The Enemy - Kelsey Clayton Page 0,70

haunts your dreams and makes you quiver with want from a single look. Because the more you hate me, the more you want me."

She huffs and shakes her head. "I'm not doing this."

Moving to push past me, I grab her wrist and pull her into my chest. "Tell me I'm wrong, Lennon. Go ahead. Fight me."

Her breathing is labored as I hold her tightly against my body, and her gaze locks on mine, but she says nothing.

"See? You can't. You want me just as bad as I want you, and one day soon, I'll pop that pretty little cherry of yours. Trust me, baby. You'll be screaming my name until your throat is raw."

A glimmer of want sparkles in her eyes, and that's all the hope I need. I take a risky chance and bend down, placing a soft kiss on her lips before releasing her and stepping back. The whole time, she stays completely still.

"Enjoy the party," I tell her. "I'll see you at home."

23

LENNON

Some people come into your life that make you question everything you've ever believed in. Cade is one of those people for me. It's been three days since Colby's birthday, and I'm still a flustered mess whenever I think about it.

I should have told him he was wrong. That I didn't want him. But the words wouldn't come out. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. He had me exactly where he wanted me, and all my secrets threatened to spill out right then and there. What can I say? That kiss caught me off guard but in all the best ways, and I hate myself for it.

Since the party, the two of us have been sharing this house with no issues. I still don't know what to say to him, so I haven't said anything at all. And oddly enough, he's respected that. He's kept his distance while still doing things that tell me I'm there.

For example, making enough breakfast for the two of us and leaving it on the counter. Or packing my dance bag for me when I'm running late and rushing out the door.

A big part of me is still so angry. The cruel things he's said and done should be enough to make me hate him for eternity, but it's hard. It's hard because when I look at him, I can see what's under that hard exterior. The guy behind the shell. The one who's hurt by his parents' divorce and just trying to do what he thinks is right.

I'm sitting on the couch in the living room, watching another episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, when Cade comes in. He says nothing as he takes the other side of the couch and pulls out his phone. Just being this close to him has me feeling some kind of way.

I move to get up when his voice stops me. "Please, don't."

Freezing in place, I look over at him.

"Don't go. Just, sit here. I'll leave you alone, and I won't say anything. I just need to be close to you. I can't explain it."

I can, because it's the same feeling I've been fighting for weeks now. The one that keeps me up at night. The one that makes me wonder if I ever knew anything at all.

Against my better judgement, I sigh and sit back down, doing everything I can not to admire the way he smiles because of it.

OKAY, WHEN YOU GROW up with a chef, it becomes blatantly obvious that you have no idea how to cook. I look down at the pan filled with burnt macaroni and cheese. How I'm going to get through college without someone doing this shit for me is a total mystery.

"What's that smell?" Cade asks, cringing as he comes in the kitchen.

I take the pan and toss the whole thing into the garbage. He snickers at me as he glances in the garbage. I roll my eyes and glare at him.

"Ha ha. So hilarious, the rich girl can't cook."

He raises his hands defensively. "Like, at all?"

I shrug. "No one was ever around to teach me."

It's the most conversation we've had in days, and I hate the way my whole body reacts to it. I watch as Cade walks around me and over to grab another box of macaroni from the pantry and a pan from the cabinet. He hands them both to me, and my brows furrow.

"You really want me to burn the whole house down, don't you?"

Chuckling, he takes them back