing between us.”
“You’re being delusional. I wouldn’t be here right now if you weren’t threatening to expose what I do for a living. We don’t have a relationship. Heck, I’m only eighteen. I’m not ready to belong to anyone, Mike. I’m not sure I ever will be, but when I am, it would never be you.”
“What the hell do you mean, never me?”
“Exactly what I said,” she huffs. “It would never be you. We have zilch, nada, nothing in common, Mike. You know that as well as I do. You don’t even do serious relationships and I wouldn’t want anything else. No, scratch that. I don’t want a relationship, period. Relationships in my world are messy and they don’t work out. There’s nothing great about them; they’re hugely disappointing, if anything.”
“Maybe the reason you think they’re disappointing, Violet, is because you’ve only been looking in your world. Maybe you need to get into my world.”
“You don’t even like your world, Mike,” she replies, with a bitter laugh. “What makes you think that I would like it any better?”
“Are you going to deny that there’s something between us? Come on, Violet, I expect better of you. I didn’t take you as a coward.”
“I’m not a coward,” she replies at once, but she says it quietly, and I have the strangest feeling that comment hurt her. “I’m a realist. We don’t fit, and nothing you nor I could ever do will change that fact. I’m not going to stop dancing. If you don’t like it, then you can fuck off. I make enough money dancing that I can pay tuition and that will help me get into the college of my choice. College will fix things so that I never have to depend on anyone ever again. My life goals are more important than your damn blackmail. I need a good recommendation from Black Mountain, a spotless record, and a written recommendation from three faculty members. Those are my goals. You fuck that up for me and I will never forgive you.”
“Christ, you’re thinking about college?”
“You’re not? You’re older than me, right? Jesus, are you planning on being in high school your whole life?”
“No, if I have my way, once I get out of this damn school, I’ll never go to another one.”
“I thought the girls said you were getting a free ride because of baseball?” she asks, stopping her tirade long enough to study me. Her question causes bitterness to rise up inside of me.
“They say that because that’s the story my father wants everyone to believe. He would pay a college to take me on as a player.”
“Well, I mean, it’s good he—”
“It won’t be about my love of the game or my skills, Angel. It will be because that’s what he wants. My father only does things that feed his ego or bring him pleasure. My wants sure as hell would never enter into his mind.”
“I’m not giving up dancing,” she says quietly.
I sigh, knowing if I push her too much, I’ll lose whatever headway I’ve made with her. It still