Page 16 of Untamed

“One more,” he says as the music continues on, changing into something slower. “Dance one more with me.”

“We can’t dance like that to this,” I tell him, wiping the sweat from my temples.

“Then dance like this.” He pulls me closer and tries to sway me back and forth to the music. A strong hand is on my lower back, his fingertips just north of my ass, while his other hand grabs mine and interlaces our fingers.

“Hayes.” I take a deep breath to try and clear my head, but all it does is fill my senses with the scent of him.

“River,” he says back, mocking my tone. “Just stop fighting me for a minute and dance with me.”

“I did that. I danced with you.” I try to pull away, but he holds fast. “I need to get back to work. The bar is covered up.”

His hand slides up my back, and he tugs the end of my braid.

“Come on, darlin’.” Fuck, when he speaks to me like that, I all but melt. “One more dance. Stop runnin’ for a second.”

“I don’t run.” I take his hat off my head and place it back on his.

“Good. Extend the truce.”

“Hayes, good god. Don’t you ever give it up?”

“Nope.” He smiles wider. “Let me make it up to you, River. I miss my friend.”

There it is. Friend.

We’re still swaying to the music, and I lean forward, resting my forehead on his collarbone. I want to give in. I want to be his friend again. But seeing him, being around him, just makes me feel all the things I’ve tried to forget.

Can I be friends with him and forget all the shit that happened? It’s not even that I’m angry with him anymore. I don’t think I am anyway. I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed that I spilled my guts to this man and he turned me down…to my face. And, sure, I’m still not thrilled with how he handled it when I tried to move on. He said some shit that he can’t take back…things that still sting when I think about them.

But ultimately, I’m mortified that whatever we had was one-sided, and I was stupid enough to speak it out loud. Every time I look at him, that’s all I can see. Him looking at me like he never saw me before, like he was shocked I would even consider him as more than a friend.

I can’t do this. I can’t.

“I gotta go.”

“River, what?” He tries to hold on to me.

“I need some space, Hayes. Please.” I look up at him for a minute, begging him with my eyes.

Please, just let me go.

He relents for a second, and I peel my body away from his, dipping back to the table where everyone else is sitting before he can grab ahold of me. Poppy gives me a sad smile when she sees me storming her way and kindly hands my jacket to me before anyone else can say anything.

I glance over my shoulder and see Hayes waiting for me to leave the table before he comes over. Good. He’s finally doing as I ask. I just hope he has the good sense to stay away from the bar for the rest of the night.

I need a break from him. I need to breathe.

“It looked fun. The dancing.”

Poppy and I are taking Betty for a walk. It’s been a week since the dancing and a solid two weeks of spending time with Betty every day. She’s rewarding me by letting me walk her on a leash. It’s a pretty amazing feeling.

“It was,” I tell her. “That’s the problem.”

“Why is that a problem?”

“I told you that things happened between us, right?”

She nods, waiting for me to explain.

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