I quickly stood up, not liking the way he towered over me, but even on my feet, he still made me feel small… and helpless. The door swung close, and I waited a beat, hoping he would be gone when I opened it. I didn’t get the chance. The door burst open, and he swaggered in, but the look on his face was anything but casual.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I’m sorry. I thought this was a free country.”
He scrubbed his hand down his face. “Tell me.”
“Well, for obvious reasons… I had to pee.”
“And you couldn’t use the bathroom closer to your class?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall. To him, I may have appeared casual, but I was anything but. I needed to keep my legs from giving out. I was right back at square one. We hadn’t been this close since he woke up in the hospital and humiliated me for the last time.
I looked at his chest and thought about the wound that was still very much fresh. I wasn’t even sure he should be in school. I was more than relieved the rumors weren’t true and Keiran hadn’t played while wounded.
“It was out of order. Anything else you would like to know?”
“Stop pushing me, Monroe.”
“Big surprise—I’m Monroe again, and I’m not pushing you. You are the one cornering me in the bathroom. Why are you out class, anyway?”
“I keep my promises.”
“What the hell does that even mean? What does it have to do with me?”
“Watch your mouth.”
I dropped my casual stance and stood up straight. “Or what?”
His arm shot in between my legs and lifted me up the wall bringing me to his level. I could feel his arm pressing against my center as my legs straggled his arm and could do nothing but wrap my legs around him to keep from falling. He leaned in and whispered, “Or I’ll shut you up.” A crooked smile appeared on his daring face. “Or at least I’ll keep you from talking.”
“Put me down,” I ordered. When he didn’t move, I tried another tactic. “You’ll open your stitches.”
I could see a sweat forming on his forehead and knew he had to be in pain, but he was intent on proving a point.
Well, so was I.
“Are you afraid, Lake?
“Why would I be afraid of you? I’ve learned all your tricks, and I’m no longer impressed.”
“But I think you are. Scratch that…” He ran his teeth down my neck. “I know you are.”
“There’s nothing left between us to make me afraid.” He lifted his lips from my neck so I could see the storm brewing within the depths of his eyes.
“You’re afraid you’ll want it, and you’re afraid you’ll miss it.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
“I’m not afraid of that,” I pressed. “I’m afraid you’ll walk away again. And you will. It’s what cowards do. But you want to know what I do know?” He dropped my legs and stepped back, but it was too late. I wouldn’t back down.
No mercy.
He taught me that.
“I know you were afraid of me, too.”
The room disappeared into a black abyss much like my mood.
“For ten years, you controlled me, hated me, tortured me.”
I clocked every misstep, hitch, and falter as I advanced on his retreat.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
I learned something in what might have been our darkest hour…
“But I was the one who actually held all the power.”
My fearless predator…
“And you knew.”
Was nothing more…
“So what scared you more?”
Than a wounded…
“That you weren’t truly in control?”
Cornered…
“Or that you had no clue of what I could mean to you?”
Animal.
“You can hide behind your anger and use your past as a shield, but you can never pretend I didn’t know you. You opened the door enough for me to see. I know you, Keiran, but do you really know me?”
Confliction.
That’s what I saw in his eyes. It reminded me of something important Keenan once told me:
“I’m afraid for him because every day, he has to fight the person he is to be the person he wants to be.”
“What happens if he loses?”
“People get hurt.”
“What makes you think I want to know you? I may not hate you, but you’re still nothing to me. Don’t make the mistake of thinking otherwise.”