I want to see her. I f**king need to see her, to see if she’s okay, who she’s with…
Who is she with?
A blond girl.
I nod my head, letting my breath out. Good. That’s probably her best friend, Liv. I remember her telling me about her a few times before.
But some guy is trying to hit on her.
I slip my feet in my shoes and slam the door behind me without thinking about what I’m doing. Right now, whether or not she wants to see me is irrelevant. Whether or not she does is even less relevant.
All I can think of in this second is getting down to Vibe and hauling this jackass off of my Dayton.
The music from the bar hits my ears as soon as I round the corner, and there are small pockets of people smoking outside. I push past them and into the bar.
My eyes immediately scan the place, searching for that gorgeous head of brown hair. She’s not hard to find. I’m drawn to her like we’re opposite poles. I’m certain I could find her even if the world was ending.
“Really, let me get it for you,” some guy says, leaning into her.
“That’s very kind of you, but no, thank you,” she responds, her voice carrying over the music. She hands a bill to the guy working the bar and turns away from the one next to her.
I think he’s about to speak again, but I don’t know, because I interrupt him anyway. “You heard the lady. She can buy her own drink.”
Dayton stiffens.
“And who are you?” he shoots back.
My lips tug up at one side. “I’m the owner.”
“Right. Sure you are. I bet you just want her for yourself, don’t you?”
I lean into him, lowering my voice. “I own this bar, and you’d be right in assuming that the woman you’re attempting to hit on is mine also. Now I suggest you find a seat at the other end of the bar or I’ll remove you personally.”
He stares me down before grabbing his beer and moving. Dickhead.
Dayton grabs Liv’s arm and they both stand. She tugs her toward the exit, and the second Dayton’s hand falls from her friend, I step in. I shake my head at the blonde in front of me, and she shuts her mouth on whatever she was going to say.
The street is empty, the smokers of minutes ago back inside or moved on. The only person here is Dayton, leaning against the wall with her hands pressed against her stomach.
I step in front of her, my heart racing at the sight of her. Fuck. She looks gorgeous. Her dress clings to every part of her body, and her hair is parted to the side, hanging over one shoulder, tantalizingly showing the side of her neck. I want to bend forward and run my lips across her skin, fold her into me, slide my hands over her body.
And then she looks up, and I remember everything.
Her dark eyes are hard but shocked. “What the f**k are you doing here?”
“I own this place with my uncle. He saw you were here and called me.”
“Not that it has anything to do with you. Where’s Liv?” She straightens, ready to move, but I reach out.
My fingers wrap around her bicep and I spin her into me. This conversation isn’t done yet.
“I wanted to see if you were okay. That’s all. Then that guy—”
“I can take care of myself.” She snatches her arm back. “I’m more than capable of it, thank you. I certainly don’t need saving from someone who has no right to do so.”
“Is that what you think?”
She steps back, her voice softening slightly. “That’s what I know. You gave up every right to have anything to do with me eleven days ago.”
“Twelve.”
“What?”
A bitter laugh bubbles in my throat, but I swallow it down. “Twelve days. But who’s counting?”
“Not me, evidently.” She turns away from me, leaving me with the view of the way her dress dips down to the small of her back, and rests her hand against the door.
“It’s over.” The words fall from me easily despite the desperation inside me. I need her to know this, know that the thing that broke us apart is done with. “Naomi finally signed the papers two days ago.”
“Congratulations,” she responds weakly. “Now perhaps you can find someone and have a real relationship with them.”
I shake my head as I look at her, her profile illuminated by the flickering of the bar lights. “I already found her.”
“Then it’s a shame you f**ked it up, isn’t it?”
I step into her and rest my hand above hers on the door handle. My chest presses into her back, her ass perfectly curving against me, and I settle my hand on her waist. She needs to understand that I’m not letting her go.
I lower my mouth to her ear. “It took me seven years to find you again, and if you think I’m giving up now, you’re so very, very wrong.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second, but it doesn’t mean you’ll get anywhere.”
“This isn’t over, Dayton. We aren’t over.”
“Oh, it is. We’re very over. Trust me.”
Like she’s snapped out of a trance, she yanks on the door. The movement forces me to step back and let her back inside. I follow her in, allowing her to return to Liv, and watch her steadily. Her hips sway with each step, and something in my stomach twists when I see her reach up to the corner of her eye and smile wanly.
Then her eyes meet mine, a myriad of emotions swirling in them, all fighting for the limelight, for the consuming swamp of feeling. Heartbreak is the most prevalent, I notice, its shadows slightly darker than the regret and sadness that push against it.
I hope that, in my own, she sees the same thing reflected back.
The eyes speak louder than the mouth ever could.
The One Where He Waits At Her House
The thought of her working is haunting me the same way storm clouds hover threateningly. It’s heavy and oppressing, ever-present.
In my heart, I don’t believe she is. I don’t believe for a second that she’s sleeping with other men. It’s in her eyes. I saw it in the way she looked at me outside the club. She can’t possibly be giving her body to another man when it belongs so wholly to me. Only me.
Every inch of her, from the way her hair falls softly around her face to the way her toes curl when I look at her, belongs to me.
And the thought of her being with anyone else makes my skin crawl in a way I hope to never feel again. The anger that accompanies that sweeping sensation is tangible. It’s dangerous, and if I were a lesser man, the feeling might frighten me. As it is, all it does is strengthen my resolve to win her back.