Page 107 of I Blame the Club

The co-captain’s smile widens as his eyes drift over my shoulder.

“That’s the beauty of life, Mo.” Wes winks at me before throwing a wave to someone over my shoulder, “There are some things in life you can’t prepare for.”

I don’t get a second to think about his comment before someone else speaks up.

“And here I thought your corporate persona was all suit and no talk.” Dark eyes and days’ worth of scruff steps into view as Nico flashes me his signature smirk.

“Hey babe. Long time no see.”

Nico

He’s fucking pissed.

My confidence starts to falter as Maurice glowers at me, his clenched jaw and stiff posture making me think that wasn’t my best entrance.

Risking life and limb, I take a step closer, “Did you miss me?”

Maurice raises a brow, the unimpressed look on his face identical to the one he gave me on that first day.

“That’s how you want to play this?”

Wes coughs, interrupting our moment, “And that’s my cue to leave. Glad to have you back, Nico.”

He gives me a quick pat on the back before turning and following the rest of the team out of the performance room.

And leaving me to face an angry O’Brien alone.

I swallow, gathering my courage as I take another step closer. Maurice narrows his eyes but remains silent as I close the distance between us. A hopeful part of me thinks this is him offering an olive branch, but the other, more realistic part is screaming at me to run before the predator makes his move.

He crosses his arms and the physical barrier does not go unnoticed.

“I thought you weren’t coming back until next week.”

I give him a tight smile, “So did I.”

Maurice falls silent and I use the opportunity to study him. Looking sexier than ever, it’s not an exaggeration to say he looks like he belongs in a sportswear commercial. Maurice looks exactly the way I left him: arrogant, handsome, and completely unwrinkled.

It’s a little annoying to be honest.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I came back early?” I breathe out the words, my nerves suddenly jumping into overdrive.

“No.” Maurice stares back at me, unblinking, “You didn’t tell me you were leaving so why would I care that you came back?”

Ouch.

I clear my throat, “It’s been established that I’m a chicken shit-

“I prefer the term coward.”

-but the reason I left ended up being the same reason I came back early.” I pause, searching his gaze for some sort of emotion, “You.”

There.

The tiniest flicker of emotion crosses Maurice’s face before the neutral mask slides back in place. I was expecting to see surprise, maybe even disappointment in those gorgeous blue eyes, but it ended up being the worst one of all. Hurt.

A wave of sorrow hits me, regret filling my veins for my stupid decision to run away, for not sending that text, and most importantly, for hurting the man I love.

Swallowing the fear of rejection, I ditch the rehearsal speech I practiced the entire drive back and speak from the heart.

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