Chapter 25 – Sidney
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
SIDNEY
I can spot him from a mile away.
The dark jeans. The perfectly fitted shirt. The appeal that would be impossible to miss.
My nerves jitter and my mind continues to spin as it has since he left the office earlier. Since he left me with unspoken promises and a libido in overdrive thinking and wondering and wanting.
But there was also worrying.
Was he playing my own game back on me? Or rather, the game he thought I had played on him?
His turnabout seemed too easy.
Then came my second-guessing. That I’m crazy. That I’m thinking too much. That I just need to see him to know for sure what the answer is.
So, I head toward him. The click of my heels on the sidewalk is drowned out by the music still floating from the speakers and the white noise of a whole town celebrating together.
And then when I’m close enough that the sound of his laugh carries over the crowd, and the anticipation of what I’ve already acknowledged is going to happen between us sparks to life, the crowd of women around him shifts. His arms are hooked over one woman’s shoulder. Her hair is a strawberry blonde, and everything about her is stunning. Like, you want to stare and be jealous kind of stunning. There is a familiarity between them—in the way he leans in to whisper in her ear and the ease with which he responds to her despite everyone around him vying for attention.
I’ve seen her before, but I can’t quite place where.
And then it hits me.
She was at Hooligan’s the night of his party. I remember he was laughing with her at the bar. Then she was standing near him when I walked up and kissed him.
Is she one of his regulars? One of the women he sleeps with on the side?
The sharp pang of unfounded jealousy hits harder than I expect as I take a few steps back and try to process this all.
I created this scene. The women around him all vying for his attention. The women engaged and wanting more. The women so charmed by him they’ll vote.
The flyers with his image on them that are scattered all over the street are a testament to it.
I just never imagined it would be me standing on the outside wanting the attention from him.
With one last look, I tear my eyes from the sight and head to my car.