Page 25 of Reckless
I stopped pacing and looked at her.“He said he didn’t like the way they were looking at me.”
Britney was still.
And God, I was tired enough and lonely enough and angry enough tonight that that sentence of his felt like an answer to a prayer.
“And what did you say?”
I closed my eyes.“A good start.”But then I shook my head.I’d wanted to kiss him, but I wasn’t about to throw myself at him for one nice thing.Then I told her, “I also told him to go to hell.”
“Better.”
I dragged both hands through my hair.“He is so calm.It’s infuriating.He says insane things in this voice like he’s discussing weather patterns.Like he didn’t, ” I broke off and made an angry, useless gesture.“I don’t even know what he did.”
“You know exactly what he did.”
I looked at her.
“He saw an opening,” she said bluntly.“He took control of the room.”
“It wasn’t about the room.”
“No,” she said.“It wasn’t.”
I sat down because my legs were unreliable.“It’s about controlling me.”
Britney’s expression changed the slightest bit.
“Yes.”She put her hand on her hip.“Because it sounded to me like you think he’s already getting exactly what he wants.”
Except he never wanted me.He’d not been interested in all this time.
Britney came over and sat in the chair opposite mine, leaning forward, forearms on her knees.“Kelly, listen to me.Men like Xerses are dangerous specifically because they’re not sloppy.”
Heat crawled up my neck again.
“Men like Xerses,” I repeated.
“What does that mean?”
“It means he’s a man who’s used to being obeyed.”
My laugh came out ugly.“I’m not exactly an obedience kink in a sundress.”
Britney’s mouth flattened.“Don’t joke through this.”
I shut up.
She held my gaze until I actually let myself feel the seriousness under her words.
“When Michael told me about him,” she said, quieter now, “he didn’t describe some cartoon villain.He described a man who likes control because it keeps things simple.Women who want what he can buy.Women who know the terms.Women who won’t ask for anything deeper.”
The room felt warmer all of a sudden.I looked down at my hands.
“He’d know I’m not that type of girl.He’s known for years,” I said after a second, because apparently I was committed to skidding around my own feelings with humor until I died.“Or maybe he needs therapy.”
Britney huffed out a tiny laugh despite herself.“That’s not wrong.”
“Maybe I should move to another state or sell real estate upstate.”
