Page 133 of Tempting Venom
“Where are you, Preston?”
“On the cliff overlooking Graystone Ridge. You can see the whole town from here. Whoa.” I stare out at the blurry lights. “Mom can’t see this anymore, you know.”
There’s movement on his end. “Why not?”
“She’s dead, genius. Killed herself because I’m such a failure.”
“You? A failure? I thought you were the best man to have ever been born. God’s gift to humans.”
“I’m not. I just say that in case I believe it one day.”
Fuck, why am I telling him this?
The sound of an engine reaches me from the other end, and I pause. “Is that the bike?”
“Yeah. I want to test it out before I return it to you.”
“Don’t return it. I burned yours and you didn’t destroy my car like I thought you would, so…yeah. Jude said that bike was your only mode of transportation.”
“And you felt sorry for me?”
“Maybe.”
“Will you throw money at me every time you feel sorry for me?”
“If you want.”
I lean against the steering wheel, my head twisted to the side so I can look at the phone. Then I turn the volume all the way up because the sound of his gruff voice makes me feel like I’m floating among those stars again.
Maybe this time, that small safety won’t disappear like Mom did.
“You’ll be my sugar daddy?” he asks with a bit of a smile in his voice.
“Sure.”
“I’m extremely expensive.”
“I’m rich. I can afford you.”
“I don’t want your money, baby.”
“Then what do you want?”
“You.”
My heart squeezes and I frown. Need the doctors to look this shit up. Can someone have heart cancer?
Heart malfunction?
“I thought we were done,” I whisper, my voice barely audible.
“Do you want that?”
“You’re the one who ended it, prick. But I knew you’d come back. You can’t resist me, can you?”
“No.”
I swallow and remain quiet. I only said that to provoke him, but the low spoken word makes my stomach flip.
