“About what?”
“About the hot guy staring at you all the time. I never thought Elijah was capable of being a stalker. I think he should win awards for the change inside him.”
Amber laughed. “He’s not that bad.”
“No? Then why have you both kept it a secret all these years?”
There was no answer to that question at all.
“I don’t know what to say,” Amber said, staring down at her hands.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to burst your bubble. I know you’ve got your reasons, and I’m sure he’s got his.” Ashley moved away.
“What’s going on with you?” Amber asked. “We rarely see each other anymore. How’s the bar work going?”
“Fine. Everything is fine in my life.”Ashley stood. “I’m sorry to bail. I need to get out of here.”
Amber tried to get her friend to sit, but Ashley wouldn’t listen.
“Tell Heather congratulations and I’m sorry for leaving. I just need to go.”
Watching her go, Amber felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Turning around she saw Elijah stood at the bar. She smiled, but his attention was focused on something in front of him.
The crowd blocking the person moved, and she saw the blonde from Club Kink.
Great, just great.
****
“What are you doing here?” Elijah asked. The woman in front of him looked down at her feet.
“I’m sorry. I don’t come to Wade’s often. I couldn’t believe it was you, and I had to come and say hello.”
Glancing at the table where Amber was, he saw her talking with Ashley. Shit, he couldn’t remember her name. Her name had completely vanished from his head. He and Amber were doing so well. This could spoil it if he didn’t get rid of her.
“You can’t remember my name, can you?” she asked.
“No.”
“It’s Erika.”
“Hi, Erika.” Now he remembered her name again. Running his fingers through his hair, he looked at Amber. She was staring at the woman beside him. “Shit.”
Erika turned in her direction. “Oh, you and Amber were an actual couple?”
“Yes, we’re a couple, and I need you to leave.” He gritted the words out.
“Okay, erm, I’m so sorry.”
“The rules of the club state you’re not to make anyone uncomfortable outside the club,” he said. Tyler was strict about his club and his rules. If people wanted to meet outside of the club that was down to them. This was not one of those situations. He didn’t want to know her.
“I know. I shouldn’t have come over. The last time we were together I thought there was something between us.”
He shook his head. “No, there’s nothing between us. Nothing ever will be between us. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have brought you into my mess.”
“Mess? You consider us a mess?” Amber asked, standing behind him.
Turning around he saw the sadness in her eyes. She looked behind him at Erika.
“Amber,” he said.
“Elijah.” She stared at him with tears glistening in her eyes. “I should have known this was a big mistake.”
She turned away and started toward the door.
Throwing his hands up in frustration, he threw some notes down on the bar. “Don’t approach me in a bar again. There is nothing between us, Erika, and you know I’m not the man for you.”
He charged after Amber. She was storming down the street as he got outside.
“Amber.” He shouted her name.
She wouldn’t stop walking away from him.
Running down the street Elijah called her name several more times.
Amber kept walking.
He caught her up quickly. “Will you stop?”
“You think our life together is a mess?” she asked, stopping to yell at him.
“No, I don’t think it’s a mess. I made it a mess.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” He looked around him to see they were secluded in a darkened alleyway. “I could have had you at eighteen, Amber, and I didn’t. We both walked away, and for the last seven years we’ve been having these moments together that were so fleeting, they might as well be a joke.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to find the right words to convey what he wanted to say.
She didn’t speak or dispute him, which he took as a good sign.
“We’re good together, Amber. Even without the f**king sex we’re that good. You can’t tell me you don’t feel it?” He moved toward her, and she took a step back. “Don’t pull away from me.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“I’m making perfect sense. I love you, Amber, and Erika means nothing to me. The mess I mentioned was the mess I’d caused with me giving her the wrong impression about my attention.”
She stared down his body. Her hand touched his chest. “Why did you caress her, Elijah? If she meant nothing, why did you do it?”
“You’re always so closed off around me. Heather gets a part of you I’ll never see, and I’m jealous of her. I’m jealous of my sister because she gets a chance to have you in ways I can’t.”
He dropped his head, panting for breath. Elijah was opening himself up in ways he never thought he could. Amber left him no choice but to open up.
“I’m yours, Elijah.”
“Are you really?” he asked.
“I’m yours. You’ve told me enough times that I’ve got no choice but to believe it.”
He chuckled, caressing her cheek. “We’re not a mess. We’re the best we’ve ever been together.”
“Will you take me home?” she asked.
“You’re not going to shout at me?”
“No. I’m not going to yell.” She offered him her hand, and he took it.
The walk to her apartment was slow, and he took her the long way around to her apartment. He wanted all the excuses he could find to be around her.
“We’re a strange pair, right?”
“Yeah, we’re strange.”
“I was thinking we could tell Heather soon. I don’t like lying to my friend. You’re her brother, and I want her to know I’m seeing you. Sneaking around and lying is so not my thing.”
“I thought you’d never ask.” He snaked an arm around her waist and took her back to her apartment.