“Why couldn’t you just crawl away and die? Why are you here now, making my life hell? Does it give you some kind of twisted kick to watch me?”
She had no idea what sort of kicks I’d been getting lately.
“Aren’t you glad I did?” I folded my arms over my chest and gave her the smirk that
I usually saved for the ring. Fuck, why did I do that? It was like I couldn’t control my body or my thoughts around her, so I reverted to asshole mode, grinning at her like she was my next victim. “If I hadn’t been here, your mate there would’ve done a number on you. I think a ‘thank you’ wouldn’t go amiss.”
She narrowed her eyes at me in disgust.
“Thank you? Are you joking? I curse the day you were ever born. I’m not thankful, glad, or in any way pleased to see you reappear out of the shadows you’ve been lurking in. I hate you.”
Her pretty little face was all screwed up as she spoke, making her look even hotter. Defiant Harper was a turn-on, but feisty Harper might just be my favourite.
“Not really liking myself much at the moment either,” I said, going for the humble approach. See, I could be humble when I tried, and I really wanted to try with her.
“Good. So leave. Why are you back here? No one wants you here.”
Like I’d ever leave her now.
“It’s my home. I belong here.” I took a step closer to her and she took a step back. It made me smile. I liked that I affected her.
“Thanks for the flowers, by the way.” She stared straight in my eyes and made my stomach flip.
What was up with that?
I hadn’t felt that before.
“Did you bother to leave any for my brother? You know, at his graveside.”
“I really don’t think now is the right time for us to talk about what happened that night, do you?” I didn’t want to get into a fight with her. Not when I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth and my mind out of the gutter.
“Why? You’ve dodged it for months. Is it still raw for you? Do you find it hard facing up to what a monster you are? Because that’s what you are. A monster.”
Oh baby, you have no idea.
“You’re hurt. You need to get some ice on that cheek,” I said, pointing to her face and forcing the conversation down a route I could cope with.
“Don’t pretend you care. You’ve destroyed my life, you’ve persecuted me for your own sick thrills, and now what? You’re going to stalk my every move until you push me over the edge?”
She thought she was goading me. But every word out of her mouth was doing the opposite. This angry talk fucking turned me on, and I needed to put a stop to it, now.
“I’m here to get my life back.”
She scoffed at my response. Little did she know that by me getting my life back, I was trying to give her hers back too. I wanted her to accept what had happened, move on, and become stronger, because of me. I wanted to have that power over her, but right then, she was the one holding all the power.
Why couldn’t I stop shaking and sweating?
“And you couldn’t do that somewhere else? Away from me and my family? You just had to come back here.”
“My family is here too,” I snapped.
“You have no family. What did you think you’d achieve by coming back here? No one wants you.”
That hurt. But I swallowed my initial response down and took a breath to gather my senses.
“I’m not looking for your forgiveness.”
“Good, because you’ll never have it.” She gritted her teeth, standing taller.