Chapter 4
I standlike a stiff board against the bar.
My eyes are as wide as saucers because I can’t believe that Nathan is here, back in Charlotte and in this club. I should be enraged at the sight of him, but I can’t stop my eyes from roaming over his body.
Every part of me should hate every part of him, but for some stupid reason, right now it doesn’t.
Right now, my eyes roam over every flexed muscle and bit of tan flesh that his body has. He’s taller than the other men, at least a foot and a half taller than me. He looks healthy and back to normal, which shocks me. Not that I should be surprised, his father probably paid the top surgeons in the US to get his star studded, quarterback son in good standing again. And from the sight of him now, he is in really, really good standing.
I shake my head, blaming the sudden heat in my belly on the booze that I’ve been drinking. My glass drops to the floor and shatters at my feet, vodka drenching Sarah’s heels.
Nathan’s eyes snap to me and narrow instantly, an angry expression shadowing his perfectly strong features. Before I can move or think, he’s stalking towards me, like a predator in the wild. I look up at him with wide eyes underneath my long lashes, breathing him in as he stops a few inches away from me.
God, he still smells the same. Like the ocean and rich cologne. It’s more intoxicating than the drinks I’ve had tonight.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he commands, his deep voice barreling over me.
I straighten my stiff body and square my jaw, grinding my teeth as I look at him.
“That’s none of your business, actually. Plus, I should ask you the same thing,” I hiss.
“Shouldn’t you be in some type of physical therapy right now? You know, after killing my sister and all.” I snap at him, my brazenness fueled by vodka and shocking me, but I don’t care.
I don’t care that he smells divine and that his dark voice and beautiful body trap me against the bar. I don’t care about him at all. Because I hate Nathan Ross more than anyone on this planet.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m back on the team. And I didn’t kill your sister. The truck driver that’s in jail right now however, did.” He snarls at me, snapping like a wild animal as he towers over me.
“You’re…you’re back? How?” I stammer like an idiot, trying not to hang on to the ghost of a smirk that flirts with his full lips then vanishes quicker than it even appeared.
“By the power of God, I guess. Now, go home, Lissie. You shouldn’t be in a place like this,” he says, eyeing me up and down.
“And what the fuck are you wearing? Why are you in a nightclub dressed like a fucking hooker?” he roars, and I glare daggers at him.
How dare he? Commanding me like he’s my father and not the man who took my sister’s life. Fuck him.
“My name is Alyssa. And you don’t get to tell me what to do. Not now, not ever,” I hiss, grabbing Sarah’s drink from the bar as she suddenly appears and frowns.
“Hey, that’s mine!” she exclaims, but it’s too late.
I’ve already tossed the drink in Nathan”s face and smile wickedly as it ruins his black, opened button up shirt, his chain necklace dripping with Vodka tonic.
“Fuck right off!” I shout, stomping away from him and out of the club.
“Lissie, wait! What the hell was all that about?” Sarah shouts as we step outside.
She rushes after me and I whirl around to face her.
“Did you know he was back?” I say, my voice harsher than I intended it to be. It’s not her fault, I shouldn’t sound so rude right now, but he sparks an anger in me like no one else.
“I mean, I heard rumors that he could be coming back soon, but I didn’t know anything was solidified,” she says and I scoff.
“Yeah, well, he’s back. Now I don’t know what to do,” I gasp, rubbing at my forehead.
“Lissie, calm down. It’s okay. Don’t quit the team before you’ve even started. He’s not worth it. I don’t know what you two have that’s so bad, I mean I know he was…he was with your sister that night. But you heard the reports, it wasn’t his fault,” she says and my anger flares.
“The reports are just a cover funded by his rich daddy! He killed my sister, Sarah! Everything is his fault. My life is ruined because of him!” I shout, tears rushing to my eyes.
Sarah runs to me and pulls me into her arms, rubbing my back as she tries to soothe me.
“Hey, hey it’s okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t know. We can talk about it at home. Come on, I’ll order us a car and get us the fuck out of here,” she says, pulling out her phone and doing just as she said.
We wait for the car in silence and step in when it arrives. My worst nightmare is now my reality, and I can’t even believe it. I buckle myself in, and just as the driver starts to pull away, I look out the window and lock eyes with Nathan Ross, staring at his smoldering gaze until the car drives away, his large body disappearing from my view.
A troubling thought enters my head the entire drive home, and no matter what I do, I can’t shake it.
How can a nightmare somehow look like a dream?