Page 60 of Break the Ice

“Funny, I have one about you too, Sugar Tits. But ladies first.”

“Middle child. Parents divorced at an early age. Younger brother of prodigy hockey player but older brother of a genius sister away at boarding school. You spent your childhood overshadowed and ignored. The only way for you to get attention was to act up. Be the bad boy and wreak havoc,” she explains, accepting the mug of coffee I hand her. “This created the sadistic asshole who stands before me today. No offense.”

“Sadistic asshole,” I repeat. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“You act out for attention. It’s the only way you feel noticed. Kind of sweet when you think about it. But probably something you can fix in therapy.”

We battle it out with silent stares as we each sip from our mug of coffee. The arch in Marisse’s brow has even sharpened. I can barely keep from laughing.

She really can’t stand me. Which only makes me want her more.

The only way she gives in is when I’m inflicting untold levels of pleasure on her.

Start to finish, it’s a toxic cycle we’ve found ourselves in. It only ends when one of us loses and the other wins.

I always play to win, even if it means my destruction—and everyone else’s.

I set my coffee mug down and fold my arms in my relaxed stance. “My turn, Sugar. Only child. Which explains the attitude and ego. The shining light in her parent’s eyes. She could do no wrong. Which also explains the attitude and ego. She grew into the stubborn, self-centered woman she is today who has an uptight little pussy that felt amazing to fuck. My therapy’s not the therapy you had in mind… but I can give you more sexual healing.”

Her lips purse and her gaze shrinks with scorn. She releases a heavy sigh, seemingly reminding herself to keep cool.

It would frustrate her to know how similar we are.

“Smooth, Alpha. Do you normally insult the women you sleep with?”

“Only the really sexy ones who rub moisturizer on themselves the morning after.”

Her expression turns neutral. All other emotion blanks out. A skill of hers I’ve never noticed before. She checks the time and says, “Is this the end of round two, or are you still lonely?”

“You can always suck my dick for bonus points before you go. You usually like getting ahead at any cost, right? Isn’t that what Hawk was about? Abernathy? Seems like a pattern for you.”

The air encircling us twists from adversarial to toxic. It’s a poison we breathe in as the shift happens and something flickers off in Marisse.

She stiffens, her exterior glazing over in ice. Her voice sounds cold. Her eyes match.

“You don’t know the real story,” she says. “But continue making your judgments.”

My cocky grin stays put, too hardheaded for my own good, ’til she’s walked out and I’m left inhaling the intimate scent of her. Sweet vanilla and creamy coconut fused into its own unique smell that reminds me acutely of Marisse.

My senses are aroused… but worse than that, she’s stuck on my brain. I can’t shake her even as I finish my coffee and move onto a shower. She’d walked out with nothing else to say. She didn’t need to say anything to make it clear I had crossed a line.

The insult stung more than the usual barbs we traded.

I go from hard morning wood in my sweatpants to unexpected guilt in my conscience. Probably a first in my life.

I spend the rest of the morning vaguely wondering if I should do another first—apologize for the hurt I’ve caused.

If that’s not a sign about how this girl has me caught up, I don’t know what is.

I’m in the middle of my workout still preoccupied with Marisse and what happened between us. A man walks up as I’m decreasing the speed on the treadmill I’ve been running on. His gold badge glints from fifteen feet away.

He’s the east coast macho type, with lots of gel in his hair and a shirt that’s too tight. He strolls up introducing himself with a flash of his police badge. “Detective Gomez. I’m a huge Wolves fan.”

“Sorry, detective. I don’t do spur of the moment autographs.”

He cracks a little smile. “Maybe some other time. But I was hoping you could answer a few questions. I’m the lead detective on the Jasper Hawk investigation.”

“I already gave my statement the first time you guys came around.”