Page 86 of Tainted Romance

I was about to turn and sprint when the door swung open. Now I was suddenly speechless for a whole other reason.

His beautiful topless upper body put the detailed masterpieces of tattoos on display. His hair was ruffled, but his eyes were sharp. At least I knew I hadn’t woken him.

“Um, hi.” I stood awkwardly in front of him, diverting my eyes from his half-naked body.

Stupid boys.

Stupid hormones.

Stupid Zane.

“Allie, what are you doing here?”

I was taken back by the hardness in his tone. “I came to see you.” I felt like I needed to be defensive, but my tone failed me, and like normal, it was soft and non-threatening.

“At three in the morning?”

I crossed my arms. “Didn’t realize you had a time limit on visits.”

“It’s common sense to not go knocking on people’s doors at this time in the morning!” he hissed, but it wasn’t what he was saying that grabbed my attention, it was the ruffle of noise in his room.

“Do you have someone in there?” I attempted to pry around him.

“Did you forget, Winters, that we aren’t talking?” He pulled the door closer to him, blocking any chance I had to see in his room.

“That’s why I came here. I wanted to, um, you know…” Why weren’t the words coming to me? I wanted to smooth the waters between us, why couldn’t I just say that?

“Well you can, umm, you know whatever somewhere else,” he said firmly, trying to brush me off.

“You’re being extremely cold, Harris.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

Sure, he wasn’t known for being overly welcoming, but this was ice compared to his normal cold heart.

“Zane, what happened earlier this evening. I wanted to hopefully well…I didn’t think that my moving back home meant that I was cutting our friendship in half.”

He scoffed, “You mean in fucking pieces then burnt them.”

“I wasn’t the one to cut our friendship into pieces and burn them.” I pointed a finger at his warm chest. “You were the one that did that.”

“Go home, Allie.” He slapped my finger away. “Before I lose my temper.”

Lose his temper! Who the hell did he think he was? He had NO reason to be angry with ME!

“You’re a stubborn cold-hearted jerk, Zane Harris!”

“Like I haven’t heard that before.”

“I hate you.”

“Heard that before too.”

I stomped my foot, feeling and most likely acting like a toddler. “Why couldn’t I have got a man that cared about me? That cared about my feelings! That didn’t want to treat me like an invisible blob!”

His face was flushed with rage now. “And why couldn’t I have got a mate that stood for everything I stood for! That wanted to lead by my side! That would protect our pack and lead our generation. No, instead I get YOU! A brat of a freedom fighter. A pack leech that is just waiting for her twenty-first birthday to come so she can leave!”

The pain that I had seen in his eyes earlier wasn’t pain at all now - it was betrayal. He thought I had betrayed him.

I opened my mouth, but he was quicker than I was.

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