Chapter 15 #4
He turns toward the bartender while keeping his hand possessively on me and holds up two fingers. “Two shots. Tequila with lime.”
He releases me for a moment while he pulls a twenty out of his wallet and sticks it in the tip jar, then he moves us to the end of the bar, where he leans against it and pulls me between his legs and holds me there at the hip.
“Tequila shots?” I ask with a raised brow.
He grins. “Can you handle it?”
“I can, but can you? You’re the one who doesn’t drink as much.”
“Consider it my last drink of the night.”
“Are we headed home after those?”
He shakes his head. “Nope.”
“No? What do you have planned?” I ask as he brings my hands to his chest, where I keep them and lean into him. I catch him glancing over at our table for a moment, and then he returns his attention to me.
“We have an ex to make jealous,” he says before he thanks the bartender for our shots.
He holds one out to me, and I take it despite the weird sensation spiking through me from his comment.
We have an ex to make jealous.
I know that’s why Halsey’s here with me. I’m well aware of his purpose, but . . . I don’t know, a small part of me thought that the touches, the grazes, and the kiss were all maybe something a little more.
But his comment brings me back to reality.
He’s here for a reason, and if Halsey’s anything, he’s a man of his word. We will make Perry jealous.
Hiding my sigh of disappointment, I clink my shot glass with Halsey and take the shot down before biting on the lime, skipping the salt altogether.
When I set the glass down, he says, “Want to dance?”
I shiver as the burning liquid flows down my throat. “I need to go to the bathroom first.”
“Hurry up.” He winks before releasing me.
On steady yet slightly wobbly legs, I move away from him, only to glance over my shoulder once to find him watching me walk away, those soulful eyes fixated on me and me alone.
God!
He’s good.
He’s really freaking good.
He’s truly making me feel like I’m the one who matters the most in this room. Not the newly wedded couple, not the single girls bouncing around looking for his attention, or the guys, for that matter, but me.
Just me.
Too bad it’s not real.
I head into the bathroom, move by a few girls fixing their makeup, and take care of business, being extra careful with my dress so it doesn’t fall in the toilet somehow. Once finished, I stand in front of the mirror, where I wash my hands and look at my reflection.
My cheeks are flushed.
I have a slight smirk to my lips.
And I look . . . happy.
Not sure the last time I sported this kind of grin, even when I was dating Perry.
Maybe I wasn’t in love with him the way I thought I was. Perhaps his moving was a blessing I didn’t know I needed.
Yet he’s back . . .
He’s back, and I feel nothing toward him.
After so many years of being together, you’d think there would be a twinge of emotion from seeing him, but . . . nothing.
And that right there says everything.
I exit the bathroom and head down the hallway just as a tall figure steps in front of me. Startled, I let out a squeak as my eyes lift and find Perry standing in my way.
Ahh, of course. He couldn’t make it easy, could he?
“Sorry, did I startle you?” he asks.
“Yes,” I answer, hand to chest.
“Excuse me,” a lady says from behind. Perry grips my arms and moves me to the side so I’m up against the wall, and he’s in front of me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I wanted to talk to you without your bodyguard.”
“He’s not my bodyguard, Perry,” I say with an eye roll, even though he kind of is.
“He can’t be your boyfriend. There’s no way you moved on that quickly unless you were cheating on me.”
My eyes narrow. “I would never, and the fact that you’re even accusing me of that is proof that you didn’t know me as well as I thought you did.”
He pushes his hand through his hair in distress. “You’re right, that was uncalled for. I’m sorry. I’m just . . . fuck, Blakely, I’m confused.”
“What are you confused about?”
“What am I confused about?” he asks as if it’s not so blatantly obvious. “How about how you could move on so fucking quickly?”
“Did you expect me to sit back and mourn while you lived your life in Australia? Perry, you were the one who decided to leave. You were the one who wanted to break up.”
“I didn’t want to break up. I wanted you to want to be with me.”
“And I did,” I say, keeping my voice low so as not to cause a scene. “But I told you, I didn’t want to move. My life and job are here.”
“Which are more important than I am.”
“Perry, you chose a job and a new country over me . . . how is that any different from me choosing my job and my comfort? It’s not. And now you’re coming back, so was it worth it?”
“It wasn’t,” he says, moving in on me. “I realized that the fucking moment I arrived in Australia. I thought that maybe I was just nervous, but the more time I spent there without you, I knew I made a goddamn mistake. That’s why I’m back.” He smooths his hand up my arm. “It’s why I want you—”
“I suggest you remove your hand from my girl before I fucking do it for you,” Halsey says just as he comes into view. And oh my God, does he look furious.
Perry looks over his shoulder but doesn’t stop touching me. “I was with her ever since college. I reserve the right to talk to her alone.”
“You reserve the right to talk to her,” Halsey says right before pushing Perry’s hand off me. “But you sure as fuck don’t reserve the right to touch her.” Halsey approaches, towering over Perry and me, and pulls me into his side. “Especially when she belongs to me.”
Perry shakes his head and takes a step back. He then gestures to Halsey and says, “You like this? You like this sort of asshole behavior? Jesus fuck, Blakely. What happened to you? I leave for just over a month, and you lose your goddamn—”
Before Perry can finish, Halsey has him by the collar of his shirt, pressing him against the wall, which startles the few people heading to the bathrooms.
“Halsey,” I say, startled and scared at the same time.
“Watch what you fucking say to her,” Halsey seethes. “Nothing is wrong with her. She’s perfect, and you’re the douche who didn’t realize it. So leave her the fuck alone, or next time, this isn’t going to end with you only walking away with some broken pride.”
Halsey releases him, then grabs my hand and tugs me toward the dining room. We head straight to our table, where he picks up my clutch and hands it to me.
He pulls me in close and speaks directly to my ear. “I can’t fucking stay here with him lurking. If you want to leave, I’m leaving now. If you want to stay, you can stay. But . . . I . . . I can’t.”
I can feel him shaking with anger, and I’m not sure what has gotten into him or made him this charged up, but I do know I don’t want to stay here without him.
“Let’s go,” I say.
And with that, he leads me out of the venue and straight to a taxi.