Page 69 of Fix You

For a moment, I allowed myself to imagine Rafe and I at his club.

Watching others.

Being watched.

I realized we could achieve some of the same thing right here, right now.

Just as I reached out to ask him to dance, I remembered he was engaged. Somewhere in Philadelphia his fiancee was wearing his ring–the one I never would.

No, Rafe wasn’t what I had come for. He wasn’t the anonymous hookup I’d planned. He was a distraction.

It took everything within me to take a step back from him. “I’m going to dance.”

When he made a move like he might join me, I shook my head. “You’re only here to watch me, remember?”

Rafe’s nostrils flared at the mention of watching. His jaw clenched as I backed away from him. His hooded eyes sent an ache through my core.

Ignoring it, I turned and began losing myself in the crowd.

Chapter Thirteen: Raphael

It took everything within me to let Maeve walk away. I wanted nothing more than to jerk her into my arms and put my hands on her body. Jealousy flared in me that she was on the hunt for another man to touch her and give her pleasure.

Iwanted to be the one to do that.

Instead, I tracked her through the crowd. Although I was desperate for a drink to cool me off, I couldn’t let her get out of my sight.

It didn’t take too long before some frat boy approached her. After they exchanged a few words, they started to dance. Red flared across my vision the moment his hand snaked around her waist and drew her against him.

“Hey sexy, wanna dance?” a brunette questioned at my side.

With a shake of my head, I kept my eyes on Maeve and her frat boy. At the feel of a hand on my ass, I momentarily jerked my gaze over to the brunette.

“Come on. Just one dance,” she purred as she squeezed my ass.

“Not. interested,” I bit out through gritted teeth.

With a roll of her eyes, she moved on. When I flicked my gaze back to Maeve, the world around me shuddered to a stop.

She was frozen in fear on the dance floor. Frat Boy had one hand on her ass and the other on her breast. Instead of a look of pleasure, panic was etched across her face. Her eyes were pinched shut while her chest was rising and falling with harsh pants.

“Fuck,” I growled as I rushed through the people.

When I reached Maeve, the douche frat boy was rubbing his hips against her. I grabbed the back of his neck and jerked him away from her. “Dude, what the fuck?” he demanded.

“Get your damn hands off her!”

“Fuck off,” he muttered before trying to grab Maeve again.

“You touch her, and I’ll break your fucking hand,” I snarled.

With a smirk, he started to turn back to Maeve who remained frozen in panic. I didn’t stop to think; I just reacted. I threw a right hook into the side of the frat boy’s face.

The sound of his pathetic wail of pain brought Maeve out of her stupor. After he collapsed to the ground, a shudder ran through her before she turned and started pushing her way through the crowd to the exit.

After stepping over the guy, I hurried to catch her. Since the bouncer knew who she was, he allowed her down the employee hallway. Once she was free of the crowd, she kicked off her heels and started running. She burst through the exit doors just as I made it to the employee exit.

When I got out into the alleyway, my head spun left and right to see where she’d gone. The falling snow fucked with my visibility. At first I didn’t see her. Then I saw a crumpled form to my right, causing me to break into a run.

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