Page 41 of The Way Back Home

“Huh. That’s rich.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you come on awfully strong for a woman who’s too afraid to take the leap. What’s the matter, princess? You can fix ’em, but they ain’t good enough to fool around with?”

“Jesus, August, you’re so dumb you could throw yourself on the ground and still miss,” I snap. “You’re hot one minute and freezing the next, but even with all of this tension between us, I’m starting to think that maybe you’re just not interested.”

His face twists with anger, and then what looks like confusion.

“Yeah, ya big idiot, I’m attracted to you.”

“Why?”

It’s my turn to blink in surprise. I know August doesn’t think too highly of himself, but is he freaking crazy? I feel as if I’m on glue here.

I can’t do this. I shouldn’t want this, but I do. I don’t care that it’s breaking my number-one rule. I want him. I’ve wanted him since the day I laid eyes on his stubborn ass. But I don’t think August knows what he wants.

Mortified that I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, I turn, but August grabs my wrist and pulls me toward him.

“Olivia.” He wets his lips, and it’s as if he isn’t sure whether to push me away or pull me closer. That makes two of us.

He eliminates the distance between us. His free hand snakes around my waist and pulls me up against his hard body, but he doesn’t lean in, not even when I reach up on my tiptoes. It feels as if I’m waiting on the edge of a precipice, afraid that I’ll fall and terrified that I won’t.

“Kiss me, August.”

He exhales and presses a kiss to the top of my hair. His arms tighten, and he whispers, “I can’t.”

The whole world comes crashing down around me. I glare at him and pull free of his grasp, willing away the tears that threaten to spill from my eyes.

“Wivvie?” Bettina’s sleepy voice both startles me and melts my heart. She’s standing at the end of the hall, rubbing her eyes with her tiny fists and squinting against the harsh overhead light. “You’re hwome.”

I hold August’s gaze a beat longer, crushed by his rejection, yet too stubborn to give him more than that one moment of weakness. Bettina stumbles forward and wraps her arms around my legs, nuzzling into me. I smooth her hair down and bend to gently squeeze her shoulders. “Hey, pretty girl. It’s time for bed, yeah?”

“Wivvie, will you wead me?”

“Oh honey, not tonight,” I say in as cheerful a voice as I can muster. “Livvie’s kinda tired.”

“You can come sleep in the pwincess bed with me.”

“That’s okay, sweetpea.”

“Are you weally a pwincess?”

I smile sadly and blink back traitorous tears. “No, honey.”

“Then why does Auggie cwall you that?”

“Because August likes to tease,” I say before I can stop myself. I shut my eyes and slowly open them, daring a glance at him. His gaze is hard and unforgiving, his jaw clenched tightly closed. I sweep Bettina up in my arms and decide I’ll tuck her in. If I’m using her as a shield, he can’t get mad at me. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

He doesn’t say a word when I carry his sister up the stairs and tuck her in, and he isn’t in his room when I walk past on my way out. I brush my teeth and take off my makeup, and then I turn out the light and cross the hall to my room. I lift my shirt over my head and kick the door with my foot, but I hit something solid and unyielding. I rip the T-shirt off, and an arm wraps around my waist and pushes me up against the dresser. The breath catches in the back of my throat, and I stare up at a livid August.

“A tease, am I?” He leans in and whispers, “I am not a fucking tease. If you’d known me before. . . well, I woulda rocked your world, darlin’.”

“Then show me now,” I say breathlessly, my voice wanton and desperate. “Why won’t you kiss me? Why won’t you touch me?”

“Because I can’t.”

“Why?” I demand, done with this whole darn thing.

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