He arches a brow. “What?”
“How many beers have you had?” I laugh. Before I can protest, he is pulling me out of the booth and dragging me to the dance floor.
The dress shirt he originally wore is long gone. Now he only wears the black undershirt, exposing all the tragically beautiful scars that lace the muscles of his arms.
One spin has me stumbling on my feet and nose diving into his chest. While I’d normally be embarrassed, the way it makes him laugh has me wanting to do it again and again. It’s genuine and light, like stars poking from the darkness that surrounds him.
I like that I make you laugh.
“I wish I could say this is because of the alcohol, but this would happen even if I was sober,” I admit. His hand still grips my hip while the other keeps his fingers threaded through mine.
Our laughter subsides, but our gazes hold. While his breathing is so calm, I’ve almost forgotten how to.
“Sunny…” he whispers.
Then my phone rings.
“Have some decency. She can purr all she wants, but I at least expect dinner first.” He smirks.
I slap his chest and he places his hand over mine, keeping it there, feeling his calm heartbeat. I don’t pull away, and use my free hand to look at the caller.
“It’s my parents,” I say, looking back up at him.
Those greens don’t leave my face, and I look away because I’m scared about what I see forming in them. What it does to me. How it makes me feel that fire wanting to reignite all over again.
Definitely the alcohol.
“Hey mom,” I answer.
“Hey, honey,” She greets me. The tone in her voice has a thickness forming in my throat.
“What’s wrong?” I plug my other ear to hear her over the music.
Tyler tilts his head, his emerald eyes darken. Once a boyish human, turned into a cold predator. Just like that, he went from Tyler to Caddell in an instant.
“Do you have a free minute to talk? And a safe place to do it?” My father asks.
“Sure.” I start walking outside, leaving Tyler alone on the dance floor. “Sorry,” I mouth the words to him as I step into the cold October night.
“Okay, I’m in a quiet place now. Are you guys alright?” I scrape my shoe against the faded paint lines that divide the parking spots. I squeeze the phone tighter, trying to calm my trembling hands.
“We have an update on Ryan.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SUNNY
“Okay,”I let out a shaky breath.
“We decided to call you since it’s later there and the detectives didn’t want to wake you in case you were sleeping. We told them we would update you, we just didn’t want to have to wait until tomorrow,” My mother says.
“Okay.” Because it’s the only word I can say.
I’d been living in this in-between for the last two months. Is he dead after crawling his way out of the apartment? Is he alive, hiding in the shadows and already found me, waiting for his moment for revenge? I hate myself for wishing he’s dead, but I hate myself even more for wishing he’s alive.
“Sunny…Ryan he’s…he’s alive.”
I suck in a sharp breath and squeeze my eyes shut to refrain from letting the pain win again. And yet, it still does, as if the scar on my neck and the cracks of my heart aren’t enough of a brand.
