I needed to.
I needed to say to him it was over, that I had found something greater, something more than I’d felt in a long time.
However, when that thought entered my mind, I had to make myself a drink.
Giving in to Gavin meant facing the irrational fear that had lurked in my mind since meeting him that fateful night—losing myself in a relationship again, ignoring family and friends and commitments just to please him. With Tyler, he was gone so much that it didn’t matter. I could continue being myself when he was gone, but with Gavin…
I knew I was possibly being paranoid after what had happened with Aidan. I didn’t want to go back to that person—Icouldn’tgo back to that person.
But maybe Lana was right. Perhaps I wasn’t forgetting myself with Gavin. I had been myself the other night at the hockey game. I had been myself during every lunch, text, walk, and car ride. He had made me feel more complete than I ever had. Morefreeto be me than I ever had, even encouraged it.
The realization made my heart swell, and I fell asleep waiting on Gavin’s call.
An impatient and heavy knock sounded on my door.
My eyes opened to the haze of the living room, the television loud with the home shopping network on. I groaned at the lateness, my body aching from awkwardly falling asleep. Another knock, this one more insistent than the last. I debated whether to answer it but finally rose off the couch at the third persistent rap.
“I’m coming,” I called out. “Fuck, calm down.”
I was still in a daze when I reached for the knob and opened it. A man leaned against the door frame, messy blonde hair sticking out from beneath a black beanie, and a slim shirt fitted on his long, trim torso. And when his lashes lifted, revealing his dark blue eyes, all sleepiness evacuated with the plummet of my heart, and horror rushed through my veins.
His mouth quirked upward. “Hello, sweetheart.”
Aidan.
I threw the door shut, except he caught it with a slam of his hand upon the wood. It propelled inward and almost hit me as I tried to bolt from his reach—
He caught me around my throat before I could sprint away. A piercing scream left me. I wailed at the top of my lungs, desperate for anyone,anyoneto hear.
Aidan. FuckingAidan.
His hand clapped tightly over my mouth, muffling my screams and making me choke.
“Shh…” he hissed, kicking the door shut behind him.
Tears sprung from my eyes. I squirmed, writhing against him. I couldn’t breathe. His other hand was so secure on my throat that my windpipe felt like it was being crushed.
How had he found me?!
Fuck. Fuck.Fuck.
I wanted to vomit. Wanted to burst into tears and break down into a ball.
He tilted his head as he backed us closer to the kitchen. Every step felt like an eternity, one step closer to the final moment when he might decide if I wasn’t his, I wasn’t anyone's—just as he’d threatened before.
“Did you honestly think you could outrun me?” His voice was as terrifying as I remembered. Deep and rich and horribly sinful. “You were always so stupid.” Raging eyes boring into mine, he lifted one finger off my cheek. “Promise not to scream.”
I was shaking so much that I didn’t know how I was still standing upright.
How had he found me?!
The sentence kept repeating in my head. A hushed, panicked earworm destined to drive me into madness. I inclined my head slowly in agreement with his question, and released my face one finger at a time. Sobs choked in my throat as my back hit the counter.
“Three years you’ve evaded me,” he hissed. “Three years and you slip up in some rich boy’s family photo, his sister bragging about her brother’s wedding of the year and the pretty girl he’s marrying.”
My stomach dropped. God, I was going to vomit all over him. Not that he would care.
“Did you forget that you belong to me?” he asked, his face an inch from mine.
