Page 66 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

I could count the number of times he talked to me on one hand. Other than his Friday threat, he told me to get the fuck out of his way in the hall, then to shut up – by the way I wasn’t talking to him at the time – and then there was the ‘remember this when you think of Atlee’ crap.

Great, now I could feel his jizz on my skin again.

“Gio Mancini is not someone you should be interested in, Nova. He’s the enemy.”

Seriously? “I know.”

Did he think I forgot?

“Nova,” Memphis put his hand on my shoulder when I moved to step away. “I wouldn’t judge you if you were.”

Why not? I’d judge myself.

“I’m not interested in Gio, Memphis.”

“But you agreed to marry him?”

Really? “I had to do something.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

Ignoring his comment, I lifted my foot to walk away. I was not having this argument with him again.

“Unless you wanted to.”

I stopped midstride. What was that supposed to mean? “Do you think I wanted this?”

“Do you?”

Was he serious right now?

“You’re fucking kidding, right?”

“I don’t know.” Memphis shrugged. “It’s not like you tell me anything anymore.”

His words tore deep down into my soul. I hated hiding things from him. every time I opened my mouth and lied to him, it killed me a little more. Memphis was the one person I could always talk to, but now there was this wall between us. A bridge that I couldn’t cross without putting him in danger, and letting him know the truth. Part of me enjoyed the forceful, rough things Gio did.

“I tell you stuff.”

“Not like you used to.”

I didn’t have an argument for that one, because he was right.

Memphis let out an exasperated breath. “I just want to help you, Nova.”

“You can’t.” No one could.

“You don’t have to do this alone.”

Yes I did.

“Alright,” Memphis sighed when I didn’t respond. “Just tell me one thing, it will help me sleep better at night… Did you like it when he kissed you?”

Why would knowing that help him sleep better? If I said no, then when Gio crossed that line it would be…

That’s when I noticed the spark in his eye. Memphis didn’t want me to say no. He wanted me to like it, because then he could pretend that this whole fucked up situation was a real relationship, and I was happy. He needed to know that I’d be okay.

“Yes,” I whispered. “I liked it.”

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