The anger was still there.

I closed the door and moved toward her. Sitting within touching distance, I expected her to lash out, but she didn’t.

“You’re going to play nice.”

“Fuck you, Caleb.”

I smiled. “Good to know you’re not giving in.”

She pressed her lips together.

“You certainly hurt those two girls. They were just doing their job.”

She looked at me. “Are they okay?”

“They’ll live. I’ll make sure to give them a bonus for dealing with you.”

“Aren’t you nice.”

“I’m the best.” When I held up the sandwich for her to eat, she shook her head. “You’ve got to eat something. You’ve lost too much weight and I don’t like it.”

“Why didn’t you just leave me there?”

“Not going to happen. You knew we were coming for you.”

“Bullshit. I didn’t know you were coming for me. You bargained my life, all of you did.”

“To save you.”

She took a deep breath.

“If you try to starve yourself, that’s fine. I don’t mind if you make this difficult. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you healthy. You know that, so why don’t you cut the crap and save us both the hassle?”

“I don’t like you.”

“Yeah, you do. It’s why you’re behaving this way. Don’t worry. I won’t hold it against you.” I waited, as did she, but like I knew she would, she took a bite of the sandwich. “See, not so bad.”

“What did you do to Ashley?” she asked after chewing and swallowing.

“You’re going to have to eat the whole sandwich before I tell you a thing.”

“I don’t like this, Caleb. You think I don’t know how this works? I saw Earl. I talked to him. He’s part of this,” she said.

Fuck. I didn’t want to tell her any of the details too soon, but she knew everything about our life. She’d been part of it and lived it herself.

“Eat.”

“Damn it, Caleb.”

“Eat. That’s all you’re going to get from me.”

“This isn’t fair.”

“No, you know what isn’t fair, it’s living your life for the past seven years wondering about you, wanting you, craving you, but not being able to do a damn thing about it because of what your parents threatened. You think none of us wanted you? You think we didn’t regret trying to save you?” I needed her to understand.

She finished chewing her next mouthful of food. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Emily!”

“No, don’t Emily me. You talk about how bad it has been for you, what about me? I was the one whose life was in the balance. Me and Ashley.” She stopped, pressing her lips together. “You know I’ve hated you all for so long. I even went through a stage of wishing I hadn’t saved Gael. None of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have gotten me to love you, or to care—”

I silenced the rest of her tirade with a kiss. She froze beneath my touch, not making a sound, not even giving me a chance. I wasn’t going to give up easily. She wanted my kisses, I just knew it.

If Emily no longer wanted me, us, she would have moved on already. There would already be a man waiting in the wings, but there wasn’t. She was alone and that told me she’d been waiting a long time, pinning for me, for us.

The instant she responded felt glorious. Her tongue traced against mine. From a dull kiss, it turned into a fire I didn’t want to extinguish. She was so fucking good, so hot, so everything. I couldn’t get enough of her.

Suddenly, she jerked back. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“About you hating us?” I chuckled when she didn’t even nod or give me anything else. “I’m used to people hating us. You can hate me because I know right now your pussy is soaking wet and probably still has traces of Gael’s cum inside you. You want us and for now, that’s fine with me.” I picked up the other half of the sandwich and offered it to her. “You can keep being stubborn all you want. Eventually, you’ll wear yourself out, and it will be up to us to pick up the pieces. It’s your decision.”

She still glared at me but took the sandwich and began to eat. I didn’t like binding her hands up, but for now, it was going to have to be a necessity.

“What did you do to Ashley?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me, Caleb.”

I didn’t answer her right away. She was everything I ever wanted and now that I had her, I didn’t want to give her up. Even if Earl hadn’t come through, I was going to move heaven and earth to make sure she could stay part of us.

Chapter Five

Emily

Before Caleb left me alone last night, he gave me enough room to be able to sleep. He hadn’t allowed me total freedom and now as I stood, dancing around the bed, I was so fucking pissed.

Tags: Sam Crescent Crude Hill High Romance
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