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He’d brought her back to life, something I never would have been able to do even if she’d given me a chance. I wished I could have been the type of badass who’d captured and owned Addilyn’s heart.
But another failure of mine…I was too kind. Too nice of a guy. I wouldn’t act revengeful like Gideon had done, no matter what sick things others had done to the woman he—and I—had wanted for life.
Or perhaps I hadn’t yet felt the true depths of the intensity of passion Addilyn and Gideon obviously shared. My periphery kept me aware of their presence even after Ciarra moved away, and I allowed myself a few quick glances.
The way Addilyn gazed up at Gideon filled me with longing for the same. To be worshiped like that had to make Gideon feel like a god, indestructible and powerful. His hard face softened, his lips moving as he spoke to her, their fingers lacing together.
She melted into him, and my heart yearned to be the man she so sweetly submitted to.
No one approached the couple standing off to the side of the party wrapped up in one another. Moments later, Beauty and the Psychotic Beast slipped down a path leading toward the parking lot, Gideon’s steps sure, Addilyn’s subdued and meek.
I expected they would head home to the Cayman Islands, live their perfect existence together without any drama, and I would never see them again.
Just as well on the final aspect since out of sight, out of mind. It was best for all involved in the mess of their past that they disappear—for good.
There was nothing to bring them back to Alaska since Ciarra had finally tied the knot. Rumor had it that Addilyn had paid for the entire event, which didn’t surprise me with how giving she’d always been. Yet another quality I loved about her.
A heavy sigh had me imagining releasing Addilyn from my life with the same exhale, but I doubted she would leave my mind as effortlessly as the carbon dioxide did my lungs.
She wasn’t a woman easily forgotten.
Seeing her hadn’t brought any soap suds to cleans the inkiness of depression from my mind, but with how close I still was with Ciarra and Josh after we’d graduated, I hadn’t been able to skip out on their celebration altogether.
Unable to put on my carefree persona, I finished my drink and made my way through the other mingling guests to give my best wishes to my friends. They saw me approaching at the same time, but it was Ciarra who hurried forward to throw her arms around me. “Leo! I didn’t think you’d make it!”
“I almost didn’t.” Forcing myself to grin even though covetousness still twisted me up inside, I nodded at Josh. We clasped hands. “Congrats on finally getting a ring on this woman’s hand.”
“She’s the best,” he said and tugged her in close to kiss her forehead, sending another ache through my chest.
“I haven’t seen you in forever.” Ciarra glanced over my shoulder. “No plus one?”
“Friend-zoned,” I answered, my upturned lips faltering. “Again.”
Her smile fell, and mine followed. “Oh no! I’m so sorry.”
I shrugged it off like it was no big deal I had my dreams shattered one final time. “I’m not.”
“Eugene Leonard Rogers,” Ciarra stated firmly, her spine straightening her to five-foot-nothing, “someday some woman is going to see your worth, dig her claws into you, and never let go.”
Worth…
What I’d longed to feel my entire life. I swallowed down my misery and waggled my brows, going with a lie. “I don’t mind a few scratches, but I’m not a fan of claws.”
Ciarra and Josh both burst into laughter as usual when my lighter side shone through the darkness of my mind.
The DJ announced something about slowing things down, and the first few notes of some country love song twanged behind his voice.
“Come on.” Ciarra grabbed my hand. “Dance with me.”
I shot Josh a questioning gaze, and he nodded even though I could tell he’d rather keep hold of his woman. Possessive asshole, just like Gideon—but if I’d managed to win a heart like those two men had done, I’d clutch my woman close too.
“Keep her out of trouble,” Josh murmured, entrusting his prized possession to me.
A huffed snort left me as Ciarra dragged me toward the dance floor. His new wife wasn’t the sort to cross lines or entangle herself with people and situations she shouldn’t. The girl had a spotless record, one of the best women I’d known.
Raised in the wilderness on an off-the-grid cabin, Ciarra been brought up to respect the world around her and every living thing on the earth—humans included.
She stood a full head shorter than me in her heels even though I was a few inches shy of six feet. A tiny woman, but she fit in my arms exactly how I wanted a partner to. Small enough to make me feel needed rather than just an accessory to be set aside once boredom kicked in.
