Page 114 of His Addiction
“Sweet Jesus, you don’t get it!” she shouted, the pain spilling over. “I don’t need your help, or your charity!”
He took a breath, rounding his shoulders, trying to keep his cool, but frustration flared up inside him. “It’s not charity. Far from it.”
Her eyes locked onto his, filled with hurt and defiance, but also something that made his chest tighten.
“Stop it, Jamie,” she snapped, pacing away from him like he’d burned her. “Stop making me feel this. Stop making me want you. Just leave me alone.”
His jaw flexed. “I feel it too. And I’m right here, Shannon. I can handle it. I can handle you.”
Her shoulders stiffened. Then she spun around, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Well, I don’t want to feel it anymore,” she shouted. “Take the fucking hint and…Mercy…fucking mercy.”
The word hit him like a slap to the face.
His muscles braced.
Her voice had cracked on it, soft but resolute.
He exhaled, like the air had been knocked out of him. All his instincts warred—protect her, hold her, fix it—but that word was sacred.
It didn’t mean she was giving up.
It meant stop.
Jamie stepped back, heart pounding. Every part of him ached to reach for her, but he forced his hands to stay open, unthreatening.
“You’ve got it,” he said, voice low, steady. “I’m not going to push. I hear you.”
She wouldn’t meet his eyes now, arms crossed tight over her chest, like she was holding herself together through sheer will.
Turning toward the radiator, he yanked his shirt off the heat, then grabbed the trousers she’d hung up in the bathroom for him.
He dressed quickly, not saying another word even though her eyes tracked his every move.
Jamie paused by the front door, running a hand through his hair. He wanted to stay and take care of her. But he knew it wasn’t that simple. Not when she was pushing him away so hard.
“Jamie... I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It has to be this way. I told you from the start.”
His heart ached, and the anger inside him flared.
“Yeah, you did, love.” His words came out tight, full of tension. “And when I find out who did this to you, I’ll kill the fucking bastard.”
33
Shannon
A week had passed in a blur of long shifts, endless cups of coffee, lonely bus rides, and hours spent riding horses.
The mornings were dark and damp, and the afternoons weren’t much different.
Each day blended into the next, bleak and uneventful.
“Why the hell are you so down in the dumps, Shannon?” Jess asked, as they closed up.
Shannon shrugged.
“I’m just tired. I’ve been riding more horses since my boss’s asshole son ran out on him. And with all the shifts I’m doing here, I’m exhausted all the time.”
