Page 85 of Corrupt Me

“I would say he’s more territorial.” Nick chuckles as he drinks his beer.

I take my mug of hot chocolate and storm outside. Did I want to make Hunter jealous with the show I put on back there? Probably, so he can feel a smidgen of what I must endure with him all the time. I inhale deeply once outside, trying to calm the emotional storm wracking my insides.

“What was that?” he asks me, sounding contrite.

“I was having a conversation.”

“Are you doing this shit on purpose, Bailey?”

I can’t answer him because the honest answer would be yes, even though I don’t want to. And it’s not like he did anything wrong.

Shame pokes at my ribs, and I lower my head, kicking at the snow. But I’m entitled to my feelings, and I shouldn’t have to apologize for them.

My eyes travel across the blue sky to the white slopes. This is paradise on earth, but my mind is trapped in limbo.

Unrequited love sucks.

Hunter sucks even worse.

“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t really having a conversation. I have needs now.”

“Tell me again about your fucking needs someone else might take care of, and he won’t live to tell about it.”

“What is your problemnow? This wholeI want you, but I don’t want youthing is getting tiring. I am not your plaything.”

That shuts him up. I place the still-full mug on the nearest table, grab my board, and dart into the next gondola. The doors slide closed before he can get in, and I cross my arms, jutting my chin out. He slams his fists on the doors, trying to open them. We stare each other down until the lift moves up to the second-highest peak.

There are few people here, but I need that adrenaline spike to focus on something else. The higher elevation propels me faster down the slope. I rotate my hips, sliding from one curve to the next seamlessly. Everything whooshes around me as I speed down the hill, but it’s like my brain has one direction—him.

The run passes by too fast and does nothing to alleviate my inner anguish. Sighing, I pick up my board and head back to where I left him.

The “I need a bit of time to clear my head” mission clearly failed. Hunter’s still on my mind. What’s even worse is he is perched at an outside table with a drink in front of him. Two seconds later, a girl sashays over to him. The corners of his lips arch, but the smile never reaches his eyes. It’s that smile, almost like an automatic process he always uses, that means nothing.

Inhaling deeply, I take a second to calm down, not wanting to get locked up for homicide. The more she shifts toward him, the more he slides in the opposite direction. It’s done so smoothly and effortlessly that I barely catch it. If I think on it, I have never seen him allow any girl to get too near him.

I can’t stay away. Not only does jealousy take the reins, but also the need to protect him from whatever makes him uncomfortable.

I march in his direction and plop down on his lap. I watch with pleasure as the girl scurries away without a word. Now that I have made my point, I move to stand up, but Hunter’s arm snakes around my waist.

“Stay here. It’s your place, isn’t it, especially after that fucking entrance?”

“Hunter, you drive me crazy.”

“The feeling is bloody mutual, kitten.”

He kisses that spot on my neck and says, “Don’t run from me again.”

But running to you comes with heartbreak…

“I didn’t run away. I just needed a few minutes to myself.”

“I almost lost my shit because I couldn’t reach you.” He sounds so pained that I swallow my selfishness. It already hurts, and I still have him. But when I don’t, it will be agonizing.

“We’re not here to sunbathe. Hit the slopes, you two,” Kaden says before he takes off again, conquering the mountain with Celine right next to him.

“I swear that guy lives to give orders,” Hunter mumbles.

“It must come naturally to the firstborn in the Family.”

---