Page 29 of From the Ashes

My chest heaves as my body begins to liquefy before his penetrating gaze. Even in the darkness of the club, his eyes light up with their brilliance.

Fuck! I can’t take the tension anymore. I break our stare, grab my martini glass, and turn, walking opposite Cain. Joey quickly follows me as I stroll to the other side of the room, far enough away so I can only just see him, and he won’t be an issue.

Joey winces and looks from me to Cain, then back to me. “You’re awfully quiet. You okay?” she asks, taking a sip of her cocktail.

I nod, taking a long gulp of mine, trying to keep my attention from Cain, but I can’t help it as my eyes drift back to him. My stomach somersaults, and I think for someone so desperate to see me, he would have come over by now. I guess he’s not that desperate after all. Now that his friends are here, he’s making no effort to come and talk. Other than looking at me with an intense stare, he hasn’t shifted a muscle.

Maybe three weeks away was the final straw.

I wonder briefly about walking over and throwing my screaming orgasm in his face, but that would be a waste of a perfectly good drink. Plus, right now, I don’t trust my body’s reactions if I were to be too close to him.

Just looking at him makes me weak.

“Do you wanna go?” Joey asks, breaking me from my staring contest with Cain.

I turn to her. “Nope. I won’t let him ruin our night, even if he is ashamed of me.”

She jolts her head back and furrows her brows. “Ashamed of you? How so?”

“I am guessing that’s why he isn’t coming over.”

She scoffs. “Girl, no. He’s not coming over because he doesn’t want to cause a scene. He’s giving you space. Letting you make the move because this whole thing isyourdecision. He’s letting you make the first move, Kaylie. With the way that man is staring at you, there’s no way he’s ashamed of you.”

“I don’t buy that. Cain wouldn’t let me have it my way. He’s in control of every situation… he has made that perfectly clear to me. If he wanted to talk to me, he would be here. Maybe seeing me, he’s realized he doesn’t want to fight for me anymore. Well, good. That makes this easier… I think.”

Joey rolls her eyes. “You think? What the hell does that mean? Are you having second thoughts now?”

I shift my eyes back to Cain to see Selene laughing and hanging off him as he breathes heavily, watching me intently. “I don’t know… maybe. I miss him. Sure, he’s super controlling, and all thisyou are minecrap drives me batshit crazy… but I feel so empty without him.”

She sighs. “I can’t answer how you feel, but I can answer how this all looks from the outside. Honestly, Kaylie, you were moody as fuck with him, but at least one of those moods was happy. You were emotionless before him, and you are miserable after him. So the way I see it… maybe sometimes happy is better than numb and miserable?”

I take a large gulp of my cocktail. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” I place my half-empty drink on the table and inhale deep breaths. “Wish me luck,” I yell into her ear.

“Go get him, girl! I’m gonna go to the ladies while you fuck Cain in the corner.” She giggles, slapping me on the ass as I ignore her and look Cain dead in the eyes. I head toward him as Joey moves off in the other direction.

His eyes open wide as if he’s shocked that I’m heading over, and in slow motion, he turns up his lip and spins around, breaking eye contact. With his back firmly toward me, he wraps his arm around Selene, halting all visual contact with him, effectively shutting down my approach.

Basically, he said without saying a word—Don’t bother.

My knees shudder, and my bottom lip quivers. I’m panting so hard, trying to catch my breath as I gather my bearings, standing in the middle of the dance floor, staring at Cain’s back hoping he’ll turn around, butnothing.

He wants nothing to do with me.

That’s painfully obvious now.

For the past few days, I’ve felt guilty about breaking up with him, my body tingling at the thought of maybe reconciling with him, at taking him back and trying to work this all out. But maybe I left fixing us too late? MaybeI’vebroken us? And as the realization hits me, I let out a small sob as I race toward the coat room, my chest squeezing in grief.

Walking down the dimly lit hall, I didn’t realize how dark it was back here. I just have to grab my coat, and hot tears prick at my eyes as I do. The mix of alcohol and the emotional turmoil unsettles my stomach.

A shiver riddles my skin as goose bumps rise all over my arms. The lightbulb in the room flickers slightly, and I look up as an eerie sensation washes over me. Taking a deep breath, I turn, pulling the hangers across, searching faster and faster.

I need to get out of here.

The deep bass and heavy tones from the club echo through the room loudly, making the walls vibrate, and it’s almost as loud in here as it is in the club. Finally, I find my coat and pull it from the hanger, yanking it over my arms as that sensation of someone watching me washes over my soul again.

But this time, it feels darker, sinister, vile even.

A shudder runs over me as I turn to a man standing in the doorway watching me. His black hair is slicked back with grease. A slight stubble lines his chiseled jaw, and if he didn’t have those tattoos lining his neck, I’m sure he’d look like a clean-cut businessman.

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