Page 72 of Wish I Didn't Want You Back

When he pulled back, our gazes held. I trailed my fingers through his damp hair. “Do you want to shower with me?”

His lips tilted up into a boyish grin. “I thought you would never ask.”

He grabbed my hand, leading me toward the shower, when we heard a car approaching the driveway.

He stilled. “Are you expecting someone?”

I shook my head and walked to the small window to peek outside.

My stomach dropped when I spotted the familiar figure approaching the house.

“It’s Baz,” I whispered.

I knew it would only be a matter of time before he showed up. The confrontation was bound to happen sooner or later, but I was hoping it would be much later. Like never.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Brooks’ face hardened, and I scrambled to gather my clothes.

I huffed and threw my shirt over my shoulders, not bothering with a bra, and slid the leggings up my bare legs. I started moving toward the stairs, but Brooks stopped me.

“Don’t.” He clenched his jaw. “I’ve got this.”

His angry steps pounded through the house. There was a knot of dread settling in my stomach.This was a powder keg waiting to explode.

I reached the landing at the same moment he stepped inside the house.

“Baz, what are you doing here?”

His polo shirt was soaked, and his jaw tightened as soon as he saw me. “Hello, Harlow. Surprised to see me?”

“I wasn’t expecting you, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” I said, gripping the railing for support.

Brooks positioned himself between me and our unwelcome visitor. “How the hell did you get in here?”

Baz looked between us. “Her dad gave me a key,” he said, as if that explained everything.

“That doesn’t give you the right to use it and just show up here unannounced,” Brooks snarled.

His beady little eyes gave me a slow once-over, lingering long enough to make my skin prickle. “Why? Am I interrupting something?”

Brooks crossed his arms. “As a matter of fact, Bart, you were.”

I closed my eyes briefly and prayed for God to take mercy on my soul and get Brooks to shut up. Provoking Baz wasn’t going to help this situation.

“My name is Baz, not Bart,” he said through clenched teeth.

I pulled on Brooks’ arm, silently pleading with him to take it down a notch. “Baz, why don’t you tell me why you’re here.”

He wiped some of the water dripping off his arm. “I think it’s time you and I had a little chat, don’t you?”

I’d spent the last few weeks pretending that I didn’t know he would track me down. Now that he was here, he wasn’t leaving until he got answers.

“I guess I owe you a conversation.” The wedding might not have been about us, but he was the one left standing at the altar.

He watched me closely. “Do you have anything else you want to say to me?”

I twisted my hands in front of me, resisting the urge to tuck them behind my back so he wouldn’t see the diamond on my finger. Judging by the frown on his face, he already knew. There was no way my father kept that news to himself.

“I’m sorry for disappearing without a call or a text.”

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