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He rolled his eyes. “Trust me, babe, those notches are no more.”

“Sure,” I said, drawing out the word. I knew he wasn’t sleepingwith anyone else because he told me so and I believed him. But it didn’t meanthat I didn’t want to egg him on any less. Getting under his skin was fun.Especially since I wasn’t there for him to do anything about it.

“You think I’m fucking other women, Red?” He chuckled. “Trustme, the only notches on my bedpost are the ones your head is going to behitting.”

I tapped my chin, pretending to think over his words. “What if Isaid that I didn’t want to continue this?”

A growl left him. “The fuck?”

I bit back a laugh, knowing that I was getting to him. Sure, Iwould probably pay for this the next time I saw him, but I didn’t care aboutany of that. I gauged his reactions and found they turned me on.

“Aww, what’s wrong, Sammy? My pussy isn’t that good. You couldhave any woman you want. What’s so special about me?” The words meant to comeout as teasing but in all reality, I found I wanted to know as well. What mademe so special?

“You drive me fucking crazy, Red.” Sam shifted in his spot. “Toanswer your question...your pussyisthat good. I don’t want any otherwomen. Just you. And what makes you fucking special is that you push me, defyme, yet you didn’t give it up right away. You are submissive and a brat, andeverything the dominant part of me needs. No.” He shook his head, a sly grinspreading on his face. “Thateverypart of me needs. And what makes youspecial...”

When his words trailed off, I swallowed hard. “What, Sam?”

“You really have no idea, do you?” he asked, his voice gentleand soft, nothing like the man on the other side of the screen. So many hoursaway but close just the same.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Shawnee had told me somethingsimilar, but she just mentioned my looks and naïvety. I liked to think thatafter being married to Aaron, I became stronger.

“You’re fucking beautiful, Amber,” Sammy said, pulling me frommy thoughts. “The first time we met, I thought I was going to bust a nut justfrom you saying my name.”

A laugh boomed through me. “God, Sam, I’ll never know whatyou’re thinking if you keep things bottled up like that.”

He laughed with me.

I picked up the phone and carried it down the hall to mychildhood bedroom.

“Where are you taking me?”

I waggled my eyebrows. “To bed, baby.”

“Hmm...I like the sound of that.”

I shook my head. “My mom never changed my room. It’s filled withmore angst and darkness than a My Chemical Romance song.”

“Interesting.”

When I entered my room, I changed the direction of the camera,so I could show him what I meant.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Told you.” The walls were black,there was a black shag carpet by my bed, and every poster from every grunge andheavy metal band from the nineties that you could imagine hung on the walls. “Itried dyeing my hair black once. I thought my mom was going to lose her shit.”I closed the door behind me and went to my bed.

“What did she do?”

“She gave me a lecture on how dyeing my hair would ruin it andto embrace the red, so I have been. Maybe that’s the reason the rest of my lifeis dark.” I looked around the room, letting out a sigh as the memories from myteenage years slid to mind.

“I bet you were a brat as a kid.”

“No.” I looked back at Sammy, wishing he were there with me butappreciating the video chat anyway. “Most of the guys I’ve been with, includingAaron, didn’t like it. So, I stopped.”

“I’ll never change you,” Sammy said.

“Change is bound to happen, Sam. It’s inevitable.”

“No.”