Tarnished

Chapter 4

As soon as the last two words leave my lips, I regret it, realising too late how he could interpret them. And my stupid dumbass sat on the bed too.

My face is a mask of calm as my breath collects in my throat in fear of his response.

I just had to go and ruin it. I was starting to like him too.

It feels like an eternity passes between us and not a couple of seconds when he speaks, "I'm as boring as a cat. I'll do nothing but make you fall asleep."

I swallow a sigh and hope my relief is not evident on my face. And then I register his words. "My best friend has a cat and she's very entertaining." Very rarely. But he doesn't need to know that. "And I haven't fallen asleep yet."

"Exactly. Yet."

I roll my eyes at the smooth retort. "That's not what I meant and you know that. And trust me if you were boring, I would have been long gone."

Not a lie. He's kind of entertaining with his strange personality.

This time when he blows out smoke he makes hoop rings.

"For one, you can teach me how to do those," I counter, twirling a finger around a perfect ring until it disappears, merging with the air.

He sends me a dead serious look. "I don't share my weed."

"My weed," I grumble under my breath. Regardless of him paying me, I still have to go through the trouble of buying more. It's not like I can go to the corner shop and buy weed. It's a whole tiring illegal process.

He raises a pierced brow, mirth dancing in his eyes along with a sarcastic remark I read — and hear — all too well.

Okay yes. I'm low key glad he stole my weed — minus the falling and humiliation. That was my last roll and I ran out of money for more. But I will chop a finger off before ever admitting that to him.

We're both silent for a while, the only sound coming from the distant, muffled music blasting from the speakers downstairs and low chatter from the hallway.

I don't mind the silence though. Surprisingly— like everything else about this guy — it's not awkward. Almost comforting which is strange, to say the least.

He tips his head to face me. "Do you want to know the lie I tell everyone else or the fucked up truth?"

It takes a moment for me to dissect his sudden words; The reason for his broken rib.

My curiosity rears her annoying head again and I lay back on the bed with my legs dangling off the edge like his and my head tilted in his direction.

The partially open door sets me at ease. However, I still cling to my phone like it's my life support. But it's another step toward becoming strong again.

A tiny voice in the back of my mind tries to warn me I might be stretching my limits too far. I push her away. Sometimes it's good to stretch your boundaries the extra mile. Only then can you know your restrictions and how much is too much.

"Both," I say matter of fact and pluck the bud off him, completely catching him off guard.

"Yo!" Despite his broken rib he swiftly bridges the gap between our bodies and tries to snatch it back.

Smiling, I stretch my arm out to the side and with a groan he turns on his stomach, bringing his face mere inches away from mine.

Fear momentarily chokes me and then all the oxygen whooshes out of my lungs in one go as his strong musky scent evades my nostrils and half his body falls on top of mine.

He barely seems to notice or care — his annoyed gaze entirely focused on the bud and getting it back like it's his life support.

The turn of events humours me beyond rationality and I chuckle. The roles have reversed. He's gotten a taste of his own medicine and it's not as easy of a pill to swallow as he tried to make it out to be.

"It's not fucking funny, give it back." He glares down at me seeming seriously pissed. I wouldn't be surprised if lasers shot out of his eyes and I disintegrated into smoke.

He moves his body further up mine and the movement causes the fabric of my bra to rub deliciously against my nipple. I gasp, tingles spreading across my body and settling between my thighs.

It grows in intensity when he lets out a painful moan in my ear. "Fuck."

My eyes bulge. What in the actual fuck is wrong with me?

I push a hand against his abs when his fingers brush mine, ignoring the feel of his taut muscles through the fabric. Because he's injured, I easily get him off me.

I expect him to try again. Instead, he closes his eyes and his face constructs in pain and he grabs his side, breathing heavily through his nose.

Worry crawls up my spine. I tried to be as gentle as I possibly could and didn't touch him anywhere near his chest. On the contrary, he did kind of just overexert himself trying to snatch back the bud.

I mentally slap myself. Because I snatched it off him. Stupid!

His eyes snap open and I quickly mask my features.

He scowls at me, panting hard.

I pop a shoulder and take a deep purposeful drag. "Sharing is caring." Tilting my head back, I pucker my lips into a tight O and exhale every drop last drop.

When he doesn't say anything for a while, I lazily drag my eyes back to his and raise a brow. He's not glaring anymore but staring at me with a peculiar look on his face, his hazel eyes intense and focused.

After what feels like an eternity of our staring contest he wordlessly takes the weed from me and takes a puff. He turns his head toward the ceiling and exhales, once again making hoops with his mouth.

"Show off," I scoff.

He flashes me a tired smirk before he takes another drag. This time he taps the side of his cheek with a finger and makes wavy smoke rings.

"Are you going to teach me how you do it or are you going to continue to be a cocky asshole?"

His face scrunches up in thought as he pretends to think it over. "Continue to be a cocky asshole." He winks at me before taking a long taunting drag.

"Prick." I pull it out of his mouth mid draw and bring it to mine.

His eyes widen slightly with amusement but mainly surprise.

For a second, I contemplate attempting to try and make hoop rings but I know I will fail so I save myself the embarrassment.

Gripping his left side, he turns his body to face me, the slightest wince escaping his lips. "Ask nicely and I might reconsider." His stare is teasing, his lips quirking like he's anticipating my response.

This time I pretend to think it over, twisting my face the same way he did. "How about... fuck no." I flash him a bitter smile and take another pull.

He chuckles lightly and reaches for the bud. "Suit yourself."

Just as he's about to grab it, I stretch my arm out to the side again. "I think I'm done sharing."

His eyebrows pull together. "Can't really count it as sharing on my part if I paid you off." He pauses to add, "more than what it was worth."

I nod my head no. "As far as I'm concerned, you paid compensation for dropping me." I too pause. "Although now that I think of it. I deserve more."

Humour shines in the depths of pools of whiskey and jade as his mouth falls open with fake outrage before a cheeky smirk tips his lips to the side. "You play dirty."

I run a tongue over my teeth and wink at him. "My new speciality."