Page 96 of Broken

“About us, of course.”

Not again.I groaned in frustration. He just didn’t make sense. Why couldn’t he leave me alone? “I don’t understand you, Zane. We’ve been broken up for months. You’ve gone out with other girls. I know you’vesleptwith some even if you won’t date them. You could have anyone. So why do you keep buggingme? You know I’m pregnant now. I’m with Tucker. Even if you didn’t want to accept it before,thatshould be the end of it.”

He groaned, his face contorting with a grimace. “Don’t say that.”

What? The truth?But I stared at him, studying him now with his tone. Was I crazy? Or did it sound like he was almost begging?

“Why not?” I asked, softening my voice. It wasn’t that I thought there was any chance for us, but if I could maybe at leastunderstandhim, I could find a way for this headache to end.

He reached out, tucking that same lock of hair behind my ear, and I swallowed, forcing myself not to move. There was so much tension in the air between us. “Because I want you. Ineedyou,” he admitted, sounding like it honestly pained him to say it. “Or did you forget that you’re my light in the darkness?”

“That you intended to beat the second I wouldn’t put out. We’ve been through this before, Zane. If you actually wanted me, you wouldn’t have cheated and you wouldn’t have touched me. Not like that. All youreallycared about was getting some.”

He shook his head, desperation in the dark inky depths of his eyes. “No, I mean, yes. A small part of it may have started out that way. I was attracted to you.Pulledto you like I’ve never been to any other girl before. But the more I got to know you, the more Iwantedyou, and not in the way you just meant. I messed up, but I know that now. I’ll be better this time.”

This time?Does he really still think there’s a chance?Why couldn’t I get through to him?

“I just…I don’t know. You hurt me. Not just my body but my heart. You broke my trust. I don’t give it that easily, so what’s so different about you now that makes you think I should give you a second chance?”

Not that I ever would, but I was humoring him for now. Biding my time until someone came or he’d let me leave. Praying either came quickly.

Zane sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. I just know my world’s not right without you by my side. There’s just something about you. You’re shy and stubborn and full of fire when you’re angry. You don’t put up with my shit, and you calm my demons when they try to run wild. You can turn any guy’s head, and when youdance? Fuck.” He scraped a hand over his jaw. “But it’s the chemistry betweenusthat leaves me reeling.” He gestured between us. “Youleave me reeling. I hadn’t realized how much you meant to me, how deep it all went until I lost you. I’dneededyou that time while you were gone, when I asked younotto go, and that night that everything went down wasrough. I wasn’t in a good place, but notonetime have you ever thought there might have been more to it.”

“So that makes it okay for you to smack someone around?!” I snapped, heat claiming my cheeks. He’d never even once said he was sorry. It was only about him.

He grabbed my shoulders, his strong fingers gripping me tightly but not actually causing pain. “Don’t you think I regret that?!” His face was pained, his voice filled with ferocity. Not at me but at himself. Even with that recognition, his severity still caused me to cringe. He lowered his head, his eyes still fixed with mine, so much swirling in their depths. But I was past falling for his charm.

“I guess you’ll just have to live with that regret,” I spat. “I’m with Tucker. IloveTucker. I’m having hisbaby, Zane. I. Don’t. Want. You.”

“But you want Tucker?” He scoffed in angered disbelief. “Half the time we were together you barely spoke.”

I shook my head at the exaggeration. “We had a rough patch, yeah, but that doesn’t mean he’s not worth choosing. He’s been there for me througheverything. He’smyeverything. And he didn’t screw around behind my back! Don’t forget he also saved me. Fromyou.And we knew exactly what we were doing after he kicked you out that night!”

Several expressions flickered across Zane’s face: shock, pain, anger, betrayal. He looked down at my stomach and then up to my furious gaze.

“So, you deny me and then crawl into bed with your pathetic best friend?” he said in whispered disgust. “Like I said before…at least I know it’s not mine.” He paused, his tone turning to one of intrigue. “But, somehow, I don’t care. I still want you.” He ran his fingers through my hair past my shoulders, wonderment mixed with curiosity crossing his face. “Makes me want to find out what else you’d be willing to do if I get you worked up. I’d wait until after you popped that out, though.” He glared at my middle and then gripped my neck, the changes in his mood throwing my nerves in a loop, not knowing what to expect next. Disgust filled me as he stroked along my neck with his thumb in a gentle caress.

No one but Tucker was allowed to touch me that way.

Why hadn’t Annie felt anything yet?

I raised my hand from my stomach to smack him away, but he was too fast. Catching my wrist, he yanked my arm down by his side while his other hand pressed at the center of my back, pinning my free arm against me. He pulled me against his hard frame with so much force that I would’ve stumbled if he hadn’t been holding onto me so tightly.

Fear flared through me, and like a shot, I was sent back, sensations, smells, sounds, everything from my nights oftriggers swirling through me. It was the baby that brought me back with a harsh kick, and I gasped, locked in Zane’s stare, his eyes so intense that I couldn’t have screamed if I tried. Fear gripped my throat too tightly.

“That’sthe anger and sass that gets to me,” he rasped, his voice as intense as his gaze. I tried to respond, but his lips crushed against mine so fast I barely saw it coming.

I struggled against him, my anger only climbing at how defenseless I felt with him again. Fueling the command of Zane’s lips against mine. The night he’d last tried to force me came back like a fresh wave, triggering my tears. I fought desperately to control them, not wanting Zane to see how weak he made me feel, but the seconds ticked by like hours.

I screamed for Annie in my head, the traitorous tears close to flowing at will, and I jolted when Zane’s grip was suddenly torn from my frame.

He struggled to hold on, reluctant to let go, and I stumbled forward with his pull as his fingers gripped my clothes, barely managing to balance myself. I looked up just in time to see Tucker pull back his arm to strike Zane in the nose with his tightly clenched fist.

“I warned you not to fucking touch her!” His arm retracted as Zane fell backward among the long, metal benches of the stands, stunned at the unexpected blow. I gripped the back of Tucker’s shirt as he pulled me behind him in fierce protection.

Zane stood back up, blood seeping rapidly from his nose, dripping down from his jaw and onto his leather jacket in a deep, crimson red. The stain of the blood should have been enough to hold my gaze, but something about his eyes caught my attention as he lunged for Tucker. There was so much fury in his glare, so powerful that in my escalating fear I took a small, involuntary step backward.

Almost instantly, panic struck my chest, zipping through my entire body as I felt the back of my shoe drop past the open edge of the step I was standing on. Only my toes were temporarily secure on the metal, but my weight was leaning on the heel that had missed the step.

---