I shut the door behind me and just stood there with my back pressed to it for a second, staring at nothing. The ocean was still out there, the sun was still shining, the world was still moving like normal, but inside my chest everything felt off.
I had walked over there thinking I was just going to apologize, say thank you, and go on about my day.
But that was not what happened.
The way Roman looked at me. The way his voice sounded when he said I scared him. The way he talked about seeing that man’s hands on me.
All of that was still sitting right on my skin.
I pushed off the door and headed to the small table by the window, dropping my phone and the half-finished bottle of water he had given me. For a second, I just stared at it.
Nobody really did that for me.
The words I had thrown out in his villa came back to me, and I realized how true they were.
Niggas had taken me out. Niggas had spent money. Niggas had ran game, lied, and wasted my time.
But staying, watching, and protecting me when I didn’t even know I needed it was different.
I kicked my sandals off and went out onto the balcony, leaning on the rail. From here, I could see the line where the sky kissed the water, that pretty blue-on-blue that was supposed to be calming. It helped a little, but not enough to quiet everything going on in my head.
I thought about last night in pieces.
The bar, drinks, and of course that man.
My body going heavy and weird.
Roman’s voice.
I thought about this morning, waking up scared and angry and confused, snapping on the only person who had actually been there.
Then I thought about how he looked when I told him nobody really did that kind of shit for me.
He did not laugh. He did not act surprised.
He just said,“They should.”
And the crazy part was, I believed him.
I hated that I did, but I did.
I wrapped my arms around myself and let out a long breath.
“Get it together, Melissa,” I mumbled.
Roman made things complicated.
Before this trip, I had him in a nice little box in my mind. He was fine, charming, dangerous in his own way, and I wasattracted to him. I could admit that. But I also told myself it was not going to be nothing real. I was not signing up to be nobody’s anything again. I was just trying to live my life, heal my heart, and have my fun.
But this?
Him pulling me away from some man who saw me as something to drag, and then staying up all night in a chair making sure I was still breathing. Not to mention the way he looked at me. I wasn’t just some girl he met at his club.
That messed with my rules.
I stayed out on the balcony until the wind started getting on my nerves. Then I went back inside and flopped across the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
My brain would not shut up.
