Page 35 of Bound By Blood

The thought had his heart beating rapidly inside his chest. However, that feeling was dashed the moment she wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I’m not ready to start calling it that,” she told him bluntly. “I know nothing about you. You make sure of it.”

Her words hurt, but he didn’t let it show. He couldn’t. He wasn’t going to force her into something she didn’t want to do. Even though it was well within his nature to do so. “And I already told you I don’t date,” he added, not liking the strange sinking feeling in his chest as he said it. He had been considering doing that exact thing just minutes before. He had no idea that she’d reject him so easily. She hadn’t even given it any thought, which irritated him. “So, I guess we are just fuck buddies then.”

Something flashed in her eyes. Hurt, maybe? Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to analyze it much because it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. That was the one thing that he hated about her, how she was so closed off about her emotions and feelings. He wasn’t exactly a teddy bear himself, but he was trying here. She didn’t even give him that much. While she had said that she knew nothing about him, she gave him nothing too. He had no idea how to respond to her most of the time.

Carly chewed on a bit more egg before swallowing. “I guess so.”

Landon shook his head and turned his back to her as he began to clean up the dishes. He didn’t like it, but what did he expect? They lived in completely different worlds. Did he really expect them to find a way to make it work? Why did he even care so much? He guessed this conversation answered the questions he had earlier that morning about where they stood. Now, he could start working on accepting it.

“At least, we know where we stand now,” he stated curtly.

“Right,” Carly murmured.

“When you finish your breakfast, I’ll have a car come get you and take you back home.”

Since it was clear that they were nothing more than that, there was no reason for her to stick around. He needed to start accepting the Idea, and she needed to get used to the fact that she was not and would never be a part of his world.

“I can call a cab myself, you know,” she snarked back. “You don’t have to shuffle me around.”

Landon sighed heavily in frustration and resisted the urge to punch the cabinet. He was getting so fed up with her snarky attitude. Especially after he went out of his way to make her feel comfortable in his home. It was completely unwarranted, and he hadn’t done anything to deserve it. It didn’t help that he was still on edge with her rejection. But he was done.

“Fine. Then call yourself a cab.”

“Maybe I’ll flirt with him a little. You never know, he might be a better fuck than you are.”

“You do what you want, Carly. Sleep with whoever you want,” he stated, his voice dangerously calm. Anger and rage spiked in his gut at the thought, but he shoved it down. He wasn’t going to continue playing these games with her. If she wanted to see other people, then she had no say in what he did either. “Just don’t get pissed when I do the same. Maybe I’ll even give Irma a call so we can pick up where we left off last night at the club.”

Carly’s rage perfumed the room, indicating just how much she hated the idea. But she had no right to be angry with him. She couldn’t expect him to stay exclusive while she went around and slept with everyone with a dick. It didn’t work that way.

“Fine. If that’s the way you want to play it, so be it,” she growled. She stood up from the stool, typed into her phone, and put the phone to her ear as she made arrangements with the cab company.

Landon waited patiently as she spoke, cleaning up the rest of the kitchen until it was spotless once more. When she hung up, he dried his hands on a towel and set it down before he spoke again. “I’m not the one playing, Carly,” he told her. “And since we are nothing more than fuck buddies, neither one of us gets to dictate what the other one does. One of these days, you will learn that I don’t play fucking games.”

With that, he turned and headed back up the stairs, deciding that he needed to take a cold shower to cool himself off because he was so pissed. That was what he got for trying to be someone he wasn’t, for even thinking that he could have more than what he already had. It was time for him to start putting Carly out of his mind for good. It was ruining him.

“The club…” Carly whispered when he was halfway up the stairs.

Landon stopped and dropped his head back against his shoulders. “What about it?” he growled in frustration.

He could hear her picking her clothes up off the ground from where he peeled them off of her the night before. The memories of the hot sex they had filtered through his mind and went directly to his cock, which was not what he needed right now.

“Who owns it?”

“Why is that important?” He looked back at her just in time to see her get the zipper of her dress pulled up. The shirt she had been wearing was in a pile on the floor. She then picked up her knife and pocketed it beside her left breast before looking up at him.

“Will you stop being a prick and just tell me?”

Squashing his irritation at her inability to answer questions, Landon continued up the stairs, shaking his head as he went. “I do,” he replied, stepping onto the landing and disappearing into his room.

The room smelled like Carly and sex now, and he knew it was going to drive him crazy. There was no way he could focus on putting her out of his mind when everywhere he turned in the place would be a reminder of the amazing night they had shared.

He made a quick mental note to call his housekeeper and have her deep clean the room for him once he got out of the shower. He shook his head again, angry at himself for getting his hopes up, and stepped into the bathroom. He turned the water on for his shower, stripped out of his sweats, and climbed in before it even had the chance to warm. He rolled his neck and braced his arm against the shower wall, welcoming the cold water as it soothed his frustration.

A few moments later, Landon groaned when he heard Carly thunder up the steps. “How many do you own?” she asked, barging into the bathroom.

“I thought you were leaving,” he retorted bitterly. He was still amped up from their earlier conversation and just wanted to be left alone to brood. She just wasn’t taking the hint.

Carly had the audacity to snarl at him. “Just answer the fucking question.”