Page 28 of Wish I Didn't Want You Back

“Stop what?” I asked, playing dumb. I hated his ability to see right through me.

“Stop acting like you don’t care.”

“I don’t.”

Jesus. I was so damned stubborn. It was clear to both of us that it would bother me.

“You’re seriously going to lie to my face?”

I didn’t respond because I didn’t trust myself to speak without saying something stupid. So, I stood up and brought my dish to the sink.

My heart started to pound when I heard him step up to my back. I hated that after all these years, those feelings were still there, that he still had the ability to get under my skin. My heart, which I worked very hard to keep safe, was in a dangerous place when it came to him. It always had been.

“Tell me again how it doesn’t matter,” he said, his hot breath against my ear.

I had to clench my eyes shut and shove my feelings down where they belonged. I couldn’t handle him this close to me. In my personal space, making me feel things that I didn’t want to acknowledge.

“It doesn’t matter.”

But it did matter. It mattered a lot. I just convinced myself that I didn’t have the right to care.

“Liar,” he said, moving closer. He brushed my hair to the side and pressed his chest against my back.

The plate I had been holding on to slipped out of my hands. My breath hitched when I felt the heat of him press further into me. All I could focus on was his scent. It was a mixture of soap and sawdust, and it was all him.

“I’m not lying,” I said, feeling my pulse hammer against my ribs.

“Then turn around and face me. Look me in the eye and tell me the idea of me being with another woman doesn’t drive you crazy.”

I shook my head, not trusting myself to look at him. “What you do is your business.”

“Turn around and face me, Harlow.”

Against my better judgment, I did and suddenly regretted it.

His eyes searched mine as if he saw right through my bullshit. This was too much. He was too close. I wanted to back away and put some space between us, but I couldn’t get my body to move.I stood there, tangled up in my emotions that were caught between logic and insanity.

“I’m facing you. Now, what do you want?” I tried to come off as snarky, but it came out breathless instead.

He swallowed hard. “Isn’t that a loaded question?”

“Brooks.” I shook my head. I thought I could handle this, but I’d never been more delusional in my life.

“I don’t know why I still care so much about what happens to you. I should tell you to leave, help you find someplace else to stay.”He leaned in, and his eyes fell to my lips. “Did you really mean it?”

“Mean what?” My head was fuzzy, and my knees felt like they would give out at any second.

“That you didn’t care.”

Oh, that. Damn it. How was I supposed to get out of that one?

I opened my mouth to say something, but he was making it impossible to think straight. The truth was right there between us. I did care, and the smart thing to do would have been to back away and ignore the pull that seemed to be getting stronger by the second, but my legs wouldn’t move.

His hand gripped the side of my neck. “That’s what I thought.”

Before I could say anything else, he hauled me into his chest and kissed me. It was light and soft and barely a kiss. It felt like he was testing the waters and giving me a chance to pull away, which I didn’t.Something unleashed inside me, giving me the courage to stand on my tiptoes and grip the fabric of his shirt in my hands.

The kiss was beautiful and devastating at the same time. It reminded me of how much I loved him before everything fell apart. Brooks took his sweet time, as though fully aware of what he was doing to me.

---