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He’d asked me here, to witness this—to see him give another woman the one thing I had so desperately wanted.
There was something shifting inside of me, slowly breaking and shriveling.
Shock.
Hurt.
I had loved him for so long, and I had believed in him…his existence made mine make sense.
It wasn’t until Davis looked up and locked eyes with me that my instincts kicked in. It was fight or flight.
I heard a low curse, and the woman asking something, as though confused.
What he did after that, I had no idea. Because I ran from the bonfire of my hopes and dreams like a rabbit flushed out by a predator.
Once safely inside my car, I pulled out of the lot at a reckless speed, careening around the corner and heading for the edge of town. I had to get out; I had to get away.
I had been in love with Davis for as long as I could remember, and the fact that he’d invited me there, only to destroy me… It left me shattered beyond repair.
For the first time in my life, I had no idea what the future held for me, but I knew with chilling certainty that Davis Brenton would never be a part of it.
1
RAE
FOUR YEARS LATER
My calves burnedas I climbed the stairs to the fifth floor, my lungs screaming at me to move out of this stupid building, but I couldn’t afford anywhere else. Hell, I couldn’t even affordthisplace.
The humidity in the sweltering stairwell was an invisible wall of resistance, barreling into me with each step I took, until I finally crested the last one and hit the landing near my apartment door.
“Made it!” I huffed in victory, wiping the sweat from my temple.
My neighbor Darrow exited his door and quirked a brow at me. “You say that every time you get to the top.”
Still catching my breath, I waved him off and headed toward my door. “Gotta live for the little things, D.”
He snorted, reflecting his opinion of my totally pathetic life. Darrow was cool; he had way more friends than I did, and he dated a million different girls—and a few guys—and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been drawn to him the first time we met, but it was impossible not to be. He was tall, past six feet, with a jawline so sharp it could cut glass, and eyes as blue as the ocean.
Not that I had spent any amount of time cataloging his looks or anything.
That was old me; new me didn’t give a shit. Darrow was just objectively hot.
“You around tonight?” he asked, three steps down the stairs.
I paused, head turned toward him, exhilarated that he was finally inviting me to something.
“Because, I’m going out, and I was wondering if you could feed Dunk?”
False alarm. I hadn’t made it into the friend circle. I was just the neighbor he asked to watch his cat every now and then. Feeling my face heat, I nodded.
“Sure, no problem.”
He beamed at me. “Really? Thanks…here’s the key, I’ll grab it from you tomorrow.” His long legs carried him toward me as he tugged the silver key from its little spot on the ring in his hand and dropped it into my open palm.
“Have fun.”
He smirked, “Yeah…you too.”
