In a rare display of defiance, she juts her chin and spears him a pointed look, her hand still clasping the doorknob in a tight grip behind her back. “You only have yourself to blame for your drunken mess! And what was that spotlight drama about in the party? Was that you?” She waves a finger at him, her voice hurt and accusatory at the same time. Not expecting an answer, she continues, her gaze steely and her chest heaving. “But of course. You and your sick games! You’re high and mighty, I get it, but it doesn’t earn you the right to embarrass me like that when all I’ve asked of you since the day I met you is to leave me the hell alone.”
“Is being associated with me that embarrassing?”
His voice leaches with a deep hurt, the pained inflection of his voice unmistakable. His vulnerabilit
