Page 64 of Dare to Need

Eva’s sultry voice cut through the tension like a freshly sharpened knife. “I think that’s the only thing we owe to the people we love—to be truly and unapologetically ourselves.”

I was certain I fell even more in love with her the moment those words left her perfect rosebud lips. I didn’t care that we were in the middle of a restaurant at a table with my parents, as I wound my hand behind her neck her cheeks flushed right before I kissed those bow-shaped lips. It was tender and sweet, a gentle promise that I would worship her body later as she hummed a sigh against my mouth.

When I pulled away, her eyes grew darker with need and if we weren’t right in front of my family, I would have stolen her away.

“Cheers to that!” My father interrupted with a raised glass of orange juice and the entire table sang in unison their own ‘cheers’.

“Cheers,” I raised my glass, never taking my eyes off her.

“Cheers,” she mused as she clinked her glass against mine.

EVA

Fire burned my lungs as I finally slowed my pace. The muggy heat in Central Park reminded me of home.

After breakfast, Garth went with his mother and father to tie up some loose ends with the sale of the Walker Corporation. It was the final piece they needed to wrap up before they all headed back to Florida for the rest of the summer. My body had ached for a run for days and I finally had the downtime to make it to the park for one final jog before we flew home.

I grabbed my phone from my leggings pocket to glance at the time. Garth was planning on meeting me here in about ten minutes so we could grab one last dirty water hot dog before we packed the rest of our things and headed to the airport.

A pack of runners flew past me as I slowed to a stop in front of the water, across from a small gazebo where a short woman in a free-flowing wedding gown that reminded me of the ancient Greeks held hands with her handsome soon-to-be husband. Pulling out my phone, I snapped a few pictures of the scene unfolding before me. I took one just as the man pulled his bride in for a kiss, dipping her so low that her veil crinkled beneath her. The bride wrapped delicate arms around her new husband, her bright red mouth opened wide with laughter I couldn’t quite hear.

The moment brought a smile to my own lips and filled my chest with fluttering butterflies as I thought about the coming months and how I would get to spend every week capturing precious moments just like that.

The iron rod metal of the guardrail in front of the water was warm under my forearms as I leaned forward and played with the photo settings for each picture until they were bright and the colors vivid. Opening my social media page for the first time in weeks, I posted the series of photos with the caption that read:I still cannot believe that in just a few short months, I will be interning with my favorite wedding photographer in New York City. Can’t wait to come back in August!

After pinning my location in Central Park, I placed my phone back in my leggings pocket and did some light stretching of my legs and arms as I took in the rest of the wedding scene.

“Eva!” A male voice exclaimed from behind me.

I turned around expecting to see Garth, but I was not met with the kaleidoscope eyes of yellow, green, and gold. No. The eyes staring back at me were frost blue and belonged to the one man I never wanted to see again.

“Connor,” I breathed.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

What the fuck?

Squeezing my eyes shut tightly, I hoped my mind was playing tricks on me and that my ex was not standing in front of me. As I opened them, my heart stammered when I saw Connor’s haggard face, those startlingly icy eyes staring back at me.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Connor?” I said, bringing my inner thoughts to life.

He took a step toward me, an arm outstretched and I staggered backwards, my heels meeting the curb of the concrete that held the iron rod railing in place. When he saw my flustered state, he stopped in his tracks, his arm dropping to his side.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry.” His light blonde brows merged together.

“What are you doing here?” I ground out again, losing my patience.

His hands dove into his pockets and for a moment it reminded me of a time, long ago, when he was just a boy and I was just a girl—two high school sweethearts with a love that had quickly turned sour, despite my best efforts to keep it alive.

“I wanted to see you,” he shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant way, like him flying all the way to New York City after he’d had an affair and we’d been broken up for months was normal.

The notion immediately stamped out those distant memories, bringing me back to reality where Connor was a self-absorbed douche-nozzle who took what he wanted, even if that meant breaking everyone around him so their tiny fractured pieces would fit better into the box he’d built for his own life.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as my mind jump-started and I realized that Connor had no way of knowing where I was.

“How did you know I was in New York?” The words quavered on my tongue more than I wanted them to. Something didn’t feel right about this. I looked around the park. There were people everywhere, but it did little to help the building nerves tugging at my stomach.

Pulling a hand from his pocket, Connor drug it through his tousled hair. He looked like shit. His normal preppy, Frat boy appearance was disheveled, making him look like he’d spent one too many nights at a rager. His sand-colored hair was mildly slick with oil, the edges creeping over the tops of his ears. There was a dark stain on his light blue polo and his khaki shorts were wrinkled all to hell. The polished exterior he always presented with was tarnished, revealing the truth of his facade.

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