Page 27 of Shattered Mind

Regret.

How fucking dare he pull me away from the handsome man offering me his undivided attention, into the dark hallway, fuck me senseless with his skilled digits, just to look at me with nothing butregretmere minutes after. And worst of all, I let him.

When did I become the woman that allowed a man to treat me that way? Yes, I fully intended to make Grayson jealous by dancing with Sam. And yes, I would’ve let him take me home. He’s a handsome, emotionally available man, and I’m entitled to let my hair down. But instead, I let Grayson fucking Calloway storm over and drag me away like a child about to be scalded.

I shake my head at myself as I collect my belongings and search for Savannah, the buzz fromthe alcohol fading fast.

I find her by the bar sucking face with Hunter and begrudgingly tap her on the shoulder, breaking them apart.

“I’m going home.” I say, pulling my coat on.

She eyes me questioningly, clearly able to see the rage in my eyes and I give my head a small shake, letting her know I’m not ready to talk about it. “Okay. Do you want me to take you?”

I open my mouth to turn down her offer when a gruff voice sounds behind me. “I’ll take her.”

My shoulders stiffen and I whirl on him. “Thanks, but no.”

Grayson glares down at me, his eyes dark and angry, all earlier signs of regret now gone. “I’m taking you,” he says, his tone indicating there’s no point in arguing with him.

I narrow my eyes at him before huffing and storming past him, my shoulder barging his as I go. “Fine.”

Savannah yells a good-bye while Hunter chuckles and I wave a hand over my head, not bothering to turn around in an attempt to avoid looking at Grayson as he follows silently behind me.

My body is vibrating with rage as I reach his truck, pull open the door and climb in before he has the chance to act like a gentleman and open the door for me. After the things he just did to me in that hallway, he’s anything but. I reach for the handle to pull the door closed just as he reaches me and blocks my attempt.

“What are you-” my question is cut off as he grips my face and slams his lips against mine.

His kiss is angry, punishing and I tense for half a second, ready to push him away, slap him, dosomethingto stop him but my libido wins out and my body relaxes. I grip him by the back of his neck and pull him towards me, kissing him back with as much need and anger. A moanescapes me, and I internally curse the needy bitch within me for enjoying this more than I want to.

Grayson runs his tongue along the seam of my lips, and I open for him as he plunges a tattooed hand into my hair, pulling slightly and deepening the kiss. He groans into my mouth and the vibration sends tiny electric currents through my blood directly to my clit.

The pulsing sensation forming between my thighs has reality crashing in, the memory of just moments ago in the bar, the look in his eyes after the lust wore off and I pull back, my chest heaving with strangled breaths.

Fuck him for drawing me back in with just a simple touch of his lips.

Grayson takes a step back, his breathing just as ragged as he looks at me with a mix of confusion and need. “Don’t do that again,” I say as I turn to face forward in my seat and pull my seatbelt on, effectively ending the moment.

I see him nod once in my periphery before taking a step back and slamming my door shut.

***

The drive is spent in tense silence, the cab of Grayson’s truck filled with unspoken thoughts. I stare out the window unseeingly and it’s not until the streetlights begin to fade and the road beneath us becomes more uneven, that I realise he isn’t taking me home.

I turn to look at him for the first time with a frown. “Where are you going?”

His jaw clenches. “Taking you home.”

“My home is in the other direction.”

Now it’s his turn to frown. “I thought you were stayin’ at Hunter’s?”

“I was, but now I’d like to go home. It’s also their engagement night,” I point out, not needing to explain why I’d rather not stay at Hunter’s house. I’ve had to endure enough of their nighttime shenanigans in the time that I’ve spent there as it is.

Grayson nods as though he understands before flicking on his indicator and making a U-turn back towards town.

We fall back into silence, less tense now some actual words have been spoken between the two of us and I relax back in my seat, my eyes becoming heavy from the warm air blasting through the vents of the truck.

I must doze off because before I know it, a calloused hand is stroking the hair back from my face and my eyes fly open, landing on the front of my house before slicing over to Grayson.

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