Page 120 of Endless Anger
I thought she’d be better off, but clearly all it’s done is make her miserable.
Me. It’smyfault she feels this way.
Clearing my throat, I trace the chipped wood with my thumb, dragging the jagged piece through my fingerprint. “I didn’t get the money from my parents. Or yours.”
Lucy’s head jerks to the side, confusion in her watery eyes. Christ, I hate making her cry.
“What do you mean?” she asks, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
“I mean, I donated about a thousand bucks. That was all I had on me.” Shrugging, I let my hand fall to my lap, suddenly perturbed by her unwavering attention. “The rest came from the students. Curators, mostly. Beckett Dupont was more than willing to run around for me after I agreed to join his little club.”
Lucy’s nose scrunches up. “You got the Curators to donate?”
“Figured they’d have the most disposable cash and the influence on campus to make up for whatever they didn’t have. It was surprisingly easy, to be honest. They definitely have an issue with you, which I would like to talk about at some point, because it’s pissing me off?—”
“You actuallyraisedten thousand dollars for the shelter,” she whispers, turning to face me fully.
“Well.” I lift my chin, meeting those glassy gemstone eyes. Dark ocean water, but clear all the way through. “I did it for you.”
Her chest rises and falls with each breath she heaves. She takes a step in my direction and then another until she’s standing between my spread legs.
I place my hands on the armrests of my chair, anticipation humming through my veins as I wait for her to slap me.
For the frustration that’s been building within to come to a point and for her to finally snap.
But it never comes.
The slap, that is.
Instead, she places her palms on my shoulders, plants her knee between my thighs, and leans down to kiss me.
35
ASHER
The moment our lips touch,my hands find her hips, and I draw her into my lap. She braces her knees on either side of me, fingers gently cradling my jaw, and tilts my head so she can deepen the kiss.
“So should I leave, or…”
I pull back far enough to glare at Foxe over Lucy’s shoulder. “Yes, you fucking weirdo.”
“Hey, some people want to be watched, I don’t know.”
Gritting my teeth, I pick up a wooden bookend and chuck it at my cousin. It misses, smacking against the wall and falling on the floor. Laughing hysterically, Foxe slides out the door, closing it behind him.
A few tense seconds pass, the weight of us being alone settling in with the silence.
“I think I might throw up,” Lucy says.
Alarm ripples through me. “That is probably something you should do in the trash can. Or down the hall in the bathroom.”
Shaking her head, she curls her hands around my neck. “No, it’s just… I can’t believe I’m doing this. Kissing you…without you objecting. I mean, I know we did stuff in the library, but you initiated it that time.”
“And if I ever object to you sucking my face off again, you havefull permission to call my mom and let her know to make room in the family plot.”
“So… Why did you reject me back then?”
I tap her hip with a thumb. “Is this the conversation you want to have right now?”
