Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel(30)

 

I end up on top of him, my breath heaving out of my mouth and into his face. His hands are on my nearly bare ass because my dress has come up to gather around my waist.

 

“Hello, gorgeous,” he says, like we’re just hanging out on the beach or something, having a good old time.

 

“Mick!” I slap him on the chest repeatedly, frustrated with trying to beat him senseless while also trying to get up. “Dammit! Let me go, you ass monkey!”

 

He’s laughing too hard to respond and his hands stay put.

 

I finally get up on my feet, very unsteady, but mostly still dressed. I shove my skirt down to cover my unmentionables and adjust my purse so it’s slung across my body again. “You are a total penis, you know that?” I back up towards the sidewalk.

 

“Hey, don’t go,” he says, his arm held out and his voice still full of his good humor. He’s still lying on his back. “I need to apologize.”

 

I stop at the edge of sidewalk. “I’m pretty sure nothing you say will get me to forgive you for dropping my ass in the dirt with those condoms.”

 

He stands up and looks behind him, his laughter gone. “Condoms?”

 

“Yes. You have one stuck in your hair.” I storm off down the sidewalk, my mouth and nostrils twitching like mad as I try to hold in my smile of satisfaction. My last vision of Mick is him wiping and slapping away at his own head, trying to rid his hair of the imaginary condom.

 

“Nice one!” he says when I’m about ten feet away. And then he’s next to me again. “I’m sorry, Quin. I’ll never call you Quinlan again, I’ll never scare your new boyfriends away again, and I’ll never do whatever else it was that pissed you off, ever again.”

 

My pace slows but I don’t stop. “You cannot apologize for things you aren’t even aware of. Those apologies don’t count.”

 

“I’ll be sorry for anything that makes you upset, I don’t care what it is.”

 

He sounds so earnest, I can’t keep running away. I stop and face him on the sidewalk.

 

“Mick, just what exactly are you after, huh? Just tell me. Let’s not play games anymore.”

 

“Games?” His half-smile is almost enough to make me forget what I was trying to accomplish, but not quite.

 

“Yeah, games. You know, where you pretend to be after me, you play around, maybe you get me and then you blow me off for the next conquest. Let’s not go there, okay? I have one more year of school left and I have to work my ass off to do it right, and I don’t have time to get my heart messed with or broken, especially by the brother of my best friend’s boyfriend.”

 

He stands there frowning at me for the longest time. When I’ve finally had enough, I hit him with my purse.

 

“Ow, what was that for?” He rubs his shoulder, but doesn’t move.

 

“For fucking with my head. Now, take me home.” I head back to the car as cool as I can, doing everything possible to walk straight and not look like a dirty hooker. A couple cars slow down before continuing on, so I’m not sure I’m doing a very good job of it.

 

Mick comes up next to me and walks with me, but says nothing.

 

My heart is burning in my chest. I’m not sure whether I should be proud of myself for putting it all out there like that or pissed that I acted like such an ass. I really want to call Teagan right now and ask her to psychoanalyze me over the phone so I can at least figure out which way is up. Being around Mick drops my IQ at least fifty points.

 

I’ve stunned him into silence, and I want to think that’s a good thing, but there’s no denying how crappy it makes me feel. Why am I so against just having a good time with him and damning the consequences? When did I suddenly become the kind of girl who cares whether a guy sticks around or not? I must be seriously PMSing. It’s probably one of those really bad menstruation cycles where I could have a psychotic break and go stab a neighbor with a garden hoe or something and wake up not remembering anything the next day. Maybe I should sleep handcuffed to the bed.

 

“What are you thinking right now?” Mick asks. I can feel his gaze on my face, even though I’m staring straight ahead.

 

I keep walking without looking over at him. “You don’t want to know, trust me.”

 

“I do, actually. Tell me.”

 

“I’m thinking I need to handcuff myself to the bed tonight.”

 

“Uhhh … okay. I guess I could arrange that.”

 

I try to whack him again, but he grabs my hand and won’t let it go.