Page 29 of Toxic Kiss

“And you still reek of regret and poor decisions.” She mirrors me, tilting her head up until her breath skims my neck as she breathes in, sniffing me. Every muscle in me locks tight. Her smirk cuts deep. “Cheap cologne and desperation. Your signature scent.”

My jaw ticks. I move closer until there’s nothing left between us but air and sin. She doesn’t move, doesn’t yield, and gives nothing away.

“Tell me to stop,” I whisper. “Tell me you don’t want this.”

Her eyes narrow to slits.

“You don’t get to pretend you understand consent, not now, not with me. I’m here to do a job, nothing more. Now, let go of me, Cyrus. I’m tired of this game you’re obsessed with playing.”

She may as well have punched me in the gut. It feels like she is pulling me apart as easily as she can hold me together. What the hell happened to her in New York? She looks the same, but she’s not. She’s stronger. All the softness I remember has turned to armor.

I back off, giving us an inch. Just enough to breathe.

“You think I like hating you,” I ask quietly. “You think I don’t wish it could be different?”

One accusatory eyebrow raises.

“Maybe you have selective memory. I don’t.” Her voice wavers ever so slightly. “I’ve lived every second of the last five years wiping all trace of you and your constant tearing me down from my mind until you were nothing but a bad dream. You made us this way. But I should thank you. Because now, nothing, no rumor, no television interview, and certainly no man, can touch me the way you once could. I don’t hate you, Cyrus. I simply don’t care at all. You mean nothing to me. You’re just a job.”

The smile that lifts the corner of her mouth hurts more than her words. All I see is an endless abyss rolling toward me while I’ve spent every day pining for her…the girl who literally disappeared from my life overnight.

“That’s bullshit,” I say, but don’t know who I’m trying to convince.

“Don’t you get it? Every insult. Every headline. Every time you make my name a punchline…I’m stronger for it. You. Can’t. Break. Me. You’d better get ready, because I’m either getting you back on track…or I’m ending this band myself. Your future is now in my hands.”

I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Lots of talk, but you still came, Haven. You didn’t come here to babysit me. You want to be here.”

She tilts her head, unshaken.

“I’m here because my father asked me to be. Because I’m getting ready to take over LG Records, and I can’t be bothered avoiding my past and whatever toxic wasteland this is between us any longer.”

Haven’s eyes search mine, and I feel her touching the deepest parts of me, like claws raking down my soul.

“You want to keep playing this game? Fine. But I’m not the girl you can drag under the water anymore. Understand?”

The memory hits…her gasping, eyes wide, me laughing to hide my panic. I scared her. Hell, I scared myself. And instead of apologizing, I turned it into a bad joke. I was a coward with a cruel mouth.

Haven leans in, forcing me to back up this time.

“Now,” she says, voice so resigned that I’m envious of her strength. “I know exactly who I am. And you’re going to get right, or this time, I’ll be the one crushing you.”

Fuck. Hottest words ever.

“And make no mistake Cyrus…I’ll cut you out of this band so fast it will make your head spin. Now, get out of my way. I have work to do to rebuild your brand.”

I step aside, slowly, because if I move too fast, I may do something stupid like grab her again and kiss her.

Her eyes skim me up and down, filled with disappointment, disapproval, and something else I can’t name. The worst part? She’s the person whose opinion still matters. The only opinion that matters. The person who may actually bring out the best in me.

Haven brushes past, and her shoulder grazes mine. It’s barely contact, but it sears my skin.

I watch as she walks away, heart thumping so hard it hurts. Behind me, the silence breaks, and I remember where I am.

Vex lets out a low whistle. “Jesus Christ. You two need a cage match or a motel room. That was fucking hot,” he says.

“Maybe we should put a bed in a cage and leave it in a motel room,” Ash adds.