The differences between them were impossible to ignore. Lindsey smelled of sugar and shampoo. Blair smelled of fear and fire.
She raised one eyebrow as she stared at me.
A frown formed on my face and my nostrils flared. “Another time.”
Lindsey’s smile vanished.
“Oh,” she said, her tone indicating her disappointment. “Okay.”
I rose to my feet and tossed a few bills on the table. “Thanks for the drink.”
She stared at me for a moment and waited for me to explain. When I didn’t, she gave a half-hearted scoff and reached for her purse.
“Whatever,” she said, shaking her head. “Your loss.”
I didn’t respond.
Outside, the night air was mercifully cool. A breeze rushed over me and sliced through my body’s heat. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked toward the parking garage as sounds of clinking glasses and laughing people faded behind me.
My pulse raced. Too fast. My head was full, and I needed to forget Blair.
But every step forward, I saw him again. A vision I couldn’t shake. His expression, the pen trembling in his hand, the quiet steel forced in his voice. The way he’d looked over at me after Travis—as if he didn’t know whether to be scared of me… or something else.
I reached my truck, climbed in, and didn’t turn the ignition.
Instead, I sat and gripped my wheel. The garage was poorly lit and quiet, save for the faint buzz of fluorescent lights overhead. My grip tightened so hard my knuckles went white.
I didn’t move or even breathe.
Just sat and stared through a dirty windshield, hoping I might discover insight beyond.
I picked up my phone and saw I’d missed a text from my agent:Heads up, your sponsor Credit Rocket wants ‘distance’ until you cool. Remove their patch before your upcoming press conference.
His message pulled me back to reality, back to what was at stake.
Dollar signs raced through my mind. Sums of money most people never dreamed they’d earn in a lifetime.
Shit.
I thought of Lindsey as her perfume clung to my shirt. The scent was floral and lush, but it didn’t cover up that I felt nothing for her. Nothing in the moment, nor after. Not bored, annoyed.
Absolutely nothing.
She’d laughed at my bad jokes. She’d touched my arm repeatedly and invited me to her place. Normally I would’ve gone there. Scratched whatever itch needed to be scratched.
But I hadn’t. Didn’t want her. Didn’t want her lips, her curves.
Her laugh slid off. What stuck with me instead was an image of Blair’s throat working when he said my name. I wanted quiet from him. And then I wanted to be the reason for it.
I slammed the heel of my hand against the steering wheel so hard it let out a sharp blast that bounced off the concrete walls, an accusation of which I was certainly guilty.
I dragged my hand down my face and tried to shake off thoughts of Blair. My focus had become singular.
Obsessed.
Things weren’t supposed to be this way. To feel this way. The furious tightness in my chest hadn’t let up since the night in the parking lot, since I’d seen Blair flinch when Travis grabbed him beside his car.
Since his face turned to look for me. A signal that I was expected. I was necessary.
