I stepped forward and reached out a hand, expecting him to recoil from my touch, but instead, he leaned into me. I traced the scarred flesh beneath my fingertips; he had been burned, badly.
“I don’t know if you knew this, but I didn’t just have one sister, but two, both younger. One is an undercover detective and the other was a rising beauty queen, literally. She was on her way to becoming Miss USA. The day before she was supposed to leave for the pageant, her friends threw her a party. She and my sister were on their way home when she swerved off the road to avoid a deer. Her car flipped and rolled into a ravine. I wasn’t far behind them in my car so when I saw the accident, I tried to help.
“The car caught on fire, but I knew Braylen was dead. Brooklyn, on the other hand, was still alive. It took me forever to get her out, and just as I did, the car burst into flames. I got most of the damage shielding Brooklyn, but she too was burned. For years after that, my parents blamed me for Braylen’s death. They were angry with me for not getting her out.”
“But you couldn’t. You said it yourself, she was already dead. It makes sense you would choose Brooklyn.”
He laughed, but it wasn’t meant to be humorous. “Braylen was their favorite. They didn’t want to accept she was gone.”
“Are they still mad at you?”
Turning around, he smiled down at me. “You’re cheating. That’s another question.”
“It’s actually a part of the original one,” I countered.
“Well then, no, they’re not mad at me anymore. It took them a while, but they came around.”
“I’m glad. I bet that wasn’t easy.”
He set two more cards down and shook his head. “It wasn’t. But now it’s my turn.” This time, he dropped the deck of cards onto the table and brushed his thumb across my lips. “If I tried to kiss you now, would you let me?”
He tilted my chin up, bringing his lips close to mine. I could feel his breath and see the raw heat in his eyes. All I had to do was give him the answer and seal my fate. “I would say yes, but I can’t. Not until I get one final answer from you.”
“Which is?”
“Last night, when you left and didn’t come back until dawn, did you sleep with anyone?”
He stared at me and then dread settled into the pit of my stomach when he nodded. “I did,” he answered.
Anger boiled in my veins, and I pushed him away as hard as I could. “You son of a bitch. Get the hell away from me.”
“Aylee, let me finish. It wasn’t like that.” He wrapped his arms around my waist to hold me in place, but I elbowed him in the side.
“Let me go!”
He growled in pain and even more so when I elbowed him again and rushed toward the door. The thought of him being with another woman made me furious. I was even more disgusted that he wanted to have sex with me the day after. “Dammit, Aylee, stop!” he shouted.
My hand touched the knob and before I could turn it, he grabbed me around the shoulders and tackled me to the floor. I tried to fight him off, but he held my wrists above my head, his body pressing into mine. “Let me up or I swear to God I’m going to cut off your balls and make you eat them.”
“Now that I have your attention, you can listen to what I have to fucking say.” I turned my head, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing I was hurt. “Look at me, Aylee,” he commanded.
“Fuck you.”
Tightening his hold, he held my wrists with one hand and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. “My God you have a temper. One way or another, you’re going to listen to me. I did not fuck another girl. I slept with someone, but I didn’t fuck her.”
“You expect me to believe that?” I spat.
His mouth pulled back into a smile and he moved closer, lips almost touching mine. “You need to believe it, considering the fact I slept next to you. I’m actually insulted you don’t remember.”
Eyes wide, I gasped, my body relaxing beneath his. I thought I dreamt about him in my bed, but I was wrong. Or maybe I subconsciously knew all along.