A humorless smile touched my mouth as I looked toward the dark windows of the apartment, imagining her somewhere inside, thinking she still controlled how close I could get.
“You can’t hide anymore,” I murmured. Not after I found you.
The decision settled fully then. I would not chase her the way I had before, and I would not wait for her to open the door. I would step into her life in a way she could not shut out.
Because if Edwina Rhodes thought she could keep me at arm’s length while standing this close, she was about to learn how fucking wrong she was.
***
The next morning came with a sharpness that made sleep feel useless. I was not calm, and I sure as hell was not at peace. Something had been building under my skin since the moment I saw her again, and by the time I parked in the university lot, I knew I was done pretending patience had ever been part of my nature. I was waiting for her.
The parking lot was almost empty, with only a few cars scattered across the spaces and the cold morning air carrying the sound of footsteps from somewhere near the main entrance. It was quiet enough to work in my favor, far from the crowded halls, open office doors, and polite interruptions that keptcutting through every conversation we tried to have inside that damn building.
I saw her the moment she arrived.
Her car door opened, and she stepped out with that calm little armor she loved wearing, posture straight, face unreadable, acting as though last night had not followed her into morning. As though a few hours of sleep could erase the way she had melted in my hands before pulling herself back together.
She did not notice me at first, which made it easier. By the time her gaze lifted and found me, I was already moving toward her, crossing the parking lot with every ounce of restraint I had left burning out beneath my skin.
My hand closed around her wrist before she could step away.
She startled, her body jerking back as anger flashed across her face. “Hayden, what the hell?”
“Come with me.”
“No.”
The refusal came fast, and she dug her heels into the pavement, pushing at my arm with her free hand as she tried to pull away. “Let go of me.”
“Not happening.”
I started toward my car, taking her with me despite the fight she put into every step. Her resistance only sharpened the anger already moving through me, because after last night, with her mouth on mine, that name still in my head, her apartment found, and so much of her life kept from me, I was done standing around waiting for her to hand me half-truths.
“Have you lost your mind?” she snapped, trying to wrench her wrist free. “You can’t just drag me around like this.”
“Watch me.”
Her anger broke loose then. “Hayden, I swear to God.”
She tried to hit me. I caught her other wrist before her hand could land, stopping her mid-motion and pulling her closer at the same time. Her breath caught, only for a second, but I felt it.
“You’re hitting me now?” I asked, my voice rough with a humor I did not feel.
“Let. Me. Go.”
Her eyes burned into mine as she struggled again, her arms tense beneath my hands.
“Say please.”
Her expression darkened. “Fuck you.”
A humorless smile touched my mouth. “There she is.”
She pulled harder this time, her whole body resisting me, anger breaking through the composure she wore so carefully in public. Here, in the quiet of the parking lot, the university felt far away, and there was nothing left between us except anger, history, and the truth neither of us wanted to say. “Hayden, stop this right now.”
“Not until you stop running.”
“I’m not running.”
