Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-eight
River
I did not see today going like that.
I’m on my couch nursing a glass of scotch and wondering where the fuck it all went wrong.
I thought taking her to see the house would be a good thing, that it would help me convince her that she’s always been it for me.
Instead, she ran like I’d just told her I wanted to set a litter of puppies on fire.
I’m amazed the door didn’t hit her on the way out.
I’m starting to think that maybe she’ll never want me, not the same way I want her, anyway.
Not with every fiber of her being, like she might struggle for every breath unless I’m by her side.
I don’t know how I’ll ever move on from her if I’m not what she wants.
How do you move on from the one woman who is destined for you?
Who doesn’t just bring color into your other wise grey world but makes it fucking shine.
I need her to be mine, but I need her to want to be even more.
A knock at my door has my gut tightening in expectation. There are very few people who come by unannounced, and right now I’m praying it’s my little brat.
I open the door ready to grab her and let her know how not okay it is to run from me, but I’m pulled up short by the woman on the other side of my threshold.
“Stacey? What are you doing here?”
The blonde currently standing in front of me, dressed in the tightest leather pants and non-existent top, is not who I want to see right now. Actually, she’s not someone I want to see ever again. No man wants their occasional hook-up coming by their apartment when they’re dating their dream girl.
“It’s been too long, River. I’ve missed you.” Her finger runs down the center of my chest, and I’m damn glad I’m wearing a t-shirt and not shirtless like normal.
“This isn’t what we do, Stacey. We don’t just stop by each other’s apartments.”
“Well, you haven’t messaged me in so long, I thought I’d come by and show you what you’ve been missing.”
“Damn it, Stacey you can’t be here.”
I’ve wanted my little pipsqueak to come back all evening, but right now I’m praying she doesn’t.
“Why? We’re good together, River.”
“Because I’m dating someone and that’s never what we were. We hooked up a few times, Stacey. We both agreed that’s all it was.”
“Well, maybe I want more.”
Fucking hell.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t give that to you.”
“Come on, River, how about one last time? She’ll never know.” She leans forward and throws her arms around me, trying to push me back into my apartment.
What the actual fuck? And then I hear it, the ding of the elevator and the sound of the doors sliding open. I don’t need to see who it is to know it’s her: the love of my fucking life. And here I am with a half-dressed woman wrapped around me.
“Well, that didn’t take long.”
“Pipsqueak, I promise this is no—”
“Not what it looks like?” she scoffs. “Like a girl hasn’t heard that one before.”
“Is this her?” I push Stacey off me as she looks my girl up and down. “She’s a redhead? You always said you loved my blonde hair; that you never wanted me to change the color.”
I’ve never said that to her.
“Not once have those words left my lips. I didn’t give a shit what color your hair was, as long as it wasn’t red.
The only red head I’ll ever sleep with is the one I love, and she’s currently looking like she wants to pull your shitty blonde strands out.
” I tried being civil, I tried letting her down gently, but if she wants to try and get between my girl and me, then she’s going to see a very different side to me.
“And I can promise you, I won’t stop her. ”
“Well,” she sniffs. “Good luck with this one,” she mutters to my girl as she walks past. “You’ll be lucky if you get to come first, he’s a selfish lover.”
“That’s the jealously talking, sweetheart. We both know he’s the best you’ve ever had, but he’s mine now. So why don’t you fuck off.”
“Bitch,” she snarls as she steps into the open elevator.
I wait until the doors are closed and she’s gone before I turn to my girl. “I swear—”
“I know,” she interrupts. “I think I knew the moment I saw the two of you together, but it took me a second to realize it.”
“I’m sorry, baby, that’s not something you should have ever had to see.” I pull her into my arms and lower my head to hers, inhaling the scent that always surrounds her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll invite a couple of my old hook-ups over, get my own back.”
“That’s not funny,” I growl.
“Neither was that.”
“I love you, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know.” She sighs into my chest as I lift her into my arms and carry her into the apartment.
Like I said earlier, this is not how I saw today going.