Chapter Twenty-Four
Tess
“Are you not talking to me?”
I grabbed a cup from the cabinet and filled it with coffee.
“Tess,” Zag called.
I splashed a glug of creamer into the cup and set it next to my plate.
Ten minutes ago, I had woken up from my third night in a row from Zag sleeping in my bed, but there was still a pillow wall between us. As soon as we got into bed, he wouldn’t touch me.
Today I was done.
If Zag thought he could control everything we did without me having any say over it, then I was going to not say anything.
At all.
Zag was at the stove scrambling eggs, and I was getting madder and madder.
“Can you get the ketchup out?” he asked.
I grabbed the creamer and put it back in the fridge. I grabbed the ketchup and set it on the table.
“Is that how it’s going to be?” he asked. “You’re not going to talk to me, but you’re going to listen.”
I growled and curled my lip.
“And growl.”
I flopped down in the chair in front of my plate and folded my arms over my chest. Zag wasn’t going to get one word from me until he started listening to me.
He couldn’t really listen to me if I wasn’t talking to him, but he had heard everything I said over the past three days. It didn’t matter that I was a virgin. I could still have a say on when I wanted to have sex for the first time.
Hell, I’m sure most men would jump at the chance to someone’s first.
I think.
Zag moved to the table and spooned a pile of eggs onto my plate.
I grabbed my fork and started eating without looking up at him.
He watched me closely once he sat down and squirted ketchup on his eggs.
I scrunched up my nose at his plate but didn’t tell him how gross I thought it was that he ate ketchup on his eggs.
I wanted to tell him, though. Maybe someday I could once he stopped torturing me.
“Do you have a lot of work today?” He waited for a beat as if I had actually said something. “If you don’t, I thought maybe we could go for a ride on the bike.”
I didn’t have that much work today, but I wouldn’t tell him that. Nope.
“Explore Falls City a bit? I haven’t really been here for a few years.”
He could go exploring himself if he wanted. I wasn’t going with him. His body was the only exploring I wanted to do.
“There is this ice cream place on the corner of ninth and Rose Bush that I used to go to.”
I could feel his eyes on me. He was not going to get me talking even if he bribed me with ice cream.
“The cookies and cream I had there was pretty damn good. I think they make all the ice cream by hand.”
He will not get me with ice cream. I was stronger than that.
“I went there with a few girls, but I can’t remember what they had.”
My hand froze mid-air, and my fork clattered to the table. I pushed my plate away and shot up from the table.
“Tess,” Zag called.
I rolled my eyes and stepped away from the table.
Zag stood and reached for my arm.
I pulled it away and turned my back to him.
He was not going to withhold sex from me and then talk about taking other women to get ice cream.
I only made it three steps before his arms were around my waist, and he pulled my back to his chest. “Where are you going, babe?” he whispered into my ear.
I closed my eyes and tried not to yell at him.
“What’s wrong?” His arm stayed around my waist while his other hand moved to rub my thigh. “You don’t want to hear about all of the ice creams they have?”
He knew I didn’t care about the ice cream if he was going to talk about all of the women he took there.
He kissed my neck, and I could feel him smile. “I think Meg got some green shit, my mom and her sister, Gwen, got chocolate chip or something, and then Cyn got vanilla.”
You have got to be kidding me.
I slowly turned in his arms and glared at Zag.
He went there with his mom and aunts.
“I think I was seventeen or something. Zig was there, too. I can’t remember what he had, though.” He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear. “
“I hate you,” I whispered.
He chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, I think you feel the exact opposite, babe.”
In this moment, I hated Zag.