Page 17 of Surviving Slater

One small sentence was enough to open my wound of rejection from him. I allowed the pain to pull me away from his hypnotic gaze.

"No." I turned to walk away, allowing the ache to make it easier, but his hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping me.

"Let me go," I said, refusing to look back at him, fearing if I did I wouldn't be able to walk away a second time.

"We're not finished."

I closed my eyes briefly.

"We need to talk."

I didn't want to. I wanted to run and never look back. Slater had gotten under my skin and I had to be careful around him. I needed to be able to keep him at a distance. He would leave me alone if I just let him say what he wanted, so I turned to face him. He released my wrist, and my hand soothed where I could still feel his hold on me.

"Fine, talk."

His eyes swept past the interested eyes watching us. "Not here."

"Then where?" I asked, crossing my arms. It was a small action to protect the vulnerability I felt when I was with him. I hated feeling the weakness he made me experience.

"I could come over to your place tonight?" he offered, but I shook my head. "Or you could come over to my house?" he asked, studying me closely.

It would probably just be the two of us. Sin still technically lived there but Taylor didn't feel comfortable going to the house anymore; it reminded her of Eric. So they spent most of their time at our apartment. Sin was in the process of selling it so he could buy somewhere else to live.

"Fine."

"I can pick you up," he offered.

I shook my head.

"No, I'll meet you there." I didn't want to be dependent on him. "I'll be there at seven."

He nodded. "See you then."

He gave me one more unreadable look, like he was trying to figure something out, before he turned and left.

I should have done the same but I was rooted to the spot, watching him walk away from me, unable to look away. The feeling of loss reopened the ache in my chest.

A nervous knot tightened in my stomach and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. I kept trying to figure out why he wanted to talk to me. He had already decided to stop anything from happening between the two of us and I couldn't figure out what he wanted now.

I remembered my conversation with Sin over the weekend the morning after my date with Steven. I wondered if that was the reason why Slater wanted to talk to me. Would he also feel the need to warn me about Steven?

"Doyou think it's a good idea?" Taylor asked when I told her I was going to see Slater.

"No, but I don't think he will stop until I let him say what he needs to."

Taylor pulled her knees closer to her chest and rested her chin on her knees as she sat on the sofa.

"I don't want you to get hurt," she said.

"That makes two of us."

"I can try and find out from Sin what he's up to?"

It had already crossed my mind but I didn't want to drag the two of them into whatever was going on between Slater and me.

"No. It's okay," I assured her before I sat down beside her. I handed her a cup of tea and cradled my cup in both my hands. She folded her legs as she sipped her tea. "I'll listen to what he has to say and then I'll leave."

I shrugged. I doubted there was much he was going to say that would change what I had already decided in my mind.