Page 2 of Nikolai (Kansas City Reapers)

Sure enough, as I turned, none other than Bryce Willerman stood directly behind me.

The blonde bimbo I’d caught him in bed with last week was hanging on him like a badly tailored suit.

“Oh, shit.” I saw his lips move more than I heard his actual words.

Rage filled me.

Rage…

And hurt.

“Listen, Maddy… can we talk?” Bryce yelled above the noise, wrapping his hand around my upper arm and tugging me towards him.

Fury spiraled through me like a tornado, filling every part of me until I could almost see it flitting at the edges of my vision, a brilliant and horrible shade of red. Yanking my arm back, I nearly spat in his face. I would have — if Jess hadn’t tugged me away right then.

Quickly, moving as one unit, Kerri, Jess, Melissa, Lily, and I all moved back towards the bar, leaving Bryce and his bimbo out on the dance floor.

“Maddy, are you okay?” Jess asked. I could feel her hands touch my arm, but her words sounded jumbled and distorted, almost as though she were speaking to me underwater. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.

“I’m going to go find the bathroom,” I shouted to her. I swore there wasn’t a single spot in this place where you could hear someone talk. No wonder I had no voice the day after partying with Kerri — regardless of what club or bar we were at.

“I’ll go with you,” Jess quickly offered. I shook my head vehemently.

“No, I just need a minute. I’ll be back in a bit, okay?” I offered her a smile I hoped looked more real than it felt.

“If you’re sure.” Jess looked at me hesitantly, but nodded her head, releasing my arm.

Leaning over the edge of the bar, I hollered towards the bartender until he saw me and bustled over in my direction.

“What can I get you tonight, beautiful?” I didn’t miss the way his eyes roved lower than I liked, but I shook it off.

“Where is the bathroom?” I hollered.

“What?” The bartender cupped his ear, leaning in closer to hear me above the music.

“Where. Is. The Bathroom?” I all but screamed.

“Downstairs. That way.” He pointed towards the back of the club. I nodded and waved a hand in thanks before turning and making my way through the crowd. Bodies pressed in even more tightly than they had when we first arrived. Tapping on shoulders one after the other and literally pushing my way through the crowd, I finally made it to the back of the club. A neon sign hung over the top of a staircase, pointing towards the basement of the building.

The stairwell was dark and strangely just as crowded as the main floor of the club. Thoughts of Bryce and that woman filled my mind, taking me back to barely a week ago. Bryce and I had been dating for nearly two years. Funny, had things not transpired, I’d be celebrating our anniversary tonight instead of out here trying to forget his very existence with the help of booze and dancing. I had planned to cook a nice dinner for him last week. Sincehe’d given me a key only a month before, I’d thought it would be the perfect surprise to brighten his day.

Apparently, he foundotherways of brightening his own damn day. I had walked into his apartment and set my bag of groceries down on the counter, then noticed the pair of heels by the front door. What I found in his bedroom — let’s just say that I ran out of his apartment like a bat out of hell. I had wanted to give him a piece of my mind — to chew his ass out until he shit like a sprinkler, but all I could manage was a measly, “How could you?”

The noise grew louder; the bodies pressing into me as I tried to find my way to the bathroom. I couldn’t hear anything over the noise of the crowd and the sound of my own thundering heartbeat as a panic attack settled in.

Someone laughed.

The crowd shifted.

The press of bodies pushed me back against a wall so hard the cold painted concrete nearly knocked the wind out of me. Tears blinded my eyes, but not so much that I could not see the door just to my right. Pulling the handle, I forced my way through to the other side.

Cold air filled my lungs as the sound of the door slamming shut rang out loudly in the eerily quiet alleyway, the thundering music now a dull pulse held inside by concrete walls. I’d had a few too many drinks tonight already, it seemed, or perhaps it was just the panic attack that now held my lungs in a vice-grip.

I took in great lungfuls of air, hoping to clear my head. But all it did was throw me into a coughing fit, the smoke stinging my lungs. Stumbling forwardwith one hand stretched out, the rough brick of the building across the narrow alley caught me as my heel slipped and I almost fell.

Flipping around, I pressed my back into the rough brick, tears freely falling down my face unhindered. There was no one to see me cry here, so why the hell hold them back any longer?

That fucking asshole, Bryce, had theaudacityto show his face in public with that relationship-wrecking twat on his arm, instead of being holed up somewhere, embarrassed and miserable over being caught with that bleached harlot and not only losing but hurtingme?!I wasn’t exactly sure if I was mad at him for what happened, or mad at myself for not seeing that he was a philandering bastard sooner. Either way, I had loved him, and it had hurt.

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