Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tanner
“Holly, wait!” I tried to go after her, but it was as if the crowd swallowed her up. Where it had parted for her, allowing her to make a quick escape, it crashed back together like a wave beating against a rocky cliff, making it almost impossible for me to get through.
I could feel the stares on me, and I was vaguely aware of the whispered voices and pissed-off looks directed at me, but in that moment, I could only focus on one thing. And that was the fact that my heart just ran away from me.
“Tanner. Tanner! I need to talk to you.”
I whirled around on the woman who may have cost me everything. The look I shot her had her taking a step back. Smart, seeing as I didn’t feel in control of myself just then. “What. The fuck. Was. That?” Each word cracked through the air like a gunshot.
Sandra at least had the decency to look nervous, her throat working on a swallow, as she took another step away. “I-I’m sorry. I just thought—”
I cut her off, my voice as hard and rigid as cold steel “No you didn’t.
You didn’t fucking think at all. If you had, you would have stopped texting and calling when I told you we were done.
You wouldn’t have stalked me across state fucking lines.
And you sure as shit wouldn’t have touched me or kissed me when I gave you absolutely zero indication that was what I wanted!
” My voice rose with each word until it was so loud it boomed over the jumble of noises blending together in the bar.
The color quickly leeched from Sandra’s face.
“But . . . we were so good together.” It was the same shit she’d been spewing when she cornered me at the pool tables.
I’d been so shocked to see her that my brain had momentarily glitched.
That was the only reason she got close enough to put her hands on me .
. . to kiss me. She’d taken my stunned state and used it to her advantage.
“I just thought if I came here, if I reminded you, maybe you’d give me another shot. ”
“Sandra, we weren’t anything more than an occasional hookup. We didn’t have any kind of relationship.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but they had no effect. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s the goddamn truth! We were never anything but casual.
And I know that because I never once shared anything of substance with you.
But that woman,” I pointed toward the door, “the one who just ran out of here, she knows every single piece of me, because I gave that to her. And in one fucking breath, you may have destroyed that.”
Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I turned just in time to see Lennix join our little huddle. Thunder rolled over her features, and if I wasn’t already mad enough to breathe fire, it would have been enough to have me pissing myself. “Everything okay over here?”
“No,” I answered immediately. “Everything is fucking far from okay. This woman stalked me all the way from DC, followed me to the bar, and after I told her she needed to leave, she kissed me. Right in front of Holly.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You consent to that kiss?”
I pinned Sandra in place with a murderous look. “Absolutely not.”
“Tanner,” Sandra breathed, but I was done listening to what she had to say.
Lennix let out a sharp whistle, then raised her arm in the air, waving over the wall of muscle near the door wearing a shirt that read Security. “Zeke, please escort this woman off the premises, and make sure she doesn’t return.”
Sandra’s jaw hinged open in an affronted gasp. “Wait. What?”
“She’s kicking you out,” I said on a hiss.
I took one step toward her, pointing my finger in her face.
“And let me make something perfectly clear. If I ever see your face again, if you ever text or call, if you even so much as breathe in my general direction, I will file a restraining order. You understand me? And I won’t stop there,” I warned, then I lowered my voice.
“I didn’t want to hurt you. I tried letting you down easy, but you wouldn’t accept it.
Now I’m done being nice. And listen to me when I tell you, I am not the man you want to fuck with. Test me and see what happens.”
I didn’t bother sparing her another glance as Zeke grabbed her by the bicep to remove her from the bar. She wasn’t worth another second of my time. The only thing that mattered was getting to Holly.
I was sure a good number of cellphones had come out to record that encounter, and odds were, it would be on the internet in no time, but I couldn’t find it in me to give a shit.
As I rushed out of the bar, the image of Holly’s face played in my mind on a continuous loop.
The pain in her eyes, the hurt and betrayal, it was like a knife to the gut, stabbing over and over.
I jumped behind the wheel of my Range Rover and threw it into gear, whipping out of the parking lot at a carelessly fast speed.
If I wasn’t careful, I was going to have an accident before I could find my girl, explain everything, then beg for her forgiveness.
I hit the button on my steering wheel to call Holly, but all it did was ring and ring, the shrill sound blasting through my speakers and stabbing onto my ears.
“Holly, baby, it’s me,” I spoke into the dark cab of the car as soon as I got her voicemail. “Please. Please call me back. What you saw, it isn’t what it looked like. I swear. I can explain everything. Please just call me back.”
I disconnected and tried again. That time, the phone didn’t even ring before cutting over to voicemail. “Shit,” I hissed, slamming my palm against the steering wheel. My stomach twisted violently as I raced through the streets toward her apartment.
I jerked the wheel hard, turning into the back alley so fast my tires squealed.
The first thing I noticed was that her car wasn’t in its usual spot, but that didn’t stop me from slamming on the brakes and throwing the gearshift into park.
I jumped out, not bothering to kill the ignition or shut the door, before racing toward the building.
I keyed in the code, nearly ripping the door off the hinges as soon as it unlocked.
“Holly,” I shouted as I raced up the stairs. “Holly, are you in there?” I called as I beat my knuckles against the wooden door. Nothing. I pressed my ear to the door, straining to hear anything on the other side, but all was quiet.
Pulling the phone from my back pocket, I hit her contact and held it down by my leg, listening to see if I could hear it ringing from the other side. There was no sound. There wasn’t even any light coming from the crack near the floor.
Panic raced through my veins, making my blood burn as I took a stumbling step back and raked a hand through my hair violently.
I didn’t know what the hell to do. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d felt so helpless.
I was terrified I wouldn’t find her. Or that, if I did, she wouldn’t care to hear what I had to say.
I didn’t know what the hell to do or where to look for her.
All I knew was that I couldn’t lose her.
The woman owned my heart, and if I lost her, if she ended us, I would never get it back.
Then an idea popped into my head. Lifting the phone back up, I scrolled through my contacts until I got to Raylan’s name, and hit call. It rang twice before he answered.
“Already talked to Lennix, so if you’re callin’ to explain, you don’t need to. It’s all good.”
“No, it’s not,” I croaked. “I can’t find Holly. She’s not at her apartment, and I don’t know where the hell else to look.” Squeezing my eyes closed, I let the pain wash over me. “Please tell me you have some idea where she might be.”
Silence carried over the line for one beat, then two.
By the third, I felt like I was going to come out of my skin.
Then Raylan spoke. “There might be one place. I don’t know if she still goes there, but it used to be where she went when she was hurting and needed space to put herself back together. ”
Desperation and hope warred against each other inside of me. “Tell me.”
I pulled up to the curb the GPS led me to, cutting off the engine and looking out the passenger window at the big, red brick house.
According to Raylan, this was where their oldest sister, Gypsy, and her husband, Marco, lived.
It was the house where Holly had spent most of her childhood and teenage years before moving out on her own.
All the windows were dark, and Raylan said the couple was out of town on a short vacation to the Outer Banks, but it was where I hoped to find the woman who held my heart in the palm of her hand.
Climbing out of the car, I headed up the driveway, going past the main house.
I let out a sigh of relief when I spotted Holly’s SUV in the driveway.
Just like Raylan said, a gate led to the backyard.
I punched in the code he’d given me to unlock it, and pushed it open.
Past the backyard, a smaller structure butted up against the woods at the property line.
It looked like a miniature version of the main house, and the windows were lit up with the warm glow of lights coming from the inside.
She was here, and she was safe. And I could only hope she would talk to me.