“One dance,” I spit out, and he nods.
We start dancing like a well-oiled machine, just like we did so many times when I was a teenager. I hate that I can still follow along, even if I don’t want to.
“How long are you back for?” he asks, straight to the point.
How do I even answer that? I want to be back for good, I think. I feel better when I’m here. I can’t believe I went fromI can’t wait to get out of this forsaken town and see the worldtomy soul feels better here than anywhere else.
“I’m not sure.”
“Have you seen Saylor?” How dare he ask about her when he knows he’s a big reason as to why we don’t talk anymore?
“Yes.”
“Have you guys talked?”
I shake my head. “She won’t hear me out, and I don’t blame her. We really hurt her.”
You really hurt me, is what I want to say, but I don’t. No matter how much it did back then, I’m over it and him. What I am sorry about is how much we hurt Saylor when she was already down.
“You know.” His demeanor changes from the confident, cocky asshole he usually is to something somber, almost apologetic. “I am sorry things went down the way they did. I wasn’t trying to use you, but looking back, that’s what I did, and for that, I am sorry.”
This must be a joke. It has to be. So now he’s older and aware? Who would’ve thought.
“It’s okay. We’re both adults now, and it’s fine. We didn’t know what we were doing.”
“I did. That’s why I’m apologizing. I’m not that person anymore, and I just wanted you to know. I know I go back to my ways of flirting every time I see you. I can’t help it, and I promise it’s innocent, but I can tell how uncomfortable it makes you, so I’ll stop.”
“Wow,” I mutter.
“Therapy, Riles. Therapy does that to a man.”
I offer him a partial smile, one he clocks immediately.
“I’ll talk to Saylor. She deserves to know the truth, and you two should try to mend your relationship.”
“Thanks. That’d be nice.”
“Least I can do, seeing as you reminded me of what an asshole I used to be.”
I smile. “On that, we can both agree.”
We keep dancing while memories of that year flood my mind. My dad’s death, Saylor struggling with her time and needing me to practice with her, but I was unable to be around horses and not think of Dad. Then Hawke happened, she saw, and everything blew up. A million little things piled up until a big mess was made before I even realized I was in the middle of it.
I was young and grieving and made the wrong calls, but I never meant to hurt anyone, certainly not Saylor. Not when she was always there for me. In her darkest times, though, I pushed her away.
“You really should talk to her,” he repeats, dropping a kiss on the top of my head, rendering me shocked. He disappears behind the bar, so I walk, half defeated, to Lilly, but dark almond eyes find me instead.
Eyes with an expression that matches the fingers drawn into tight fists and shoulders that could carry a town, broad and tense, as if he’s ready to fight. Why the fuck does Dominic look like he could murder someone right now?
I all but skip towards him, twirling as I go, smiling wide when I’m in front of him. A smile he doesn’t return. If eyes could speak, though…that would be a different story.
“Like what you see?” I tease, roaming my hands down my body as he follows the same path with his eyes.
He coughs, not saying a word when I notice Lilly is standing next to him. She must have missed my dancing with Griffin, or she would’ve said something for sure. “I can’t drive, so I called him. We should go. I’m falling asleep in this bar.”
Of course she is. I throw her arm over my shoulders. Sheimmediately pulls away and snakes through mine instead. “I can walk. Let’s just go.”
“I can take her,” Dom says, and I shake my head. He won’t talk to me in front of my sister, as if I’m not good enough for him to be seen around with.
