with a sigh, letting his head fall back against my pillows, his body limp. Those dark eyes blaze, however, seeking out mine. “You meant it, didn’t you?” he says, his voice hollow again.
“Meant what?” I reply, crossing my arms as if the act alone can erase the insanity of this moment of him in my bed.
“That you weren’t attracted to me.” He chuckles brokenly while I just stare. Of everything that should be on his mind right now, my rejection isn’t it. “But you are attracted to me, bunny. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“Why would I be attracted to someone like you?” I whisper. Why I choose to argue with him at all, I have no idea. Maybe it’s the noise. His voice melds with the typical cacophony of honking cars drifting in through my window, creating a false sense of normalcy. Almost.
“Why? Cuz I’m sexy as hell.” He chuckles again only to grunt, reaching for his thigh. “Shit…” He looks up, but his smile fades, leaving behind an expression so serious it transforms him into another man. Someone I can’t dismiss so easily. “You want me for the same reason I want you,” he tells me. “I’m the only one who sees you for what you are, bunny rabbit.”
I turn away, fidgeting with the stained skirt of my dress. Poor Mara won’t ever want it back.
“It’s true,” he says, unwilling to let me ignore him. “I noticed it the first night, little bunny, when you hopped right in front of me. You’re sexy…but that wasn’t what I saw.”
I grit my teeth, but something makes me bite out a response regardless. “What did you see, then?”
“You looked like me.” He makes it sound so simple. So…honest, even in the obvious throes of delirium—an observation so astounding it made him seek me out. “Those scared little bunny eyes…”
He falls silent for so long that I’m terrified when I finally turn back to find him slumped sideways, his lips parted, his breathing steady. He’s asleep, thank God.
Though, should I?
I don’t come up with a fitting response by the time I finally collect myself enough to escape into my bathroom and shower. Wrapped in a towel, crouched in the body of my tub, I try to regain my composure. My old instincts. Anything.
Nothing makes sense anymore. Not living in this apartment or moving out here to go to school for a degree I’ll probably never use.
If I were smart, I would have stayed in Wellington. I would have fought to regain my perfect, old life. I would have never let Branden take control of it the way he has.
But no amount of wishing can change this reality. It reasserts itself with a telltale ping that I unfurl my aching limbs to answer, wearing only a towel. I grab my phone and hiss in alarm. Branden has sent at least twenty messages throughout the night.
But, surprisingly, he isn’t the one calling me now.
“Oh, thank God!” Mara exclaims when I answer. “I was so worried. What a fucking shitshow.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I whisper, leaning against my living room window, staring out into the darkness beyond.
“Are you?” she asks warily. “I can’t believe that asshole had the nerve to—”
“I’m fine,” I say. “Really.”
“Thank God for that,” she replies, her voice ripe with its usual chirp. “I say we turn this night into a positive. You got some damn good fodder for your essay, and as for me… I think I’m going to sleep with Rafe.”
“Rafe?” I can’t tell exactly how my voice sounds. Alarmed? Amused? “After everything that happened, your first thought is getting laid?”
“Yes.” She sighs dreamily, though I can hear the murmurs of who must be her parents, arguing in the background. “He was so sexy. He basically saved your life. Though… What happened when I left? It looked like you might have gone with him.”
I recognize the wary suspicion in her tone. “He just led me away from the club,” I say. “I think he wanted to make sure I wouldn’t go running to the cops like a goody-goody.”
“Oh.” She sighs, satisfied by the answer. “Well, as long as he didn’t try anything. And if you want to call dibs on him, let me know now.”
She pauses.
I say nothing.
“Then it’s settled. He’s mine. The guy may be a total asshole, but I think I’ll give it a shot. Just for fun. I mean, did you see his body? I don’t have a dick, but I think I know what they