Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(20)

Melody blinked. Were those the topics that he pulled out of her teasing monolog? Interesting.

“I was just trying to lighten up the mood a little.” She tried to soothe him.

“I don’t want my mood lightened up,” he almost shouted back at her. He took a breath, shifted his weight to his other leg, and rubbed a hand over his face. “We’re out here to train,” he snapped. “Nothing else.”

“We are training.” Melody crossed her arms. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t chat and get to know each other, or even, heaven forbid, have a little fun while we’re at it.” The strain of jogging was wearing off, but she was still short of breath. Her grin had changed completely to a frown.

“This is not fun,” Will insisted, taking a step closer to her. “This is serious. You’re not taking any of this seriously.”

Melody’s back flew up in an instant. “I am too taking it seriously. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m out here pushing myself way outside of my comfort zone.”

“It doesn’t look like it to me.”

“Then you’re not looking hard enough,” she fired back. “Physical activity doesn’t come naturally to me, unless you count yoga.” She didn’t know why she was compelled to throw in that aside, she just couldn’t let him think she was completely useless. “I’m trying something new here. I’m expanding my horizons and broadening my experiences. The least you could do is stop treating me like I’m some bimbo out here just to flirt with you.”

“Then stop flirting with me.” He took another step closer to her, eyes blazing.

Melody backed up a fraction, eyes blinking wide. “You think all that was flirting with you?”

“Wasn’t it?” His anger wasn’t abating, not even a little.

“No,” she shouted back. “It’s me trying to have a conversation with you. Or should I say it’s me trying to have a conversation with a brick wall. Only, I think a brick wall would be a lot more sympathetic to me than you’re being.”

“I don’t have time for sympathy. I’m in this competition to win it,” he said, ever so slightly quieter.

Intuition told her she’d finally broken through his iron wall and that he was beginning to feel bad about snapping, but it was hard to tell.

“Well, I’m in it for personal growth.” She kept up the intensity of her defense. “That means I want to win too, but I’m willing to count an enriching experience as a win, even if I don’t get that all-expense paid trip somewhere. Isn’t that what winning is all about?”

“No,” he said, another teeny bit quieter. “It’s about achievement. It’s about being the best, being head and shoulders above the crowd.”

Melody crossed her arms. “Did your dad tell you that?”

He reacted like she’d slapped him. “This is not a date,” he shouted. “We weren’t put together to get all touchy-feely with each other. This is strictly a business arrangement.”

For some reason, the force of his statements hurt her. “I never said it wasn’t. I am saying that it could be both, if you didn’t have your head so far up your ass that it’s no wonder you don’t notice when someone is trying to be friends with you.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Yes, you did.” She cut him off. “You’ve been insulting to me since the day this whole thing started. You’ve been treating me like an albatross around your neck instead of someone who wants to compete as a team with you. And don’t think I don’t know that you asked Howie if you could get rid of me as a partner.”

His face turned a deeper shade of red, and he glanced away.

“Yes,” she pushed on. “I’ve been training with you every night for the past eight days, knowing full well that you don’t like me and don’t want anything to do with me.”

“I never said that I don’t li—”

“You didn’t have to. I can tell. But I’ve put up with it. I’ve put up with it because I want to get something out of this experience. And that something is not a piece of your ass.” She threw her hands up with a frustrated laugh. “I don’t know if it makes you arrogant or just cowardly that you think all I’d be interested in is sleeping with you, but I’ll save you the trouble of wondering.” She took a step forward and jabbed a finger into his chest. “I wouldn’t sleep with you, William S. Darling, if you were the last man on earth and I hadn’t had any for years.”

She whipped away from him and started marching. It felt good to get it all out like that, almost as good as if she’d thrown him down and humped him until he begged for mercy. She shifted from walking to jogging to get away from him. Sometimes running felt really good after all.

“My middle name is Arthur,” he called after her.

Without looking back at him, she raised her middle finger. If he wanted to be a dick, he could go right ahead. The competition started tomorrow, and she was going to go out there in the wilderness and prove that she had what it took to win, whether he was on board with her or not.





Chapter Six





That goddamn, self-righteous bastard!

Will let out a roar of frustration and doubled over as soon as he was sure Melody was out of earshot. He stayed bent, resting his elbows on his knees, wincing over the total ass he’d made of himself. All because of the nagging phone call from his dad. The uptight prig.