Page 74 of Dove
I barely felt the loss of the touch as my tears died and my anger returned, burning my sadness into a fiery rage instead.
“You stayed away because ofthat?” I seethed, years of distance crashing down on me all at once. “Because of what other people willthink?”
I’d lost too much to give one damn about what other people thought of me, at least that’s what the blaze of my anger had me feeling right now.
“We could have left together,” I said through clenched teeth. “You could have taken me with you!”
When he attempted to reach for me, I pushed him away again, stepping out of the comforting bracket of his arms. They didn’t feel comforting now—not when I was so mad at him.
“You’d just graduated, Dove. I couldn’t. I wasn’t going to force you into something when I had no idea you even?—”
Excuses, excuses, excuses!
“Don’t,” I cut in, nearly choking on the word. I couldn’tbelievehim.
“And our parents?” he shot back. “Were you willing to leave them? To make them deal with the fallout of us being together?”
It was a valid point—just not one I wanted to hear. I shook my head, hair flying as if I could physically fling the thought away.
“You knew what leaving would do to me. You knew how much it would hurt—how it woulddestroyme. But you did it anyway.”
His jaw ticked but he remained silent.
My finger trembled as I pointed it at him. “Joshua Hex, you are acoward.”
The moment I spat the word his eyes narrowed dangerously. I forced myself not to flinch. I wasn’t afraid of Josh—could never be afraid of him—but Iwasafraid of that look.
And how having it turned on me made me feel.
My panties were likely ruined at this point, but I couldn’t help it.
Even in anger Josh was devastatingly handsome.
“Were you ready to leave your mother?” Josh took a step closer to me.
I took a step back.
He followed.
“Were you ready to give up your home? Your plans to attend college here? Leave this town you love and never come back?”
He stalked closer, and I retreated until there was nowhere left to run. The barn doors jolted a gasp from me as they struck my back. He leaned in, bracing an arm above me like Torrence had earlier, the wood shifting behind me at his weight.
“Because that was the only way we’d have been able to be together.”
His tall, imposing frame felt even more overwhelming as he glowered down at me—every bit as furious as I was.
Even now, being in his space was more exhilarating than anything I’d felt with Torrence.
“Being with me, not being with me—it would’ve hurt you either way,” he breathed, words exhaled across my lips. “I made the choice I thought wouldn’t ruin your life.”
“You could never ruin my life,” I whispered back, our lips brushing. I hungered so badly for his kiss I ached from it.
“Dove,” his deep voice sent shockwaves down my spine, “that’sallI could possibly do. But I’m helpless to stop it if you keep looking at me like that.”
The wetness between my thighs increased at his husky whisper the same time my mouth went dry. Without thinking, I reached out with my tongue to wet my lips and gasped at the electric touch it created as I accidently swiped against his, too.
He groaned, pained, leaning his forehead against mine. “I’ve spent too long telling myself this isn’t right. I don’t want to fight it anymore.”
