Page 23 of When Sinners Fall
“So, everyone’s frightened of you now?” she questions.
“Pretty much.”
“Well, I’m not. I think I’d like that drink now, and make it a double.”
She goes and plants her ass in a booth at the back of the place, slamming her bag down on the table as if it’s my face. Don’t know how I feel about that. The attitude? Yeah, I’m okay with it. Always was. But the fact that she seems pissed it was me inside her is tainting what I enjoyed.
I grab the drinks, assuming she still likes her whisky neat like she used to with her girlfriends, and make my way over to her. Nothing’s said for a while when I sit. She just keeps on staring at me like she’s got every right to be pissed. Guess she has in a way, but I don’t regret a damn thing we did. Don’t regret stalking her either. She’s fine as hell these days. All curves and soft, tousled hair. Eyes I’ll kill for no matter what happens after this. And those lips. I remember them too well. They whispered things to me when we were kids. Nice things. Calming things. Or maybe sarcastic jibes at some dick who was causing me problems. They’re not like they were now, though.
They were innocent back then.
Nothing is innocent anymore.
“So, you grew up, huh?” she asks, still looking me over. “Turned out alright.” I nod. I did turn out alright as far as looks are concerned. The rest is questionable when I’m sitting here in front of her. “Still not much of a talker, though.”
No.
She frowns and spins her glass around on the table, just like she used to do with a soda years back. “You know, I had all these things to say, and now I don’t know how to say them.”
Her nose scrunches up, shoulders fidgeting. “It’s weird, Dante. I never thought of you like that, and now I know… I’ve been trying to deal with that truth.” She sips the drink and looks at me over it, focused eyes not giving me a minute’s grace. “And I suppose we should be engaging in small talk and that sort of thing, but that’s just bullshit because I already know you. Or I did know you. Actually, maybe I don’t know you at all because the Dante I knew wouldn’t do something like that.”
My brow arches, body leaning back, because if she’s even thinking about chastising my ass about what happened, she’s gonna get a mouthful about safety. “You were the one begging for a fuck in an alley, Wren.”
Her eyes narrow instantly, anger flaring in them. “It was a moment. I was in the goddamn moment. In my head, playing an idea out to see how far it went. You know I do that.” The lips she’s wearing angle upwards at the corners, creating the kind of smile that doesn’t belong in public. “Interesting moment, I suppose.”
I keep quiet like I’ve always done with her, just waiting for her to talk so I can hear whatever she’s got to say. Always did like listening to her. She’s got that soft drawl that pulls you in. Never thought of it as dirty back then. She was just Wren Bird. But now it’s another version of the same woman.
“You’re not making this easy, Dante.”
My own lips tip up, a low laugh rumbling through me, as I light a smoke. “I like making it hard these days.”
“Typical. I try making this serious and you want to make a joke out of it. You always were like that.” Maybe back then, but not now. Laughter is usually the last thing I’m thinking about. “I just... I don’t understand why, Dante?”
Why what? Why I did it? She’s fine as fuck, that’s why.
I frown and keep staring at a body I’ve not got close enough to debasing for my liking.
“I dare say you could have anyone, looking like you do and yet….” She trails off into nothing and looks back at the table rather than me. Which is downright out of character for her. Or her back then.
“Do you want to just cut the bullshit and get straight to it?” I ask. She nods and keeps looking at that table, fingers now scrawling lines on the damn thing. “Look up at me.” She does, swallowing down whatever she’s trying to manage in her head. “I did it because I felt like it. I’d do it again without a second thought. You got all grown up, Wren. I wanted you, and you offered that up on a platter for me.”
What the hell else is there to say?
CHAPTER TEN
WREN
Iwrestle with my internal anger.
First, at his apparent lack of care. Second, at my embarrassment.
And third… Well, it’s Dante.
I shake my head and grit my teeth, flexing my jaw.
“I didn’t offeryousex, Dante. I offered it to the mystery guy. The anonymous man who’s been stalking me. Watching me. He was a figment in my maybe darker imagination, and it was a thrill, but you’ve taken that away. Because it was you. Don’t you see? Iknowyou.” My explanation seems somewhat confused, and that’s partly because I can't explain to somebody I once called my friend that I wanted a stranger to fuck me in an alley. “This is… I don’t know what it is, but it’s not what I thought.” I tip the remainder of my drink down my throat and immediately need more. “You were supposed to be someone else entirely.”
He doesn’t say anything, which, back when we were kids, was part of his charm, part of the sadness I saw him fight every day. Whereas now, it’s just irritating.
