Page 24 of Cold Foot Revenge
She froze, considering ripping her arm from his grasp.
“I would like to talk to you, but not where you’re looking for a fight,” he said low.
Chest heaving with her quick breath, she pulled her arm from his grip. “Say it fast so I can go.”
“You’re a grenader.”
“That’s not even a word.”
“It is between us. When you get on the verge of having a good time, you get protective of your life, and you sabotage the good stuff, don’t you? You throw a grenade on it so it reacts, and you can feel justified when you walk away angry.”
Roxy’s heart was pounding so hard right now. She felt exposed to someone who could see her too well. All she wanted to do was crawl under the roof of the Rabbit Hole and disappear into the dark.
But…for reasons she couldn’t fathom, she couldn’t make herself get out of his truck. Being seen was terrifying. It had also been so damn long since she’d gone invisible, and he was reminding her she existed right now. That part…that part she had to stay for.
She didn’t know why. She just had to.
“I have to be a grenader,” she whispered thickly, shocked at the emotion that clawed its way up her throat. “It’s the only thing that keeps the life I live acceptable.”
“I get that.”
She shook her head. “How could you, Dylan? How could you understand that? You are here for fun. For a hunt. You could turn this truck left on Main and head straight back to Wreck’s Mountains, and you would have a Crew that gave you a hug and told you they missed you, and your life would go straight back to awesome.” She dragged a shaking breath into her lungs. “I have a Crew of monsters who picked me to be a toy, and no way out. Not ever. This is what it is, Dylan. This is my life, and I don’t have something I can fall back on. Leaving would get me killed.”
“Staying will kill you too. It’s just a slower death.”
“I hate you,” she said, ignoring the lie in her tone.
“No, you don’t.”
“I do. You’re making my life harder. You’re filling my head with nonsense. I am nothing, and I will always be nothing. A little coyote in a Crew of grizzlies.”
“Why did they Turn you?”
“There it is. You can’t help it. I knew you were here for information.”
And there was a flash of anger in his eyes as he shook his head. “That’s not fair. I’m not asking about what happened to my brother—”
“You will. I’m your mark. I’m the one you’ve chosen to manipulate into spilling the truth.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s true—”
“Bullshit,” he said louder. “You think I brought you out tonight to manipulate you? I fucking loved watching you trade jokes with my mom. I fucking loved you offering to teach my own freaking mom to dance like you do. I know she’ll love it. I know she’ll have fun. I know you’ll have fun too, because my mom is good, and I think you lack good people in your life.” Dylan leaned closer. “I don’t know the bears you run with, but I listen, and I’ve heard not one damn good thing about any of them. Why did they Turn you, Roxy? I’m not asking about my brother. I’m asking about you, because believe it or not, I give a damn.”
Truth. Truth, truth, truth, and she couldn’t do this! She couldn’t allow him to do this to her! She’d built walls around her heart, and he was demolishing them with a baseball bat right now.
Panicking, she jumped out of the truck and slammed the door behind her. She could hear the slide of the window rolling down behind her as she felt for her keys in her purse.
“Grenade,” he said simply.
And she fumbled her keys into the door, then got in as fast as she could. She turned on her car in desperation and put it into drive.
And then she made a mistake. She glanced over at him, and he was sitting just where he was. From this angle, she could only see his face through the open window. He was leaning on the console, his hand cupping his chin. He looked disappointed. It was the disappointment in his eyes that shattered her anger.
He was so right. She was a grenader.
Feeling raw and exposed, she slammed her hand onto her steering wheel over and over and screamed as loud as she could. It didn’t help. It didn’t put the tears back into her eyes.
