Page 38 of Double or Nothing

Rather than meet her lips, he hovers near her ear as he whispers something.

She has fire in her eyes, giving the guy the same look she always gave me when she was pissed. Instinct has me wanting to rush over to make sure she’s okay. Mac must sense it because I can feel his hand on my shoulder.

“Down, boy,” he warns.

Kat rebounds quickly, her elbow connecting with the man’s stomach. He doubles over for a second before standing and laughing. She shakes her head at him and walks away.

The blonde woman at my side is relentless, clinging and refusing to let go.

“I’ll be right back.” I’ll say whatever I need to make my escape.

Against Mac’s advice, I jog over to Kat. She’s standing off to the side, her eyes on her phone.

“Hey.”

“Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Cole?” she asks, her voice beyond business professional.

I ignore the tone of her voice.

“Was that guy bothering you?”

“He always bothers me, but…”

That’s all I needed to hear. Validation. My feet move in the guy’s direction.

“Sutton,” I hear Kat call after me, even above all the bells and whistles on the casino floor. “Stop.”

It’s not until I feel her hand on me I actually stop. The delicate touch is a stark contrast to the way the other woman had been touching me. There is nothing like the feeling of Kat. Her touch? Better than anything I’ve ever felt.

I turn and look her in the eyes, begging her to see me. The real me. To see this isn’t the man I want to be. It’s the version of me that doesn’t know how to exist without her, but she doesn’t see that. She only sees the blonde who’s at my side again. She only sees the rock star, not the man behind it. That she can’t look into my eyes and see the truth hurts. We knew each other, knew what the other was thinking with just a look into their eyes.

She no longer sees the boy desperately in love with her. All she sees is the guy who functions as an asshole playboy because it’s all he can be without her. There is only one woman he will ever love, only one woman he will ever belong to, and she hates him.

“You don’t get to waltz back into town to play hero after five years,” she shouts.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

I’m not exactly sure what I’m trying to do. I know Kat. I know pushing her will only make her push back. Still, I can’t just let some guy hurt her.

“So, you weren’t going to go after Callum and punch him?” Her hands on her hips, she gives me a look that begs me to disagree with her.

“He upset you.”

“He upset me?” she scoffs. “You want to punch someone that upset me? How about starting with yourself?” She turns on her heel to walk away, to escape me.

“Do you really think I don’t beat myself up over what happened between us?” I shout. Silence settles between us, our eyes locked. “Please, Kat, can’t we just talk? Catch up? Something?”

“You want to catch up?” It’s a rhetorical question, and I’m fairly certain I won’t like her response. “You left me, my mom died, I took a job at the casino, and I never want to see you again. I think that about sums it up.”

My eyes drift down to where she’s touching me, then slowly meet hers. She yanks her hand away.

“I hate you, Sutton. I wish I had never met you.”

The “I hate you” she spews is expected but still feels like a knife in my chest. However, wishing she never met me? Fuck. The woman not only stuck me with a knife, she’s twisting it.

In typical Sutton fashion, I lash out. It’s how I was raised. It’s what I know. You get angry, then you get even.

“Back at ya,” I yell after her.

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