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Axel
This was going way worse than I’d imagined it would. Yeah, I’d thought Bristol would be angry—honestly, I’d known she would be. My girl could hold a grudge like no one else, and she had good reason to with me—but I’d always been able to break through her defenses.
That was before, I supposed.
Blowing out a breath, I watched her disappear into the short hallway across the room. I couldn’t pull my eyes from her curvy figure. Not for a million bucks.Fuck, she’d gotten even hotter. She always had been, but now, she had curves to wreck even the best driver. Not the girlish ones she’d had years ago. No… Bristol Donovan was all grownup woman.
Today, she wore a straight skirt that molded to her ass and thighs and a prim white button-down shirt that enticed more than she probably thought it did. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull up that hem and see if she wore nylons or thigh-highs. To tug open her buttons and see what lacy confection she wore beneath.
The woman I still loved was fucking sexy as hell.
I shifted, swallowing hard and desperately attempting to ignore the impossible-to-ignore throbbing trying to bust though my jeans. Fuck rules and ultimatums, I had to make her mine again—no, not again. She was mine. She wasstillmine.
When my phone buzzed on the coffee table yanking me from my arousal, I nearly dove for it, grateful for the distraction. Until I saw the text was from my mom. Groaning, I sagged against the couch, dropping my head against the cushions and staring at the ceiling.
I knew what she wanted, even without looking.
Mom:You are coming to dinner, right? We’re eating at 7.
Axel:Mom, I don’t know.
Mom:Your dad already started the grill. I’ll see you soon. Bring Bristol.
Of course, she knew I was staying at the apartment—without me telling her. Likely, half the town had known before Bristol did.
Axel:She’s not even talking to me.
Mom:Awkward. I guess that will be tough living together. Bring her anyway. You’re a smart boy. You’ll figure it out.
I didn’t bother answering. There was no point. My mom being my mom would expect me to bring Bristol, no matter what. And there would be hell to pay if I didn’t. I could tell her Bris had married another guy and my mother would still insist. After what she’d been through and survived, I’d do anything she wanted, too, even if it mean kidnapping Bristol to my parents’ house.
Levering myself off the couch, I shoved my cellphone into my back pocket and stared in the direction Bristol had disappeared. The layout of the small apartment was burned into my memory. It had been my first place with Bristol—myonlyplace with her. The alcove I’d been staring at had two doors—one to the bathroom and the other to the bedroom. Loath to start the impending confrontation, I headed that way, nonetheless.
For someone who made his living with speed, my feet dragged as I trudged that way, preparing to be shot down faster than an enemy aircraft infringing on her airspace. Which…technically, I was. If I were smart, I’d drop into stealth mode and stay out of her way. I could take the brunt of my mom’s wrath when I didn’t bring Bristol with me. But then, no one had ever accused me of being smart. How could they when I’d hurt my girl? I’d had to leave her before I’d been able to untangle the knot of bullshit my uncle had thrown at me.
A boulder-sized rock lodged in my throat when I stopped outside the innocuous light-brown panel and stared at the woodgrain. The old axiom of “What’s the worst they can say? No?” ran through my head. Somehow, it didn’t help me here. I didn’t want to hear that from Bristol. I deserved no less, though.
But standing there, outside the door restricting my access to my woman, I resolved not to let her shut me out. No matter how guilty I felt, I’d fight for Bristol with my last breath. Considering what had happened, that shit was hypocritical. So she could shoot me. I’d still fight for her. Ironic since I’d left her before; I knew that. Still, though I’d only had scant minutes with her since I’d gotten to town, everything had became crystal clear the moment I saw her again.
I was not the misguided youth I’d been when I left here. Not anymore.
It was amazing the difference half a dozen years could make. Six years ago, I was absolutely sure I had no choice, that I was making the right decision in the face of the ultimatum I’d been given.
Yeah, I regretted the decision. Partly. Mostly. But seeing my mom healthy and full of vitality made my choice worthwhile, even as my heart screamed that I should have been able to have it all. That I shouldn’t have listened to a bitter old man who couldn’t maintain a relationship and thought all women were poison. Seeing other drivers thriving with their families at their sides, constantly missing Bristol, living with guilt and longing, I knew I’d chosen wrong—that my uncle’s beliefs were wrong, too. Every day on the road, with the proof in my face, drove home the truth while it forced me to insulate myself.
The other racers probably thought I was a reclusive asshole who shunned them. In truth, the pain of seeing what I’d lost was too much. Even with my growing success on the track.
I should have been able to find another way.
Braced for rejection, I lifted my hand and rapped lightly on the center of the wood—the incredibly thin wood. I very clearly heard Bristol sigh in response to my knock.
“Go away, Axel.” Her tone conveyed her annoyance, loud and clear.
“Uh…did you eat? Dinner?”
Silence answered me.
“Bristol?”
