Page 55 of Temptress

I packed up the sweets for Darcy in a couple plastic containers while I waited, and by the time Silas knocked on my front door, I was so stressed my hands were actually shaking.

“Hey,” I greeted as soon as I opened the door.

He looked like he’d gotten about as much sleep as I did. The stubble on his chin was thicker than the day before and dark circles had formed beneath his eyes. His hair was sticking up like he’d been dragging his hands through it all day long, and he was still in the same clothes from the day before, only they were wrinkled to hell. “Hey,” he returned, his tone and expression giving absolutely nothing away.

I stepped to the side, opening the door wider for him to fit through. “You want to come in?”

He hesitated for just a moment, but it was long enough to slice me right open. Because I knew what was about to happen, and I had a feeling nothing I could say or do was going to change his mind.

“I can only stay for a second. I got Darcy set up at home, but I don’t want to leave her alone too long.”

He stayed just inside the door, like he was counting on making a quick exit.

“How is she?” I asked, unable to keep from worrying about her, even while my heart was being torn to shreds.

“She’s okay. At least she says she is. But...” He heaved out a deep breath, looking anywhere but at me while he tried to summon up the courage to break my heart.

“Just say it,” I whispered, the words burning like acid as they traveled up my throat. “I’m not stupid, Silas. I know what you’re trying to do, so just do it.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed on a heavy swallow. Then he said four words that flayed me open. “This is over, Sloane.”

There was no stopping the tears from forming, blurring my vision as they welled in my eyes. “Can I ask why?” I managed to squeeze out past the lump swelling up in my throat.

The pity in his eyes as he looked at me just then killed. “Come on, Sass. You know why.”

I crossed my arms over my stomach protectively, hoping that if I could hold tight enough, I could keep the pain from spilling out all over everything. I let out a caustic laugh as a single tear spilled down my cheek “Call me crazy, but I actually don’t, so why don’t you enlighten me. Because you’re dumping me now, but up until yesterday, this was the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Sloane,” he rasped, like my confession caused him pain whileIwas the one actively bleeding out. “It was never supposed to go this far. I told you months ago that we couldn’t happen, and I should have stuck to that. Darcy got hurt, and I wasn’t there when she needed me. I let myself get tangled up in you, let myself get so enamored that my priorities went straight to hell, and in doing that, I failed my little girl. I was so focused on getting off, I couldn’t be bothered to pick up the goddamn phone. What kind of father does that?” He shook his head in disgust. “That can’t happen again. I need to focus on her. She has to be the only thing that matters, Sloane.”

I squeezed my eyes closed, hot tears breaking look and leaving salty trails down my face. “I see,” I said flatly. “So while I was falling more in love with you every day these past couple months, you were, what? Just getting your dick wet?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He dropped his head and gave it a shake, and when he looked back up at me, he looked as ravaged as I felt, which made everything hurt so much worse. “I care about you, Sloane.”

“Just not enough,” I finished for him. “Not enough that I could possibly be one of your priorities, right? You care just enough to beenamoredwith me, but not actually love me.”

“Sass—”

“You should get back to Darcy. I can’t imagine how much pain she’s in right now. You shouldn’t leave her alone longer than necessary.” I moved to the coffee table, picking up the containers of sweets. “These are for her,” I said as the tears started to fall freely, rushing faster and faster down my cheeks. “Please give her my love and tell her I’m thinking about her.”

Silas took the plastic containers, then, with one last look, he turned and walked out the door, leaving me wondering what I had to do tofinallybe enough, to be worth loving.

That other shoe had finally dropped, and with it, my mother’s words broke free, going off in my head like they were being shouted into a bullhorn.

26

SLOANE

The song came to an end and I hit my last position, my chest rising and falling rapidly as my breath sawed in and out of my chest.

My hairline was soaked with sweat, and in the mirrored walls I could see my cheeks and chest were ruddy from excursion. My limbs were so exhausted they were shaking uncontrollably, my legs barely able to keep me up.

“All right, that’s it.” At Asher’s voice, I whipped around too fast and immediately wobbled, having to throw my arms out to keep from falling.

My best friend moved deeper in to the studio where I’d been dancing myself into exhaustion for the past three hours in the hopes that it would help me to finally sleep. It had been a week since Silas ended our relationship, and if I was lucky, I might get two or three restless hours of sleep, but that was it. If it wasn’t for energy drinks and coffee I’d probably be face down in a puddle of my own drool by now. As it was, I was running on an empty tank, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could pull it off.

“Sit down,” Asher clipped as she, Layla, Marin, and Alma started for me. “Sit down before you fall and crack your skull open. The last thing I need is for my maid of honor to put herself in a vegetative state before my wedding.” She shot me a glare as she and Marin helped lower me to the ground. “Don’t think for a second I won’t make those nurses push your hospital bed down the aisle, because I will, damn it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her ridiculousness as Layla passed me a bottle of water. I twisted the cap off and brought it to my lips, sucking half of it down in a few quick gulps.

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