Page 54 of Heartstruck at Dawn
I didn’t want him to end up with a friend and have to see them doing whatever people in relationships do in front of me through all of eternity. It was easier to pretend like all he did on his time off was sleep alone in his bed like a good boy—thus the need to avoid him ending up with a friend of mine.
For a second there, I stood by myself, waiting for Nathan to come out of the bathroom, and a guy wearing a black hoodie and a Guy Fawkes mask walked up to me. He looked over his shoulder and removed his mask.
“Thomas?”
“HI, BILLIE.”Thomas leaned in and kissed my cheek in a painfully slow motion. “You look—beautiful.” He took a deep breath, his eyes looking glazed as he analyzed my costume. Thomas strategically gave his back to my security detail, so they hadn’t spotted him yet.
Caleb and David were too distracted to pay attention to what was happening around them. And the place was packed at this point.
Something about the look on Thomas’s face made me feel uneasy. I couldn’t tell if he was drunk or just plain miserable. Probably an unfortunate mixture of both. He kept his usually soft, curvy lips in a constant tight, harsh line.
“Since when do you smoke?” He took a step closer to me and leaned in to look into my eyes. “Are you drunk?”
I took a step back.
“Who came with you to the party?” He continued. “Did you bring a date?”
This isn’t happening.
I didn’t answer any of his questions. I didn’t even want to talk to him. He stared at me, waiting for a reply that’d gone rogue. And just to make sure, I took a couple of extra steps back, but Thomas easily grasped my arm, making my cigarette fall to the floor.
The lights dimmed out, and a strobe light effect flooded the space. The music became louder as the DJ switched to deep house because apparently, he’d been hired to play the soundtrack of my interactions with Thomas.
“Why are you doing this to me?” he shouted over the music. “You know how much I love you! I can’t sleep! I—” He pulled the hoodie off his head and dragged a rough, angry hand through his messy hair.
“Thomas, you’re hurting me,” I said with a calm but stern voice. His hand was still attached to my arm. The strobing lights made Thomas’s features look harsh. Somber.
“Ineed youto come back to me.” His grip around my arm got even tighter. “I promise I’ll tell you everything. And once you know, you’ll understand why I’ve been acting the way I have. I’m ready now.” He was looking down into my eyes, his face too close to mine. “Please don’t look at me like that. Like I’m this—insane person.”
“You’rehurtingme!” I tried shoving him off, but he grabbed both of my arms and pulled me closer to him.
“Babe, just—please,” he begged. “I swear everything will go back to the way it used to be in the beginning. Don’t you miss me at all?”
“Get yourbleedinghands off her,” Nathan said with a growl. Thomas finally released me from his grasp. “Now sod off.”
My arm was going to be bruised the next day. It hurt like hell.
“Who the fuck isthis?” Thomas snarled back at me, demanding an answer.
I threaded my fingers in between Nathan’s and squeezed his hand with a quick pulse, and said, “This is Nathan, my boyfriend.”
“What?” He grimaced in Nathan’s direction. His eyes narrowed as he scanned him up and down. Maybe if Thomas thought I was with someone else, he would back off for good and reconcile with the idea of us not getting back together.
Another guy stood next to Thomas and revealed his identity by removing a Guy Fawkes mask like the one Thomas wore over his head.
“Hey, ginger. Long time no see.” And that’s what a douchebag with a grin looks like.
I squeezed Nathan’s hand again in an involuntary reaction to seeing Nicholas’s annoying face. He placed his arm around my waist and said, “Let’s go, love.”
“Love?” Nicholas said before bursting into laughter. “Oh, Tommy! Brit-Brit here is snatching you good. I know you said she tastes all kinds of sweet, but no pussy’s worth the—”
Boom.
Nathan plastered Nicholas’s face on the floor before he could finish the sentence by grabbing his arm and twisting it in a swift move that made him fall to the ground.
Tobias ran up to us as soon as he saw what was happening and yelled something to Nathan in Swedish. Nathan ignored him. He was busy with the arm-twisting thingy.
“Tob, go get the guys!” I yelled. He turned around and ran off to get them.
