Taming Beasts | MxM | Petshop

Part 27

We were staring at each other in a silence that I wasn't willing to break. After all, Vince had asked if we could talk, so he hopefully actually had something to say. He'd only huffed and crossed his arms so far though, clinging to his own biceps hard enough to leave marks. His eyes narrowed, but I was unfazed, tired of being expected to crawl at his feet only to be discarded at convenience.

I raised my eyebrows, which was all I was going to offer.

"What?" Vince huffed as if he hadn't just requested a conversation.

I sighed, almost giving in to the temptation to ask what he wanted. I was dying to know, stupidly hoping that we might make up, that Vince had realized he was wrong. The chances of that happening were slim though. Besides, it was his job to fix this, anything else was pointless.

Vince glared at the couch. "Leah said that she wants to take you out on the weekend."

I'd completely forgotten about that, yet the prospect of enjoying a couple of days away from Vince' overbearing attitude was welcome. Still, I didn't know what he wanted, so I raised my eyebrows once more when Vince glanced over, assessing my response.

His nostrils flared, likely because I wasn't talking. When he continued, his voice strained to remain level, "I don't want you to go."

A displeased growl echoed in my throat before I could stop it, and my ears pushed back against my head. Stupid of me to think that he wanted to fix anything.

"What?" he snapped louder. "I'm not supposed to sleep with anyone, but you can just run away over the weekend?"

The tip of my tail flipped left and right; not that Vince would have noticed. He was twisting things yet again.

"Thought so."

Finally, he'd triggered me enough to speak up. "Vince, we can talk about you sleeping around, and we can talk about me not being locked up in here for one weekend, but don't mix these up because they have nothing to do with each other."

He gaped, maybe because he hadn't thought I'd talk to him at all, maybe because this was the most I'd spoken to him in one go since he'd bought me. It didn't matter much.

"So, which is it?"

"Well, I don't get why you say - how you can say I'm not worth it just because I slept with Taz. You fell in love me all on your own, and that's me. That's always been me."

My heart ached, afraid simply because I thought about laying my feelings bare. He obviously wouldn't understand unless I told him - and this was Vince I was talking to, so chances were that he wasn't going to get it anyways. It hurt to imagine him twisting my words until I was somehow at fault.

"If that's your problem, then you don't love me," he argued stubbornly.

My throat constricted, and I averted my gaze to the floor when I mumbled, "Guess I was mistaken, then."

"So you don't love me after all."

I trembled on the inside, tears pushing into my eyes that I closed to keep them hidden. It wasn't as easy as he made it out to be. "No. I guess - I just - I didn't know that part of you."

"Well, it's there."

"And that's why you're not worth it," I retorted in kind, mustering my frustration to match his stare. I was so angry at him for being like that, for acting as if I'd been no more than a fling. It had mattered to me.

Vince' biceps twitched, a clear indication of his thinning patience. He didn't get it, which was pissing me off beyond reason.

"You know what, either you care or you don't. If not, I'm going out over the weekend."

"I - you -" Eyes widening disbelievingly, Vince searched for words. "I can't just change like that!"

Trying would've been a start, but he needed to figure that out on his own. I also longed to hear him admit that he cared, yet that was another thing that he had to offer unasked for. So, I resigned to shrugging

"Great!" Vince groaned. "Back to fucking silent treatment."

"No, Vince, we're not," I deadpanned. "But you have to figure out what you want to do. I think I've made it pretty clear what I want."

His lips moved, again struggling for words. His gaze softened, and I almost felt sorry for him when he averted his eyes, looking less threatening all of a sudden. "Well, I - I don't know. I want us to be good again."

"We are good." Which was a lie, but a convenient one. "I'm just not going to sleep with you as long as you sleep with someone else, too."

Vince' arms tensed, causing his muscles to bulge once more. He was hugging himself, fingers curling around his upper arms instead of digging into them. Again, I realized that there was too much I didn't know about the man.

"And what if I do?" he asked quietly, brow furrowed. "What if I say I won't but then I do?"

The mere thought hurt, yet a smile tugged at my lips because at least, he wanted to try. There were so many other things that I wanted from him though, that I wanted to hear him say. Still, I decided this was enough for now.

Besides, I was starting to feel sorry for him, longing to reach out to him. Words wouldn't have been able to convey my reply anyways or at least, I didn't know the right ones.

So I crawled over to Vince under his watchful gaze, then gently nudged his thigh with my head. He sucked in a surprised breath before his body went rigid, and the tension remained as I rubbed my cheek against him, purring softly. Finally, he dropped his hand to my head, easily finding the sensitive spot behind my ears that always needed a good scratch.

I leaned into the touch, simply enjoying his caress for the moment.

"It - it was nice, you know? Having you waiting for me to come home," Vince muttered when his fingers stilled. He took an audible breath that made his chest heave. "And - I hate it - I don't want you to think I'm not worth it."

I nodded, lacking a better response. After all, it was up to him whether he was worth my feelings or not.

Vince' fingers gently brushed down my cheek, then trailed my jaw to my chin. Eventually, he hooked them beneath the bone to lift my face and search for my gaze. His expression was tender, frightened, vulnerable in a way that I hadn't seen before.

"Don't say I'm not worth it," he whispered.