His eyes flash, but I turn back towards Bryce. “I’m sorry,” I call. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

He nods, flashing me a quick smile. Melanie gives me a what the hell kind of look, and I shrug. Blade pushes me back towards our house before I even have the chance to argue any further. When we’re in the darkness, I spin on him. “You have no right to do that.”

“I’m just doing my brotherly duties and looking out for my sister.”

“My god,” I screech, stumbling backwards. “Stop using that fucking word. You’re not even related to me.”

He chuckles in the darkness.

“Where the hell did that nice guy go?” I mutter to myself, before turning and storming towards the house.

He catches my arm before I’ve even taken three steps. “What did you say?”

“That guy—you know, the one I met that weekend. Where the hell did he go?”

“He was just trying to get into your pants,” he fires at me.

I flinch. “You’re a pig.”

“And you’re fuckin’ naive. Did you honestly think we’d fall in love and I’d stick around? Jesus, I was bein’ so nice because you and I got along and I wanted in your pants.”

I swallow back the hurt that rises up in my throat. That hurts, those words . . . they sting. I’m silent for a minute, then I whisper, “So that’s it? You think it’s a great big joke that you stripped me of my virginity and then left?”

He sighs. “Fuck me, no, I do not think it’s a joke. I liked you, we got along—it was fun but Jesus, Aria . . . that’s all it was. Fun.”

I nod, even though he can’t see me in the darkness.

“Yeah, well maybe fun is what I’m looking for here. Bryce seems the perfect type to give it to me.”

I turn and start walking back towards the house. Blade follows me. “He’s a pansy.”

I snort. “And you’re an asshole. I don’t see the difference.”

“You’re really just going to sleep with him to get back at me?”

I spin around and charge at him, shoving his chest. “Don’t you flatter yourself, you arrogant jerk. You might have meant something to me back then, I might have even hurt over what you did, but I don’t care about you anymore. I’ve moved on. What I do is my business.” I shove him again. “It isn’t yours.”

His hands lash up and curl around my wrists and he hauls me against his body. “You and I both know you’re not over it, Tulip.”

I clench my jaw and try to fight against him, but he holds me close. Like this, I can feel just how much more Blade has filled out since our last encounter. He leans down close, pressing our bodies together. His lips are so near to mine I can feel his warm breath against my mouth. “You haven’t forgotten how good I made you feel.”

“You’re so full of yourself.”

He chuckles, low and throaty. “I made you scream, and I made you cum—let’s not forget how much you begged me to fuck you that weekend.”

I shove against him. “Let me go.”

“Not until you admit it.”

“What do you want me to admit?” I shout. “That I loved how it felt when you had your fucking dick inside me?”

He flinches. Yeah, that’s right, even I can get a reaction when I want one.

“How fucking good it felt,” I go on, “when your mouth was between my legs?”

Did he just suck in a breath? Hope flares deep in my belly.

“But you know what, Blade?” I lean in close. “I got over you. I found better. Now let me go.”

He does, surprisingly.

I rush off into the darkness, but not before I hear him mutter, “I fuckin’ didn’t.”

I’m not sure I was meant to hear that, but it has a smile stretching across my face.

Maybe Blade didn’t forget me as easily as he’s making out.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THEN – ONE YEAR EARLIER

His lips run down my neck, causing my body to break out into a thousand shivers. I close my eyes, running my hand over his shoulder and down his arm. His muscles flex and move beneath my fingers and he feels amazing. It’s pitiful, love at first touch, I know it, but I can’t change it. Last night was amazing and now here I am, still in his bed, still enjoying him. He took my virginity, he made it amazing, and we spent an entire night kissing and caressing.

“So you’re not going to tell me your name?” he asks, nipping my shoulder.

I smile towards the ceiling. “No. We said no names, remember?”

“Why?” he murmurs against my flesh. “You got a big secret?”

I giggle. “Yeah, you.”

I’m eighteen, and I’ve learned he’s twenty-three. It’s not a massive age difference, but it’s enough that I know he’s far more experienced than I am. He’s been gentle with me, though. He hasn’t pushed to have sex again and he’s been great towards me, offering to clean me up after we first did the deed. He’s a good guy; I know that much.

“Tell me something about you that no one else knows?” he asks, rolling us so I’m in his arms.

“I love tulips.”

A low chuckle as his fingers glide down my side. “That’s it? Tulips?”

I turn so my nose is pressed to his skin. I breathe him in. “No one knows how much I love them. They’re my secret obsession.”