Page 15 of F*cking Shattered

I feel defeated.

I feel my skin prickle and a tingling forms in my stomach. I begin looking around me, wondering why I’m feeling this way. I gaze around the room, twisting in my seat to see behind me. My eyes lock on familiar bright blue ones.

I turn around quickly. Oh, fuck. This is not happening. I rub my temples as my eyes flutter shut.

He saw me. I know he saw me. Please don’t let him come over here. I pray that he accepts last night for what it was and doesn’t make this awkward.

“I didn’t think I’d get lucky enough to see you again.”

Fuck. I should have known I couldn’t get that lucky.

I look up at his ocean colored eyes and swallow down my fear. “I didn’t either,” I answer as I look him over. Yesterday he was dressed in a suit for the funeral, and when he showed up at the club, he hadn’t bothered to change. But today, he looks completely different. Today, he’s wearing a pair of jeans that hang slightly from his hips, a pair of black sneakers, and his black t-shirt hugs his hard chest and muscular arms. He looks younger and carefree. Hot as hell.

He nods toward the chair across from me. “Mind if I sit with you?”

My eyes flash around the busy restaurant, scrambling to come up with an excuse.

He sits down despite my lack of reply. “I can see that you’re back to being your old worried self.” His smug grin is back and it annoys me.

I roll my eyes. “You don’t know anything about me.”

One of his eyebrows raise as he shrugs. “I read people pretty well,” he says, being completely abrasive.

I lean forward, challenging him. “Oh yeah? What do you see when you read me then?”

He leans back in his seat, confidence rolling off his strong frame. “I’m afraid I will offend you.” He rubs his angular jaw like he couldn’t care less what we’re talking about.

“Well then you don’t read people as well as you think because I don’t offend easily.” I can’t help the competitiveness he brings out in me.

“Yeah, okay,” he says in a mocking tone with a roll of his eyes.

My mouth hangs open and my eyebrow arches. “You don’t believe me?”

He shakes his head. “Not in the slightest.”

I wet my lips and draw them into a tight line before adjusting my top and sitting up straight. “Try me. Hit me with your best shot.”

His bright blue eyes darken with mischief as he leans forward. His grin still hasn’t left his lips. It’s like he knows he is about to wreck me. “Have it your way.” He pops his neck like he’s getting ready for a fight. “You’re very closed off and shy. I think that you keep people at arm’s length, and only let those closest to you know the real you. It’s like you put on a show for the rest of the world, and it’s so tiring that by the time you get home in the evenings, you can’t even force yourself to socialize with another human being. I think last night was just the beginning of the new you. That you liked getting fucked against a dirty brick wall in an alley behind a club. And I think you got a whole lot more than what you were looking for last night.” Each word he says is deep and husky, filled with a desire that only fuels my own.

I’m so caught up in what he’s saying because he’s dead on. “What do you think I was looking for, and what do you think I found?”

“I think you were looking for someone to help you forget for a moment.”

“And that’s exactly what I found, wasn’t it?” I question.

He shakes his head. “You found more than that.”

My face scrunches up on its own, not understanding what he’s saying.

He picks up on my questions. “You found someone who’s just as broken as you are. Someone who needs an escape… just like you.”

I open my mouth to ask him what that’s supposed to mean, but the waitress is back and placing my water in front of me.

“Are you ready to place your order?” she asks, politely.

“Oh!” I pick up my menu and attempt to look over it again. “I have no idea. I’ve never eaten here before.”

There is a long list on the menu, and by each selection is a picture of a pepper. I look at the top of the menu and see they gauge the spiciness of the dish with the number of peppers on the side. I glance down until I find the first one with three peppers. I point at it and show her the menu. “I’ll take that one.”

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