I wrenched myself away again, and I slapped him in the face—hard. “It meant everything,” I hissed as his hand came up to his face in wide-eyed surprise. “Then you shit all over it. I let myself care, and all it did was this. If you do it once, then it’s only a matter of time before it happens again. I won’t be that person ever again. I won’t let anyone else be that person.” I took a few steps back. “Stay awayfromme.”
This time, he didn’t come after me as I pushed my way through thecrowd.
Outside, the air was cool, so I threw my jacket on and flipped up the collar. People milled outside the bar, and the security guard nodded as I caught his eye. Giving him a thin smile, I walked up the street a short way, looking for a quiet place to clear mythoughts.
I ducked into a dark alleyway and leaned my forehead against the cool brickwork. I was only a few steps within, so the street light lit me up as I tried to calm myself down with deep breaths. It wasn’t workingthatwell.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and thought about calling Dee, but I’d dragged him through enough of my shit already. It wasn’t fair to him to keep leaning on him as much as I had. His life had suffered for it too inaway.
“Hey,baby.”
My head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice. Just outside the alleyway, in the orange streetlight, stood the man I had once loved. The man that had lied, cheated, and broke my heart. The man who had destroyedmylife.
I took a step back, suddenly wary, and clutched my arm. The arm hebroke.
“Jason.”
My heart thudded in my chest, and it was another emotion he made mefeelnow.
Itwasfear.