Sinners' Playground (The Harlequin Crew #1) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,57

it came out kinda muffled.

I chewed and swallowed, tossing the bit of paper away and using the mirror on the side of the truck to check my face for mayo.

"I'm pretty sure you actually squawked," JJ teased and I stood uptight, whirling around to narrow my eyes on him.

"Well I'm not the one who-"

"Fuck off, JJ, I want to talk to Rogue alone," Fox interrupted us and my scowl got a whole lot deeper as I looked up at the blonde asshole as he pulled rank.

JJ looked inclined to argue but I raised my chin, my gaze fixed on Fox as I shook my head. "It's fine, J. I can talk to the dickwad alone. I'm not afraid of him."

Fox practically growled at me and JJ released a low whistle as he grabbed the bag of subs and held a hand out for my half eaten one too.

I cursed beneath my breath and handed it over. I wanted my fists free for punching anyway.

I entered into a glare off with Fox while we waited for JJ to walk away and head up to the house and tension crackled between the two of us like electricity.

The moment the door closed behind JJ, Fox took a step towards me and I instantly stepped back.

"You don't need to touch me to talk to me, asshole," I growled and Fox tsked as his gaze trailed over me from the top of my unicorn hair right down to the tips of my freshly pedicured toes. "Do you like it?" I asked obnoxiously. "It was the most expensive style they did and it had the added benefit of getting rid of my brunette hair which you loved so much."

"Who said I loved it?" he asked, reaching out to shut the truck door so that the sound of it slamming echoed around the garage.

"What was the wording exactly?" I asked, placing a finger on my lips as I faked having to think about it. "Oh yeah, that's it. The pretty little brunette who belongs to Fox."

"You're right," he agreed, taking a step closer to me. "Calling you pretty was a bad move. It doesn't even begin to encompass the way you look, hummingbird."

I raised my chin, swallowing back a lump in my throat at the use of that damn nickname again.

"Good," I said, choosing to breeze on past that minefield. "And I'm five foot nine, asshole, so I'm not exactly little. Just because you tower over me doesn't mean everyone else in the world does. And now I'm not a brunette either. So it sounds like your girl isn't me."

I took a step forward like I intended to walk away from him, but he caught my waist and pushed me back against the truck instead, moving his hands up to grip the roof either side of my head and caging me in as he leaned down to look me in the eyes.

"You came back to me bruised and hurting," he growled. "And you won't tell me the name of the motherfucker who dared to lay his hands on you. You walk into my house with hate in your eyes and venom on your tongue and speak to me in a way that I would kill anyone else for. And then when I offer you the protection of the whole of Sunset Cove knowing that you're mine so that no one in their right mind would so much as dare to look at you wrong, let alone hurt you again, you throw it back in my face like I've done something unforgivable to you."

"I never asked you for a damn thing," I hissed, refusing to blink as he glared at me with those forest green eyes of his. "JJ dragged me back here kicking and screaming. So how about you just let me go and save yourself the hassle of my company?"

"You can keep bullshitting yourself with that line if you want to, Rogue, but it isn't flying with me. You knew you couldn't come back to this city without me finding out. Hell, you thought my dad was alive and you came back here despite the fact that you thought there was an axe hanging poised to cut you off at the neck if you so much as stepped a toe over the border. But you came anyway. You came because this is your home. It's where you belong, and you ached for it the entire time you were gone."

"You're wrong," I replied fiercely.

Fox reached out slowly