I’m shaking my head. I want to tell him it’s not true. It’s not. But then I think about what I said, how I compared him to Zayne and...fuck, I’m an asshole. It sounds exactly like what he’s accusing me of.

Well, isn’t it? a cruel voice wonders.

No, I try to reason. Not even fucking close.

It’s so much more.

Hazel eyes burn into me with so much vitriol, it’s a wonder I haven’t collapsed into a pile of ash. “You couldn’t save your boyfriend, so now you’re going to save me. Is that it? Is that why you’re here?”

I open my mouth, but again, nothing comes out.

His voice cracks. “That’s not fair.”

“Way, no—” I start to reach for him, but stop myself at the last second. I mutter a curse under my breath, scrubbing a hand over my face. “God, no. It’s not like that. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m messing this all up—”

“You can’t fucking put that on me.”

“I’m not, Waylon. I swear—”

“Just go,” he says shortly, no longer looking at me. “Be someone else’s hero. I don’t need you. I never did. I—”

“Jesus Christ,” I groan, tipping my head back.

“—never fucking asked for you to be here.”

I wince. Ignoring him as he continues to ramble on and on about how unwanted I am, and how full of myself I must be to think I’d have any say over his life, and blah blah fucking blah, I close the distance between us with two long, purposeful strides.

I’m over it.

So.

Fucking.

Over.

It.

Grabbing both of his knees firmly in my hands, I squat down in front of him, shutting him up mid-sentence.

He goes rigid.

I cock an eyebrow when he finally manages to tear his gaze away from my hands. “You done?”

He glares.

“Did you for once think that maybe, just maybe, I’m here because I fucking care about you?” I bite out.

He visibly pales, darting his eyes around the porch in a panic.

I chuckle darkly. My fingers splay over his knees, the cotton soft and warm against my cold fingers as I arch up into him. I stop with my face only inches away from his. I’m so close I can pick out each individual fleck of gold in his eyes.

He gulps.

I flick my gaze down to his mouth then back to his eyes. “You’re a real pain in my ass, you know that?” I smirk. “And not the fun kind.”

His nose flares, and I swear his eyes darken with more than just rage this time.