“Touch her again,” I snarl in his face, “and I’ll break every fucking finger you used.”
The guy looks terrified now.
Smart choice.
Behind me, Ophelia sucks in a sharp breath. “Hayden…”
Hearing my name drip from her lips while she sounds shaken nearly undoes me completely.
I release the guy roughly and turn towards her. She looks beautiful and wrecked all at once. Cheeks flushed from alcohol. Eyes glassy with emotion and her blonde curls messy from dancing.
MINE. The thought hits again only much harder this time.
Before she can bolt, I grab her wrist and drag her through the warehouse.
“Hayden!” she protests. “Let go!”
“No!”
People stare while we shove through the crowd. Bianca watches wide-eyed but doesn’t interfere. Spade looks entertained, and Ryker just raises his drink like this was inevitable.
I slam open the side door and drag her outside into the cold night air. The second the door shuts behind us, she yanks her wrist free violently.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she screams, and I laugh harshly.
“Me? You’ve got some random dude licking liquor off your stomach!”
“You don’t get to care!”
“The fuck I don’t!” I yell as her chest heaves hard while tears instantly fill her eyes. “You lost that right when you let me think you were dead!”
The words hit like a gut punch.
Good, I deserve it.
But anger keeps me upright.
“You were all over Brayden three days after I left those notes,” I say, which is a lie, but I love the way her face twists in disbelief.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” she asks.
“What? You want me to pretend that didn’t piss me off?”
“He's not you!” she screams. “None of them are you!”
The confession hangs between us heavily, making my pulse stutter while her breathing turns shaky as tears spill down her cheeks.
“You disappeared,” she whispers. “I buried you in my heart for three years, Hayden.”
FUCK!
The sound of my name in her voice destroys every wall I built in prison.
So I step closer without thinking and she doesn’t move away. “Firefly…”
Her lower lip trembles “Why are you being so cruel to me?”
Because if I stop… I’ll forgive everything. I’ll fold. I’ll drown in her again.
