Page 58 of Anteros' Return

I glanced over my shoulder to see that Kayla had disappeared and was heading in the direction of the bar…Brilliant. Thanks, mate.

Before I was able to turn back to see where Beckett was, his hands were already firmly placed on my hips, pulling my front flush to his.

“Dance with me.” He flashed his pearly whites at me as he finished his sentence.

I scoffed as my body slowly relaxed into him like it did once before. “Was that a question or a demand?”

“Most definitely the latter, cupcake.” The word hit me like a spark to dry tinder.Cupcake.He hadn’t called me that in years. Hearing it now, so casually, so effortlessly, was like no time had passed at all. “If you think I’m letting any other fucker here put his hands on you, then you’re seriously mistaken.”

He moved his hips in sync with mine to the music as I quickly remembered how good he was on the dance floor. His fingers traced a path up my exposed leg, while his other splayed across the small of my back, as if he was afraid I would escape.

His intense gaze locked onto mine, and the air between us seemed to tighten, charged with something unsaid and undeniable. The space around us shrank, humming with a silent tension that curled along my spine and sparked across my skin.

It was that same pull—magnetic and maddening—that had always existed between us. A flicker of heat bloomed low in my stomach, and I couldn’t look away. My heart thudded against myribs, loud enough I was sure he could hear it. Time didn’t matter. No one else in the room mattered.

Just him. Just us. And that dangerous, familiar electricity crackling in the space where words used to be. This was the man I had loved and lost, but now he stood before me, wanting me just as much as all those years ago.

Without hesitation, his hand reached up to caress my cheek, sending shockwaves through me. He leaned in closer, and as much as I hated it, I resisted the pull between us. A smile tugged at his lips as I stood there for a second.

“You’re mine, Em. Nobody else’s.” He said, his voice as smooth as honey in my ear. “If I have to remind you of that on a daily basis, then I will.”

But he wouldn’t be here daily to tell me.

He wouldn’t be here day in and day out for Liam either.

He was leaving sooner than I wanted him to.

Did I want to admit that?

No, I didn't.

I released a shaky breath before pivoting on my heel, racing towards the nearest exit. I could sense him close behind, just like I always could before.

“Emily, wait a second!” He shouted after me, but I couldn’t stop until I made it outside.

Bursting through the doors, my breaths came easier, the crisp evening air a warm welcome from the banging music and flashing lights.

“Why are you running off?” He ran his hand through his hair in despair as he skidded to a stop close by.

“Because I can’t do this, Beckett.” I threw my hands up before letting them fall against my thighs with a hard slap. “You’re here to have a relationship with your son, that’s all. What else are you trying to do?”

“I fucking miss you, Emily! Every damn day I was away I missed you!” His words came out harsh, but I knew it wasn't because he was intentionally trying to be mean. It was that his emotions were getting the better of him. The intensity of his voice ricocheted off the buildings in the alleyway and hit me straight in the heart.

“Then why did you stay away?! If you missed me, why not come back?!”

“Because Mike said you moved on!”

“And you couldn’t come home to see for yourself?! You believed everybody else over me?” Anger surged through me first, hot and sharp, like it had been sitting just beneath the surface, waiting for a reason to boil over. My hands curled into fists at my sides before I even realised it, nails digging into my palms. My chest tightened, breath shallow and uneven, like I couldn’t get enough air no matter how hard I tried.

Then came the rest of it, crashing into me all at once. Hurt. Disappointment. That hollow, stinging ache in my throat that always came just before tears. I wanted to scream, to cry, to throw something—anything—to release the chaos storming inside me. My vision blurred as emotion swelled behind my eyes, and I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, desperate to keep it together. Every nerve in my body screamed for relief, but there was nowhere for the pain to go. It sat in my chest, heavy and raw, daring me to break.

“You believed him too!” He was right, I did, but I was vulnerable at the time. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Having the one you loved the most break your heart was hard enough to bear. “He said you were too busy with someone new.”

“Do you know what I was busy with, Beckett?” I let out a ragged breath. “Raising our son alone. That’s what I was busy with while you were enjoying the game.” I sighed. “I called you the day he was born.”

“From your number?” he asked, his eyes widening slightly.

“No, my battery died, it would have been an unknown caller. I debated leaving a message, but the thought of you ignoring that hurt even more.” I let out a sob, but no matter how much I tried to hide it, he noticed.

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