Page 197 of Swallow Your Sorries

When she disappears, Hale leans in and whispers. “You have to listen out for her heels. You’re in.”

And I’m out when it comes to Gant.

I’ve played my last card. So come what may. It has to be better than more weeks of delusional bliss, followed by months of heartbreak that I never thought possible in the first place. Because I don’t want to fall in love with Gant Auclair.

I refuse to.

Gant

“Shut the door!” Elle screams over the blasting hot water as I open the bathroom door. Steam wafts out in a massive plume, and the mirror and clear shower curtain are so damn foggy that I can barely make out her silhouette beneath the shower head.

“You’re letting out all the steam,” she says, spitting out water. “It’s freezing now.”

Girls must have the ability to live beneath the earth’s crust with the way they can withstand pure liquid fire raining down on their scalps and yet still claim to befreezing.

I oblige, shutting and locking the bathroom door before pulling the shower curtain open. When it drifts open, I swear Elle’s soul damn near lifts out of her body.

“Gant.”

“You wouldn’t answer my texts.”

Slowly, she backs up to the opposite side of the shower and gets blasted by the steaming stream in the process. Of course, she doesn’t flinch. Her skin’s burning red, but I know she barely notices it. I, however, cannot withstand third-degree burns. I stop short of the boiling water so that there’s a barrier between us that gives her a second of relief. But then I easily lean over and turn off the tap behind her back. My baby’s already shivering as I run my fingers down her spine, stopping just above her ass.

“Forseventy-ninehours.”

I pull her toward me easily, her toes squeaking against the porcelain tub as she tries to stop short. Still, her nipples tickle my stomach, and my cock that’s already hard jumps at the contact. I know something inside her jumps too, before settling and sliding right between her thighs that she’s desperately trying to keep clenched. But her eyes never lie. Despite the shock, and fear floating in them, they’re roving down my torso, drinking me in.

“Why have you been avoiding me?”

It takes her forever to breathe, to sigh in an attempt to steady her galloping heart and collect her words.

“I told you in the greenhouse that I’m tired.”

“Aren’t we supposed to rest together?”

Her still wide eyes slip from my face to a spot on the tiles beside me.

“No. Let’s not do this anymore.”

“Do what exactly?” But I already know because she can’t look me in the eye. My dove’s trying to fly away. Away from the brewing emotions between us. From the loss of the leading role in Cinderella.

From me.

It’s all too much for her. But that’s exactly why I’m here to ease the burden. She said no one is ever there to catch her, but I’m right here.

“The interlude.” Her eyes finally snap to mine as she finds enough courage to look at me. “It’s over. I know I never upheld my end of the bargain, but I don’t care. Just go back to hating me, bullying me. It’s easier and I can handle it.”

We both know she can. She’s been handling a lot behind the scenes.

“Easier than what?” I ask, stroking her hip and mentally counting each goosebump that peppers the small expanse. “Than falling in love with me?”

She’s taken aback one second, then she’s shaking her head but still, she can’t look at me when she says, “I’m not falling in love with you.”

Something in me flinches even as I remain still.

Silence drifts between us. I’m suddenly hyper-aware of every water droplet on the tiles and on the shower curtain beside us. I’m aware of the wetness beneath my feet and the little, almost imperceptible twitch of her left breast with each heartbeat.

“I don’t know what love is exactly. I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. But I think it’s one of those things that you’ve never had to experience before to know. You just do, and I know I’m at the start.”

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