He took a step closer to me. “What do you think I have to say?” he asked slowly. “Since you think you have me all figured out.”
“That we crossed some imaginary line. That we broke some rule,” I snapped, throwing my arm out. “Because that’s what guys like you love the most. Rules you have to follow in order to feel good about yourself!”
I meant to hit him where it hurt. For some twisted and fucked-up reason, I needed to hurt him like he hurt me. The last thing I expected was for him to tilt my Hayes-infected world on its axis.
“Who is Gordon?”
Chapter Six
Hayes
“Who is Gordon?” I repeated, taking a step forward as she staggered back, fear dancing in her eyes.
The woman in front of me was the most infuriating woman on the fucking planet. I’d spent months trying to get close to her,to make sure she was okay, and to be her friend, some unknown force compelling me to do so. From the moment I saw her, I wanted her, and up until that night I came into her bar, I’d been tired of denying it.
“Answer the question,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “Who is he to you?”
“I—I—How do you…” she stammered, trailing off, the air around us disappearing.
“What kind of man do you think I am?” I questioned through my teeth. When she said nothing, I shook my head, a low, rough chuckle rising from deep within my chest. “You think I wanted to leave you?”
Confusion covered her face, a crease forming between her cute brows, her full lips pressing together in a frown. “What? You didn’t—”
My arms fell to my sides, disbelief slamming into me, realization looming over me like a cloud, her words finally registering.
No, you don’t get to make love to me and then treat me like shit.
“I hurt you,” I whispered.
Again, I was met with silence. She was staring at me as if she’d never seen me before, as if I was a threat to her. Suddenly, things shifted. Alarm bells sounded in my head, my gut finally catching up as the sour taste of regret coated my tongue. “Margo, who is Gordon?” I asked for a third time, softer. She wasn’t staring at me anymore, rather staring through me, just like she had the day I found her curled up on the floor of the fishing shed. Her fair skin paled even more, all the color in her cheeks and the emotion in her eyes vanishing before my eyes.
Fuck.
I knew what this was.
My feet moved then, carrying me to her. I reached out, grabbing her chin between my fingers. “Look at me,” I murmured, tilting her head back. Her eyes met mine, but she was someplace else. Somewhere far away. A place I couldn’t reach her. But fuck me, I wasn’t giving up until she was back in my arms. “I made a mistake,” I confessed, hating how the words tasted, how they poisoned the air between us. “I shouldn’t have left you.”
I’d hated every second of it, but for now, she couldn’t know that. Not until she let me in. Then maybe I could let her see me—truly see me.
“Margo,” I called, my hand stretching across her jaw as I cupped her face. “Come back to me.”
She jerked in my arms then, blinking a few times, and I watched with caution as she slowly came back to her senses. My arm banded around her waist, pulling her to me. “You wanna tell me what the hell that was?” I queried gently.
She dipped her head, pulling away from me. I allowed it, letting my hand fall. When she finally spoke, her eyes were on the deck. “How do you know that name?”
I narrowed my eyes, unable to dismiss the horror dripping off every word. “Margo, you said it in your sleep,” I confessed, grinding my teeth. “I woke up in the middle of the night and you moaned his name.”
Those gorgeous pink lips of hers parted. “What?” she breathed, her breaths coming out rapidly. “You heard me…”
“I left your bed because I thought another man was supposed to be in it.”
She flinched as if I’d hit her, her skin blanching, eyes wide with horror. My stomach dropped.
Fuck, I was such an idiot.
“Who is he?” I pressed.
I felt her stiffen in my arms then, her back snapping straight, muscles tightening as her walls shot back up, barricading her secrets. She looked up at me, eyes burning as she put her hands on my chest. “Get off me!” she practically roared, shoving me back.