I shoved open the door to my room and changed quickly into a pair of sweatpants and an old ratty t-shirt with the Willow Creek logo on it. I figured if I was going to have to endure a lengthy conversation with my parents I might as well get comfortable.
The door burst open behind me as I tugged the shirt down over my stomach, and I popped my head up to see Ari standing in the doorway of my room, red-faced like she’d just run up the stairs.
“That’s it.” She slammed her newly-acquired sketchbook down on the ground, and pencils went tumbling out of their package. I watched as one lone pencil rolled under my bed.
“What’s it?” I asked, trying to play dumb.
“You. I have had it with you.”
I snorted, amused by her reaction.
“I have had it with your hot and cold attitude,” she continued on, striding up to me and standing so close to me that I had to rear my head back to actually see her. “You’re giving me whiplash, and I’m sick of it. I won’t sit back and take it anymore. I’m a human being, Liam. Treat me with some respect. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask for you to be nice to me.” Her anger had waned, but it began to build rapidly again. Her eyes flared with heat, and I was surprised the surface of my skin hadn’t caught on fire.
“If you want to ignore me and never speak to me, that’s fine,” she raised her hands, pursing her lips, “or if you want to actually talk to me and be nice, that’s cool too. But it can’t be both.” She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath before speaking again in a calmer tone. “I’ve dealt with people like you before, the back and forth, and I got away so I’d never have to deal with it again. I’m not going to be here forever. Another month, and I’m gone, got it? So let’s just make this month bearable.”
I stared at her, unable to look away.
I was completely fascinated by that girl.
At first glance, she appeared to be quiet and meek, but that was so far from the truth.
She had a fire in her.
My Tiger.
My perfect fucking match.
I shouldn’t have done it, but I lost all control over myself as I reached out and placed both hands on her cheeks. I pulled her to me and lowered my head down to her lips. After what happened the first time we kissed I shouldn’t have done it, but I had to. She gasped in surprise, and my mouth swallowed the sound.
It was wrong of me to take what wasn’t mine, but I was powerless when it came to Ari. My anger was the only weapon I had against her, and she was stripping it away from me bit by bit, because it was impossible to be mad at someone like her.
Stop fighting, Liam. Stop fucking fighting this.
Don’t listen. Remember what happened last time?
My heart was waging a very real war with my mind, and I was beginning to see that my heart was going to win the battle. The heart is always stronger than the mind, even if the mind is the wiser of the two.
She stretched up on her toes, her fingers fisting in the short hairs on the back of my neck. I growled in response, my hands falling to her waist. My fingertips pressed into her skin, and she arched up into me, pressing her breasts into my chest.
I backed her up until she was against the wall and lifted her legs, my hands settling on her bare thighs. Her skin was so smooth and warm.
“Liam,” she panted against my mouth, and my name had never sounded better.
I nipped at her chin and kissed my way down her neck and back up, before capturing her plump, pink lips once more. Her hands fell to my chest, the palm of her right hand over my heart where it beat embarrassingly fast.
I’d loved once.
But I’d never felt so unwound before, so completely out of control like I was in a free fall.
My tongue tangled with hers, and I wanted nothing more than to lay her down on my bed, strip off our clothes, and fuck her until we both collapsed.
I wouldn’t do it, but damn it I wanted to.
“I want to hate you,” I murmured against her lips. “It would make things so much easier.” I kissed her deeply again then, pressing my lips firmly to hers before breaking away and lowering her legs to the ground.
She stood there, stunned, with wide, blue eyes. She raised a shaky hand to her lips and looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time, as if she suddenly understood everything I hadn’t said.
Without a word, I left her standing in my room and went downstairs to join my parents.