VIII

“I was trying to protect you, to protect your innocence, your purity. It shouldn’t go to anyone else but me,” he reveals. However, the wideness of Drew’s eyes let me know he didn’t mean to say as much. His desires are speaking louder than logic.

Anxiety ignites, and now I really want him to leave. “It’s not going to happen, Drew.”

“Raina, Raina, Raina,” he says over and over again, barely above a whisper. “Please.”

“Leave Drew. Now,” I tell him again, trying to make my voice deeper than it is. Drew needs to take me seriously.

“I think the lady asked you to leave,” Rex’s voice booms from somewhere in the lobby.

The color drains from Drew’s face as he takes a step back from my door. Rex walks toward me with a tray of coffee in his hand and a bag of food in the other. He hands it to me before turning to face Drew, who’s trying to slink away.

Rex grabs him by the shoulder and yanks him back to the doorway. “I need you to promise Raina that you’ll never speak to her again right after you a