Page 84 of Rival for Rent

“Or maybe you’re just being stubborn. Maybe you’re determined to be a martyr because you’ve got an overdeveloped savior complex.”

He backed up again—only to bump into my desk.

“Think what you want,” he growled. “It doesn’t change that things between us are over.”

“Oh, are they?”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? Of course they are.”

“How so? You’re still living in my house. You’re still stuck to my side until we find this guy. You can’t break up with me if you still have to see me twenty-four hours a day. And as for the physical stuff…”

I stepped forward again and placed my hand on his chest. I could feel his heart pounding through his shirt. I wondered if he was as worked up as I was. And as turned on.

He inhaled sharply, and I hooked a finger into the neck of his T-shirt, pulling it out—and pulling him towards me.

“Kai, please.” The words came out raw, torn from his throat. “I’m trying to help you. Why can’t you see that?”

“Because I’m trying to helpyou.”

“Why?”

“Jesus, are you going to make me say it? Because I—I care about you, you asshole.”

I caught myself just in time. The word ‘love’ had almost slipped out. Was that really what I felt? It might’ve been true, but nowwasn’t the moment to examine it, not when I was this full of need.

“You coming back into my life is the best part of these past few weeks. Getting to know you—the man you really are—has only convinced me even more that you’re a good person. You’re kind, and responsible, and caring. You’re brave, and honest, and you do the right thing, even when it’s hard. What else do you want me to say? You’re a hell of a cook and you want to build me a fucking waterfall. You’re insane if you think I’m letting you go.”

With that, I fisted the fabric of his shirt and tugged him close, crushing my lips to his.

His good arm swept around my back, pulling me tighter as his mouth parted. His tongue slipped against mine, soft and hungry. My fingers tangled in his hair as I pressed against him, leaning into the desk. I could feel his hard cock against my thigh.

But slowly, his hand left my back. It moved to my chest and pushed me back half a step. His chest heaved like he’d just run a marathon. I wondered if he felt as dizzy as I did.

“Kai, we shouldn’t.”

I frowned. “Do you not want me?”

“Of course I do. But I can’t think straight around you. My thoughts don’t work right, and everything I’m sure of when I’m apart from you falls to pieces the moment I see your face.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“When I’m trying to remember why I’m not bending you over your desk and fucking you senseless? Yeah. It is.”

“You say that like it would be a bad thing.” I pouted, wondering how the hell I’d gotten to a place where I was practically begging Mason for sex—and he was saying no. I should’ve felt pathetic. But I was pretty sure he wanted me just as badly.

His gaze was pleading. “Kai, if you—if you care about me. Like you say you do. Could you please help me do what I actually want? Instead of making it so damn impossible?”

I searched his eyes for a sign that he didn’t mean it. That he wanted me to push him, to kiss him again, to ignore everything he’d just said. But all I saw was that bare, painful honesty I’d come to love in him.

There it was again. Love.

I sighed. “And what you want is for me to leave you alone? For me to let you break up with me? Even though we were never technically together in the first place, so it’s kind of ridiculous to use that word?”

I added the last part as a joke, trying to lighten the mood. But Mason didn’t laugh. He just nodded.

“Yes. Please.”

The words were a blade to the chest. Mason didn’t want me.

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