“What happened to you?”
Ignoring his question, I go in for the kill, releasing all the humiliation and hurt I feel.
“I need a man who is satisfied with what I have to offer, not what every woman who walks past him has to offer.” He tries to talk, but I cut him off. “I am not one of those girls who is waiting for your attention, who feels like it’s my lucky day that Zevin fucking Deluca picked me to warm his bed.”
“Just let me the fuck in so we can talk.” His tone is angry and harsh. He is always mad, or brooding. A piece of me used to like that about him, but now I find it arrogant.
“You know, we have a saying where I work. The citizens are the sheep, the criminals are the wolves, and we law enforcement are the sheep dogs.” I shake my head. “I got too close to the wolf and got bit.”
I slam the window, ending the conversation. Turning, I climb into bed and curl in on myself.
“Open up!” He pounds on my front door, my heart seizing that he might burst through it any minute.
Everything stills for a minute before he slaps the door one last time, his boots thudding on the porch as he walks away.
***
Two days go by, and I hear nothing from Zeek. It hurts, but not like you think it hurts. The fact that I was so naive to think Zeek wouldn’t screw around haunts me. The fact that his smooth words and the way our bodies spoke to one another in bed made me forget who I was really dealing with.
I pull into my driveway at the end of a long shift and spot Zeek sitting on my front porch. I’m surprised.
Opening the garage door, I quickly pull in and click the button to close it, hoping it closes before he has a chance to get up and come inside.
No such luck.
My car door is ripped open, my arm gripped roughly.
“What the hell?”
He shoves me against the car, his face right in mine.
“I tried to be nice. I tried to do it your way.”
“Nice? You call dry-humping a bunch of girls right before coming to see me nice?” I laugh in his face.
“Don’t you get it? I fucking came here, Jillian. I didn’t sleep with those girls. This…” He pulls away, running his hands through his hair as if he’s annoyed. Dark strands slip through his fingers like silk. I love it when he does that.
“It’s fucked. Whatever we are doing is fucked. We’re stupid, and the way you make me feel is—” he shakes his head.
“I don’t want to hear it,” I spit out. Slamming the car door, I head inside. I try to close the door and lock it but he shoves it open, his face tight with irritation.
“You’re going to let me talk.”
“No, I’m not. I don’t need to hear your lies. I was stupid once, I won’t be again.”
I head into my room to change and he follows.
“Stop walking away from me.” He’s getting angrier. Good, I want him angry. I want to hurt him.
He growls, and before I can turn around to look at him, I’m lifted into the air and thrown on the bed.
“What do you want to hear? What will make you shut your mouth and open your pretty little ears?”
I sit upright, pushing him off me.
“Yes, I wanted to fuck those girls. I wanted to fuck them both at the same time, and then come over here and fuck you.”
Biting my lip, I slap him across the face. His head whips to the side, his eyes closed.
“Get the fuck out,” I breathe heavily.
Shoving him out of my way, I try to make my way off the bed but am stopped short, his hand gripping my upper arm.
He slams me back on the bed, grabs me by the ankle and pulls it to the bed post.
Reaching forward, he grabs the cuffs from my duty belt and hooks my ankle to the bed.
Disbelief floods my face. I pull at the cuffs, and they bite into my flesh.
Quickly, I open the pouch to my keys, but he grabs them before I can.
“Let me go, Zeek!”
“I tried to be nice, but you had to fucking push me.” He crawls on the bed, lowering me to the mattress, both of his fists on either side of me.
“You think you have everything figured out. That you and I being together is great and some fairytale with a happy ending. Well, wake the fuck up, princess. You and I are fucking stupid for even talking to each other, let alone screwing. Now you’re in my goddamn head, which makes it even worse.”
I don’t respond, just stare at the wall.
“None of this makes sense. It’s driving me mad trying to figure out why I am so attracted to you. Why you, out of all the women I’ve been with, have me by the balls.”
He grabs my chin, making me look at him.
“I like fucking women. That kind of control makes me feel…” He stops, his eyes digging deep into mine. “But when I was with you the other night, you unlocked something I didn’t think I was capable of, and it scared the shit out of me.”
“And what was that?” I breathe heavily, my nostrils flaring with every harsh breath.
“Feeling. I felt alive. I felt human.”
He pushes himself off the bed and rubs at the back of his neck.
“You walk away from me again, you’ll get worse than bit, Rookie,” he threatens before walking out of the room.