“The only lady I want to score is you, sweetheart.” My heart skips a beat. “Because fuck, Gwen, I can’t get our past, your office, and the other night out of my damn mind.”
“I told you earlier that was a mistake. One I won’t be making again.”
I know that is a lie because, he’s all I can think of since that night as well. But a girl has to have something to stand behind when feelings and emotions are coming at her faster than she can put them all together. It’s only natural to want to build a wall. A wall you hope is impenetrable. But as I stare into his eyes, I hate to admit that Rex Roberts is the only thing that could ever bring my wall crashing down if he persists long enough.
Rex takes a couple of steps in my direction. His eyes linger on my lips. My breath catches.
If Rex tried to kiss me right now, I wouldn’t stop him. I’d crash into him and never recover because, damn it, I still want him, need him, crave him.
His left hand rises to my face. I shiver as he runs his thumb over my lips. Taking my jaw in his hands, he pulls my face closer until his lips hover above my own.
“We were never a mistake, Gwen,” my breathing stops, “You and me, that is all I know that is right in this world.”
His confession shakes me. Rex has never been so bold with his feelings. I wait for my conscience to kick in. I wait for the need to push him away. I wait for the burn as memories from our past surface and drag me under. But they don’t come. I stare into his eyes and slowly start to lose myself to him all over again. I could get used to this new Rex, and that terrifies me.
I need to rein these feelings in, but right now, they’re too addictive. Too right. Too perfect. So effortlessly second nature, I only want to stay where it is familiar. Where he drags me under his spell and everything seems right in the world as long as he’s holding me captive.
“You want to bet on it?” I whisper once I finally find my voice.
His sexy chuckle fills the space around us. Leaning away, he drops his hand and looks past me. Glancing over my shoulder, I notice Aaliyah approaching. I look back at Rex, and he smiles. It’s a mischievous grin that makes me only hope for what is on the other side of it.
“I’ll take that bet,” he whispers. “But this time, no running away when shit gets too real, Gwendolyn.”
Against my better judgment, I hear myself confess, “You’ve got yourself a bet. But that goes for you as well, Roberts.”
He claps his hands together as Aaliyah meets my side. “Good.”
I glance at Aaliyah, who gives me a questioning grin.
“Drinks, ladies?” he says as he walks away toward the bar. “Oh, and Gwen,” he tosses over his shoulder, “I know you told me once, ‘You always win.’ But sweetheart, this is one bet that will feel so good making you lose.”
He winks at me before his attention turns away. My nerves quickly get the better of me as I wonder what I just got myself into. What was I thinking walking back through our past?
What happened between us deserves to stay in the grave—not be reopened, no matter how bad my heart wants to possibly make a try at this. But if he keeps up with this boldness, the confessions of things I’ve always needed to hear him say, I know I don’t stand a chance.
Not that I ever really did.
He’s my Gatsby. A beautiful, unforgettable dream from my past. He's the one man that will always over shine all the others. I’ve prayed he’d show back up and sweep me off my feet again, and erase our past with promises of a new future.
If that is what all of this is now, I’ll quickly lose this bet and it’ll be only a matter of time before I concede and succumb to the charm that is Rex Roberts.
Heaven help me because I’m falling fast.
“Good lord,” Aaliyah whispers. “What the hell did I just miss?”
6
Rex
Ten Years Ago
The cool September evening prickles my skin as I stand in the yard looking up at Gwen’s window. Glancing back around the side of the house, I wonder what the hell I’m thinking standing here at midnight when any second I could get caught by either her parents or her sister.
Belle. That girl hates me for reasons I will never know. But that hasn’t stopped me and Gwen from seeing each other these past few months. Keeping our relationship hidden and low-key is probably the only thing keeping me coming back for more.
If you can call it that, a relationship. Or, at least, that is what I keep telling myself when I know I am a damn liar.
All I can think about is her. All I dream about is her. My morning starts and my day end wrapped up in nothing but the all-consuming thoughts of when I can see her again.
