Page 44 of Accidentally Forever
I winced, knowing I’d read her wrong. Maybe weweren’tcommunicating the way we should. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I will leave you two to it.” Lex practically ran down the hall and toward another group of our friends.
Aria wrung her hands together but didn’t look at me. “I know it’s good work, and I know it’ll sell. If that’s what I really want. I’m fine.”
I tilted my head to study her face. “Then what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. Just always feel awkward at these things.”
“Then let’s go see how the student section is doing and keep your mind off it.”
“Why are you being so reasonable when I’m being a bitch?” she muttered as we went to the front of the gallery where a few student pieces were being showcased.
“I can be an asshole if you want. I’m pretty good at it. But you’re not being a bitch.”
“If I agree with you, then I’m once again that bitch,” she said, but her lips twitched.
My girl had layers and we both knew this. Aria made sure everyone around her knew they were at their best but was harder on herself than anyone else. “These things don’t make me nervous. I don’t know why. Other shit with this job makes me nervous, but not this. So I just take it in stride. If you want to lash out at me, I can take it out on your ass later,” I teased.
Her cheeks flushed, and I just grinned. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face lost all color, her jaw tightening. Worried, I set down my glass and turned, only to come face to face with the person I had hoped moved on into oblivion.
“For a woman who declared her love for me, you moved on pretty quick,” Travis slurred, his eyes glassy. He had lost weight since I had last seen him, the dark circles under his eyes growing. He reeked of booze, andfrom the way he twitched, he had to have something else in his system.
The showing hadn’t been invite only, so anybody could walk in from the streets. However, we did have security considering the Montgomerys owned the company. Travis was a usual so perhaps the others hadn’t gotten the memo he was no longer wanted. Or worse, maybe Aria had invited him. I ignored the ache in my gut at that thought.
Daisy and Noah were already walking toward us, ready to deal with the situation, and as people turned, the spectacle growing, Aria tensed beside me.
“Travis. Please. Not here. Not now.” Aria’s voice was calm, but I heard the strain beneath it.
“Oh? You’re going to dictate what I can do now? You’ve always done that.” He turned to me. “Is she a better lay than I’ve heard? Because she’s always been a frigid bitch. I assume she’s like that bed too. I’d have fucked her since I knew she wanted it. But she was too easy. Always was.”
Without thinking, my fist collided with Travis’s jaw. The man crumpled, and people started shouting. Noah pulled me off him, and I held out both hands.
“I did my part.”
“I think you did enough,” Aria murmured before shelooked at Travis on the floor, as some of Noah’s team began to drag him out.
Then she looked up at me and I staggered. The disappointment I saw there enraged me even more. “What?” I barked. “Are you really mad at me?”
She just shook her head and walked off, the sound of her stilettos on tile echoing throughout the gallery.
“Go after her,” Daisy snapped.
I looked at my ex-girlfriend and frowned. “Where the hell do you think I’m going? I don’t know why she’s angry though.”
Daisy studied my face before shaking her head. “Maybe because you used your fists? And once again took care of it so she couldn’t.”
I glared. “And I’m supposed to let her handle everything when he talks like that?”
“Maybe stop arguing with me and continuing to make a scene, and go after her,” Daisy whispered, before turning her back on me and following to where the others had taken Travis.
Anger coursing through my veins, I moved through the crowds who continued to ask questions, murmuring with one another while some recorded everything with their phones. Because of course I wanted this on the internet.
“Where is she?” I asked Lex, who narrowed his gaze.
“In the office. She’s pacing in there because she wanted to leave, and I told her that it was better if she stayed. Then she yelled at me. You go handle this. And thank you for hitting him because I wanted to cut off his balls.”
That made me feel marginally better. “At least someone agrees with me.”
