Wilted (7 page)

Once I arrive at my apartment building, I dread going upstairs. I’ve spent all evening getting everything set up for tonight before I went to get her. As mushy as it sounds, I wanted it to be special and romantic when I asked her to move in with me.

The lighting is soft and music plays quietly in the background. Rose petals are so cliché and not my girl’s thing. So instead, her favorite chocolate kisses line the hallway to my bedroom. A new nightie from the fancy lingerie shop waits for her on the end of the bed.

Now, nothing is going to happen. And, from the way I ended it, she will never be stepping foot in my apartment again. I grab her favorite Patrón from the freezer where I put it to chill and carry it to the couch to drink while everything I said to her plays through my head on repeat.

Turning up the decorative bottle, I polish off the last drop of the Silver Patrón as the colors of the sunrise wash through the windows. I thought I could drink her memory away, but I am damn sure wrong about that one. Every one of my thoughts has her in it. Every memory holds her in my heart. I know the error of my ways and, right now, I need to fix this. I just don’t know how.

When I wake up from my drunkenness, I have no idea what day it is, let alone what time. This past week’s been nothing but a painful blur for me. Surrounded by empty vodka and whiskey bottles, it’s a miracle I even woke up in the first place. Pizza boxes cover the table and the floor around me, most looking as though they’ve barely been touched. The strong stench of vomit fills the air. As I push up off the couch, I notice that I’m in a pool of it. Looking down at the soiled clothes I’m wearing, I can’t even remember the last time I changed them. Topping everything off is the foul taste in my mouth. It’s like something crawled up in it and died twice. Just thinking about the rotten flavor on my tongue makes me want to hurl all over again. My faltering attempt to stand has the room spinning, so I ease back down, grab my throbbing head, and rest it against the cool, soft leather cushion behind me. Fuck! It feels as if it’s being crushed in a vice. When I touch a tender spot on the back of my head, I feel a large bump. No doubt, I hit it on something when I stumbled around in my drunken state.

Glancing around my dimly lit apartment, I spot a pile of mail scattered on the floor. That’s my ticket to figuring out just how long I’ve been out of it. Step by painful step, I fumble my way to the door. Who knew that walking twenty steps could take so damn long? Footprints on various envelopes let me know I’ve trampled through this pile more than once. I’m sure I just answered the door to the pizza delivery guy and disregarded it laying there.

As I sort through the mail, I note the dates on each of the crumpled envelopes in hopes of getting some answers. Fucking hell! According to these, I’ve been in this damn apartment for four days straight. Four fucking days and I don’t remember a damn thing. Not even the pizza guy. Now that I’m sobering up, the pain returns in my chest, reminding me of why I stayed drunk in the first place. God, I fucking miss her.

What have I done? I can’t lose her.

Even though I look like hell, I have to go see her. She has to know I didn’t mean any of what I said. Grabbing my wallet off the floor, I open the front door and freeze when I see a brown box sitting on the other side. With my name written in bold letters, I instantly recognize the feminine handwriting as Kylie’s.

Fear fills me as I clench both sides of the carton. I don’t want to open it. I already know damn well what’s on the inside of it. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I gather the courage and fold back the flap. And just as I’d expected, it’s full of things that I’d left over at her place. Taped to the inside of the box is a notecard with her initials engraved on the front. Even before reading it, I know this isn’t going to be good.

Nik,

Here are your things. Don’t bother returning mine.

By the way, I’m not pregnant. Thought I’d ease your mind since I’m sure you’ve been so concerned.

Kylie

Sharp daggers feel like they are being shoved deep into my chest. I should be relieved right now, but I’m not. Instead, I feel like a piece of fucking shit. Being the coward I am, I left her to deal with this stuff on her own. Until now, it’d never occurred to me that maybe she’d been just as leveled by the idea of having my kid as I’d been. I mean, I certainly can’t say I blame her. My selfishness has cost me everything. A week ago, I’d had everything. Now, I have nothing.

I’m nothing without her.

It’s time I make this right. I’ll throw myself at her feet if I have to. There’s nothing I won’t do to get her back. She told me she loved me. And God knows I fucking love her. Love doesn’t go away that quickly. Or can it? What if it’s been replaced by hate?

It’s six thirty in the morning and here I am, in my car, looking up at her apartment building while I work up the nerve to go upstairs and beg for her mercy. My seventh cup of coffee sits in my stomach like a ball of lead. Kylie’s definitely not a morning person, so I know she won’t like me popping over this early. Regardless, I’ve got to see her. I know she’s working today, so I hope to work this all out with her and she can call in sick. I’d happily spend the rest of the day in bed making up for lost time.

Traffic begins picking up and morning joggers make their way down the sidewalks. As I open my car door, I wince from the sting and slide on dark sunglasses to shield my eyes from the morning sunlight. One thing is for sure, I definitely won’t be drinking like that again. Ever!

Deciding it’s now or never, I grab the fresh coffee and Danish off the front seat and make my way across the busy street. As I cross the lobby to the elevator, I can’t recall ever being this damn nervous to see her. So many clashing thoughts race through my mind right now that I hope I can get everything out that I want to say. Relief fills me when no one joins me on the elevator. I need this time alone to rehearse the speech I’ve been working on.

Baby, I know I was an asshole. I was just scared. I need you in my life. Can’t we work this out?

Who am I kidding? Even I know this isn’t going to be that easy. I’m dealing with Kylie Reynolds, for fuck's sake, the most stubborn, outspoken woman on the fucking planet. She’s going to take one look at me and throw some large object at my head. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a life-sized target of me in her apartment and throws darts at it. For all I know, she’s conjured up some voodoo magic on my ass. It certainly would explain the headache pounding away at me. Yep, I bet there’s some miniature doll with pins all in its head and dick laying in her apartment somewhere.

When the elevator chimes its arrival, I step out and make my way towards her door. Just as I turn the corner, I freeze. Leaving Kylie’s apartment is none other than her boss, Evan Pierce. There aren’t words enough to say how much I hate this guy. He’s had his eyes on my girl since the day she went to work for him. She hadn’t worked there six weeks before he’d promoted her from assistant to analyst. I didn’t want to spoil her excitement by telling her it had nothing to do with her hard work and everything to do with working side-by-side with him. He looks at her as if she’s his next meal, yet she is blind to it. It’s been a sore topic between us for months. I warned her that the next time I saw him touch her I am going to bust his face.

His wrinkled jacket hangs over his arm, and when he lifts his chin and reaches to secure the knot on his red silk tie, his blue eyes meet mine.

I hate this fucker. I hate the way he dresses. I hate the way he talks, eats, walks… breathes. I just fucking hate him.

“Good morning, Thorne.” A smirk covers his face as he moves to tuck his shirttail in his pants.

I can’t believe the fucking bastard has the audacity to speak to me. I’m going to kill him. The coffee and Danish drop, the liquid splashing across the floor beside me. Within two seconds, I have the fucker pinned against the wall and my hands at his throat.

“Get your goddamn hands off me!” His voice is hoarse as he struggles to push my hands away.

“You fucking son of a bitch! What the hell are you doing here?” I demand, slamming his head against the wall.

Before he can answer, Kylie’s door opens and my eyes land on my gorgeous girl for the first time in almost a week. She takes my breath away, standing there with her long, tousled hair and short black silk robe. She’s so fucking beautiful. My mind goes back to how she’s dressed and all I can think about is the two of them in bed together.

“What the hell is going on? Nik, let him go,” she demands, but I refuse to release him.

“What’s this asshole doing leaving your apartment this early, Kylie?”

“That’s none of your goddamn business, Nik. Now, let him go!”

Leaning in, I whisper my warning in his ear, “Watch your back, fucker,” before shoving him out of my way. The coward doesn’t even try to fight me. He’s too worried that I’ve messed up his tie.

“Kylie? Are you going to be all right?” he asks. I’m unconvinced by his concern.

“Yeah, Evan. I’m fine. I’ll see you at work in a bit.”

Nodding, he turns and leaves, refusing to look my way.

“Goodbye, Nik.” She grabs the door to shut it.

Panicked, I waste no time charging forward. Too shocked by my move, she backs away as I push my way inside of her apartment.

“Nikolas! Get the fuck out!” She pushes hard into my chest with her hands.

The electric surge soars through my body. There it is… That magical touch.

I grab her arms and pull her body into me, savoring how wonderful she feels against me. For a second her body melts, relaxing into mine. All morning, I’ve rehearsed what to say. Now is my chance, but I can’t. First, I need to know why Evan was here.

“Did he spend the night?” I whisper in her ear.

Her body stiffens and her silence answers my question, ripping my heart out of my chest.

“Nik, it’s… I—”

“You know, don’t worry about it. At least now I don’t feel bad for fucking that girl from the bar last night.”

Heartbroken, she looks at me with those sad, beautiful eyes. The ones I love staring into more than breathing. I’ve never seen so much hurt in them. Not even on the day I walked out on her.

I lied. No! I’m so sorry, baby. Please forgive me. I could never do that to you. To us. I love you!

Before I can grab her in my arms and take it all back, she pulls me to her and kisses me with everything in her. At that moment, I forget what led us to this point. The anger. What I’d seen. Our breakup. It’s just me and her and this perfect bliss we’ve always shared. I feel the love in every swipe of her tongue. The electric energy surrounding us is simply spellbinding. When she pulls away to end the kiss, I find myself breathless. And dizzy. Immediately, my head begins spinning as to why she’s just done that. Is she trying to tell me it’s all been a lie? That she still loves me? God, I want nothing more than to have those lips on mine once more. Lifting my hand, I reach for her face, but she jerks away.

“How does Evan’s cock taste, Nik?” Her beautiful, angry eyes glare at me. The pain and betrayal in them are almost more than I can handle. Has she seriously just been with that fucker? No. She couldn’t have. She’s just trying to piss me off. Just as I’m about to grab her and shake some sense into her, her voice interrupts me.

“You do remember your way out, right? It’s not changed since you walked out on me the last time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a long hot shower. Evan sure left me sweaty.” Her eyes stare into mine as she loosens the belt and dropping the black robe from her body, she bares her body to me. “You’re welcome to join me, but I’m sure you wouldn’t want his sloppy seconds.” Turning her back to me, she disappears down the hall.

It’s true? No!

Paralyzed, I’m too shocked and leveled to move. Wave after wave of pain rushes over me. I don’t know how to survive this. I feel like the wind has been knocked completely out of my chest. Gasping for air, I can’t breathe. It’s all I can do to reach for the wall next to me before my trembling knees give way. As I bend over to catch my breath, a gold cufflink on the floor beside the foyer table leg catches my eye. I know who it belongs to before I even pick it up to see the initial EP engraved on the top.

Hate. It’s all I can see, all I can feel. I want to wrap my hands around his neck and feel every bone in it break. Furiously, I sling the cufflink across the apartment. Sweeping my arm across the table, I send all the pictures crashing to the floor. Tiny fragments of glass fly everywhere around me. Every part of me wants to tear down these walls, to rip every inch of this place to shreds. That’s how betrayed I feel by what she’s done. I want to destroy her the way she’s just destroyed me.