Chapter 13
Women want romance, they said. Who are they?
Miles
One minute I’m serenading Hazel and the next she’s running away from me. Why is she running? This is supposed to be romantic. She’s crazy if she thinks I’ll let her go.
I throw the microphone to Sadie. “Catch!”
She fumbles the mic and it clatters to the floor. “Oops! My bad.”
She reaches down to pick it up and tumbles to the ground. She stares up at me from where she’s sprawled on the floor. “What happened? Why am I on the floor?”
Damn it. I don’t have time for this. Hazel is a fast runner and she has a headstart. A headstart that’s growing by the second.
Scarlett stumbles to her feet. “Go! I’ve got her.”
I hesitate. She doesn’t appear to have herself, let alone her little sister. Weston will shoot me in the ass if I let anything happen to his precious woman. And I wouldn’t blame him.
I steady Scarlett on her feet. But when I reach down to help Sadie, Alaia elbows me out of the way.
“I’ve got her. It’s not the first time I’ve picked her up off the floor and it won’t be the last.”
Despite her words, I don’t allow her to drag Sadie from the floor alone. I’m hoping Sadie will be my family at some point in the not too distant future. I can’t leave her lying on the floor for someone else to handle.
I grab one side of Sadie while Alaia grabs the other. Together, we manage to set her in a chair.
“What’s going on? Why is everyone manhandling me? I’m spoken for. Hands off.”
I raise my hands in the air and back away. I didn’t realize Sadie was dating anyone, which – considering this small island and its love of gossiping, I should know about – but I know better than to fight with a drunk person. Five brothers taught me my lesson. Multiple times.
“You good?” I ask Scarlett.
“I’m excellent!” Sadie shouts in response. “Hey! Where’s Hazel? Did she apparate? I knew it! I knew it was possible. And everyone laughed at me when I read those Harry Potter books.”
Scarlett giggles as she waves me away. “Go now before you end up debating the best material to use for a wand.”
“You use wood for the wand. Usually holly, yew, or oak. But the unique property is the magical core. It can be from a unicorn, phoenix, or dragon.”
“None of which exist!”
I back away. Scarlett has this handled. She sways forward to get in Sadie’s face. Crap. Maybe she doesn’t have this handled after all.
Alaia pats my arm. “Go after your girl. I already messaged Weston to come and pick them up.”
“Thanks.”
“No thanks, needed. It’s my job. As in it’s literally my job.”
I flash her another smile of thanks before whirling around to push my way through the crowd. I hesitate. Did Hazel aim for the front door or back? Back. Front is too obvious.
I shoulder my way through the people until I reach the back hallway. I scan the area. The fire alarm didn’t go off, so she couldn’t have gone through the back door. There are two possibilities – the office or the ladies’ room.
I try the door to the office. It opens and I peek inside. Empty.
There’s one possibility left. The ladies’ room.
I am not barging into the ladies’ room. I am not invading anyone’s privacy, and I am definitely not pissing off Hazel any more than she already is. Why she’s pissed off is a mystery to me, but I’ll figure it out.
Soon enough, my Blaze is going to realize I’m not giving up. She should just go ahead and give in now. But my girl doesn’t give in. She’s a fighter.
I lean against the wall and settle in to wait. A few minutes later, the door opens. Hazel peeks her head out and glowers when she notices me.
I open my arms wide. “Where are you going to go? This isn’t the Bootlegger. There’s no secret exit for you to use in your escape.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “Who says I’m escaping?”
“Me and every single person in the bar.”
Her cheeks burn with embarrassment, but she tilts her chin up. There’s my girl. She won’t let anything in the world get her down. Including me. Too bad she doesn’t realize I’m not here to bring her down. I’m here to lift her up.
“What do you want?”
“You.” And to find out why she was escaping but ‘you’ is a correct answer as well.
She huffs. “Are you drunk?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? The only time you want me is when you’re drunk.”
“Wrong. I want you all the time.”
She rolls her eyes. “Which is exactly what you say every time you’re drunk. And then the next morning, you can’t forget my name fast enough.”
I growl. “Unfair. You’re the one who snuck out of my house on New Year’s Day.”
She points her finger at me. “You can’t complain about me sneaking out.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I can’t?”
“Nope. Not when I snuck out to avoid the awkward morning after. In fact, you should thank me.”
I crowd closer to her. She retreats a few steps until her back hits the wall. “I should thank you for abandoning me?”
Hazel isn’t intimidated by me one bit. She narrows her eyes at me. “I didn’t abandon you. Ask me how I know.”
I don’t need to ask. I know exactly what she’s referring to. “You can’t bring up me breaking up with you when we were twenty every time we argue.”
“Yes, I can.”
“How are we supposed to build a relationship if you keep bringing up the past? The painful past?”
Her eyes widen, and she rears her head back. “Ouch,” she mutters when she hits the wall.
“Are you okay?” I reach to check her for injuries but she bats my hands away.
“I’m fine. Shocked as a mermaid encountering a smuggler in the deep sea, but I’m fine.”
“Why are you shocked?”
She snorts. “Are you serious?”
“As a smuggler hiding his loot of moonshine.”
“You literally said you want to build a relationship with me.”
“It’s true. I do.”
“Oh, wait.” She snaps her fingers. “I’m such an idiot. You don’t want a romantic relationship with me. You want a friends with benefits relationship.”
I growl and step closer. “I don’t want a friends with benefits relationship.”
“You don’t? If we were friends with benefits – a stupid idea I would never agree to – you could screw around with all the mermaids during Mermaid Karaoke season.”
I slap my palms against the wall, boxing her in. “I do not want a mermaid or any other woman. I want you.”
“You really are drunk, aren’t you?”
“I’m not drunk,” I grit out. “I’m finally going after what I want.”
“Too bad. You had me and you threw me away.”
I lean close and invade her space, being careful not to touch her. “I did not throw you away.”
“Oh yeah? How would you name it? You dumped me? You ended our relationship? You ran away from the island to get away from me?”
“I did not run away from you. I would never. But you ran away from me. Why do you keep running away from me?”
Her green eyes flash. “If you think I’m scared of you, you’re wrong.”
“Of course you aren’t scared of me. Hazel Harris isn’t afraid of anything. And yet she keeps running away. I’m confused.”
A muscle in her jaw ticks. Good. She’s getting mad. She can’t lie for shit when she’s mad.
“I wasn’t running away.”
I lift an eyebrow. “You jumped to your feet and ran through the crowd.”
She shrugs. “Maybe I urgently needed the ladies’ room.”
“Liar. You can spend all night staking out a house without the need for a ladies’ room.”
“Because I was too afraid to leave you alone. You were ready to burn some random girl’s house down because you thought she hurt your brother.”
“I’m not an arsonist.”
“Really? And you didn’t set fire to your step-dad’s house?”
“It was an accident.”
“An accident? Sure.”
I realize we’ve gotten so far off track, we’re no longer in the stadium. “Why did you run, Blaze?”
Her eyes narrow. “Do not call me Blaze. I am not your Blaze.”
“Wrong. You’ll always be my Blaze.”
She pushes me away and begins to pace the hallway.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about.
Whenever you drink, you get all sweet and sentimental.
All, Blaze, I want you. I can’t stand another minute without you.
But the second you’re sober, you forget I exist. I’m done.
I want off the rollercoaster. Not just off.
I want a refund. Plus, a payment for damage compensation. ”
She stops pacing and stands in the middle of the hallway with her legs planted wide and heaving for breath.
“Are you finished?”
“With you? Yep. Done. Dusted. Finito. The end.”
I stalk toward her. She backs up until I’ve got her caged in against the wall.
“We will never be done.”
“We already are.”
I growl. “No, we aren’t.”
She opens her mouth to protest but I don’t give her the chance. I slam my lips to hers. The second I feel those soft lips against mine, I lose my mind. I thread my fingers through her hair – it’s as silky as I remember – and thrust my tongue into her mouth.
She moans and I feel it in my cock. It hardens and lengthens at the feel of Hazel’s curves pressing against me. I shove my hardness against her belly and she clings to my shoulders. Her fingernails digging into my skin spurs me on.
I tilt her head to my liking and dive into her mouth. This is what I’ve been missing. This is what I need. This is—
“Ahem!”
I wrench my mouth from Hazel’s to glare at Alaia. She holds up her hands.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to get into the office.”
I scan the area and realize we’re blocking her access. I step backwards, releasing Hazel as I do. She doesn’t hesitate. As soon as she’s free, she runs off.
Fuck. I’m back to where I started.