My heart broke for the younger me, who built her future around him.
My heart broke for the current me, who now had to figure out what she really wanted.
A dark-cladded figure sat down in the seat Bradley had vacated. No sooner had they gotten comfortable than a to-go coffee appeared in front of my bent head. I looked up through blurry eyes and found Dante. He stared straight ahead, watching passerby while sipping from his own cup.
I sniffled and took the coffee from him. “Dante? Wh—What are you doing here?”
He shrugged and continued watching the people running through the park. “I was just passing by and happened to have an extra coffee.”
I blinked numerous times before looking at the coffee he’d handed me. I sampled a tentative sip, which made my brows raise. The order label on the drink confirmed my suspicions. “You just happened to have an extra coffee with oat milk, two pumps of vanilla, sweet cream, and cinnamon sugar?”
“I know,” Dante scoffed, glancing sideways at me. “They really messed up my black coffee order.”
Despite all the worries and hurt eating me up inside, I laughed softly, which earned me a wide grin from Dante. His muscular body turned toward me on the bench, and he draped his arm over the back. His dark fingers toyed with the ends of my hair as he asked, “You okay after that?”
I blew out a tired breath and stared at the coffee cup lid. The heat seeped into my palms, and I clung onto that, hoping it would thaw my freezing insides. “I never wanted to hurt him. I-I never wanted us to get to this point. I love him, you know?”
Dante pursed his lips as he studied me. His nose ring glinted in the overcast light as he tilted his head slightly. “He doesn’t deserve your love.”
I licked my healing lip without meaning to. Dante had been furious when he’d learned what Bradley had done, and that fury was clearly still present. I couldn’t blame him for thinking that way. He didn’t know Bradley. Though, I wasn’t sure if knowing him would help.Ibarely knew him these days.
“What are you gonna do now?” Dante asked.
“Probably go home and stew in whether I just made a huge mistake or not,” I said with a dry laugh.
“Wrong.”
I met his eyes again. “Wrong?”
“I’m not going to let you regret a decision that will be good for you once the hurt is gone. So let’s go out.”
I’d always longed for a friend who wanted to be in my corner on the hard days. Someone to help pick me up when I was too weary to stand on my own and to remind me to look at the brightside I often had my back to. As I stared at Dante’s handsome face, I realized I might finally have that person.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked slowly.
He rested his elbow on the back of the bench to rub at the trimmed black hair along his chin and jaw. “How about The Crimson Vault?”
My eyes widened, and I shifted nervously on my seat. “I’ve never been to a club before.”
“Great. I’d love to take you to your first.”
Half of me rebelled at the idea. Not only did the thought of being around that many people send my nerves on a rollercoaster, but I was still stuck in girlfriend mode. Girlfriends didn’t go to the club to drink and dance. But I wasn’t a girlfriend anymore. I was free to explore, something I’d promised myself I would do once I broke up with Bradley. Now was my chance.
So with a deep breath, I nodded. “Okay.”
Chapter 14
Dante
“STUPID FUCKER,” XANDER HISSED. HE ripped a fingernail out of Drake’s hand while Zagan pinned the feeble human down with a knee in his back.
Drake’s lips pulled back in a wet scream, and tears ran down his filthy cheeks. The three of us demons in the room smiled at the sight and sound. Xander held up the bloody fingernail that had been torn clean out of Drake’s digit, and with a malicious sneer, the Mischief demon shoved it into Drake’s mouth.
“Eat it,” Xander ordered. “Or your tongue will be next.”
The human whimpered and moaned in pain as he slowly chewed on his nail. Once he was done, Zagan stood and gripped him by his greasy brown hair to haul him to his knees. I stepped forward, and no sooner had the fear lit up Drake’s face than I swung my fist into his face, knocking him out cold. Zagan released him and let his limp body fall to the floor with a hard thud.
“Weak piece of shit,” I grumbled.
