-- my eyes and my gaze met that of Tate Langdon I KNEW I couldn't. I couldn't leave him. I /wanted/ to. I wanted to break him --

-- like he had me, I wanted to lure him into trusting me, into loving me and meaning it and then .. Take it all away. That was the only --

-- way he would ever know the pain I had felt every second of every hour of every day for as long as I can remember. A --

-- tumultuous wave of agony grasping every nerve ending in my body until I was numb. A zombie. My eyes flickered open and --

-- locked on Tate Langdon's features, I was tracing every inch of his face like I couldn't believe he was there. --

-- My Tate. The way his hair fell over his eyes, the way his lips parted with each breathe he made, the way his eyes widened each --

-- time his fingers touched the forbidden territory of my chest. Even when I couldn't stand him I loved that literal mother fucker. He --

-- was perfect. Every ounce of me wanted to reach out, to gently press a palm to his cheek and close the distance between --

-- us - to forget the bitterness that I felt toward him but I couldn't. I wouldn't let myself. I forced myself --

-- to succumb to my stubbornness and I glowered at Tate Langdon, my voice laced with the purest form of venom tainted sarcasm.] If --

-- you touch me again, I'll ram that gun so far up your ass you'll be shitting shell casings for a month. [My heart pranged and --

-- I inched myself up into sitting position, tugging the bloodied sheets up to cover my gunshot ravaged crotch and I stared /-

-- at my hands as I entwined my fingers and fidgeted with my hands, pressing the soft flesh of a tear streaked, --

-- bloodstained cheek to my knees as I heavy frustrated sigh blew past my lips.]

[He had a point, I had in fact called Tate Langdon here.. The feel of him in such a close vicinity.. His forehead against my --

-- back.. Was painful. It hurt. Not a physical pain like a gun wound to the vagina but it hurt my heart. I wanted him. My Tate. I dodged --

-- his question, no answer coming even when my brow furrowed in thought. I didn't know when this would end. I had tried often enough.] --

-- Why'd you do it, Tate? [I angrily dragged the back of my palms over my eyes as frustration fuelled tears brimmed, and suddenly --

-- felt so exposed. This wasn't the first time I had been naked around Tate Langdon but it was the first time I had --

-- felt so.. I couldn't think of a word. I wasn't numb anymore.] Why'd you kill the dog? Why couldn't you just let me have a puppy?