Just a Bit Heartless (Straight Guys, #13)

by Alessandra Hazard

Damiano chuckled. “You’re positively adorable.” Maybe he’d misheard. “Pardon?” Jordan said, without looking at him. It took everything in him not to look at him. He felt the other man lean closer to him and then murmur close to his ear, “It’s adorable how you pretend not to be interested when spying on me is the main reason you’re here.”

Chuckling, Damiano got to his feet and patted him on the head condescendingly, like one would pat a dog. “You’re pretty enough, for a guy, but I don’t swing that way, so your doe eyes are wasted on me, bello.”

“As you say, let’s cut the bullshit. You did it because you’re an emotionally stunted control freak who got a little bit attached and doesn’t know how to express his affections in a healthy way.”

“Don’t cry,” Damiano said tersely, a muscle jumping by his temple. “It’s not worth crying over.”

“How can such an intelligent man be so dumb when it comes to feelings? I can’t live without you, you dummy. And I’m done with your hot-and-cold act. You don’t get to treat me like that, coming and going out of my life as you please. Fuck that. You’re stuck with me from now on.”

He didn’t care about people. Most people were just tools for him. He felt no remorse about hurting people. Except this one. This one was precious. This one was his. This one made him feel.

“Love is always depicted as a nice, sweet feeling in the movies. What I feel for you isn’t sweet. It isn’t nice. Sometimes I almost hate you for turning me into this. For making me—for making me need another person. For wanting to be a better person than I am. I don’t like it—the way you make me feel.”

“Unbalanced and distracted—when you aren’t around. Obsessive, possessive, and out of control when you are. If this is love, it fucking sucks.”