AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once I’m fully dressed, I pat myself down to make sure I have my keys, wallet and phone. When I’m good and set, I step over to the bed, my tall frame hovering above her. I lean down and give her a peck against the top of her forehead. It’s a longer kiss than a peck, I suppose. I briefly think about dropping lower, to kiss her for real, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
There’s just something about this girl that I can’t put my finger on, something that lights up my world but at the same time compels me to run.
“I’ll see you later,” I say, and even as I’m running—and believe me, I know perfectly well that’s what I’m doing now, running from my feelings for her—I’m still determined that we will see each other again soon. Yes, we’re intertwined right now because of her brother, and if he signs with me, then we’ll be intertwined even more. But even if that wasn’t the case, I believe I’d still be seeing Dani again.
She says nothing, just watches me as I slowly walk backward, then turn and exit her bedroom. I pull the door closed gently behind me and then rush out the front door, and down the exterior steps of the building.
Once again, I feel the strong urge to turn around and go back to her.
I’ve never felt so confused in my life, and I hesitate. That’s when I notice a man loitering just underneath the staircase leading to Dani’s apartment on the second floor. We lock eyes for a split second, and he looks somewhat familiar.
And just like that, I remember where I’ve seen him before: walking toward Dani and I when we were heading to lunch but Dani had to suddenly cancel plans. She’d gotten stiff and freaked, and I’d immediately figured out he was some kind of ex and put my arm around her.
What the hell is he doing here? Before I can call out to him, he moves toward me, pacing forward from the stairwell, gripping a hand tight against the railing and staring at me with intense eyes.
“What’s your interest in Dani?” He’s close enough now that I get a good whiff of alcohol on his breath. He’s wasted on booze and God knows what else.
Seriously? “That’s none of your damn business.”
“Are you screwing her?”
Rage spirals inside me. I take a measured step toward him. “That’s right. You gonna do something about it?”
He cocks his head sideways, away from me, and just when he turns back to me, he launches his fist toward me.
I push hard against his chest, sending him to his ass against the gravel. He jumps back to his feet and rushes me.
It literally takes nothing to knock him back on his ass. “You’re drunk and you need to go home before you get hurt,” I say, looking down at him as he scrambles backward against the gravel.
“What the hell is going on?” Dani screams from above, leaning over the metal stairwell outside her window. Once she sees the two of us, she charges down the metal ladder. “Okay, Taylor, you need to leave. Now.”
“Dani—”
“Now, Taylor, and don’t fucking come back or I’ll have you arrested.”
“Oh, princess,” he says with a sloppy grin. “Don’t threaten me with a good ass time.”
“You’re drunk.” She grabs the back of his jacket, spins him around to face the alley, then pushes him forward, where he stumbles, almost landing face-first against the gravel. “That’s nothing new though, is it?”
He cranes his head over his shoulder and his face is suddenly bitter. “Maybe not. But a guy walking away from you isn’t anything new either. He’ll do it soon enough when he finds out.”
“Fuck you,” she says, but not before I see a stricken look of pain flash across her face.
Taylor blows her a kiss and walks away. Dani watches him until he disappears into the city streets out front.
“He come around here often?” I question, annoyed and losing patience.
“Often enough.”
“For what?”
“Sex.”
“Seriously?” I glare at her.
“Oh my god,” she exclaims. “I don’t have sex with him.”
“Oh. Well, good. About what he said—”
