Page 64 of Fractured Dreams

He gave her his practiced, charming grin. “Sure am, honey.”

Her smile widened. “I knew it! My friends didn’t think it was really you, so they dared me to come up and ask. I was sure it was though. There aren’t that many men who are quite as, uh,impressiveas you.” Her voice had taken on a huskier, more seductive tone as soon as she’d received confirmation it was him.

Before he had a chance to respond, she put her hand on the back of the vacant stool next to him and started pulling it out. “You look like you could use some company.”

Considering he’d been in the middle of talking to Zac, Tex didn’t think hehadlooked like he needed company, but whether or not he did, didn’t seem to matter because she was already sitting down.

“My name’s Tessa.” She held her hand out and he reached to shake it, knowing even before it happened that she was going to hold on for longer than necessary.

“Nice to meet you, Tessa,” he drawled.

“You know, I had posters of you all over my room when I was growing up.”

Tex tried not to let his jaw clench.Christ, apparently appealing to his ego was what was supposed to count as seduction. He wondered if that actually used to do it for him, or if he just hadn’t cared what the woman said, only interested in where the conversation was leading. The mention that she was a teenager still growing up not too long ago wasn’t exactly a selling point, either. She couldn’t be much older than—his mind stuttered—than Eden.

Fuck. He didn’t need to be thinking about Eden just then. God, how long had it been now? Two weeks since he’d seen her at the wedding, almost three months since he’d screwed her then broken her heart like the asshole he was.

He picked up his drink, downing what was left of it in one go, then signaling to the bartender for another one. Only when the man put the full glass in front of him did he realize he was being rude. He turned to Tessa. “Do you want a drink?”

The gleam in her eyes and the knowing curve of her lips was all too familiar. “I’ll have a gin and tonic, thanks.”

Tex nodded at the bartender, who got a glass from under the bar and filled it, dropping a straw in it then pushing it toward Tessa. She picked it up, playing with the straw demurely while looking at him from under her lashes.

Tex watched her watching him, wondering who was going to tire of playing the game first. He finally let himself really take her in, shoulder-length blonde hair, blue eyes, killer body in a tiny, painted on dress. Not someone he would kick out of bed. He took another slug of whiskey, trying to drown out the voice that was telling him that her hair was the wrong shade of blonde, eyes the wrong shade of blue; body he had zero interest in exploring.

He shook his head. He had to stop comparing everyone to Eden. She was gone, and he wasn’t planning on being celibate forever. He needed to get over her, and Tessa seemed more than willing to be the one to help him do it.

He got confirmation of that when she leaned closer, pretending she needed to put her hand on his thigh for balance. “You know, I live alone. We could get out of here and have a good time, just the two of us.”

Tex forced himself to consider it. He imagined taking Tessa back to her house, stripping her out of that tiny dress she was wearing, and fucking her against the wall. Or maybe not even going to that much effort, maybe just bending her over a chair, pulling aside the thong she may or may not be wearing, and sinking into her. He waited for a kick of lust to hit him at the idea, but it never came. Instead, his heart thumped hollowly in his chest as a wave of pain washed over him, and he was drowning again.

He knew if he got drunk enough to turn off his mind and heart, he might be able to fuck Tessa. He might even tell himself doing it meant he was moving on. But he already knew he’d be lying to himself. Screwing a stranger wouldn’t fill the hole in his heart he’d been left with when he’d let Eden go. It would just add more regret to the pile he was already suffocating under.

Loving Eden was still too fresh in his mind—the taste of her skin, the feel of her body wrapped around him, the expression in her eyes when he was inside her, the catch in her voice when she’d cry out his name. He couldn’t bear the thought of replacing those memories with ones of some stranger he’d picked up at a club.

So even though Eden was gone, even though she hadn’t chosen him, even though the fire that she’d lit inside him had burned to ash, he wouldn’t be going home with anyone tonight, or anytime soon. Not while he could still close his eyes and see her, hear her, taste her in his memories.

So, when Tessa’s hand crept further up his thigh, he removed it, giving it a quick squeeze of apology before letting go. “Sorry, honey, I’m taken.”

She pulled away from him, a light flush spreading across her cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. There hasn’t been anything in the… uh, the tabloids.” Her flush deepened, as if admitting that she’d read about his relationship status in a magazine was somehow worse than admitting she’d had posters of him on her wall growing up.

He gave her a lazy smile. “She doesn’t know either.” Shit, he must be drunker than he’d thought because Tessa just looked confused. But she’d gotten the message anyway, pushing the stool back and standing, still holding her glass. Her smile was tight, embarrassed. “Thanks for the drink.”

He nodded, then watched for a second as she headed to her table before turning back to the bar, catching Zac’s half-smile out of the corner of his eye.

“What are you grinning at?” he asked.

“Interesting choice of words, that’s all.”

Tex frowned, thinking back over what he’d said to Tessa. Telling her he was taken had just seemed like a convenient excuse, but as the words he’d said after that flashed through his mind, realization hit him like a freight train.

She doesn’t know either.

Tex dropped his head into his hands and groaned. He was such a fucking idiot. Eden had made her choice at the wedding after she’d found out the truth, but it hadn’t been the whole truth. He hadn’t once told her how he felt about her—not when she was awake to hear it anyway. He hadn’t told her he loved her; had never told her he wanted a future with her—too full of his own fear of being hurt. No wonder she’d walked away without a backward glance after finding out what he and Noah had done. He’d never given her a reason to stay.

Not talking to Eden, that was the mistake he kept making. Maybe for once, he should just fucking ask her what she wanted. He needed to let her know how he felt about her, tell her exactly what he wanted from her, and then she could make a choice. And whatever decision she made then; he’d have to respect it. But at least he’d know that he’d done everything he could to fix what he’d broken.

He shoved his stool away from the bar, a wild mix of hope and fear flooding through him. He caught Zac’s eye, seeing the knowing smirk on his friend’s face before it was smoothed away, replaced with knitted brows and a confused frown. “Going somewhere?” he asked, innocently.

---