For Wrath and Redemption (The Hometown Heartless)

by Brit Benson

I don’t like the way my heart starts to race the longer I look at her. I don’t like the way my neck starts to heat, or the way I can almost smell her lavender and sugar scent from across the room. I don’t like the way my motives start to blur at the edges. I don’t like any of it.

You’re all I can think about, and I want you. I want you, Claire, and it’s going to get me in so much fucking trouble. But you want to know a secret?” “Yes,” I whisper, and I feel him smile. “Trouble is my weakness.”

“You said it was a game! You did! It’s chess, remember? Play the whole fucking board. Every move, calculated. Everything strategic. Queen of manipulation. But who are you playing? Me? My father? Yourself? Because fuck me, Claire, I really can’t tell, but I need to know. I need to know.”

“I regret it because you fucking own me now. I regret it because you consume me. But God, I want it. I want it even if you’ll just trap me and take all my money.”

“I don’t want privacy, Trouble. I don’t want a longer leash. You could tether me to your leg, and I’d fucking love it.”

I’m anxious and afraid, but I’m not running. I’m feeling, and that’s huge. If I didn’t fix me, I could never deserve her. I would never be worthy of us.