Page 71 of Corrupt Me

While I look at her tempting mouth and half-lidded eyes, it’s like there is a damn clock ticking toward my doom. I can withstand pretty much anything but her allure.

I am utterly screwed.

She takes a step back, removing herself from my proximity. I follow her, needing to make sure she’s safe. While it’s not a lie, it’s not the complete truth either. I’m incapable of not going after her.

She scowls, her tone biting. “I need a moment.”

I can’t believe it took me so long to figure him out. He clings to control with all his might, but once in a while, I loosen his hold. And when I do, things happen—like him kissing me, taking my virginity, and sleeping in my bed.

But I can’t keep doing that. Whenever it gets too much for him, he indulges and then retreats, refilling his well of control. It’s a cycle—on and on until I’ll end up walking straight through insanity’s door. Having figured that out makes me feel incrementally better.

I need to get over him. I have no chance of breaking through his firewall. He fights me off like I’m a virus threatening his system. He strives for control, and while I enjoy shaking him a bit, that’s not what I desire. I want him to give in because he chooses to, but that will never happen. Whenever I’m close to breaching the walls he hides behind, he says the most preposterous things.

There has to be something between us. I refuse to believe he feels nothing for me. It’s in the small things, like obsessively ensuring I’m safe. Or maybe I’m just seeing things because I crave him so much.

It’s so cruel—so unbearably cruel—to dangle yet another thing I long for just out of reach. Tears sting my eyes as I round the corner of the cabin, but the sound of a twig snapping nearby jolts me out of my thoughts. Quickly, I swipe at my cheeks with the back of my hands.

I turn toward the noise and see Blake.

He doesn’t say a word. Instead, he steps forward and pulls me to his side, and I sigh in his embrace.

He places a kiss on the top of my head. “I have you. I will always have you, Bailey.”

I know he means it. While I’d do anything for my friends, I’d always go a little further for him—the brother I never had.

“Do you want me to make him disappear?” he asks, his voice low.

I chuckle. “Mia would never forgive you.”

“You wouldn’t tell, would you?” He wiggles his brows, and I giggle.

“I’m happy for you, Blake.”

“Thank you. I never thought I would be.”

“You deserve it.”

Mia calls for him, and he grins. “I’m teaching her how to snowboard.”

“Yeah, bring her to the other side,” I say as he walks away.

My friends form a circle a few feet away in front of the cabins, and there’s a heated discussion about today’s plans.

“Can’t we just chill?” Celine asks Abi in a hopeful tone, but knowing Abi, she probably made a schedule for every hour of our vacation.

“Come on, princess. We can relax in the hot tub,” Dane tries, rolling his bottom lip through his teeth.

“Today could be a free day, and tomorrow, we’ll do whatever you have planned,” Kaden says, and she gives in with a nod.

“What are your plans?” Mia asks.

I poke my thumb toward the forest. “Going on a short hike.”

When everyone retreats to their cabins for the rest of the afternoon, Hunter lingers behind, following me through a cluster of large trees.

“I meant alone.”

“Can’t do that, kitten,” he says to my back.

---