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“I’d like us to be friends again, Daphne.”
“Ha!” I scoffed. “That implies that we were friends to begin with. We weren’t”
“What do you mean, we weren’t friends? Of course we were.”
“Friends don’t sleep together, Silas,” I hissed, gritting the words out between my teeth. “Friends don’t share passionate kisses in dark rooms, and friends certainly don’t do to one another the things you and I did.” I watched as he swallowed heavily, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his freshly shaved throat.
Taking a seat in the chair next to mine, Silas reached for my hand again. I drew it back, but he was faster, capturing me in a vice-like grip.
“You’re right,” he said, his eyes boring into mine, that fire starting to show again. I was desperate for a reaction from him, anything to show that he felt something for me—even if it was disdain. I would take his anger over his indifference any day.
I licked my lips in anticipation.
“Friends don’t do what we did, and that’s the problem, Daphne.”
I scowled at him, wriggling my hand to try to get away. “It was only a problem because you made it one, Silas. If you would have just let me talk to my brother—”
“No,” he said, the word so sharp I stopped moving and snapped my head up. “No, we couldn’t have talked to your brother. He specifically asked me to stay away, and I went behind his back anyway. That kind of disloyalty has a price. And I paid it.”
“That’s ridiculous!” I huffed, finally working my hand free and crossing my arms. “I am not Stone’s property. I am a grown woman who is free to make my own choices.”
“I know that, but this is still the way it has to be, Daphne. I’m sorry.” To his credit, he did look sorry, but that wasn’t enough for my pride or my heart.
Silas stood, once more holding his hand in front of my face. “I came to ask if you’d dance with me.”
I gazed up into his eyes, my one hand reaching up to tug at my hair as I debated my answer. If it really was the end, then I didn’t want it to end with us angry at each other. I wanted to make one last happy memory, one that I could keep locked away for when I needed it.
Resolved, I placed my hand in his and stood. The side of his mouth hitched up in a soft smile, and I told my stupid heart to calm the hell down. This was not something to get excited about.
But when had my heart ever listened to me?
Making our way to the dance floor, Silas found us a space in the middle and placed one hand on my waist, the other held ready for me to grasp. When he started to move, I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
“What,” he teased. “You didn’t think I would want to dance?”
“It’s not that,” I said softly. “I just didn’t expect you to be this good.”
“Well, I’m glad I can still surprise you.” We swayed to the music, letting the silence between us say the things we couldn’t—or wouldn’t—say out loud.
Finally, after a few moments, Silas spoke again. “I was a little surprised by you, too, to be honest. When you went back to New York to finish your degree. I thought you liked Nevada.”
“I did,” I replied. “But things changed, and New York just turned out to be a better fit.” I didn’t say it, but I knew he knew the truth.
I ran.
I ran from the heartache like the little girl he’d accused me of being.
“Well, I’m glad it worked out for you,” he said kindly, letting me keep my dignity, pretending that he believed that school was the reason I left Nevada after the launch of The Alamo.
We continued to dance, holding each other like all was right in our world, until the song came to an end. Silas released me, removing his arm from around my waist and stepping back, his other hand still holding mine. It felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, Silas’s hand my lifeline. Somehow, deep inside, I knew that the moment he let go, something in me would be broken forever.
“Silas,” I started, not quite knowing what I wanted to say, only knowing I didn’t want this moment to end. I stared into his soft blue eyes, and I could see he was on the cusp, the tipping point of his emotions. One push and he would topple, taking us both down. I waited, wishing that I could find the words to make him want me, want us enough to fight.
“I know, Daphne,” he said, and I watched as that wall came down over his eyes again, closing me out.
Our time was up.
Silas pressed a gentle kiss to the back of my hand, then stepped closer and placed another on my forehead. I closed my eyes against the sudden tears that built there. I could feel that kiss in my entire body, in my very soul.
All too soon, he moved away, releasing me all together, and I couldn’t stop the cold shiver that passed through me, knowing I would never feel his warmth again.
As I stood there in the middle of the dance floor, happy party goers oblivious around me as they celebrated love, I watched as my entire world walked away, taking what remained of my heart with him.
When he reached the edge of the dance floor, he turned, that half smile back in place, and said, “See ya around, Princess.”
