Page 31 of Hate Me Like You Mean It

I tossed it back onto the counter and crossed my arms. “Okay, here’s the thing. There’s no way I’m willing to give you the win over this, so if those are my only options, I’ll wear the collar.”

“Great. I’ll help you put it on.” He looked so smug, thinking he had me cornered.

“I know you think I’m bluffing,” I said, resting a hip against the counter. “And I know you think that, even if I do follow through, I’ll last a handful of hours at most before cutting it off. But you’ve been wrong in almost every one of your assumptions about me so far, and this isn’t going to be any different. So let me say it again: if those are my only options, I’m choosing the collar. I’ll wear it the entire time I’m here. I’ll wear it until my skin is raw. I’ll wear it until I’m bleeding. And it won’t move the needle the way you think. You’re still going to be stuck with me for a hell of a lot longer than either of us wants.”

Slowly, the smug little smirk started to wipe from his face, doubt seeping in.

“But given my own preferences fornotbleeding, I’m willing to compromise.”

He actually laughed at that, though there was no amusement in it. “I don’t think you’re in any position to?—”

“I’ll play you for it,” I interrupted smoothly. “If I win, the leash goes down the garbage disposal, the mandatory uniform clause will be stripped from our agreement,andI get the rest of the day off. If you win, I forfeit and write out whatever confession you want. In theory, this nightmare could be over, and we’ll be free to move on with our lives in less than an hour.”

I couldn’t have laid out a more tempting bait. And he couldn’t have taken it any faster.

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah. I really don’t want to suffer through three weeks of constant chafing.”

The outer corners of his eyes crinkled with slight suspicion. “What game?”

I shrugged. “The same one we’ve always used to settle a stalemate.”

He continued to study me, trying to locate the trap. But for once, there wasn’t one. I just really didn’t want to wear the collar or strap myself to a leash.

I waited.

Then, after a fully breathless minute of holding my gaze, Dominic held out his fist.

A flutter sprinted through my stomach, bringing with it a sudden and unexpected urge to smile. I stamped it down. Bunched my own hand into a ball and held it out.

We moved at the same time. “One, two, three,strike.”

Dominic’s mouth quirked as his finger gun shot my shadow puppet in the face, granting him the coveted head start.

He was going to be so pissed when I ended up winning anyway.

11

The rules of Exponential Truth are simple:

It’s like Truth or Dare but there are no dares and whoever goes first gets to pick the game topic with their first question. This is really important because all of the questions that follow it HAVE to stay on that same topic.

But more important than that, and the one thing younever, everwanna do when playing this game with Loch Ness, is call “chicken.” You’d rather tell it your deepest darkest secret or just quit the game.

Trust me.

Nothing is worth THAT.

“We’ll start off easy,”Dominic drawled with an overconfidence that was bound to eventually bite him in the ass. “Truth to the power of one.” He nudged his chin forward, eyes dipping down. “That’s not the hoodie I left for you in the coatroom, is it?”

“Can I be incriminated for in-game confessions?”

“No. Standard Exponential Truth rules apply.”

“Then no, it’s not. The replica is buried out in your garden, along with the poison ivy, and I can’t believe this is the topic you chose to waste your head start on.” I hopped up on the counter and settled in. There wasn’t anywhere else to sit, and this was going to take a while. “Truth squared: you get off on seeing me wearing your name, don’t you? That’s why you assigned this as my uniform.”

His jaw worked, the tips of his ears burning red as he slipped both hands into the pockets of his slacks. There was nothing more annoying than someone you loathed thinking you were obsessed with them. I wondered how many rounds it’d take to make his mouth froth.