Page 55 of Give Me Love

I dart my eyes over to her, downshifting as I come to a stop sign.

“You know what, screw this.”

I come to a stop and she swings open her door.

“What the hell are you doing?”

She slams the door shut and takes off walking down the road in the pouring rain with a beer in her hand.

“Jesus,” I say, setting my beer in the cup holder and turning my flashers on before jumping out of the car.

I see her chug the beer before she tosses it with what seems like all her force. She’s pissed and cute as hell.

“Kathrine,” I call after her.

“Leave me alone,” she fires back.

“This is so stupid. It’s flooding.” My shoes are getting soaked, for fuck’s sake. “Stop walking away from me,” I say.

“This friendship is over. It’s a pain in the ass,” she says.

“You’re a pain in my ass,” I toss back as I near her, and with little effort I scoop her up and throw her over my shoulder.

“Let me down!” she yells and kicks. A few cars pass by us and I give them a small wave. Yeah, we’re idiots.

“Shut up and be still,” I say, smacking her ass. I feel her stomach muscles tighten on my shoulder, and I’m pretty sure I just shocked the hell out of her. I would laugh, but this isn’t funny. It’s nuts.

I open her car door and put her inside, giving her a look that saysdon’t movebefore running around and getting in myself.

“Tell me what he said,” she says, looking at me, her chest moving up and down rapidly. Fuck, she’s gorgeous. Her hair’s soaked, and her makeup is running down her face. I want to kiss her so badly, but instead, I grab the beer and down the rest of it before wiping my face off with my hand.

“Throw this out,” I say as I hand her the empty can. She snatches it from me and opens her door, dropping it on the side of the road as I start to drive.

I grip the wheel and lift my hat off, tossing it onto the dash. I should have hit him, then I would feel better. I can’t believe she’s mad at me when that fuck head goes around telling people personal things about her.

“Bryce,” she says, getting my attention. “What did he say?”

“He said you’ve got a spot above your hip. Drove you crazy when he ran his tongue over it.”

Her eyes grow wide and I see her cheeks turn pink as she looks in front of her. I glance from her to the road and back at her again as she shakes her head.

“See, that’s why I said you pick shitty people to sleep with. What kind of man goes around telling personal things like that? Especially to someone he doesn’t even know.”

“Just take me home,” she says, looking out her window.

“You’ve got nothing to say about this shit?” I ask.

“No. I don’t.”

I run a hand over my head in disbelief. I defend her and I’m the one who gets punished. How does that make any sense? I press the gas and focus on the road, trying to cool my temper down and secretly hoping this won’t be it for us, but also wondering if this is how friends are supposed to act.

Hell, I’m thirty-three. I’ve never had any close friends and no romantic relationships. I have no idea what to do here. We’re both soaking wet, mad at the wrong people, and I don’t want this night to end like this.

Ten minutes later, I’m pulling up to the curb of her apartment building.

I come to a stop and put the car in neutral as I pull up the e-brake. I lean up and look over at her. She wipes under her eyes and pulls her shirt away from her soaked skin.

“Well, thanks for the movie,” she says with a weak smile. I have no idea what to say. She shakes her head. “I’ll see ya.” She runs to the door and I watch as it slowly closes behind her. I look in front of me as the rain continues to fall.

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