“When relationships end, people want fresh starts.” “What relationship?” I snarl. There’s that flinch again. There’s that throbbing vein. As titillating as our proximity is right now, I don’t enjoy hurting her. Every time I do, the beast in me roars in protest. It goes against the grain, to hurt someone you feel you were born to protect. “Yeah,” she says softly. “You’re right. We never had a relationship. You were paying me to sleep with you and I was desperate enough to say yes. I was your whore—that’s it.”
