Page 1

CHAPTER 1

ROSALIE

He’s back.

I slowly set my glass down on the bar counter next to me. My eyes never left AJ’s as I heard the soft clink of glass tapping the metal top. He leaned against the railing, standing next to Billy Crystal, with a bunch of girls surrounding them both. He looked as relaxed as ever, except for his eyes, which flicked between mine and down to where Kordell’s hand was on my bare thigh. And they burned with anger.

I gulped as he slowly shook his head and pushed up off the railing.

What is he going to do? Is he going to walk over here?!

The sound of my heart pounding in my ears in anxious anticipation drowned out the music of the club. But he didn’t walk over to us. Instead, he jerked his head and turned. I held my breath as he walked down the stairs to the main level of the club.

His meaning was clear. Follow.

I stood up.

“Hey, I, um… I gotta use the bathroom. So, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I told Kordell without looking at him.

I vaguely saw Kordell nod at me in acknowledgment before I walked away from the group and down the stairs. My eyes followed every movement AJ made. The way the light caught the tattoos on his arms as he shifted from side to side, bumping into some people until the crowd moved out of his way, made my eyes wander over the rest of his body. His shoulders seemed broader, and his hair must be shorter than before. I couldn’t see the ends, like usual, around the edges of his hat. I wanted to take it off and find out.

I pushed through the crowd, slowly chasing after him, not wanting to lose sight as he moved, but with each step, I kept colliding into people dancing. He walked out one of the side doors, and I doubled my efforts to push through the crowd. I felt panic in my heart as I watched the door close and him disappear from my sight. I followed him through it.

I found myself in a dark hallway that led to the restrooms, and the door to the women’s room next to me was slowly shutting. It had to be him. I pushed open the door and stepped inside, trying to catch my breath from the rush over.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him standing in the middle of the room, near the end of the row of stalls. His hands tucked into his hoodie, his hood still up, his head tilted a little to the side. He was so freaking sexy without trying. It wasn’t fair.

“Hey, baby girl.”

His words washed over my body and melted into my soul. How could I have ever tried to forget what his words did to me?

I didn’t know what to say back as I stood there, looking at him. His clothes looked like he had been frozen in time since the day he’d left. Still wearing his typical outfit of black joggers, paired with crisp white Air Force 1s, a black ball cap, and a sleeveless black hoodie. It made me feel like I looked completely different, wearing this dress and so much makeup. Not to mention, my hair was longer again. I was surprised he’d even recognized me, to be honest. I barely recognized myself after these past few months.

“Gonna just stand there?” he asked with a smirk on his face.

The smirk made my heart pound, but his eyes… his eyes made the entire world go quiet. They drew you in and held you in a warm embrace. Any anger I had seen in them a few minutes ago was replaced with a look of longing that jerked the fragile seams in my heart. I took a step, and once I started, I didn’t stop until I was a step away from him. My mind raced a million miles a minute, but I could hardly get the words to come out.

“Is it really you?” I whispered, glancing up at him, still breathing fast. I couldn’t get my pulse to slow down. I felt like the air was being sucked out of my lungs.

He chuckled. Just as he was about to speak, we heard voices right outside the door, and before I knew what was happening, AJ grabbed my hand and pulled us into the stall at the end, slamming the door shut. He tried to lock it, but the lock was broken, so he kept his shoulder pressed against it as a group of girls entered the room.

“I needed a touch-up soooo badly. All this dancing and drinking and no one to show this ass off to is a waste.”

“Girl, did you not notice?!”

“Notice what?”

“Ohhh my gawd! You didn’t see the two hotties on the second floor?!”

“Shit, I’d let both of them do whatever they wanted to me for however long they wanted.”

“The big guy is hot, but, damn, I love me a little gangster, especially when they got that hustler mentality, so you know I’m going to make a move on the one rockin’ purple.”

“No! Why didn’t you two point them out to me?!”

“Girl, don’t worry. We will go right up after you’re done.”

It dawned on me that they were talking about AJ and Billy. I looked up at AJ, and I suddenly realized exactly how close we were standing. He had me pinned against the wall, his hands on either side of my shoulders. His head was turned, slightly facing the door, listening to see if they were going to stay at the mirrors or walk this way. The fabric of his joggers brushed against my bare legs. I could feel his warmth flooding my body from where we touched. I reached out, as if on instinct, and softly ran my hands up a few inches, resting on his chest. He leaned into my touch slightly, still waiting to see if they would leave.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

This can’t be happening. Why would AJ be here? Not just in LA, but at this club?

Clubs had never been his scene. Well, unless we were talking about fight club. That was where he belonged. This was probably all just another dream. A sick, twisted dream to break my heart for the millionth time because all dreams came to an end. But was it selfish of me to want this one to be longer than my usual dreams?

I breathed in and opened my eyes. This smell. It was the same. His own musky smell, mixed with a cologne that had hints of the ocean. Like a warm summer breeze flowing around you. God, I’d missed his smell.

“All right, let’s go get us some men, ladies!” one girl stated as three pairs of heels clicked across the tiles of the bathroom floor.

Their voices got quieter as they opened the door and walked back outside. Then, AJ slowly turned his head and looked at me. Now, our faces were only inches apart.

“It’s really me, Rosalie,” he said softly, answering my question from earlier. His eyes were filled with desire, but he didn’t move.

Why isn’t he moving? AJ was never one to hesitate like this before.

But that was a stupid question. I knew why. It was almost as if we were both afraid that if one of us moved, the moment would shatter around us and the other would disappear.

He glanced down at my hands on his chest and then back at me.

“How?” The word came out quietly, but my mind wanted to scream. To yell at him and shove him away from me and tell him how dare he just appear in my life after a year, showing up when I was finally moving on in my life, making me remember his voice, smell, feel. How my body instantly felt like I was magnetized to him and there was no pulling away—ever. I wanted to tell him so dang much… but I just couldn’t find the words to say any of that as I stared back into his eyes.

“I came back. For you.”

I sucked in a quick breath, and my mind felt like it was going to explode with all the thoughts flying through it.

He came home for me. Not for fight club, not for his car. For me. But why? Why now? It’s been a year. He could have come back at any time. Why did he come back when I had resolved to finally move on from him?

But when he spoke again, all the thoughts of forgetting about how much he’d meant to me evaporated into thin air.

“Can you feel it?” he whispered, his tone deep and sexy as he lowered his lips toward mine.

“F-feel what?” I replied with my exhale. I couldn’t look away from his eyes, couldn’t help the goosebumps that were forming from his breath hitting my lips.

“The effect you have on me. What just being around you does to me. How your touch makes my heart pound.” AJ leaned in even closer.

Now, our lips were only an inch apart.

“I-I…” I could. I could feel his heart pounding, just like mine. His adrenaline must be racing. “I do.”

The air was so full of tension. Our bodies were close, but not close enough. I had so many things I wanted to say to him. So. Damn. Many. But there was only one thing I could think about doing right in this moment, and it wasn’t talking. Our breaths were in sync, and so were our hearts. And nothing else mattered.

Fuck it.

I couldn’t hold back any longer. Time to be brave and do what I wanted for once.

I slid my arms up around his neck and leaned up on my tiptoes as I pressed my lips onto his. If a kiss could kill… I would be dead.

One of his hands gripped around my waist and pulled my body into his as he leaned into the kiss, deepening it. His other hand rested firmly on the wall, holding us upright as we began to make out.

It was all-consuming, this kiss. I felt it throughout my entire body. Memories flooded back—moments of us together that had made me feel the same way as this. This feeling of longing, of desire, of just needing him. I felt it all so much.

We broke apart, both of us panting.

“AJ… if this is real… if you are really real… I don’t know what I’m going to do…”

“I do.” His voice was assertive as he looked into my eyes.

Like I said, what we had was magnetizing, and it pulled me right back in. I’d forgotten just how much being around AJ felt like home to me.

I pulled him in once more. Our kiss turned desperate as I tried to get him to know how I was feeling in this moment, and our movements became more erratic. As he turned and slammed his back against the wall, he brought his hands to my ass, and I hopped up, wrapping my legs around his body, my dress hiking up my waist. He held me there, one hand on my ass and the other sliding up my back to rest behind my neck under my hair. We kissed like two people deprived of oxygen and the only way to get it was from the other’s lips, and it left me feeling on fire. I wanted more and more. I wanted time to freeze right here.

But all dreams came to an end. And this one shattered in an instant, the perfect moment ruined.

The restroom door slammed open, and Kordell’s voice rang out, halting my movements.

“Rosalie, hurry up. We’re going to the next place! I’ll be waiting right outside.”

The door swung closed, and the reality of the night hit me. I wasn’t here with AJ. This wasn’t just another amazing date together after a Flywheels event or a cruise together. That time for us had ended ages ago. I was here with Kordell. My boyfriend. And right now, he was waiting for me right outside this very room. And I was in the arms of another man. If he found out… oh god! The memory of how he had reacted when Tyler was messing around with me replayed in my mind—Kordell had held my friends at gunpoint. If he found out about what I had just done, he would kill AJ.

“P-put me down,” I whimpered against his lips. My hand pushed against his chest, frantically trying to get him to lower me.

“Screw him, baby girl. You’re with me now. Don’t worry if that loser leaves without you or not.”

He leaned in to kiss me again, and I pushed against him harder, squirming, trying to get down.

“AJ… please!” I begged now. My eyes pleaded with him to let me go.

He looked at me, confused, but still slowly lowered me. I straightened my dress and hurriedly ran my fingers through my hair.

“I-I have to go,” I whispered, looking down at my shoes. I could feel tears prick at the edges of my eyes, but I quickly forced them to stop.

He slid his hand behind the small of my back, and then with his other, he tipped my chin up, the lighting in this sparkly nightclub restroom making me fall in love with the color of his eyes all over again.

“You really gonna leave with him?” he asked, and I swore he looked hurt by that question.

“I-I have to… He’s my boyfriend, not just a random guy. AJ… you and I… we’re not together anymore, remember? You left… and I… I moved on.” My lips trembled. I couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. The dam had broken, and like a raging force of water, my thoughts were uncontrolled as they left my lips. “You didn’t only break up with me when you left. You shattered me. Your absence made me just go through the motions each day, not really living, just existing. For months . You left me here, and Kordell picked up the pieces and put me back together. I’m with him now… You can’t just stroll back here, expecting that I simply waited for you this entire time. I have to go. Sorry!”

With that, I pulled out of his arms and pushed out of the stall, walking fast toward the door. Pausing only to do a quick mirror check—thank God I hadn’t worn bright lipstick tonight. I fixed my hair one more time before I paused at the door. I glanced back once again to see AJ leaning against the wall behind me.

Putting a blunt to his lips, he lit it and took a drag from it. “I get it, baby girl. I fucked up. But you know me; I never lose a fight. Especially when something matters so much to me.”

His statement lingered heavily in the air.

When I pushed open the door, Kordell looked up from his phone, swaying in place. Calling him buzzed would be an understatement.

“There you are. Took you long enough. Let’s go, mama.”

He roughly slung his arm over my shoulders and yanked me into him as we walked through the club and out the front door. As we made our way over to my car and his friends’ bikes, the cool night air made me shiver and the hairs on my skin stand up.

I can’t believe that just happened. AJ is back in LA.

I waited for Kordell to slide into the passenger seat before going around and getting into the driver’s side. I started the car and followed his friends. I wasn’t sure I had made the right choice for my heart, but I knew my brain was reminding me of all the hurt AJ had caused and telling me to be rational.

Kordell was my boyfriend now, and I loved him… right?