Page 117 of Forever Defiant
There it was. The condescension. The bite. The reminder that he was angry too — which meant the other night had gotten under his skin just as much as it had under mine.
“Could’ve fooled me,” I muttered. “You sprinted away from me the other day like I was an IRS audit.”
He didn’t laugh, not even a hint of a smile. All he did was grip the wheel tighter, knuckles white. “You’re mistaken. That’s not what happened.”
“Really? Because I’mprettysure you bolted. Like, Usain Bolt–level bolted.”
Dustin grunted but said nothing.
The silence stretched between us again, thick and strangling. His jaw kept working, his breath kept shifting, his posture kept tightening — and I realized he wasn’t unreadable. He was unraveling, just like me.
Did I broach the subject? I was pissed, but I wasn’t a complete bitch.
Much.
“Are you going to say something,” I demanded, “or are we driving the whole way in monk mode?”
Still nothing.
My irritation bloomed like a rash. “I know whyIwas avoidingyou. Care to explain your side? Or does that require adult communication?”
That did it. He swerved to the side of the road, ignoring my yelp of surprise and the honks from other drivers. His hand shot out and grabbed my chin, not rough, just enough, forcing me to look at him.
“Hadley.” Just my name — low, rough, frayed at the edges. I swallowed my demand of ‘what the fuck is wrong with you?’
“It’s not—” Dustin stopped, exhaled, and tried again. “I didn’t avoid you because of what you think.”
“Oh?” I folded my arms tighter. “And what do I think?”
His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, his eyes on my mouth. “That I’m an asshole.”
I snorted. “Youarean asshole.”
He looked up at me then — brief, sharp, loaded — before pulling his hand back like he’d thought better of it.
“Well,” he muttered, “you didn’t seem to think that the other night.”
My pulse spiked, and my cheeks warmed. “Yeah, well... You started that,” I hissed.
“You finished half of it.”
Now that he was talking, saying the things about the whole ‘incident,’ I wanted to crawl out the window. “Forget it, we need to forget it, it was stupid.”
Dustin sighed. “Yeah, it was.”
Ouch. “Yeah, I got the hint when you walked away, Slater.”
“Peterson,” he snapped, the word coming out in a low growl. “Stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, please, of course I do!” I fired back. “I was there.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then enlighten me.”
“We need to catch up.” He signaled and then pulled out. “This is getting us nowhere.”
The car filled with silence again — but different this time. It had been thick and uncomfortable before, but now it was charged. Almost dangerous.
