“Fuck me,” Atlas growls, taking a swig of his drink. “This is torture.”
“You’re telling me,” I mutter as I watch my sister offer the girls another round of shots.
They count down before tossing their glasses back. Loxley winces at the taste as Addison slings her arm around her friend’s shoulder. They giggle together, looking tipsy as a new song flows through the club’s speakers. That guilt rears its head, and I feel bad for keeping this from them. It’s clear they missed each other, and I’ve never felt like more of an ass.
“Thanks for telling Short Stack,” Atlas says over the music. “I was getting close to caving.”
I chuckle. “It was that bad, huh?”
He nods. “I’ve never seen her so heartbroken, and it made me hate you a little for it. I never want to see her like that again, Rowan.”
“You won’t,” I promise quietly.
“Soooo,” Connor lifts a brow as he butts into our conversation. “Whatisgoing on with you and Addison?”
They both stare at me expectantly, and I sigh. “Exactly what you think is going on.”
Connor’s face lights up before he shoves a hand toward Atlas. “Pay up!”
“Fuck both of you,” my brother mumbles before slapping a hundred in his palm.
“You guys seriously bet on Addison and my relationship?” I ask incredulously.
“Yes,” Connor beams.
“No,” Atlas lies before cursing. “You can’t blame us! Shelooked like she wanted to kill you the last time I saw her!”
“Unbelievable,” I smirk as I shake my head. I go back to watching my girl as she dances, but stop when I feel eyes on me. I look between my brother and friend as they stare at me in astonishment. “What?”
“She’s changed you,” Connor says.
“For the better,” Atlas agrees before his eyes trail to my sister-in-law. “You know… the way you look at Addison is the way I look at Loxley. It’s the same way Connor looks at Alana. And the way Thalia looks at roadkill.”
“Fucking sick,” Connor gags.
An epiphany moment happens as time seems to slow around me. I get these perfect flashes of Addison in my head—her smile, her anger, and her seated behind my desk as she works—and I realize I don’t want anything or anyone else. She came into my life like a whirlwind and helped shoulder some of the pain that made life barely tolerable for me. She saw those nasty scars that dig deep into my consciousness and decided I was worth something past the hard exterior. She's the only person I was okay with sharing the side of me that still frightens me to my very core. She’s seen itall.
And she still smiles at me as if I’m her favorite person.
It’s been barely a week since we started seeing each other, but it feels like a fucking lifetime. Somewhere in my soul, I feel like I know this woman better than myself.
But I also know I can’t keep her trapped with me. Not if I want her to choose me. Which is why I’m doing all of this. If she chooses to leave, I’m not going to stop her.
No matter how much it will pain me.
I’ll always be there, though. She’s imprinted on my fucking soul and bound to me. There’s no way I’ll willingly let her go, but I can’t trap her if I want her to choose this. To chooseme.
“Do you love her?” Atlas asks.
My hand tightens around the bottle I’m holding. “Don’t you think it’s too early for that—”
“For fuck’s sake,” my brother sneers. “I’m not asking my dutiful brother, who seems to think he’s fucking bound by some invisible oath, to be miserable. I’m asking Rowan Kingsley, the man who drugged and kidnapped a woman to keep her close, if helovesher. Fuck everything else, Row. For once, stop thinking you have to shoulder this all alone, and answer my fucking question—”
“Yes!” I hiss, slamming my beer down on the counter. That tether in me snaps as something deranged and desperate claws its way to the surface. “Yes, I love her. I love her more than anything else in the world. I love her more than our fucked up pasts, and I love her more than any sorry fuck who’s lucky enough to get close to her. Iobsessover her, and I don’t want to let her go! Is that what you want to hear?”
“Is it the truth?” He asks.
“Of course it is,” I breathe deeply before rubbing a hand over my face. “I would do anything for her.Anything.”
