Chapter 14 #4
He laughs. “You hate me? And you’re not being dramatic?
Okay.” He leans his broad shoulder against the post of the iron fence, and then puts a languid hand in his pocket.
“Let me remind you: you’re the one who’s had an ulterior motive this whole time, as you’ve been winking at me, and kissing me, and pushing your tits at me at all the right angles, and—”
“Fuck off, Reed!” I shout. “Fuck off and die, you arrogant, rude, self-entitled piece of shit.”
“Oh, my, my, my. And I’m the asshole here? Nice language, Georgina. Tsk, tsk.”
I palm my cheek in mock horror. “Oh, no, did I hurt your sensitive ears with my filthy mouth, Mr. Rivers? Or does this cut even deeper than that?” I add my other palm to my face.
“Oh, no. Did I hurt your actual feelings? This whole time, were you thinking I might actually be your Cinderella, and you might actually be my Prince Charming? Do you, like Bryce, believe in love at first sight?” I put my hands on my hips and narrow my eyes.
“Or is it simply that this is the first time you can’t have what you want, and it’s killing you?
That’s what’s got you so worked up, isn’t it—knowing you’re never, ever gonna fuck this epicness?
” I motion to my body. “Too bad, sweetheart, because I promise I would have been the best you’ve ever had. ”
His nostrils flare. His chest heaves. And thanks to the massive boner straining inside his pants, there’s no question my punch has landed. “Okay, enough,” he says. “Stop acting like a petulant child and come inside. It’s cold out here and you’re pissing me off.”
“Sucks to be you, I guess. I’ve already called an Uber.”
“Cancel it. We’re going inside now. I’m gonna listen to one of your stepsister’s songs—one—but only if you promise not to have a fucking tantrum if I tell you she’s not a fit.
And then, in exchange for me listening to that one song, we’re going straight to my bedroom, where I’m gonna rip off those clothes, tie you to my bed posts, and fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before.
So hard, you’ll be seeing stars. So well, you’ll be crying for mercy and coming harder than you knew was possible. ”
He’s going to tie me to his bed posts? My traitorous clit pulses sharply at the imagery. But, still, in my white-hot rage, I stay the course. “You’re not gonna do any of that,” I spit out. “And you wanna know why? Because I don’t fuck assholes.”
Reed’s eyes are on fire, his indignation from a moment ago now replaced by white-hot lust. “Come inside and play me the goddamned fucking song, Georgie, so I can fuck your brains out, for both our benefits. We don’t have all night and I’m losing my fucking mind over you.
Not to mention my fucking patience, too. ”
I scoff. “I’m not going inside with you. And I’m not going to play my stepsister’s music for you, either, because you don’t deserve to hear it.”
He sighs and looks at his watch. “Can we fast-forward this part, please? Unfortunately, I’m flying commercial and can’t delay my flight.”
I look down at my phone. “My Uber is one minute away. The longest minute of my life.”
“Cancel it,” he commands. “For the love of fuck, you’ve come this far. Use your head, Georgina. The chess game is over. I said yes to listening to a song.” He sighs. “Fine. If you cancel the Uber and come inside right now, I’ll listen to two songs.”
“Oh, you’re begging me now? Negotiating against yourself?
How delicious. Well, beg all you want, Mr. Big Shit.
The answer is still no. Because no matter how great Alessandra is—and trust me, she is great—you’re going to say she sucks, just to push my buttons.
That’s clear to me now. You’re a Defcon one level button-pusher, Reed Rivers.
I realize that now. And I’m not willing to play your stupid game of chess. ”
He drags a palm over his stubbled face, looking tormented. “Sweetheart, stop acting like a bratty little child. You’re out of control. I’ll listen and give my honest opinion, good or bad. I promise, I’m fully capable of separating business and pleasure. Because I’m an adult.”
Rage rises inside me again at his obvious implication: that I’m not.
“If your stepsister is a fit, then I’ll say so. Of course, I will. Because that would benefit me.” He smirks. “Although, in the interest of transparency, I should probably admit pushing your buttons is rapidly becoming my new favorite game.”
I let out a primal shriek of rage that makes Reed laugh, which only pisses me off more. “Stop being so goddamned condescending!” I shout. “This isn’t a joke. This is my stepsister’s life. Her dream. And you’re making a mockery of it. Plus, you’ve repeatedly impugned my character!”
Reed’s eyebrows shoot up at my dramatic last comment, and, I must admit, I think maybe my word choice and intonation were both a little over-the-top.
But, whatever. I’m so fucking angry, I press on, letting myself feel whatever I feel and say whatever angry, babbling, bizarre thing pops into my head.
“You’re not the only ‘adult’ who can separate business and pleasure, Reed.
Yes, I went to that event with Alessandra’s demo in my pocket.
That was the business side of things for me.
And, yes, I planned to give it to you, if the opportunity fell into my lap.
And, yes, maybe I flirted with you a little more aggressively than I normally would have, at first, simply because I was so shocked and excited when I realized I’d caught your eye.
But guess what is also the truth? The pleasure part of this equation for me.
Namely that, by the time I served you that tenth drink, I wanted you, Reed.
I wanted to come home with you, and let you do literally anything you wanted to me, for no other reason than I wanted to experience the pleasure of it. ”
“Liar,” Reed says. But before I can smack him, he adds, “You knew you wanted to fuck me by the third drink.”
I know he’s trying to calm me down with humor. But it’s too late for that. The man basically called me a whore. There’s no coming back from that. “Maybe even the first,” I say. “But now? Congratulations. I wouldn’t fuck you if you paid me.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
I grit my teeth. “It was a figure of speech. I meant I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last man on earth. Is that clear enough for you?”
He sighs. “Okay, it’s time for you to stop acting like the hotheaded, impetuous twenty-one-year-old you are, and come inside. It’s cold out here, and I’m hard as a rock for you. Let me bribe you, sexy Georgina. I promise you’ll like giving me your end of the bargain.”
My traitorous clit pulses again. This time, thanks to the look of molten lust on Reed’s face. There’s no way I’d say yes to him, obviously—let alone yes, yes, yes. But I can’t deny my body wants to, even in the midst of my mind’s rage and disgust.
But before I’ve said a word, I’m saved by the bell. Or, rather, by the blinding headlights of my Uber shining onto Reed’s chiseled face.
“Perfect timing,” I say smugly, turning away from Reed. “Ciao, stronzo.”
I wave to the driver on the other side of the gate to let him know I’m coming, but Reed grabs my shoulder.
“Tell him to leave,” Reed commands, his voice brimming with intensity. “Come inside with me and play me the demo. Let me show you what your body can do, Georgie.”
I whirl back around. “I already know what my body can do. You wanna see?” Glowering at him, I flip him the bird with both hands. “Pretty cool, huh?”
Reed leans against the gatepost and chuckles. “Wow. Tell me how you really feel about me, baby.”
“There aren’t enough middle fingers in the world to tell you how I really feel about you, baby.”
He grimaces playfully. “So heartless.”
“It was never my ‘heart’ that felt attracted to you, so it’s not a big loss.”
“Tsk. So rude. You’ll catch more flies with honey. Didn’t your momma ever teach you that?”
No, she didn’t, asshole, because my mother is fucking dead.
But if she were here, there’s no doubt in my mind my fiery, fabulous badass of a mother would be applauding me for flipping you off, ya big dick.
In fact, she’d be flipping you off, right along with me.
I don’t say any of that to Reed, of course, but it’s sure as hell what I’m thinking.
Wordlessly, I turn around and inspect the metal gate, my anger at an all-time high.
First, this arrogant piece of shit tells me I’m “play-acting confidence in my mother’s heels,” and then he tells me my momma should have taught me to play nice in the face of flaming assholery?
Well, fuck that. And fuck him. “How do I get through?” I yell, pounding on the iron gate with my palm.
“Help me out of here or I’m gonna climb over this gate and fall on my ass, and then sue your ass for negligence and false imprisonment! ”
Calmly, Reed slides a key into a lock on a pedestrian side gate, and I stomp through the opening without so much as a thank you.
But when I reach the other side, I realize I can’t actually storm off without trying one last-gasp attempt at helping Alessandra.
Even though, obviously, anything I say to Reed at this point will fall on deaf ears.
I turn around. “My stepsister’s name is Alessandra Tennison.
Her Instagram handle is TheRealAllyT. She barely has any followers and no brother destined for the NFL.
She’s just a shy, sweet, incredibly talented nineteen-year-old who’s finishing her sophomore year at The Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Her father died a week after her eighth birthday, after going out for an early-morning jog and getting mowed down by a texting driver.
And her happiness, her dreams, mean everything to me.
A shit-ton more than any one-night stand with a manipulative, arrogant asshole.
” With that, I whirl around, march to my Uber, and throw myself into the backseat.
“Georgina?” the driver says, per safety protocol.
“Yes. Please, go.”
As the car takes off, I steal one last look at Reed.
He’s standing on the other side of his slatted gate, one of his forearms laid flush against it, and his forehead resting on his arm.
His eyes are two hot coals, smoldering in the dim light of the nearby streetlamp.
His dick is plainly bulging behind his pants.
As hard as a rock, like he said earlier.
And for a fleeting moment, I’m a bit pissed at my values, not to mention my Italian temper, for making me miss out on what was almost certainly going to be the hottest hate-sex of my life.
He was planning to tie me to his bed posts? Holy hell.
As I stare at Reed from the backseat of the departing Uber, seriously questioning my life choices, my temper, and my penchant for sometimes missing the forest for the trees, Reed shoots me a clipped wave in farewell, his cocky body language shouting, It’s your loss, baby!
And that pisses me off, all over again. Without a thought in my head, I raise both middle fingers into the air out the back window before turning around and taking several deep, shaky breaths.
.. before, finally, letting the anger and embarrassment I’ve been holding back seep out of me in the form of big, soggy tears.