AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Banjo waves a hand at me, reaching in his pocket for a pack of cigarettes that he thumps against his palm. “I’m not. I’m just surprised you haven’t checked on her is all. Taking a while with the trash.”
I look at my watch. He’s right. She’s been gone the better part of fifteen minutes now. I feel stupid for not noticing. I rush through the kitchen and out the door to the dumpsters, slamming my palms against the metal handle so hard they sting. The noise reverberates around the parking lot, echoing in the empty air.
Immediately, my gaze clocks Elowyn, backed against the wall next to the green dumpster by some guy. It’s the same denim jacket and man-bun as last time. He’s gesturing at her and yelling obscenities.
Scaringher.
“Hey!” I bellow, crossing the distance between us as fast as I can. “You’re trespassing. Get the fuck out of here!”
Man Bun barely looks over his shoulder at me and sneers. “Oh, wow. You again? Do you work here? Or does this little cunt just get you to follow her around all the time like some kind of hired help? You her personal servant, tough guy?”
“I know you know you’re not allowed here. Pretty sure this counts as ‘on the premises.’” I try to turn the conversation away from her, simply stating the facts. The way he speaks to her makes my blood boil. That word he just called her… I can’t believe she ever dated this creep. The thought of this ignorant waste of space kissing Elowyn tightens every muscle I have into a bow string. The thought of him touching her nearly makes me lose my shit. My fingers naturally curl into a fist at the thought. “So shut the fuck up. And move along home, my guy.”
“Or what?” Turning to face me, he juts out his chin. Then he shoves at my chest, stumbling forward a little when he does it. He’s been drinking. I don’t take the bait, crossing my arms and standing as still as I can.
My eyes narrow into slits. “Do you want to fuck around and find out?”
Man Bun’s gaze darts from Elowyn to me and back again. Finally, he shakes his head, then spits at her feet before storming off toward his car. When he reaches it, he gives us two middle fingers. Neither of us moves until he slams his car door shut, peeling away from the lot with squealing tires.
I open my mouth to ask Elowyn if she’s okay, but before a single word comes out, she throws her arms around me and buries her face in my chest. She cries for a minute, and I let her as I hold her tight, feeling her small shoulders shake against me. The warmth of her body seeps into mine and my mind races. And then I’m drowning in the feel of her in my arms, the soft press of her breasts against my chest, and the silk of her hair on my chin. This is the kind of woman who changes a man. I can’t believe I let that scumbag get this close to her again. I wait until she begins to pull her face away, and I bend down to apologize to her.
Before I can get a word out, she stares at my face. My lips. There’s a ragged quality to our breath as our gazes lock and hold. Fuck, I like the things that look in her expressive eyes is telling me. Like whatever good there is left inside me, sheseesit. As I’m hanging there in a fog of confusion of my own making, she closes the gap and presses her lips to mine.
The bottom drops out of my world in the blink of an eye. She smells like butterflies and rainbows.
This is the kind of woman you keep.
Her lips are soft and they taste like cherry Carmex, and all of this is wrong. Even as my dick tells me he won’t be listening to my bullshit cease-and-desist demand for one single second longer, I pull myself away as fast as I can, trying like hell to put air between us. Before I fucking fall for her even further than I already have. Before everything between us changes.
Before I lose the one sliver of happiness in my life.
But just as I open my mouth to stammer out any kind of explanation, the backdoor bangs open.
“You kids doing alright out here?” Banjo calls, illuminated by the flame of his lighter. The orange glow by his mouth grows stronger while he takes the first drag from his cigarette. “I heard that car squeal through the parking lot, burning rubber. Seems like someone felt they weren’t welcome around these parts anymore.”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” I call back. “Just some punk kid digging through the trash.”
Elowyn darts off without a word, hustling into the building without even looking at me.
Shit.
I still have to drive her home.
With her scent in my nostrils and the warmth and pressure of her curvy body lingering inside every cell, I realize I might not survive it.
Chapter Nine
Elowyn
The car ride back to my apartment is the most uncomfortable fifteen minutes of my life. I half-expected to get to the parking lot and find him gone, wholly prepared to take an Uber home tonight and cry into a pint of ice cream for breakfast before passing out with my makeup on. He didn’t even wait inside for me this time while I turned in my receipts and ran my report like usual. But when I exited the bar, zipping up my hoodie more for emotional comfort than warmth, I saw his car idling in its usual spot. Even though everything inside of me screamed not to, I slid into the passenger seat and silently buckled my seatbelt.
But despite my wishing and praying, the asphalt didn’t open up to swallow me whole.
Now, neither of us have spoken a single word. Weston’s left the radio on some sports recap talk show, with the volume just low enough that I can’t quite make out any of the words. He doesn’t even listen to this sort of thing, and I don’t feel compelled to change it. I just keep toying with the polyester webbing of the seatbelt as it rubs against my collarbone, wondering if I could just open the door and roll out onto the road. I’m sure I’d be fine. He hasn’t gone over thirty miles an hour the whole time. A little bit of road rash would be less painful than the way that ridiculous kiss keeps replaying in my mind.
I can’t believe I did that. I was so hopped up on adrenaline and emotion with Jesse screaming in my ear, calling me a see you next Tuesday, relief came over me in waves when Weston showed up to save me again. And this time, I couldn’t let him do it without a proper thank you.
You kissed him, you idiot. Ever heard of a card?
