find the will to force myself to the end of the hallway until I’m standing in front of his door.
I don’t wait.
I barge through the door, throwing it open, much like Colton had done last night. I fly into his room just a moment before his ensuite door opens and he strides out in nothing but a white towel wrapped dangerously low around his defined hips.
He comes to a standstill, staring at me in shock, clearly not having expected me to come barging in here first thing on a Sunday morning. “What ar–”
“What did you do?” I demand, cutting him off.
His brows crease and I try not to get distracted by the drops of water that slowly trail down his strong body, dripping from his hair, and making his skin look good enough to eat. “What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.”
“Jude,” I snap, watching as he walks around the room as though I'm not even here. “I know you stashed him somewhere so Nic couldn’t get to him.”
Colton stops walking and turns to face me, his eyes hardening at my accusation. “Get this straight, Ocean. I don't give a shit what happens to the mother fucker after he put his hands on you. Dominic can have him for all I fucking care.”
I swallow at the intensity of his stare but it doesn’t go unnoticed that he didn’t exactly answer my question. I can’t stop staring. It’s never made sense why he cares so damn much but there’s something real there, something honest and downright raw.
I swallow my pride and walk toward him and with each step I take, the intensity grows until I’m standing right before him. Instinct has his hands falling to my waist as I claim his bare chest just as I had last night on the dance floor.
My skin burns under his touch despite the thin shirt that acts as a barrier between us and I can’t help but wonder if I’m about to be met with the overprotective amazing guy I was with on the dance floor last night or if I’m about to see the Colton that tears me down, the one I've become so accustomed to over the past month of being in Bellevue Springs, the one I’ve learned to despise.
“Why did you want me at that party, Colton?” I murmur, letting him see the real me, the one who has been plagued with this question, the one who won’t dare stop fighting for answers.
He watches me, his eyes roaming over my face as though I’m some sort of mythical creature that’s completely bewitched him. “You’ve showered,” he comments. My brows pinch in confusion but he’s quick to explain himself. “You put my shirt back on.”
My eyes drop to my body. To be completely honest, my morning has been a little too fucked up to think too much about the shirt but now that I see it for what it is, I can’t help but like the way it feels on me and the way it screams of possession. My chin raises and I meet his eyes again. “Colton,” I whisper. “The party?”
His chest drops as he exhales and I find myself spreading my fingers out over his damp skin. His eyes soften and I watch the exact moment as he decides to finally be real with me. “There’s something about you, Jade. It drives me in-fucking-sane but when you’re not around, I crave it. I need it more than you could ever fucking know.”
“Then why are you such a dick to me?”
He shakes his head, not prepared to answer that knowing that a question like that is a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. “Hearing you with Charlie … fuck, babe. You’ll never understand how fucking close I was to storming in there and tearing that mother fucker off you but I knew you wanted it even though I know a part of you was only with him to get at me.”
My lips press together and although I don’t say a damn word, it’s the clarification that he needs.
“Understand something about me, babe. I don’t get jealous, but hearing that … I’ve never been so fucking jealous in my life.”
“But …”
He continues as though I didn't say a damn word, desperate to get it out before this moment passes or one of us fucks it up again. “After Charlie, you pulled away. The snarky comments stopped, the attitude started to fall away but I craved it. I