88. Chapter 86 #3
I huff out a breath and glare at his confused face. “You came into your bedroom when I’d just fallen asleep, fucked me like a savage, then tried to take a chunk out of my ass cheek right over one of the cane marks. That seriously hurt, by the way, asshole.”
His head slowly moves from side to side, a deep groove forming between his eyebrows as his confusion deepens. “Emery, I’m sorry, but that didn’t happen. The only time we had sex last night was before the poker game.”
“I have the mark to prove it,” I state, irritated that he is denying what he did. When this doesn’t get any sort of response from him, I stand, fully intending on showing him my ass, but then his entire demeanor changes.
It’s like watching someone dump water over his head, and as it flows down his face, it washes away the confusion and exchanges it for annoyance. Derek’s focus changes from me to Xavier.
“You.”
My head snaps in Xavier’s direction, and the asshole just stares back at Derek. They get locked in a staring competition for several long, drawn-out seconds, until there is the smallest movement at the corner of Xavier’s lip.
Derek groans and returns his attention back to me.
Before he can say anything, I hold my hand up. “Don’t. Honestly, I don’t fucking care who put the mark there. Last night doesn’t change things for me. You were an asshole yesterday, and you’re still an asshole today.”
Picking up my phone, I open the Uber app and select the first option available, not caring about the price. I need to get out of here.
Derek makes a frustrated noise and reaches across the table to capture my hand holding the phone. “Baby, please—”
“I’ve asked you not to call me that,” I fire back, cutting him off before he can say anything that might sway my choices.
He takes a deep breath and lets it out, attempting a gentle smile, but it’s tight around his eyes.
“I know, I’m sorry. It was a slip of the tongue.
Please, just stay a bit longer, finish your breakfast, and then maybe we can talk a little more?
I promise not to try and kill you with your food again. ”
I check the screen of my phone and see that my ride has been accepted and a car is only two minutes away. Standing, I pull my hand free of Derek’s and start picking up my things. “Actually, I have to get going.”
Once I have them all balanced in one arm, I snag a piece of bacon and pop it into my mouth, so completely and utterly done with this ambush of a conversation.
The moment I step away from the table, it’s like whatever was holding them back snaps its leash, and they both stand, towering over me. But I refuse to let them intimidate me.
With a confidence fueled by anger and irritation, I turn my back on them and head toward the hallway.
“Emery, don’t leave, please. We need to talk about this,” Derek calls, his footfalls loud against the wooden floor as he follows me.
I ignore him, making it halfway down the hall before he captures my elbow and pulls me to a stop.
I whip around to glare at him. “Are you going to chain me to your bed again? Keep me here against my will long enough to convince me that you are the right choice? My only choice?”
His brows furrow at my words, and he shakes his head, hand falling away from my elbow. “No, we would never do that.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Right.”
He tips his head up to the ceiling, like he is praying for patience or some shit, before striding past me to the door and unlocking it for me. “I’m not going to force you to stay here, Emery. If you would like to leave, you are more than welcome to.”
My heart does a flip in my chest, but it feels weird. Kind of like it was expecting to roll forward but rolled backward instead. “I want to leave.”
Derek pulls the door open and gestures to his front yard. “By all means.”
The floor doesn’t feel so sturdy under my feet as I walk toward him and my exit. Like, somehow I’m the one who has made a mistake here. I don’t take my eyes off him as I approach, careful not to brush up against him as I step out into the cool air.
The weak morning sun kisses my cheeks as I walk down the pathway and make it all the way to the end of his driveway before I look back and see him standing in the entry, watching me, arms folded over his naked chest.
His gaze breaks from mine, and I follow it to the car that’s pulling up next to me. Opening the back door, I start to get in, but Derek calls out to me.
“If you change your mind about wanting to talk, all four of us will be at the apartment tonight.” He’s taken a step out from the door, and his hands are hanging by his sides.
I shake my head, heart in my throat. “I can’t. I have a date with Will tonight.”
Derek’s posture deflates and his lips part. Unable to watch his reaction to that piece of information for a second longer, I turn my back on him and finish climbing into the car and close the door behind me.
“Hi, Newton campus?” the driver asks me.
I nod and try to smile. “Yes, please.”
If there is a tear in my eye, I convince myself that it’s from the discomfort of the bite mark pressing into the seat. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they will be waiting for me and I won’t be showing up.