Page 69 of All The Happily Ever Afters

In my head she is, but in reality, I have no claim on her. And she sure isn’t the sweet little thing next door anymore. The years apart have only made her more beautiful, and confident, and brazen.

I fucking love it.

The chick tries to pull Catherine away even though my kitten is fighting it.

They’re talking in angry whispers, and Khloe pulls her farther away from me, trying to get her out of earshot.

Catherine rips her arm from her friend’s grip and looks back at her with disgust.

“Get away from him!” Khloe says loud enough for me to hear. Khloe’s eyes keep darting from me to her, but Catherine’s focused on her friend.

“What are you thinking?” Khloe screeches.

I barely hear Catherine reply. “What are you doing?” she practically hisses.

“A guy like that is a lowlife thug. He's the type of guy you fuck for a night, and then you're done.” Catherine’s eyes go wide. I take in a slow breath and try to let the fact that she doesn’t defend me roll off my shoulders. But I’d be lying if I said I was successful.

“You deserve so much better than that prick. He may be good for one lay, but you’d feel like shit afterward.” Catherine turns her body slightly, rocking on her heels and says something I can’t hear. “Trust me, I’m saving you.”

There’s a pause for a long moment while Khloe rubs Catherine’s back, like she’s consoling her. I start to get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like that’s really what Catherine wanted. Like she’s upset because Khloe is just trying to talk her out of making a mistake.

Mistake. Yeah, that’s what I am.

“He doesn’t belong here.” She scrunches her nose and points a fake cigarette in my direction. “I don’t know who invited him, but he needs to leave. Now.”

I watch as Catherine’s mouth opens wide and she stares at her friend. I wait for an entire minute, and it feels like a lifetime. I wait for something, anything. But Catherine says nothing. Instead she slowly closes her mouth and crosses her arms across her chest, then looks past Khloe’s shoulder and away from me.

It’s like a bullet to my fucking chest.

Catherine isn’t a girl you fuck for a night. She’s the kinda girl you keep. I always knew that. And somewhere in me, I knew I wanted to keep her.

But I know what she was thinking. She just wanted to go slumming for the night.

I don’t say a word; I turn on my heel and walk out.

The music is blaring in my ears. My shoulder bumps into the streamers hanging from the ceiling and they stick to my shoulder, irritating the fuck out of me. I rip them down and let them drift to the ground as I head to the door.

I walk past groups of people talking and laughing in corners. A few girls are dancing and squealing with laughter. Jake’s climbing the spiral staircase, holding hands with the cheerleader I saw earlier..

Fuck. I don’t belong here.

As I turn the doorknob and open the door slightly, Levi’s hand comes out and slams it shut. Fucker’s about to get punched in the face.

“What the fuck, man?” Levi asks.

I keep my teeth clenched to prevent me from saying something I can't take back to a client. That’s all he is. I was fucking stupid to try to make friends with him or any of them in here.

I was perfectly fine burying myself in work and staying out of trouble. Right now all I wanna do is pick a fight, and Levi’s about to figure that out if he doesn’t back off.

“What happened?” Levi asks with some hesitation in his voice. He’s searching my face for something, but I don’t answer. I’m not fucking telling him.

I’m angry. My body is screaming at me to lash out. To just take my anger out on him. But more than that, I’m hurt, and I don’t wanna show it.

“Are you alright?” he asks. And that’s the last fucking straw.

“Get off the fucking door,” I say through gritted teeth and pray he does it. 'Cause if not, my hand's coming off the knob and my fist is slamming into his face.

I pull on the doorknob and he takes his hand off of it, letting the door open wide enough for me to get out.

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