Breaking Away (Assassins, #5)(34)

Stopping her, he said, “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

She looked over at him and shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.”

“No,” he said before she could get out. “If you want to only dance and not go to therapy then you need to learn how to talk to me. Everyone else gets this nice Claire, while I get the angry one. I’m not the bad guy, Claire. Stop treating me like one.”

Her eyes narrowed as she pinned him with a look.

“I told you I had to be here at four. Its six minutes past. I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna be able to dance now! I try to be nice and crap, but you continually piss me off. I gotta go,” she said, slamming the door before running into the studio.

As he watched her disappear inside, Phillip shook his head. He couldn’t understand how he pissed her off. He did everything she asked of him, and all she did was crap on him. Just when he thought things were good between them, she’d turn into the angst teen he was blessed with. Shaking his head, he decided to sleep in the car until she got out. Leaning his head back, he was just about to shut his eyes when the passenger door opened, and Claire fell into the seat.

Looking over, he watched as she crossed her arms and looked out the window before she said, “We can go.”

“Why?” he asked, sitting up.

“Because I’m late. I can’t dance if I’m late. If I’m late again next week, I’m kicked out of the group class,” she said softly. When a tear ran down her cheek, Phillip’s heart seized.

“You’re only a few minutes late. It’s not a big deal,” he protested.

“It is to Reese,” she said, palming her tears away. “I told you I couldn’t be late, and you still wouldn’t get up. I don’t ask for money, for clothes, or for anything really. The one thing I wanted was to be here on time, and you couldn’t even do that.”

Feeling like shit, he said, “I’m going to fix this.”

Opening the door, he slammed it shut before walking towards the studio. He had no clue what he was going to do, but he knew he had to do something. Surely, Reese would be reasonable. It was his fault, not Claire’s. No reason to punish her because of his lateness. She would understand that he was tired. He hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before because he was up thinking about sex with her, for god’s sake. She would have to be sympathetic about that.

He passed by a few parents and reached for the door to the studio that Claire was always in. Pushing it opened, six girls, including Reese, looked over at him. She looked delectable. Her hair was in a long braid down her back, her breast snug in her yellow sports bra. Her nipples were hard and just the sight made his mouth water. Add in the fact that her shorts were basically panties and were showcasing her ass, and it had him hard within seconds.

Fucking A.

Putting on a dazzling smile, he started for her, but when he looked up from her tits to her face, his smile dropped from her glare.

“What are you doing?” she asked, stopping the music and putting her hands on her sexy hips.

“I came to talk to you,” he said simply, getting close enough to smell her. She smelled fantastic.

“I’m teaching a class right now.”

“I understand that, but Claire said you wouldn’t let her in.”

Her eyes narrowed as she said, “That’s right; I have a strict policy on lateness.”

“I get that, but I was the late one. She was ready, but I had a hard time getting out of bed, late flight,” he said, giving her another smile. She had to feel the sizzle he felt looking into her eyes. He knew she did. This was going to be easy, and Claire wouldn’t hate him.

“Can’t you make an exception?” he asked sweetly.

“No.”

What the f*ck?

“Why not?” he asked, his smile dropping.

“Because I said so, now please leave. I have a class to teach.”

With that, she turned and hit play on the music, walking out towards her class.

Stunned, Phillip watched for only a second before asking, “Are you serious?”

She turned, her eyes full of annoyance as she said, “Yes, now leave.”

He said her name again, but she was ignoring him, and that pissed him the f*ck off. Stomping out of the room, he decided that he wasn’t done with Reese by a long shot. Going out to the car, he opened his door and got in with not a word to Claire. Pulling out of his parking spot, he drove faster than he needed to back home. Claire tried to ask what was wrong, but he ignored her. He was so mad that his hands were shaking. How dare she? He gave her countless orgasms, made sure she was good and f*cked before he left, and she couldn’t help him out? What the hell?

Pulling into the driveway, he looked over at Claire.

“I’ll be back.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere.”

She let out an annoyed breath as she asked, “Well, what did Reese say?”

“That you needed to be on time, and she’s right. That won’t happen again. I’m sorry, but I need to set some things straight with her. I’ll be back,” he said sternly.

Claire’s face softened as a worried look came over her face.

“Don’t get me kicked out, please!”