Chapter 27
Sloan
The drive to Montgomery’s did nothing to quell the nervous energy I’d been sporting since Jace let it slip that they’d be headed to my place tonight. I not so subtly invited myself along, which I could tell Jace wasn’t thrilled about, but what could he do? I owned the place, so I was going. After a quick stop at Yuliana’s to make sure they were good for the evening, which took a bit longer than expected, I was finally on my way.
The air was turning a bit chilly for my liking, giving me an inkling that this winter would be coming sooner than anticipated. I was mentally preparing myself for what I was going to say to Magnolia tonight.
Funny seeing you here…
I had no idea…
Is this seat taken?
I groaned, frustrated that I felt like a fish out of water. Helpless. Opening the front door to Montgomery’s, I stepped inside, letting the warmth of the bar and the sound of chatting fill me. I let the familiarity of it wash over me and soothe me. I scanned the crowd for the people I was looking for— one person, really.
My eyes caught her, and I immediately took sight of Matt, who was sitting far too close to her. I felt the growl that was constantly being suppressed when I was around her rise to the back of my throat. I was so consumed with how close he was to her that I almost missed Cassie sitting in the other chair next to Magnolia.
What the fuck?
I stormed over just in time to see Cassie try to knock Magnolia’s beer from her hand. Red haze blurred my vision as I ate up the last few steps to get close enough to them,
“Do that again, I dare you.”
Magnolia’s voice was dripping with warning, and it made my cock twitch. The shirt she wore barely had a back, and I was close to drooling. She had this magnificent tattoo that spanned much of her back and looked like it ran down to her leg, and I had flashes of trailing my tongue over every inch of it.
A flash of blonde hair in my peripheral reminded me that Cassie was here.
“Cassie, what the hell are you doing here?” I ground out, barely keeping my composure. She knew the rules; she avoided this place and me, and I wouldn’t spread around what had happened between us. Not that I wanted to, since it wasn’t my style, but it was a good bargaining chip to use against her so she’d leave me alone. Although it didn’t stop her from blowing up my phone and having “accidental” run-ins. Right now, I regretted not letting everyone know how terrible she could be.
Watching as her face turned into a scowl, I wondered how I ever found her attractive, because now she just made my skin crawl. I hated the look she gave Magnolia; I wanted to get her away from her as soon as possible. I didn’t want her hate to taint Magnolia in any way.
“Sloan!” she purred and stood, plastering what I’m sure she thought was a seductive smile on her face, running her sickly yellow nails over the buttons of my shirt. I noticeably winced and flinched away from her touch, which caused her smile to fade and I saw the nastiness she was trying to hide.
“We’ve been waiting for you.”
I stepped away from her so I could get a view of Magnolia, who focused completely on me and this exchanged with barely concealed interest. Good, pay attention, baby. It’s you and me now.
My eyes never left Magnolia as I responded to Cassie, “I’m only here to see Magnolia.” The blush that stained her cheeks had my half-mast cock standing at full attention, straining against the zipper. I found myself wondering how far exactly that blush extended.
Cassie’s sputtering broke me from my daydream fantasy, and I tore my gaze away from Magnolia. I shot her a look that would have most men withering on the spot, but of course, it didn’t seem to faze her.
“Sloan, baby.”
“Excuse us,” I said and I grabbed her arm—not roughly, but hard enough that she got the hint she didn’t have a choice in following me.
I made it a point to look at Magnolia as I dragged Cassie off, hoping she understood the words I was trying to convey with my eyes. I'm sorry she bothered you; I’ll take care of it. I should have done this years ago. Please, don’t run from me.
Finally reaching a small alcove between the bar and the back manager’s office, there was no way I was taking her anywhere with a closed door. I wouldn’t put it past her to try something sneaky just to further whatever she was up to.
“What are you doing here?” I snarled at her. “Go home, you aren’t welcome here.”
“Sloan, don’t be like that. We were good together. This little fit of yours has lasted years, and it’s time to move on from this.”
She tried to turn her face up toward mine, a pout on her lips—one I used to love, and at one time would have had me giving into her demands. Now, it just caused bile to rise in the back of my throat.
“That’s never going to happen, and you know that.”
All pretenses of her trying to be nice were wiped from her face when she realized I wasn’t going to give in. “It’s not even that big of a deal, Sloan. God, get the fuck over it.”
“You stole from me, from my family. You lied to me, telling me you had a job with your father, and that’s how you were able to afford the purses and the designer clothes. Little did I know, you knew your dad was going to cut you off the second you graduated college, so you made sure you would be taken care of, no matter what, huh?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “You’re being over dramatic as usual. It was just a few things. And as my boyfriend, I never should have had to ask!” she all but spat those words in my face.
“Cassie, you expensed over a hundred thousand dollars on the company credit card. We almost lost our business, I got denied my business loan to open Yuliana’s at first. You ruined years of hard work, and for what? A couple of purses. I’m only sorry I didn’t realize what kind of person you were. I think I always knew; I just didn’t want to believe it.”
“You don’t mean that, baby. You love me. ”
“You disgust me.”
A small snort from behind me had me turning and I noticed Lexie was looking at us with thinly veiled interest. I wondered how much of that conversation she heard, her head cocked toward me with a small twinkle of what I thought was approval. It made me think she had heard enough, and she walked back to the group.
“Go home, Cassie. You aren’t welcome here, not now, not ever.”
She tried to grab me, but I tore my arm away from her prickly grasp and made my way back to the table where the only girl I ever wanted to spend time with was hopefully waiting for me.