Page 270 of Tempting Venom
And he didn’t only kill her, but also the hit man who shot me and a few other guys who helped.
Marcus killed for the first time.
For me.
Also, according to Kane, Marcus was there during the shooting and at the hospital when they announced my “death.” I didn’t hallucinate it.
Marcus didholdme in his arms as I was fighting whether or not to surrender to my demons.
That means I have a tiny chance, right? I mean, he better take me.
Hopefully.
I’ll beg if I have to.
Almost dying has given me a different perspective—all the time I was hiding and running should’ve been spent doing what I love.
Namely, hugging and kissing and touching Marcus.
I should’ve just been with him as much as possible when I could, when that’s what I always wanted to do. It’s probably been going on longer than before we started our little arrangement.
Maybe since the rivalry began?
Since college?
I’m not sure when, exactly, but that sensation of being drawn to him, annoyed by him, and feeling threatened by him wasn’t only rivalry.
For a long time, I couldn’t explain the sensation of being around him or the pull I felt toward him, but now, I can.
I think I had a crush on Marcus.
It started during our first college game, I think. By the end of it, he crashed me to the ice, and his heavy body was all over me as he reached a hand toward me.
He had this dark, hooded look in his eyes, and I remember panicking like crazy.
He’s going to eat me alive,I thought.
And I couldn’t move. All I could do was watch, waiting with bated breath, my heart on the verge of beating out of my chest.
All the sounds around us disappeared as his eyes metaphorically pulled my skin open and toyed with my deplorable insides?—
But then, Jude dragged him away from me before he could touch me, and my brain, being my brain, decided we’d completely forget about that moment.
Panic? We don’t do that. That’s why I made myself think it was because I hated him.
But in reality, I’ve been into him for a long time. I just refused to face it or even entertain it.
Now, Ifinallycan.
“Are you going in?” Hayes asks from the driver’s seat as I stare at my reflection in the mirror, willing my hair to behave.
“What if he’s not there?”
“There’s a light on in the house, and I already confirmed he came home after practice. You can go anytime now.”
“Shut up, let me practice what I’m going to say.”
“You already did for the past hour, and none of it sounded natural, by the way.”
