Page 35 of Devil’s Kiss (Sunset Cove #2)

“Yeah, how dare I,” Derek said, as he walked over to where Jordan stood. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think you get off on sneaking around.”

“Fuck you.”

“You know what,” Derek said as he turned around and grabbed his shorts off the floor. He pulled them on and then reached for his tank. Once that was over his head, he stormed back to Jordan and shook his head. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t even want that now.”

The fiery expression that lit Jordan’s eyes told Derek he was about two seconds away from getting a piece of his mind.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re the one who called me, Derek.”

How Jordan managed to dress someone down in such a snooty tone while stark naked would always be a mystery to Derek. The guy had no shame about his body. He’d once mentioned wanting to be a nudist, and honestly, Derek could totally see it.

“You’re right. I did. My bad.”

Turning on his heel, he marched out of Jordan’s room and headed toward his only means of escape. The elevator.

I’m such an idiot, he thought with disgust. What was I thinking coming to him? But he knew the answer to that—he loved him. He would always want to go to him. The only problem was that Jordan didn’t return the feeling. Or, more likely, he didn’t want to admit that he did.

And he has the nerve to call me pigheaded.

Derek jabbed the button of the elevator and stormed inside, ready to get the fuck out of there. But when he turned and saw Jordan, now wrapped in a robe, standing with his arm holding the door back, he sighed.

Here we go, Derek thought. Round two, anyone?

FULLY CLOTHED, DEREK looked just as he had earlier when he’d arrived. Only this time, instead of arousal heating his eyes, rage had taken its place.

Not having a clue what to say but knowing he needed to say something fast, Jordan wondered when their relationship had gone from easy and sexy to complicated and hard.

“Let go of the door, Jordan. I’m done,” Derek announced, his tone defiant and his stance full of conviction, as if daring Jordan to argue.

Usually Jordan would respect that and let him go, but not this time.

He’d been waiting for two entire months to hear from Derek after he’d dropped his little bombshell, and he’d be damned if he let him go without finding out where the hell he’d vanished to since then.

“Oh, you’re done, are you?” he asked, and took a step in Derek’s direction. Jordan hit the stop button on the interior panel of the elevator and then continued moving forward. “Well, that’s too bad. Because I’m not. You want to hash this out, then we’ll hash it out.”

He could see Derek’s cheek tick and knew he was holding back from saying what he really wanted.

Probably something along the lines of Go fuck yourself .

But there was no way he was going to let Derek leave believing the bullshit he’d just spewed out of his mouth.

He’d had time to think over these past couple of months too. “I want to talk to you.”

“Tough shit,” Derek fired back. “Time’s up, Jordan. It’s too late.”

“Too late? You’ve been gone ,” Jordan shouted, finally losing his temper with a punctuating stomp of his foot. He could feel the blood rushing to his face as he glowered up at the obstinate man, and Jesus, he was perfection.

Derek’s blue eyes were locked with his, and he looked like he wanted to strangle Jordan with his bare hands, but never had anyone fit him so damn well. “You have to understand where I was coming from. One day we were?—”

“Fuck buddies?” Derek supplied with an arched brow.

“Yes. And you were fine with that, from what I recall.”

“I was,” Derek agreed, and took a step forward of his own so that they were toe to toe. “But I changed. Maybe I grew up and you didn’t? I don’t fucking know. But I want more, Jordan. And when I told you that, when I told you that I loved you. Do you remember what you said to me?”

Jordan winced, and Derek nodded. “Exactly. You didn’t say a goddamn thing. You looked at me like I’d told you we should get married and have ten kids. So excuse me if I got a little pissed off and didn’t want to see your face.”

“Pissed off?” Jordan said. “You went to a club the next night and hooked up with someone right in front of me.”

“That wasn’t intentional. I didn’t know you were invited. Plus, I asked you once we got inside if anything had changed, and again—nothing. So what the fuck does it matter to you if I hooked up with him or not? Jealous?”

Jordan poked a finger in Derek’s chest as he narrowed his eyes at him. “If I thought for one second you went home with that guy, I wouldn’t have answered my phone today.”

Derek shook his head and gave a humorless laugh. “Bullshit. You’ll answer my calls as long as I keep dialing, and just like the fucking addict I am, I’ll never stop calling you.”

Wow… It wasn’t often that he was rendered speechless, but in that moment he had nothing. Jordan wanted to deny Derek’s words, to tell him that he was wrong. But he was right.

Whenever Derek’s name and number flashed up on his screen, it was like his next fix was delivered straight to his veins.

A high he couldn’t shake because Derek needed him.

He wanted him. But having it reduced to that?

Having it labeled in such a way as if it were a bad thing made it feel cheap and… sleazy.

Jordan brought a hand to his mouth and rubbed his fingers over his lips, trying for patience, and then he raised his eyes to Derek’s stormy ones. “So, just so I’m clear and I don’t misunderstand the next time I see some random guy all over you. You’re breaking up with me?”

“Breaking up with you? That would imply that we were together in the first place. Finn and Brantley, they’re together. They go to bed together, they wake up together. They go on dates in public together . We don’t. We fuck.”

“Not anymore, apparently.”

“Apparently,” Derek agreed in a tone that grated on Jordan’s last nerve.

He had just about had it. He could feel the angry heat crawling up his neck, and put his hands on his hips, ready to do battle since that was clearly what Derek wanted.

“Be careful, Derek. You’re showing signs of being a total asshole.”

“Well, if anyone would know what one of those looked like?—”

“My, my, you are in a particularly caustic mood today, aren’t you?”

Derek shook his head but didn’t respond, obviously done with the conversation.

Damn him for being impossibly sexy, Jordan thought, and in the back of his mind a voice was saying, Let him go. If he wants to go, then let him go.

He took a step back, out of the elevator, and wondered if this was it. If this was how they would truly end after everything they’d been through.

As the heavy metal door began to close, Jordan couldn’t let him go without asking, “So, this is how it ends? How we end? This is what you want?”

Derek’s shoulders stiffened and his eyes blazed. “You are so clueless for a man who is supposed to be so fucking intelligent. You know that?”

Jordan flinched at the vehemence in Derek’s tone as he released the door and let him go.

Nothing he’d said or done tonight was right, and the flame that burned hot and furious between them was finally threatening to consume them.

So maybe it was time to put out the fire before it raged out of control.