Don't Give Me Tainted Love novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: The Study

Roxanne's taillights turned out of the drive, and I stood in the kitchen with my fists shut.

"He'll have the drive out of that desk by morning," I said.

"Yes."

"And I'm standing here. I'm just standing here."

"Dalton."

"I could have told Roxanne what I thought of her and I didn't. I could have been in my father's study an hour ago. I let the woman who left me for my brother sell me my own wife."

"Dalton, look at me."

I turned.

Melanie stood by the island with her suit jacket off and her sleeves pushed up.

Her hair had come loose on one side.

She looked at me the way she had looked at me across the school playground when we were eight, steady and a little dangerous.

"Not like that," she said. "Look at me."

"I am."

"You haven't, since the hall. You look at my face, and then you look at the wall."

It was true.

I had been afraid that if I looked longer, I would see the guest room.

"I don't know what to do with my hands," I said.

"I told you that was how you looked."

"You also said I'd look at you with disgust."

"I did."

"It isn't there."

"I know," she said. "I've been checking since last night. I can't find it."

She walked around the island.

She stopped one step from me, close enough that I smelled her shampoo and the cold air she had carried in.

"Terms," she said. "No touching."

"I know."

"You threw it at me in the yard for Bradley to hear," I said. "I'm throwing it back."

"Good. I want it off for longer than 'just for now.'"

My throat closed.

"Melanie..."

"I need something to be mine," she said. "Not his. Not a ceiling. I need it to be you, and I need you to decide, so I know it's you."

I understood what she was asking, and I understood how much it cost her.

I put my hand flat on the counter so it would stop shaking.

← Chapter 15 · All chapters · Chapter 17 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend