The Punk and the Plaything (When Rivals Play #3) - B.B. Reid Page 0,117

never be anyone else’s.”

Growling, he hungrily kissed my lips until the waiter returned with our food and made a hasty retreat. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jamie said as he poured a mountain of ketchup onto his fries. I cringed, hating when he did that. I’d always tried to get him to dip his fries instead when we were kids. “But I’m not going anywhere until I take care of your father.”

Taking his chin as he had done to me so many times before, I forced his focus from his food. “I’m no damsel, and you’re no white knight. I’ll save my own ass.”

He chewed slowly as he seemed to consider it. “How about we save that amazing ass of yours together?”

“I can handle my father.”

“I know you can,” he patiently admitted. “But I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most. I can’t just stand by now.”

“It wasn’t your fault that you had to move away, Jamie.”

“But it was my fault the way I treated you before that.”

“You didn’t know, and that just means we both could have handled things a lot better.”

He looked ready to argue some more before he reluctantly nodded. I knew he’d probably never be able to stop blaming himself for not seeing just like I’d never stop wishing I had just told him everything from the first. Shame had played a role in that, and I realized now that Jamie would have wanted all of me—the beautiful and the ugly. I sighed, reminding myself that I couldn’t undo past decisions. I could only course-correct.

The conversation turned much lighter as we ate. I didn’t realize how much Jamie and I no longer knew about each other. While it was promising, it was disconcerting at the same time. What if we discovered that we were no longer people we could love?

FOR THE SEVENTH MORNING IN a row, I woke up in a bed that wasn’t mine. This morning, however, was different than the others—it was the first time I’d woken up alone.

Jamie hadn’t taken me to his uncle’s home after graduation. Instead, he’d driven us to a hotel twenty minutes outside of Blackwood Keep in case my father made good on his threat. And to stay off his mom and uncle’s radar, as well, we’d steered clear of NaMara.

It was really beginning to feel like we were on the lam.

It wasn’t until after Jamie made good on his other promise and my fourth orgasm of the day had faded that I began to feel the weight of what I had done.

“Jamie?” Sleep eluded me as I rested my head on his chest, tracing the thin, haunted letters spelling Broken and shaped like a heart. He told me it had been his first tattoo. I couldn’t help but notice the date etched into his skin underneath—10-31-2011. His second tattoo had been a guitar with Douglas Buchanan’s hand wrapped around the neck.

“Yes, kitten?” The lazy purr in his voice told me he’d almost been asleep.

“I-I need to go home.”

“You are home. You’re right here with me.”

I wanted to melt at his words, but I had to remain rational. “My father will be angry if I stay.”

His hands were suddenly around my waist, dragging me up his chest until our eyes met. He no longer seemed sleepy. “And I won’t be the same if you go.”

I’d stayed, and we hadn’t left this room once. Jamie worked overtime to make sure I didn’t regret it. Or maybe he’d just been making sure I didn’t have time to think. Either way, it worked, but now I was alone, and my mind was running rampant.

What had I done?

This wasn’t my plan. I hadn’t intended to walk away from my parents without so much as a dime or a shirt to put on my back. And now I couldn’t go home. My father knew everything, which meant he wouldn’t take chances if I landed in his clutches again. It seems Jamie got what he wanted, after all, which was me at his mercy, even if it wasn’t in the way he intended. I covered my eyes with my balled fists, but the frustrated scream bubbling in my throat didn’t get the chance to escape.

A familiar beeping sound coming from the door alerted me to Jamie’s return. Pulling myself together, I stood from the bed, keeping the damask silk wrapped around me. I wasn’t sure how serious Jamie would take me when I told him I was leaving if I was