Page 25 of You Make Me Feel
“I’m sorry,” he says again, his expression morphing into something I don’t quite understand. Is it sympathy? Guilt? I’m not sure. But I hate it.
“Get out.” I’m seeing red. I want to curl up and cry. But I can’t let him see me break down like that.
“I really didn’t mean to hurt you.” He turns before I can say anything, heading for the door. His long fingers curl around the handle, but he hesitates for a moment.
Then he looks back. Sees me shaking. I hope he thinks it’s from anger. It half is.
The other half. It’s helplessness. It’s a throwback to when I had no control and no way out.
“Fuck,” he murmurs. For a heartbeat he stays there, hand still on the door, like he wants to take it back. Like he wants to fix it. But he doesn’t know how.
I cross my arms, even though they’re trembling. “Please leave,” I manage, my throat raw.
He nods once, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Then he opens the door and walks out, the sound of it closing behind him slicing through the air like a knife. The silence that follows is heavy. Too still. I press a hand to my chest, trying to slow the thud of my heart, but it won’t calm. I tell myself it’s anger, humiliation, adrenaline. Anything but what it actually is.
Because under all that fury is something else.The memory of his voice, low and rough, counting to ten in my head.
And the thought of it makes every muscle in my body tight.
eight
ZACH
There’s a lump in my throat as big as a fucking boulder as I walk out of her office, closing the door behind me. Jesus Christ, what a shit show.
And apparently I’m the Chief Shit.
“Is everything okay?” Romy asks, looking up from the counter. She has a stack of books that she’s wrapping. Making folds, sticking postcards, and stickers into them like she’s some kind of origami magician.
“Yeah.” I let out a breath, because it’s a lie. I made her upset, and I hate it. “But can you check on Sadie in a bit?”
“What?” Her brows furrow as she stops folding and looks up at me. “What did you do in there?”
I can’t tell her. I’ve invaded Sadie’s privacy enough already. The woman’s never going to talk to me again. I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
Romy looks at me for a long moment before she pulls something out from beneath the counter. “By the way, Igrabbed you a copy, I assume you don’t already have one.”
I frown, walking over to see what she’s holding out. Then I see the thick volume in her hands.Jane Eyre.
“Take it,” she says. “It’s yours.”
So I do. Because I think I’ve already pissed enough people off today. “Thanks. How much?”
“Seventeen ninety-nine.”
I slip her a twenty and tuck the book beneath my arm, not waiting for the change as I head out of the door into the warm outside air.
One deep breath of salty air makes me decide a walk is what I need to clear my thoughts. So I stride across Main Street, toward the ferry road, the Atlantic a sparkling blue in front of me.
The ferry itself is halfway across the water to the mainland, the dock empty of cars, and I walk down the middle of the road, waving at Eileen as she beats the hell out of a rug on the porch of her inn.
At the end of the lane is the Salty Dog, the beach bar my sister-in-law inherited from her dad.
Hudson’s sitting out front, sunglasses on, his son tucked against his chest, while Skyler helps Ayda with her homework, Barney snoring at their feet.
“Hey,” Skyler says, beaming at me. “Look at you outside during the daytime. I guess I lose my bet that you’re a vampire.”
“Just wanted some fresh air.” I incline my head at the beach. “Thought I’d take a walk.”
