Page 21 of No Ordinary Love

"But you can be with another woman around me?" Her eyes filled with tears and cracked my heart open. "You said you lovedher. You said you never loved me. Stop this now, Lucas. You're only doing this because…."

"Because what?" I lay my cheek next to hers, enjoying the contact, sandpaper against silk.

"This is some sort of game for you, isn't it? Some old game you have with Jax."

I raised my hand and looked at her, bewildered. Is that what she thought?

"What? No. I wantyou."

"Well, Lucas, I don'twant you."

I looked at her heaving breasts. "Are your nipples hard,Tesoro? Are you wet?"

She tried to get away from me again, but I was too far gone. My error dominos had a life of their own. I felt reckless because I was feeling alive for the first time since she'd walked out of my life.

I cupped her breasts, and she moaned softly, her head falling back limply.

"Stop," she whimpered. "Stop using me, Lucas."

I stilled at her words.

It took some doing because my body wanted inside her so fucking badly. I wanted to taste her. I could feel her arousal. Smell it. I wanted her.

Finally, I let go of her, groaning at the effort. "I'mnotusing you, Amara."

"That's all you've ever done." Tears rolled down her cheeks, and I hated that I'd hurt heragain. I seemed to keep hurting this beautiful and kind woman.

"No, baby. No. Don't think that. What we had was real."

She sniffled and gave me a sad smile. "Hadbeing the operative word. I won't make the mistake of letting Shelby or anyone else goad me into spending time with you again."

"Amara," I whispered.

"We're over, and I won't be some pawn between you and Jax as I was between you and Kath."

"You were never—"

"Don't come near me again,please. I told you I'm hurting, and when I'm around you, it hurts more. You say you cared about me—so, show me how much you cared and stay away from me."

She sidestepped me and walked away while I stood staring at her fine ass, wondering how my life had become this shitshow where I was trying to grope my ex next to the women's restroom of a bar while my maybe future girlfriend and wife were sitting next to my ex's new boyfriend.

I was reminded of what Grandma had told me right after the Magnolia Ball.

"Son, you haven't taken the time to truly understand who you are and what you're feeling. You've been drifting through life on autopilot, letting things happen instead of steering the course yourself. It's high time you did some real soul-searching, looked deep inside yourself, and figured out who you really are—not the man you once thought you were or the one you think you ought to be."

Chapter 9

Amara

As much as I'd enjoyed living in Basil's house to regroup, now, nearly five months since I moved out of the townhouse, I had finally found a home. I'd stumbled upon it while house-hunting with Jax. He was looking for something sleek and modern, a statement piece in the heart of Charleston's historic district. This house was entirely wrong for him—too small, too humble, not nearly flashy enough. But for me, it was perfect.

Nestled just a short walk from South of Broad on a quiet, tree-lined street, the little two-bedroom cottage had a charm that wrapped itself around me the moment I stepped inside. It wasn't big or fancy. The white-painted brick, the dark green shutters, the small front porch with just enough space for a couple of rocking chairs—it was all so different from the grandeur of the townhouse I'd shared with Lucas. There were no ghosts here,no lingering memories to trip over at every corner. Just a fresh start.

The best part, though, was the garden. When I first saw it, overgrown and wild, my heart skipped a beat. It was a hidden gem behind the house, a tiny oasis enclosed by a weathered wooden fence. The previous owners had let it go, but I could see its potential. There was an old stone path leading to a small, worn bench beneath a sprawling magnolia tree; there were patches of wildflowers fighting to reclaim their space.

Since I moved in a week ago, I'd dedicated as much time as I could to planting new life and hoping to restore my backyard to its former glory. It was healing to get my hands dirty and coax beauty from the soil. It gave me a sense of control, of peace—all of which, I desperately needed.

Because even now, months after Lucas and I ended things, I was still struggling to patch up the wounds he'd left behind. I thought I'd been making progress, finally starting to rebuild my life without him. But that incident at the bar turned my world upside down all over again.

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