Scorched Skies by Samantha Young

between them and when he looked up he had tears shimmering in his eyes.
    Ari clenched her hands into fists. “The night of my eighteenth birthday I caught you screwing someone in my dad ’ s bed.”
    Charlie ’ s eyes widened with horror and he shifted, shaking his head. “Ari, I was out of it that night… it was Mike ’ s anniversary, I was so messed up, I can ’ t even… I am so sorry… I don ’ t even remember-”
    She held up a hand to silence him. “I didn ’ t tell you to guilt trip you. I ’ m just…” she sighed. “I was hurt. It hurt a lot.  But I didn ’ t… react really. And Rachel accused me of not being in love with you.”
    “Was she right?” he asked hoarsely and Ari almost wanted to punch him for being so selfish as to be worried that she didn ’ t care enough to be heartbroken over his drunken escapades.
    “Yes and no. I didn ’ t react. I didn ’ t react because by then I was kind of numb to you hurting me.”
    The color leached from Charlie ’ s face and he stood up, seeming not sure if he should reach for her. In the end he stopped inches from her, his eyes scanning her face as if desperately searching for something. Forgiveness? Ari inhaled the musky male scent that was all Charlie, his fragrance setting off sparks to her memories. To the pain of being in love with someone as selfishly messed up as he had been. Correction: as he was .
    “How screwed up must I be, Charlie? To let someone hurt me over and over and not even see that what he was doing to me was wrong?”
    “I told you I was trying to protect you, to keep you away from me. I didn ’ t want you pulled under with me.”
    “But you didn ’ t let me go!” she cried, all the frustration and sorrow bubbling out of her. “You pushed me away with one hand and pulled me back in with the other.”
    For a minute he looked like he might argue and then he shook his head, his expression desperate. “I… I know.” He reached for her now, his hand trailing up her bare arm sending shivers cascading down her spine. “It was selfish and it was cruel. But I love you, Ari. I wanted to protect you but I was too selfish to let you go. I kept hoping one day I would be OK, that I ’ d be OK for you. I didn ’ t want to wake up on that day and discover you were gone.”
    Those were words Ari had wanted to hear for two years.
    And they were two years too late.
    She stepped back out of his reach, hating that she could still want him when her mind had decided otherwise. “And now? What ’ s your excuse now, Charlie? I told you I didn ’ t want you to be a part of this twisted world and you strolled right up to it and handed your soul over to it!”
    Now his face clouded over with anger and he crossed his arms over his chest, seeming taller somehow, more intimidating, unmoving. “That ’ s nothing to do with us.”
    “It has everything to do with us! You know I didn ’ t want this. I wanted out, but you tied yourself to it. If you really wanted me why would you tie yourself to a world I hate?”
    “I-”
    “Don ’ t bother. I already know the answer.” She shook her head, trying not to let the ice crack, to let the pain of his not loving her enough do any more damage. “You want your revenge more than you ’ ll ever want me.”
    “That ’ s not true.” He shook his head furiously. “Not-” he cut off, his expression turning to determined but before Ari had a chance to react he snatched a strong hand out around the nape of her neck and pulled her roughly against him, his mouth claiming hers in a kiss so deep she literally felt her knees buckle. Disorientated and confused, Ari ’ s body let his hard kiss pull her in and melt her insides. She clung to him, his heart pounding beneath her palm, the muscle of his strong bicep beneath her other. He tightened his grip on her when she unconsciously kissed him back, pressing her flush to his hard chest, one hand cradling her head, the other gripping her hip. He groaned as Ari