Gazing into his metallic eyes, I say my piece, “Words mean nothing if they aren’t backed by actions, Nathan. Your feelings for me were never the issue. I knew you felt our connection and chemistry. But they weren’t enough to make you stay before and I don’t think they will be in the future.”
“You don’t believe I meant what I said?” he asks, sounding pained.
“You’re only saying them because you accidentally saw me out on a date,” I cry out, the sting of his past rejection stabbing my chest. “That’s what triggered you. Had you realized you made a mistake without being scared at the idea of me moving on, maybe I would’ve believed you. This isn’t enough for me.”
“What will be?”
“I wanted you to want me back because you couldn’t bear to stay apart from me!” I shout. “Because you missed me. Because I’m all that you need.”
“I do, angel,” he sighs. “Why can’t you see it?”
Every man I’ve wanted to spend the rest of my life with has abandoned me. Each time, I’ve had to put myself back together alone. The emotional scars barely heal before I find myself in the same situation again. I can only stay strong for so long. The possibility of losing Nathan a second time will kill me.
He has no idea how badly my heart beats and aches for him.
“I need space and time to think,” I mumble, staring down at my feet.
Nothing but the sounds of our breathing and longing echoes around the four walls. I feel the burn and intensity of his attention on my skin.
When he does break the silence, it’s to heatedly demand, “Will that involve going out on more dates?”
My eyes snap to him. I gulp at the possessiveness and warning on his sinful face. I hate the desire tightening in my belly at the dark stubble shadowing his chiseled jawline.
My brain processes his question.
It pisses me off.
He has no right to ask me that.
“Well, I’m single, aren’t I?” I retort, stoking the fire in his eyes.
He pushes his hands inside his pockets and leans against the door with his ankles crossed. The stance may be casual, but the message is sharp and clear. I’m not leaving the club, much less this room until he allows it.
“You’re not,” he replies in his deeply seductive voice. I open my mouth to argue, only to be shushed when he raises his palm to cut me off. “For arguments sake, let’s say you are. Were you hoping to find what you desire in men like Rithvik?”
He practically hisses his name with venom.
“What’s wrong with him?” I argue. “He’s a nice and funny guy. Rich and handsome too. All the qualities I like in a man.”
A blaze darkens his face and his jaw clenches when I sing praises of the other man. “Such a nice guy that he ran out of here and left you behind at a place crawling with dangerous men.”
“Because you threatened him and insinuated that we’re together.”
“Wearetogether. You’re stubbornly refusing to catch up.”
God! His arrogance knows no bounds.
“And your date was far from a nice man.”
“Oh, you’re close friends with him?”
“The fact he brought you here is proof enough.” Pushing away from the doorframe, he stalks my way and stops to tower over me. “Men only bring women here for one thing. To fuck and forget them the next morning.”
I cock my hip and smugly purr, “Did you stop for a second to think maybe I did want to have sex with him at the end of the date? If anything I learned from my ex-fiancé, it’s that sexual compatibility matters equally.”
His shoulders pull taut while I smirk.
I expect some form of possessive proclamation or a violent promise, instead he abruptly turns and saunters to the couch in the corner. Lifting a small black remote, he fiddles with it and a second later, a whirring noise spills from the walls.
