Fighting Shadows (On the Ropes #2)(69)

“Ash, what the f*ck are you doing?” Flint growled, grabbing his crutches to follow me.

Gathering my hair and pulling it from the back of my shirt, I turned to face him. “I’m just getting something to eat. What are you doing?” I teasingly raked my eyes over his naked body as he approached. Then I let out a laugh, but only to cover the quiver of my chin.

I was dying inside.

Completely withering away at the idea of leaving him again. Yet I had to do it.

“Since when do you need shoes to warm up food in the kitchen?” he snarked, catching my arm.

Suddenly, I became frantic. Lying wasn’t working, but I had to get out of there.

I lifted my chin and straightened my back. Very calmly, I demanded, “Let me go, Flint.”

We both knew I wasn’t just talking about physically.

He flinched but then quickly recovered. His eyes narrowed as he dropped his hand.

Freedom—and a lifetime of agony—was only a hundred-yard dash away.

Unfortunately, my body once again unlocked the magic of teleportation, because in the blink of an eye, I was flat on the ground with Flint on top of me. His crutches were still attached to his forearms as he pinned me to the ground.

“You will not take off on me without an explanation of what the f*ck just happened. Not ten minutes ago, you were riding my cock. Now, you’re telling me to let you go.”

“Please,” I whispered, turning my head so I didn’t have to see the determination in his eyes.

He’d more than made it clear that he wanted me to stay; I couldn’t be reminded of that as I made my escape.

He shook his crutches off one by one then forced my eyes back to his. “Don’t you dare shut down on me. What the hell is going on inside your head right now? Start talking.”

Flint couldn’t walk very well, but he had mastered the pinning-to-the-ground thing. I couldn’t have moved if I’d tried.

And I definitely tried.

Finally, I gave up attempting to shimmy out from under his bulky body and said, “I want a job.”

“Fine. Get a f*cking job. All I said was that I wouldn’t get you one cleaning the gym. My woman is not cleaning up after a bunch of nasty-ass men who can’t even hit a urinal when they are standing in front of it. No f*cking way.”

Okay. So that made sense, but it wasn’t the root of the problem.

“I don’t want your money. I might be a thief, but I’m not a beggar.” My traitorous voice quivered at the end.

His tense body slacked in understanding. “You’re not a thief, Ash.” He tried to kiss my lips, but I turned my head, so it landed on my cheek. “You’re not a thief,” he repeated into my ear.

I flipped my head to the other side, wishing I’d preemptively pulled a Van Gogh and cut the other ear off.

“You. Are. Not. A. Thief.”

But words could never be trusted any more than they could be unsaid—or, in my case, forgotten.

“Get off me.”

He was terrible at following orders, because if anything, he got on me more. Shifting to cover me completely, he placed a kiss on my exposed neck. “I made a joke about you stealing my wallet. I didn’t mean anything by it. If you want the truth, I f*cking love when you swipe it. It makes me laugh every time. And that’s something I didn’t do a whole lot of while you were gone. If a job is important to you, I’ll help you find one. Maybe you could do some filing for Till or Slate. Their offices are a wreck.

“But please understand that I want to provide for you. I’m sorry. I know we are just starting over and all that bullshit, but I have worked my ass off, and in the back of my mind, it was always so I could have something to offer you if, and when, I got you back. Ash, I’m half of a man who limps through life on crutches. I’ll never be able to scoop you off your feet the way Quarry did today. Even f*cking you the way I want is a challenge. I have a lot of limitations in life, but providing for you will never be one of them.”

My heart shattered.

I was hurt, but I wouldn’t allow him to feel that way.

Turning to face him, I cupped his jaw with both hands. After pressing a reassuring kiss to his mouth, I said, “You are not half of a man, and anyone who has ever met you knows that. Especially me.” I kissed him again.

His lips twitched against mine. “Ash, you are not a thief, and anyone who has ever met you knows that. Especially me.”

A megawatt smile formed on his lips.

Son of a bitch!

“Oh my God, you did that on purpose!” I yelled, causing him to laugh and drop his head to my shoulder. “You just made me feel sorry for you to prove a point.”

He continued laughing.

“What kind of * manipulates a woman’s feelings just to use them against her?” My voice broke on a sob.

His head immediately popped up, and his laughter fell silent. “That’s not what . . .” he started but stopped mid sentence when he caught sight of my victorious grin. “Oh, you are so going to pay for that.” He began tickling me as I squirmed underneath him.

For several minutes, we rolled around on the floor, laughing and acting like the kids we really were. Finally, when we were both out of breath, we climbed into bed. Flint ordered me to undress then promptly juggled me into our position. It was late, and we were exhausted.