She had better get to the damn point soon, because I’m becoming increasingly more agitated as she speaks. I don’t like that she’s surrounded by men, and I like even less that they’re drinking.
“Anyway, I have to do certain things to protect myself. One of those things is never giving out my phone number. I never tell anyone what part of town I live in, or which places I frequent. I don’t walk to my bike alone, and-” She cuts off. There’s obviously more, and she clearly doesn’t want to tell me what else she does to protect herself. She’s fidgeting nervously with the hem of her skirt.
“My brain hurts. My actual brain hurts. I need you to just spit it out.”
She nods silently before speaking again. “It’s...well it’s just that.” She makes eye contact with me and pinches her lips tightly together before speaking again. “I...lie about my name.”
I process this new information.She lies about her name. She lied to me about her name. Her name isn’t Macy. Ouch. That stings. She knows my first and last name and that I’m a soldier.The latter is something that I rarely share with people and never with people I’ve just met.I never show my tags, but I showed her, and she hasn’t even told me her real name.
“Damn. Okay.” I take in a defeated sigh. I drugged myself to get more time with this woman who didn’t even want me to know her real name. I chuckle under my breath. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. I’ve never pursued a woman like this. I never pursue women at all.
It wasn’t a complete waste, though. I hadn’t thought of Abe or about what happened since I first saw Macy.Since I first saw whatever her name is.
For the last time, I take in this beautiful woman. She’s wearing a fitted white top tucked into a short, flowy skirt.Fish nets. Of course, she’s wearing fish nets...and heels. Fuck. Me.
My hands slap my knees in the universal Southerner symbol for ‘I’m about to head out’, and I say, “Well, uh...you. It was a memorable night. Thank you for indulging my delusions.”
She stands as I do. “Elijah I was going to-”
I cut her off before she can placate me any further. “No hard feelings. I get it. It’s smart. You have to protect yourself. I need to go.”
She opens her mouth to speak before closing it again without saying a word. She just nods her head in acquiescence. She looks scolded, but this situation isn’t her fault. I’m still not myself. I’m clearly capable of convincing myself of things that aren’t present in reality. Like this girl being interested in me.
“I’ll get my keys.” She takes a step toward the door.
“No. I’m good. I think I need to move my legs, and I’m certain that my head can’t handle the bike right now. I’m going to walk.” I have now made my way to the bedroom door.
“What? No. Let me drive you. Please, Elijah, you don’t even know where you are.”
Her voice is even more pleading than her words, so I give her a smile that I don’t feel.She’s right. I have no idea where I am, but I have cash in my pocket, so I can catch a cab or a bus if I want.No phone, so no Uber. I really do need to walk anyway. I haven’t been thinking clearly. Some time to myself and fresh air is what I need. “It’s okay. I really want to walk. It helps to clear my mind.”
She starts to speak again. No doubt to convince me to let her drive me but I speak first. “It was nice meeting you...” I pause again, realizing that I still don’t know her real name, but I also don’t want her to fill the silence with it out of pity, so I speak before she has the chance to. “See you around.” I turn and walk out of the apartment and away from the last fourteen hours filled with reckless decisions.
Chapter 5
Vaughn
Well, this is great. I love feeling like an asshole. I should’ve told him sooner.I should’ve told him the moment he stepped in for me with Chase. That was a big thing. He protected me. It’s just that I honestly wasn’t even thinking about the false name then. I was just shocked that he had reacted so quickly and efficiently. He smiled at me afterward like he hadn’t just karate chopped a grown ass man in the throat for touching me.
At first, he behaved like this sugary sweet cinnamon roll guy, and then he rolled out with some John Wick shit, throwing me for a tailspin. THEN, after he dragged Chase to the door by the neck, he came back with the doe eyes and that big smile that makes me want to cuddle him. I couldn’t even speak. All I could manage was to step off the stool that I was absolutely saving for him.My freaking hero.After that,I couldn’t stop watching him.Honestly, it was already a chore because, damn. The man is brutally hot. He and Chase are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Elijah is tall, broad, and masculine.He’s covered in tattoos, and he keeps his hair tied back in a leather strap. Even his clothes are...I don’t know...rugged.
Chase is beautiful. A beautiful wolf in sheep’s clothing. Never again.There was a time I thought that Chase was wonderful too. Although, not in the same way. Definitely, never thought he was teddy bear material. He was more Prince Charming than anything else. He took me to nice places. Texted and called constantly. He’d show up everywhere, and he always had a gift. It was nice at first. He was different than other guys I had dated. They had all been varying degrees of ass munch in one way or another.
One guy cheated on me with three different girls before I found out. Another stole money from me. And another was constantly pressuring me to have sex with him.
The one thing they all had in common was that I didn’t give a shit.None of them mattered to me. I moved on without a second thought. That’s where they differ from Chase although, it’s not the only way they differ.
I liked Chase instantly. He was so charming. He wasn’t particularly funny, which is something I prefer to have in a partner, but he made up for it in intelligence and maturity.Well, I thought he did anyway.
Chase never pressured me to become intimate. He knew I was a virgin, and he seemed to be fine with waiting. It wasn’t until we had sex for the first time that I started to see the real Chase. He was already constantly checking in on me and showing up wherever I was, but he became more demanding after I gave him my virginity. He felt entitled to all of my time and didn’t want me speaking to anyone else, family and friends included.
Finally, I’d had enough and told Chase that I was going out with my friends to celebrate an upcoming wedding.He lost his mind. He came to the bar and waited for me to go to the bathroom. Once I got into the hall, he slammed me up against the wall and dragged me out the back door by my hair. He had a car waiting, and the driver just held the door open as though Chase didn’t have a handful of my hair and wasn’t dragging me across the asphalt.
His behavior was equally ignored once we got back to his house. He dragged me all the way up the stairs before I was finally able to wriggle out of his hold. I ran back toward the stairs, but he caught up with me at the top. I certainly didn’t expect what happened next, and I’ll never forget it. He didn’t even attempt to regain his grip on my hair.He kicked me.He kicked me right in the ass, hurling me forward and down the steps.
When I woke up, I was in the hospital, and Chase was there. He was holding my hand and looked genuinely distraught.Lucky for me, I am not someone to be fucked with.I pulled my hand from his grip and told him to get away from me. His demeanor changed in an instant. He hadn’t looked that scary even just before he vaulted me down the stairs.
