Page 12 of Blitz

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, you do.”

I want to pull her into my arms and kiss away her frown. I want to wrap her up in my arms and never let her go. I want the last two and a half years to have never happened.

I can’t always get what I want.

“We can be friends again,” she says quietly. “We should be friends again. I know what I did—”

My defenses slam back into place. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I hurt you.”

That’s an understatement. She devastated me. I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. And instead, she wanted the freedom to fuck other guys.

“I’m sorry for that,” she says for the first time ever. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’d take it back if I could. But we would never have survived the distance.”

“You don’t know that.” My voice cracks. “You don’t know that we couldn’t have survived it.”

“We were too young,” she says. “The distance would have poisoned everything good about us. We got to grow up a little. We weren’t shackled down to—”

A sharp intake of breath. “Is that what I was to you? A shackle?”

She winces. “No. No, Tuck, you were—you were great. I was holding you back.”

She really wasn’t. All I ever wanted was her.

“You’re a football player.”

“So?”

“So I bet you’re beating off girls with a stick. You’re the big man on campus. Everyone wants a piece of you.”

I laugh. “Mason, I’ve been with exactly one girl, one time since you. I don’t hook up. I don’t go out. I don’t do anything. Nobody wants a piece of me. Nobody wants me. I’m damaged goods, sunshine. You ruined me.”

Her eyes are wide, unblinking. “But—”

“You destroyed me.” My breath is coming in sharp bursts now. Adrenaline ricochets through my veins, pushing me forward. I tower over her. “You broke a piece of me I didn’t think would ever break. I loved you. All I wanted was to be with you. And you threw me away. To go fuck frat guys and live the life you always wanted, shackle free. So, no, Mason, we can’t be friends. I want nothing to do with you.”

Chapter six

Mason

I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was setting him free. Instead, I condemned him to a lifetime of unhappiness.

“King...”

He flinches. “Just leave me alone. We’ll work at the assessment center and we’ll just... coexist.”

“If... if that’s what you want.”

“It is.” His voice breaks. Anguish twists his features.

He doesn’t want this.

I nod and clear my throat. “Right. Well, have a nice life.”

I take a step backwards. He takes a step towards me. Before I can so much as blink, his hands cup my cheeks, and his lips are on mine.

Electricity sends shockwaves through my veins. I move to wrap my arms around him, and he groans, tugging my body into his. He’s big and solid against me. His gloved fingers tangle in my loose braid as he deepens the kiss, taking, taking. His tongue strokes into my mouth. I shudder, and it’s not just from the cold.