Page 90 of The Holiday Clause

“Say something!” she finally snapped.

“Are you into him?” he barked, his anger startling her. “Honesty, Wren. I want the truth.”

“So do I.”

The hard glint in his eye told her he wouldn’t confess anything unless she talked first. But what if she confessed her feelings and he rejected her all over again. She wouldn’t be able to bear it.

“You know I like you, Grey?—”

“Do. You. Like. Soren?”

She swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I don’t know.”

For once, Greyson didn’t look unaffected. “I see.” He only took a small step back but it felt like an uncrossable abyss forming between them.

Tears rushed to her eyes. “You’re the one who told me to date whoever I wanted.”

“I did.” He scooped Tinsel off his shoulder and subdued him with a scratch between his ears. “Soren’s a good guy.”

“Don’t do that!” she snapped. “If you don’t want me to date him or kiss him, then make me a better offer. You know you have an advantage.”

“Yeah, right.”

She scoffed. “You say you want the truth, but you’re too afraid to give it back. You know there’s a difference, Greyson. Everybody knows. And if you’re really going to stand here and deny it, then you’re the one lying.”

“You have no experience with these things?—”

“Why?” she snapped. “Because I’m a virgin? This isn’t about fucking, Greyson! This is about honesty. It’s about communication.” The word love rested on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. “I’m literally right here, waiting for you to admit how you feel, but you won’t. I’ve waited a lifetime for you to confess you care about me, but you just keep pushing me away.”

“Because you’re you!” he yelled. “I’ve been protecting you from assholes all my life.”

“You’re not an asshole!”

“I am! If you knew what lived in my head?—”

“Oh, please, Greyson. I know you better than anyone. You’re not a bad guy.”

“I’m not a good guy either. What you want, Wren, what you deserve, I won’t be able to give it to you.”

“You don’t know the first thing about what I want.”

“I know you as well as you know me.”

“Well, you don’t know the future. You’re so afraid of disappointing me, you won’t even try.”

“Because I know enough.”

“So, what? You want to fuck me but not be with me?”

“No. That’s the exact opposite of what I want.”

“You do want to be with me? But not have sex?”

He raked a hand through his hair. “No one’s having sex.”

“Well, I’d like to.”

He glared at her, and she scoffed.