Page 57 of Midnight Wishes

After Leah locked eyes with him, her mouth opening in surprise, but before the crowd parted enough to allow her to reach them, Sarah pulled him towards a dark corner in the furthest reaches of the gallery. The coloured lights of that area’s installation pulsed over them while she slid her hands up his chest—he had to hold back a moan—and pulled Alex towards her by his collar.

In the weeks they’d been hooking up, he kissed her countless times. But until that last one in her living room, they’d all been messy clashes of teeth and tongues fighting for dominance. Hands roved, squeezing and stroking. They were a world awayfrom that now, as Sarah allowed him to explore her mouth slowly and carefully.

Alex knew why he’d asked her to pretend for the night. But for the first time, he let himself hope she’d agreed for the same reasons. He’d tried to say it earlier. That they could keep doing this. She could continue meeting people who would further her career; he could continue to adore her. The fantasy that if he could get her to spend time with him beyond the wedding, she would let this becomerealmight destroy him if it didn’t come true.

Until they broke apart, Alex hadn’t realised how quickly this could well and truly fuck him up. Because the woman of his dreams was staring up at him with a soft, small smile, and he had no way of knowing if that was still part of the act or not.

‘Do you want to get out of here?’ he asked, fingers still buried in her thick, silky mass of hair. ‘We’ve seen the whole exhibit. You’ve met everyone important.’

‘You haven’t seen your friend yet,’ she reminded him.

Each time he’d sought out Chase, he’d been surrounded by a gaggle of admirers and journalists. Now Alex was angry at himself for not shouldering his way through the crowds earlier.

‘You know what? We’re not that close.’

Sarah laughed, and the husky tone skittered across his skin, warming him straight to his bones. ‘Find him, congratulate him, then meet me outside. I need to get some air anyway.’

‘Fine,’ Alex grumbled, leaning to catch her lips in another achingly soft kiss, grateful again that he’d engineered a situation where he was allowed to do that. He saw them becoming his favourite kind.

Chase was easy to spot, the contrast between his white buzz cut and dark skin standing out among a gaggle of what could only be art students. Alex had no qualms about pushing throughthem.

His friend’s retro glasses frames bumped Alex’s face when he pulled him in for a hug. ‘Alex! Thanks for coming, man. I wondered, with the Leah thing…but you two are okay now, right?’

As far as their mutual friends knew, they’d split amicably after growing apart. Not because Leah had traded Alex in for someone more available, who she had further replaced two weeks later, if her social media was to be believed.

‘We’re fine.’ They hadn’t spoken in two years, somehow managing to avoid being in the same place at the same time, despite their overlapping circles. ‘I’m actually seeing someone. Maybe.’ Alex shook his head, then continued, ‘The show’s great. This is some of your best work.’

Ignoring the compliment, a delighted grin broke across his friend’s face as they stepped away from six very disappointed groupies. ‘You haven’t had something serious in ages. Is she here? I need to meet her.’

The urge to scratch the back of his head struck again, but since Chase wasn’t the person he was trying to impress with his apparently secretly soft insides, Alex clamped it down.

‘It’s been casual. I’m hoping it won’t be much longer. She’s right…’ Alex trailed off as he turned towards the large glass windows fronting the gallery and saw Sarah shoving away a scrawny guy holding a camera. ‘Fuck.I have to go.’

He was already dodging other guests on his way out when he responded to Chase’s shouted, ‘Let’s grab a drink this week!’ with a wave of his hand.

‘Princess,’ he murmured, sliding between Sarah and the guy, who abruptly stopped talking when faced with Alex’s back. ‘Are you okay?’ She wasn’t. The toughest woman he knew was standing in front of him with tears brimming in her eyes, even if her jaw had that defiant tilt he loved. ‘Did he hurt you?’

‘He—’ Her voice was quiet, so much that Alex had to crane in to hear her next words. ‘That’s my ex.’

Now that she said it, the cheating little slimeball did look vaguely familiar. Without a word, Alex took her wrist, but they hadn’t gone more than a few steps before a hand appeared on Sarah’s shoulder, pulling her back roughly.

‘Actually, man, we were having a conversation—’

Even his voice was pathetic, but Alex was only half aware of it, too busy whirling around to grab the little weasel by his shirt. He—Sarah had said his name earlier… George? Grant?Gregg.That was it—had given up the right to any interest in Sarah’s life when he decided to start sticking his dick elsewhere. At least he had the sense to look slightly scared.

‘Listen to me, you human sack of shit,’ Alex hissed. ‘If you touch her again, I’ll—’

‘What, pretty boy? You’ll kill me? Amusement painted his face now, a taunting sound creeping into his voice. So he didn’t have as much sense as he’d appeared to.

Alex let a cruel smile tilt at his lips, so different to the picture of charm he’d perfected. ‘Oh no. I’d get my pretty hands dirty, and this face wouldn’t do well in jail. Besides, that’sthe easy way out for you. You’re a photographer, right? You cover a lot of these events? I have friends, and I have money. And unfortunately for you, that means I have some degree of influence in spaces like this. If I hear that you have so much as mentioned her name, I will personally ensure the only gigs you can get are photographing children’s birthday parties. Are we clear?’

‘You’d derail someone’s career for that bit—’

And Alex, who had been trying to get through the situation without violence—more violence, at least—aimed a heavy blow at Gregg’s cheek. Pulling him back in close, Alex spat, ‘Call her that again. Idareyou.’

Gregg’s eyes widened, his face visibly paler in the bright lights shining out the front end of the gallery. He was scared or smart enough not to speak, but apparently not smart enough not to punch someone significantly bigger than him, as the hand not holding his camera came up in a fist to Alex’s face, hitting him surprisingly hard on the left side of his mouth.

The second time Alex punched him, he dropped his shirt as the hit landed, sending Gregg sprawling on the pavement. Alex crouched beside him, holding Gregg’s shoulder down with one hand to stop him rising. ‘The difference between you and me,’ he said, quietly enough that Sarah wouldn’t hear, ‘is that I would do anything for her. Go back down into the sewer you climbed out of before I hit you again.’

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