Collide (Collide, #1)(110)

Puddles pooled around their feet, and rain-soaked commuters dashed past them.

She stared at him, her heart pounding in her chest, with mutiny bold in her eyes. “I took him back about an hour after you left my apartment!” she hissed, her voice malicious in her attempt to cut every piece of him to shreds. She tried to pull away, but he held her firmly in place. “I took him back an hour after you brazenly hovered over my body and told me that you loved me!”

Glaring at her viciously, his hand came around the nape of her neck as he pulled her face within inches of his, their noses brushing. She felt his hot breath fan over her cold cheeks as her chest rose and fell. “You were awake when I was there?”

“Oh, I was awake and very well as a matter of fact,” she laughed maniacally, her words dripping with rage.

Gavin couldn’t believe what he was hearing or seeing. Surely, this wasn’t the same woman he was with only a few nights before. He’d heard of people being deemed temporarily insane, and in this very moment, he was completely ready to drive her straight to the nearest psychiatric ward.

No. Questions. Asked.

“How seriously twisted can you be?” he growled, his expression thunderous. She went to speak, but he cut her off. “Did you f*ck him last night, Emily?” Her breath hitched, and her body heated as he tilted her neck back, his hand fisting the back of her hair. He grazed his lips over the corner of her mouth. He then slowly slid them to her ear, the slight stubble on his face brushing against her flesh, his voice a hot whisper. “And if you did f*ck him last night, did he feel as good inside that beautiful * as I did? Was he able to make you beg for more the way I can?” He gently nipped her earlobe, nearly melting her right there. “And one final question for you, doll. Did you come as hard with him as you came for me?”

As the fierce downpour assaulted the pavement, her eyes narrowed on him, her heart exploding with grief and anger all at once. He loomed over her with their drenched clothing clinging against their bodies, their breathing heavy. “He made me come harder!” At this, he looked shocked—hurt even—but it didn’t stop her. “He felt just as awesome inside of me as your dick felt buried inside of Gina!”

With furrowed brows, Gavin reared back. “What are you talking about?”

“Gina,” she clarified slowly, her voice venomous. “I came to surprise you yesterday morning with breakfast, and it turned out the surprise was on me. Looked like you already ate. Your bed sheets were still warm from the two of us, and she opened your door practically naked. Give me a f*cking break!” she screamed, watching as his expression shifted to one of unease.

Gavin knew her eyes were her enemy, betraying her in so many ways, but he also knew his actions by letting Gina in had caused the battle. God help him if this was a battle he was about to lose Emily over.

Tread.

He knew he had to tread lightly. The woman before him was broken and hurt, but his mind was frozen. He couldn’t seem to formulate his words quickly enough.

His lack of a speedy reply seemed to confirm what Emily knew to be true. He knew he’d been caught, and he had no idea what to say. Before Gavin could register what was happening, Emily brought her hand up and smacked him hard across his face, the sound pitching over the pelting rain.

He staggered back slightly—completely stunned.

“You bastard!” she yelled, uncaring of passerby’s watching their exchange.

She glared daggers at him and went to smack him again, but his hand darted forward and caught her by the wrist.

“You have to listen to me, Emily,” he breathed out, his voice firm. She tried to yank her wrist away, but he pulled her into his chest. With his free hand, he smoothed the wet hair away from her face. “She was already gone by the time I got out of the shower. I had no idea you were there.” Emily’s eyes widened as she tried to pull away again. “No, wait! Fuck! It’s not at all what you think!”

Still trying to release herself from his grasp, tears spilled from her eyes. “Is that the best you could come up with?” she huffed, affecting a wicked sneer.

Trapped.

She felt trapped under the glare of those beautiful blue eyes, and she wasn’t about to let him suck her back under their spell. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m falling for that one! You can’t lie your way back into my heart, Gavin. I hate what you did to me, what you did to us, and most of all, I hate you!” Part of her froze when those words tumbled from her mouth because she didn’t hate him. She couldn’t. She loved him—loved him clear to the bottom of her soul. However, everything she knew he’d stood for from the second she’d met him was everything he’d proven himself to be.

Gavin recoiled as though she hit him again. His heart sank as shock shifted to realization that he may have lost her—and losing her meant he would lose himself. “You don’t hate me. You love me,” he choked out, not trying to hide the pain that was ready to crush him. Lifting his arms, he held her face between his hands, stroking the pads of his thumbs over her lips. “And, Jesus Christ, Emily, I love you with everything inside of me, with everything I am, with everything I’ll ever be. Please. Don’t leave me like this, knowing if I just hadn’t let her in, this wouldn’t be happening right now. She came to my house, and I shouldn’t have let her in. I know I shouldn’t have, but she was drunk, and her—”