She pressed her cheek to my chest and let out a contented sigh. She encircled me and pressed close, as if she simply couldn’t bear to be apart from me.
I was familiar with that sensation. I snuggled up to her, breathing in her sweet, floral scent.
As her leg curved over my hip, my cock throbbed. With clenched teeth, I resisted the urge to get closer to her.
“I have to go,” I could feel the pain in my throat with each syllable.
There was a pall over her usually bright blue eyes as bewilderment and a little hurt clouded her vision.
“Oh. Are we going to hang out sometime soon? ” Some of her shyness returned, softening her tone to little more than a whisper.
“Of course,” I heard myself say before I could stop the promise from leaving my lips. When she looked at me like that-needy and achingly vulnerable-I couldn’t refuse her. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her.
And truthfully, I didn’t want to bear the pain of leaving her.
I pressed a kiss against her forehead. If I couldn’t do the honorable thing and leave her alone, I’d at least treat her like she deserved. “I’ll take you out to dinner. I’ll pick you up tonight.”
After a few more lingering kisses, I managed to pry myself away from her so she could get ready for class.
Nicola
To be anticipated, the bar was dead by late afternoon. I don’t understand why the management decided to open so early in the evening. Students started showing around about that time.
No customers in sight, I spent the last four hours giving everything a good scrub. After I ditched my previous night’s cleaning duties to spend time with Emily, my coworker Alice didn’t perform a very good job.
I didn’t really have any grounds to blame her. Since I had abandoned her without so much as an explanation, I felt terrible about how I had treated her.
Though I was on the fence about making Emily a permanent fixture in my life, I forced myself to put in the hours cleaning the bar as a distraction.
Before I left for Havard, I had never done something as menial as scrub my own countertops. A group of six people were in charge of cleaning up the residence.
In contrast to how I formerly felt, I now like going to work every day. If it meant I could get away from my history and my family, I would mop floors in a tenement for the rest of my life if it meant I could get out.
As soon as my little duty ended, Alice arrived to take over. Though she ignored me after I broke up with her, she didn’t rip me a new one. After I finished explaining, she nodded firmly in agreement and brushed me off with a dismissive gesture. Because she seemed anxious to forget about it, I didn’t bother trying to apologize again before leaving the bar.
Alice made it seem like she’d prefer not see me today. Good thing she hadn’t complained to the manager about my being disruptive. Doing this job meant I could afford to remain in town.
Right as I stepped out of the bar into the twilight, my senses went into high gear. Even though just my Audi and Alice’s Buick were parked in the empty lot, we were most certainly not alone. I had spent years following people around in an effort to scare them if I ever got the chance. The feeling of being stalked or chased was one I was used to.
I couldn’t risk my family or their opponents finding me, so I had to leave town and stay away from Emily
But I could not leave her without complete assurance.
I decided to take a risk on her since she represented a promising possibility.
I took out the inexpensive burner phone I’d bought before coming to Havard and showed it to him. I would just have a short talk with them before hanging up.
I just keyed in the number since it was one I was familiar with. A familiar, brief voice answered the phone after three rings.
It’s likely that someone is wondering, “Who the hell is this? ”
Asked if they were on board with me. Before wasting any more time on the phone, I made sure to ask.
A moment of stunned silence followed. “Nicola?”
I had to ask something, so I growled at Mathew and asked him a question. If questioned, “Do you have people looking for me, and are you with me”
“There’s no doubt that I’ve had people searching for you. ”
“Where the f*ck are you?”
I hung up the phone while swearing. That Mathew would tell me a fib is something I know for sure. I wasn’t surprised to hear that my best friend had a search party for me; it only meant I had a watcher if he hadn’t already discovered me. Those people have nothing to do with my family tree. Although I hoped no one would find me, I think any friendly company would have been preferable than the alternative.
I just tossed the phone on the floor without thinking. It shattered under my boot, and I finished up by kicking the fragments about. I can’t keep track of that many things. Plus, I phoned Mathew and told him he didn’t need to come.
“If I had that phone, I’d smash it too. “