Page 27

“Uh…just give me a second.” I hang up on him without another word and jump out of bed. I quickly find a pair of shorts on the floor and pull them up my legs. Racing into the bathroom, I pile my long brown hair in a bun on top of my head and wash my face.

Finally, I make my way into the living room and fling open the door. Nix’s head shoots up in surprise, his brow furrowed. My eyes travel down his body, taking in the tight, black t-shirt that stretches over his bulky muscles perfectly, and his dark wash jeans that hang off his hips in a way that has me biting down on my lip. When I meet his eyes again, he’s smiling at me.

“Hey, baby.”

“Nix,” I warn. He holds his hand up in front of him.

“Okay, I’ll stop. I promise.”

I’m not sure that I believe him but I stand back to let him into my apartment. When he passes by me, his hand brushes mine and I wonder if it was intentional or not. He walks over to the love seat and plops down, making himself at home. I join him, sitting down on the couch across from him.

“Let’s hear it.”

“What? No ‘Hey, Nix, how are you doing?’ first?” His eyes sparkle with mischief and I’m wavering between wanting to kiss him and wanting to throttle him. I make a big show of rolling my eyes and sighing.

“Hey, Nix, how are you doing?”

He gives a victorious smile. “Oh, I’m so much better now that I’m here with you.”

I giggle in spite of my annoyance and roll my eyes at him again.

“Oh my God. Can you be serious for just two seconds and tell me what he said?” I’m still giggling but he slowly stops laughing and nods his head.

“All right. I’ll get serious for a second. He said a lot of shit to your brothers before I got out there and I have no idea what it was but they were pissed. If you want to know about that, you’ll have to ask them.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“When I got there, he started screaming at me that you were his. He said I might get to have you for a little bit, but that you would be his again soon. That he would get you back, no matter what it took.”

I shudder and lean back into the couch, my mind spinning. No matter what it took. Those words shouldn’t be so ominous but coming from Ryan, they are, especially since I would never go back willingly.

“Can I ask you something?”

My gaze snaps up to Nix. “Yeah.”

“Did you really love that asshole?”

I sigh and bite my nail. “It’s complicated.”

“How so?” He tilts his head, his brow furrowed as he tries to understand how I could possibly love a man like Ryan Wheeler.

“It was like he was two different people. I loved the man I thought he was and I hated who he really is but I can’t separate the two. It’s like I loved a ghost. He wasn’t always like that, you know? In the beginning, he was really amazing and I fell. By the time he started showing his true colors, I was already in so deep.”

He looks past me, out the window, and appears to be lost in thought for a moment before he locks eyes with me again. “Do you still love him?”

“Oh, God, no.”

“Good,” he says, flashing me a satisfied smile.

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

“I like you, Emma. I think I’ve made that pretty obvious. I would hate to lose my chance with you, especially to a guy like that.”

“Yeah, all right, Casanova.”

“I’m serious.”

My eyes dart to his and I see nothing but honesty staring back at me. It’s unnerving. “You don’t even know me, Nix.”