Page 62 of The Perfect Wrong
I pinch the bridge of my nose, a thousand conflicts invading my head.
She’s bunched up on the cabana chair now, staring while I pace in front of her, trying to process this ludicrous shit.
“It was just a little fun...wasn’t it?” Her voice is barely louder than a mouse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lead you on. And Idowant to know you, Chris. I just thought a little harmless flirting might—”
“Harmless?” My nostrils flare.
Fuck that.
She looks at me as I circle her, trying to find the right combination of words.
“Flirting doesn’t include having your stepbrother’s hand on your ass, ready to tear your panties off. You know what, I started thinkingmaybeit was possible, no matter how many times you’ve tried to deny it. Now, I can’t. Not with you. Not in this lifetime. No way in hell.”
I walk to the edge of the pool with its massive white flower tiled on the bottom, wondering if I’m too drunk to drive out of this shitshow again.
Only trouble is, Sexton and the seniors will come down on me like boulders if they find out I’m not staying put.
Orders are orders, and I’ve bent them enough.
Even if these orders get me killed by Cordelia Burr before the cartel henchmen ever find me.
“Chris, don’t be ridiculous!” she yells after me. “We’re just messing around. I’m trying to open up... I never asked you to do anything. Can’t we just be friends?”
“Friends.You think I need friends who tease my cock to hell and back?” I snort at her bitterly. “You’re young and sheltered, Delia, so this may come as a shock. Let me clue you in anyway. I don’t play grabass with friends. I don’t need friends I want to bite, marking them all night. Don’tneedany friends who tempt my dick like nobody else when I can’t ever satisfy that craving—and I don’t mean because of the family shit. Fuck that.” I pause, breathing in harshly before I finish. “There’s no goddamn way I can be your first fuck. I’m not screwing you up like that and leaving you hanging, knowing the first man you ever spread your legs for was your own fucking stepbrother.”
I whip around again and start walking, determined not to stop this time until I’m upstairs in my room with the door bolted shut.
“Screwing up?Screwing me up?” She’s got fire on her lips when she chases after me, digging her nails into my shoulder. “What do you think happened the other night? We werethisclose, Chris.”
She waves her hand in my face, her fingers only a centimeter apart.
“Delia—”
“Nope. You can’t deny it. You’re the first man who ever put his hands down—never mind. But do I look screwed up to you? Do I sound crazy?”
Yes,I don’t say.
But that’s not the point.
It’s my own sanity I’m worried about.
The madman I’m becoming around her.
I don’t know how to even answer that question without breaking her heart.
“We didn’t know. It was a fucked up mistake and nothing more,” I say. “Same for this truth or dare bullshit. Time for me to go, before my dumbass mouth just pisses you off more. Sorry it’s gotta be that way. Good luck on your summer pact.”
I’m moving with my jaw pinched like a vise.
I get about ten steps away when I hear her screaming at me.
“Keep your luck, coward! I’m not the one who needs it. You’re right—knowing you was a mistake.”
True.
And I make one more mistake when I look back and my breath freezes in my lungs.
Tears are streaming down her red cheeks now. Her arms flap erratically at her sides.