AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He tilts his head, cuter than any puppy. “Am I? Is that how you really feel?”
No. Fuck no.
I fidget, unable to sit still as he devours me with his eyes...
Springing from the couch as if it kicked me, I ask, “Did you want something to drink?”
He drops his hands from his hips and stalks toward me, filling up the space with his broad shoulders and wicked grin. The blue dress shirt he wears stretches and yawns across his torso.
I try not to lick my lips in appreciation as I retreat from his pull, further and further, until a dining room chair catches me in the center of my spine.
He stops a good two feet away. “Do you have any orange juice?”
“W-what?”
“Orange juice, Sin. I’m awfullythirsty.”
Yeah? Me too.
I slither around the dining table and head into the kitchen. I can feel the heat from Royce’s eyes, scanning me from head to toe as I ready his drink.
Acting like he hasn’t affected me, I hand him the glass, nearly dropping it in my haste to avoid his fingers. He tips it back and chugs the contents in two big swallows then bends to set the glass on the coffee table.
To spare myself the embarrassment of staring like an idiot at the bubble-butt swell of his ass, I step around the couch to the other side. Crossing my arms over my chest, I grow acutely aware that I probably look like crap and my breath must be awfully rank.
My foot kicks something as I sit down. It’s the wine bottle. The container twirls like a ballerina on the wooden floor, drawing my eyes and his.
He stops the momentum with a large hand and places the bottle beside his glass. He sits on the opposite end of the couch. Placing a foot on the floor, he bends his leg to dangle the other foot off his knee.
“Did you have a party last night?” he asks, his eyes scanning my face for what I assume is wear and tear.
I snort. “Yeah, me, myself, and I were here. We had a blast.”
He laughs.
And damn me if I don’t smile.
“Where was my invitation, Sin? I would have come if you’d asked.”
Resentment and bitterness dictate my comeback. “Your invitation probably got mixed up with the RSVPs you received for your wedding.”
“Yeah, Tif says nearly everyone that is invited is coming. That’s almost twenty-two hundred people. It’s going to be epic.”
My heart pounds and my stomach clenches. “S-so, you’re going to go through with it?”
He gives me a small smile that is both shy and vulnerable all at once. “I’m going... but only if you’re my date.”
“What? What are you saying, Royce?”
In a second, he is beside me, taking my icy hands in his. “I’m saying that I’m sorry and I’m asking for your forgiveness, even though I don’t deserve it. Regardless, I’m praying that you will give me another chance.” Those hazel eyes plead with me as he continues. “I fucked up, Sin. I know I did. I let my suspicions cloud my judgment more than once, and each time you have proven me wrong. I won’t do it again. Ever.”
I shake my head, hardening my heart against his pleas. “Royce, I wish I could believe that. I can’t. Your idea of love is so skewed. I know your past made you so, and I don’t fault you for that, but it doesn’t mean I can put up with it either. You have a thimble full of love to give, but I need a bucket.” I withdraw my hands from his.
Standing, I stare down at him, forcing myself to go numb so that I can distance myself from the situation. It will be that much easier to ignore my pain and his. “Royce, what I want...no, whatI needis to be with someone that won’t let me down or run away at the first sign of trouble. And right now, you aren’t capable of that.”
I turn my back on him and head for the door. I hope that he will follow and not make this harder than it already is. “I’m sorry you came down here for nothing. I really am, but I think it’s time you left.”
Chapter Sixteen
