Page 13 of Neverland

I fight a smirk. I can’t help it. God, she’s breathtaking in her passion.

“You’re a fool if you think I’d ever be with you again,” she spits out.

“Even after your father stole millions from my family?” I’m baiting her. I should have seen it coming, but damn I love that she can still shock me. She slaps me so hard my driver even starts to pull over.

“Keep driving,” I order.

Melody swallows but doesn’t respond to my question.

“But that means nothing to me. You stole something I couldn’t get back. Money is nothing, but you're my everything.”

“You can’t do this to me,” she whispers. The hitch in her voice almost breaks my resolve.

Almost.

“Neverland, I’ll do whatever I want toyou.”

I won’t rest until she’s mine again. No matter what it takes.

11

MELODY

My breath hitches when my eyes meet his. For the first time in my life, I see something others whispered about. That Easton Ledger has a dark side. He was popular, sure, but not by choice.

He didn’t have to work for it. Easton always had an air of confidence or maybe it’s more anI don’t give a fuckvibe. He never gave a shit what others thought of him when we were in school.

I ignored the things I heard about him because some of the girls spread some nasty rumors about me when I first got to Bradford Prep. They wanted him for themselves, but he never gave them the time of day. I think that’s what made them the maddest.

I remember the first time I saw Easton. I was passing the library when I got a tour of the school. There had been a few girls trying to flirt with him and a couple others at his table. He ignored them at first before becoming visibly agitated and telling them to get lost. The annoyance was written all over his face.

The only other time I saw the dark side to Easton that was whispered about was the day he punched Bobby when he had me cornered in the hallway against my locker. Easton came out of nowhere. I guess some things don’t change.

Because once again, Easton is in front of me, appearing out of thin air. I can’t help but feel the same way I felt all those years ago. My heart pounds in my chest. So many emotions flow through my body. I keep throwing them at him, but he bats them away. My iced coffee is still dripping from his suit. If I wasn’t so mad, I’d laugh.

So many memories come flooding back to me. They’re more vivid now with him sitting here. My heart aches for the life and time I lost. The memories are a stark reminder that he’s not my Easton. I’m not sure who this man is. What if this was him all along and I never knew?

“Why are you here?” I try again to get some sort of explanation from him. To figure out exactly why he’s chosen to come back into my life.

“I let you get away with a lot, Melody, but I’m not going to answer that question. It’s insulting. You know why I’m here.” I swallow, my body buzzing. I know why I want him to be here, but that’s not reality. He no longer belongs to me. Our story doesn’t have a happy ending.

“Easton, it’s been five years,” I remind him. I want to tell him I’m not his to take, but I can’t bring myself to say it. Even if I did tell him I want him six feet under.

“Your point?” He pulls off his suit jacket to wipe off some of the coffee that I tossed on him.

“Easton.” He closes his eyes as though he’s savoring me saying his name.

“Say it again.”

“Fuck you.”

He smirks. “Please.” Why does that one word hit me so hard?

“Easton.”

He opens his eyes. “Neverland.” Now I’m the one that closes my eyes to fight off the tears. I want to hang on to the anger. “Don’t cry.” He plucks me right out of my seat. Easton has always been big. In high school, he spent a lot of time in the gym, and that obviously carried over to college.

He once admitted to me that he would exhaust himself so that he could find sleep. It was a battle he had his whole life. But I wasn’t so sure that was true. Anytime we cuddled and watched a movie, he was out, his body wrapped around mine, holding me close. I can still remember his warm breath against my neck and how safe and protected he always made me feel. He was my peace back then, in a world that had so much loss and hurt for me.

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