Page 151 of Power Play

“I noticed.”

“Apparently not enough.”

The words hit hard enough to make anger stir beneath the frustration.

I dragged one hand over my jaw. “You think this has anything to do with whether I want you?”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to think anymore.”

“I’ve told you.”

“No, you keep telling me you want me and then stopping every time we get close enough for it to mean something.”

“It already means something.”

“Then why are we still doing this?”

Her voice climbed with the question, and I watched the spiral take hold of her in real time.

Charm had a way of getting trapped inside her thoughts. I had seen it with school, clothes, her mother, and restaurants. She started with one question, found three possible answers, then turned every one against herself before anyone else knew there was a problem.

Tonight, it was happening faster.

Her hands trembled when she gestured toward herself. “What else do you need me to do, Ryan? I came here. I put this on because I wanted you to see me in it. I kissed you first. I’m literally telling you I want to fuck you, and somehow that still isn’t enough.”

I moved closer. “Wanting to fuck me isn’t what I’m waiting on.”

Her eyes flashed. “That makes no sense.”

“It does to me.”

“Then explain it, because right now it feels like you like sitting around reading poetry with me and talking about all my damaged little thoughts, but when I actually try to give you something physical, you decide you’re above it.”

My anger sharpened. “I have never acted above wanting your body.”

“You keep stopping.”

“Because I want more than your body.”

“I’m offering you more.”

“Are you?”

The question hurt her. I saw it happen when her chin pulled back like I had physically struck her.

I wanted to take it back immediately.

I held my ground because an easier lie would let us walk straight into the exact thing I was afraid of.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

I took a breath through my nose.

Charm slid down from the counter, and I stepped back so she could stand. She yanked the jacket from the floor and pulled it around herself, covering the lingerie like my words had made her ashamed of it.

That nearly broke me.

“Don’t cover yourself because you think I don’t want what I’m looking at.”