the ice melt in my glass, turning my coke flat. “I’m…trying. To be honest, I think it’s going to take some time.” An image of my sister with Vaughn’s dick down her throat flashed through my mind. “A lot of time.”
“There’s no rush,” he promised.
Somehow, I became lost in Oliver’s brown eyes. He had the longest lashes, which gave him this wide-eyed innocence. I’d even been bold enough to call him pretty once, and he’d actually blushed, giving me the impression that maybe he was innocent. Dare I say, a virgin? It was a weird change of pace being the wicked one for once. Even more bizarre was the idea that a guy this fine could still be a virgin at twenty-one.
“You say that now,” I teased, “but when your balls are blue, you’ll be singing a different tune.”
“You might be right,” he flirted back. “You are pretty fucking sexy. When you’re not making babies cry, that is.”
I gasped. “When have I ever made a baby cry?”
“Your bitch face is pretty killer. I once saw, with my own two eyes, a newborn burst into tears when you passed.”
Gasping, I shoved his shoulder, but he barely moved an inch. “Take that back!”
A devious gleam entered his eyes. “Kiss me, and I will.”
Nibbling my lip, I contemplated his offer. Even after eight months, it felt like I was moving too fast. And that’s when I decided to take fate into my own hands for once. So what if he wasn’t the guy the stars had written for me? I’d rather write my own ending from now on. Leaning forward, I stole his lips, and when Oliver slipped his tongue between my lips, the moan I released this time was for him. I wasn’t sure how long we remained locked together, but by the time I finally pulled away, I was damn near sitting in his lap. His erection poked my thigh, and I considered the possibility of letting him take me to his car and finding someplace secluded to park.
“I have to use the bathroom, and then we can go,” I whispered against his lips before standing.
Blinking a few times to clear the lust from his eyes, he nodded before reaching for his wallet. That kiss had been pretty fucking great, which explained why I’d practically skipped to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, I was washing my hands when I heard what sounded like a scream.
Springing into action, I fled the bathroom only to stop short at the sight of Oliver sprawled onto the diner floor. I couldn’t look away from the blood gushing from his nose, his lips—God, everywhere. He was out cold. Heart racing, I rushed over to him, his name on my lips.
I didn’t get very far.
Strong hands wrapped around my ponytail and pulled until my neck felt like it would snap. Expecting to see some masked stranger or just a stranger, my lips parted when my gaze connected with the familiar green eyes glittering above me. And then contrary to the rough way my captor’s hands handled me, he laid a gentle kiss on my lips. Vaughn might as well have breathed air into my lungs. I felt alive again like I was flying. Fortunately, I was wiser now. I knew that eventually, I’d crash and burn.
“You wanted my attention, you have it,” he promised on a whisper, “and you’re going to be sorry that you do.”
I was too stunned by his kiss to be afraid. I’d forgotten so many things—how soft his lips were, how talented, and how, with each kiss, it felt like he was signing his name next to mine, sealing our fate on an ironclad contract.
Soulmate.
Fortunately, I didn’t get the chance to waltz down memory lane before he shoved me toward the exit. “Walk.”
I’D FUCKED UP, SEALED OUR fates, and signed our death certificates. After witnessing her kiss some prick through the diner window with the promise in her eyes to give him more, I didn’t give a fuck. Tomorrow, we would both walk into hell together hand in fucking hand.
“Walk.”
I watched Tyra as she stepped over her date and waited to feel some semblance of remorse, not for the asshole I’d left bleeding on the floor, but for the fear making her shoulders tremble. None came. I’d always been a bastard, but I’d never been this cold. I’d been fighting this darkness my entire life, but after losing Tyra, there had been no one left to disappoint. No one to fear hurting.
Getting her