want my touch just as badly as you want the fight.”
I shake my head. “You’re wrong.”
His hand brushes over my cheek. “I’m right and you know it, but it’s okay, Jade. I like your kind of fucked up.”
“You’re wrong,” I repeat. “I don’t like you. I don’t even like you a little. You’re a fucking arrogant prick, you treat the people around you like shit, and you wouldn’t know the first thing about enjoying life. I despise you, Colton. You and I will never be on the same page.”
Colton leans in, ignoring the way the movement is bound to tear through his ribs. His lips brush gently over mine. “I couldn’t agree more. You’re trash and you’ll never be on the same page as me let alone the same level.”
“If I’m trash, then why do you keep covering for me? Why do you keep coming back for more, and why the hell can’t you keep your hands off me?”
He shakes his head, his eyes flaming with desire. “I’ve got no fucking clue.”
He holds my eyes for a moment longer and when it gets too much, I step out of his hold and grab the bandage. “Put your arms up.”
He does as he’s told and I make quick work of wrapping his ribs, desperately wanting to get out of here. This whole thing is getting to be too much for me to handle. There are so many lines being crossed but in reality, I have no idea where those lines even lay.
I like things black and white and right now, there’s a whole lot of grey. Hell, there’s a whole fucking rainbow in there and I have no idea what any of it means. I’ve never been so confused in my life. I have this growing need to touch him while at the same time, I want to punch him in the junk and watch him cry.
God, he’s a fucking ass and with each word he says, I only want to hate him more. Only, then he has to go and hit me with moments like this afternoon when he sat with me as I cleaned the wall, and the day before when he opened up about his father’s abuse. It doesn’t make sense and I’m starting to get whiplash.
There’s something building between us, something big and it’s scaring the absolute shit out of me.
I finish off Colton’s bandages and give him a forced smile. “You’re all good,” I tell him, already retreating to the bathroom door.
I push my way out and am just about safe when his voice rings out behind me. “Wait.”
Shit. So fucking close.
I stop in the doorway and look back at Colton, silently waiting. His eyes meet mine and there’s a strange vulnerability shining back at me. His gaze lingers on my new haircut before it drops to his bandaged knuckles. “You don’t need to worry about those guys hurting you again.”
“Guys?” I question. “You mean the dickheads from school?”
He nods and just like that, I know exactly where these cuts and bruises came from.
I step back into the bathroom, pulling the door closed behind me and feeling the tension rise in the room. “You beat them up? All five of them?”
He nods. “They hurt you. They took it too far.”
Emotion swells inside of me. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep or the confusion that’s been intensifying day by day, but one second I’m hesitating by the door, and the next I’m crossing the bathroom and curling my fingers around the back of his neck.
My lips press against his as his hands sweep around my waist, pulling me in tight against his exhausted body. He holds me tenderly almost as though I’m some kind of valued possession, the same way I’d imagine him to hold the love of his life, and despite knowing what a bad idea this is, I can’t bring myself to stop.
It’s not like the forceful, domineering kisses we’ve shared over the past week, this is something different, something more and it terrifies me.
Colton Carrington should not have that kind of hold over me but clearly, he does.
Not allowing myself to get drowned in his trap, I pull away, refusing to meet his eyes before scrambling through the door like a terrified little bitch.
Chapter 20
“And then … and then,” Milo howls, slapping a hand on the table as we wait for Mr. Hall to arrive at our Economics class. “Then he showed me the ring and made a point that he was going to