Damaged (Boys of Winter #2) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,45

knowing that it’s only seconds before he pulls away, but I’m not done with him yet. I need to get him back in the gym where I can work out all this anger. Maybe we both need to take our frustrations out on one another.

Carver’s gaze drops to my hand tangled in his shirt and the corner of his mouth kicks up into an amused smirk, and just like that, he knows that he’s gotten under my skin. His eyes slice back to mine, seeing just how desperate I am for my pound of flesh, and the way he scoffs tells me that no matter what, he’ll never give it to me.

He tears away from me, and my fingers instantly come loose from his shirt as I stare after him, the anger raging inside me. I watch as he walks away and just a moment before I storm his back, intent on ramming my fist straight up his toned ass, Grayson adjusts himself, obscuring my view of his friend. “Go walk it off,” he tells me. “Why don’t you take that bike of yours for a ride. It’s been a while since she’s had a good run.”

My fists pulse at my sides as I watch Carver over Grayson’s shoulder disappearing down the hall. “She can ride that thing all she wants, but when she fucks it up, I’m not buying her another one.”

The fuck? Another one?

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demand, stepping out from around Grayson and storming after Carver as I hear both King and Cruz sigh at the table, each of them slowly getting to their feet and stepping toward us, more than ready to hold me hostage when I decide to annihilate Carver.

Carver stops and slowly turns to face me, a cocky as fuck smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. “You fucking heard me, babe. What do you think it means?”

My jaw clenches as I desperately try to keep myself from shoving my hand right through his ribcage and squeezing his fragile little heart just like they do in ‘The Vampire Diaries.’ I step into him and shove my hands against his chest, only doing more harm to myself than to him. “I won that bike fair and square,” I tell him, my fury rippling beneath the surface. “You’ve already taken my freedom away from me, you’re not taking my fucking bike too.”

“Won it in a bet?” he laughs. “That’s fucking rich coming from you. Do you honestly think some guy is going to bet you his bike and let you ride away with it into the sunset? Come on, Winter. You’re not that fucking daft. That’s a twenty-thousand-dollar bike and the helmet just happens to fit you perfectly.”

I shake my head. “You’re wrong. I won it.”

Carver just laughs as Cruz steps into my back, taking my waist as he looks over my head at his friend. “Give it a rest,” he tells him. “We fucking agreed not to do this. That bike was all she had.”

Heaviness sinks into my stomach and I slowly turn to look up into Cruz’s honest stare. “Please,” I beg him. “Tell me that he’s just trying to fuck with me.”

“I’m sorry, babe,” he sighs, quickly glancing up and fixing Carver with a lethal stare. “We didn’t intend for you to find out like this.”

“Cruz,” I snap, prompting him to get on with it.

Grayson takes a step closer, raising his regretful stare to mine and being the one to put me out of my misery. “We’ve been watching you closer this past year, keeping tabs and making sure that you were okay. It was pretty fucking obvious that you were screaming for an escape, so Carver bought the bike. We knew you weren’t just going to take some bullshit handout, so we paid some dickhead at the bar to lose it in a bet. Cruz gave him a crash course on how to ride it and we had him teach you for safety.”

My whole world burns to ashes around me, and I look up at Cruz, silently begging for him to tell me that it’s all a lie, that they’re fucking with me just to see my pain. “I’m sorry, babe,” he says, pressing his lips into a tight line and slowly shaking his head. “That bike … fuck, I could see how much it meant to you.”

I quickly glance at King but the regret shining in his bright blue eyes is too much for me