I almost laughed. Almost. “All right. Fine.” The back of my neck prickled. Something inside of me was slipping away. I felt it happening in stages, and it was frightening. The wall between us—the barrier that existed to keep me safe—was lowering, coming apart a brick at a time. I could halt the wall’s deconstruction. Bring it back up again if I wanted. But… I couldn’t fucking breathe around him, and I knew what his hands felt like on my body now. For real. I craved more of him, even though he could be selfish and cruel, and even knowing that wanting him would more than likely be my downfall.
