Page 5

CHAPTER FOUR

RHYS

I step into Grumpy’s, and the noise of the crowd rushes over me, but it barely registers because all I see is her. I came to Grumpy’s to escape the house. Arden is coping better than we expected with being questioned. We all know he didn’t do it, but he really needs to stop joking about it. Until he is cleared, there is still a chance they could call him in again. Ella is playing the supportive wife. However, we can all see she is worried that this will get worse before it gets better.

Ashley is still processing the death of her father. She barely comes out of her room but when she does, you can tell she’s still trying to figure out her next move.

Chase and Yasmin are the constants in the house, there for anyone who needs it.

I watch Ally. She’s leaning against the bar, her head thrown back, laughing at something Justin says, her fiery red hair cascading down her back. His hand is resting on her hip, his fingers dipping just a little too far beneath her top like he’s done this a hundred times before.

A quick, hot anger flares inside of me, fast and primal, before I can tell myself to calm the hell down.

I shouldn’t care.

I shouldn’t feel this overwhelming need to march over there and put my fist through his goddamn face.

But I do.

Because that should be me.

I thought she quit sleeping with him when we moved to New Hope last year. I guess I was wrong.

It was only two days ago I held her close, whispered things I’ve never told anyone, watched her breath hitch when I told her she was it for me.

And now she’s here, falling into old habits, into the arms of a guy who’s looking for nothing more than a good time and a warm body to fill his bed.

That’s all he wants.

And she knows it.

She tilts her head back, laughing at something else Justin says, and the sound pierces through me like a knife.

I feel it all the way in my chest, sharp and twisting. My hands are already balled into fists as I cut through the crowd towards her, every step echoing with the certainty that I’m about to fuck things up all over again.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I’m standing right next to them, grabbing her wrist.

“Ally.” My voice is low and controlled, but I feel anything but.

Her head snaps towards me, surprise flickering in her eyes before irritation takes over.

“What the hell, Rhys?” I shoot a glance at Justin, the man who has the nerve to touch her like that. But he’s not my concern.

“We need to talk.” Her eyes blaze, and she jerks her arm back, but I don’t let go.

“Now you want to talk?” Justin shifts beside her, looking smugly amused.

“She’s busy, man.” I turn the full weight of my fury on him. “Walk away.” Justin pauses, glancing at Ally, waiting for her to tell me to fuck off.

But she doesn’t. Her lips press tight, and her gaze flits away, knowing we shouldn’t have this out in the middle of the bar.

Smart girl.

Justin scoffs and steps back with his hands raised. “Whatever.”

I don’t waste any time, hauling her with me towards the exit. She digs her heels in at first, resisting, but eventually she follows, her frustration sharp and audible in every breath.

The second we’re outside, she wrenches her arm free. “What the hell is your problem?” I rake a hand through my hair, pacing a few steps before turning back to face her.

“My problem?” My voice is raw, strained, and thick with feelings I can barely contain. “I could ask you the same damn thing, Ally.” She crosses her arms and lifts her chin defiantly, that fierce spirit I love so much blazing in her eyes.

“Oh, so now you suddenly care who I hook up with?” I take a step closer, feeling my pulse pounding in my ears. She told me not to stop trying, so that’s what I’m doing.

“You know I do.” I always have; it’s why I’m always pissed off when I find out about her casual hookups. Ally doesn’t date. She never has, and part of me knows it’s because I turned her down all those years ago. I hurt her, and her way of dealing with that was to never get attached to someone again.

She shakes her head, exhaling harshly, each word slicing into the air between us. “No, Rhys. You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to pull me aside like you own me and act like you have some kind of claim over me when all you’ve done for years is pretend I don’t exist.”

The words hit their target dead centre, each one a small explosion in my heart. I thought we made some progress, but I was clearly wrong.

I reach for her, pulling her close, my hands gripping her hips like I can’t bear to let go. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

She laughs, humourless and sharp. “Do I?”

The fight hums between us, electric and dangerous, but below it, something else simmers, something we can’t control. “Tell me you don’t want this,” I demand, my voice low, desperate. “Tell me to let go, and I will.”

Her lips part, and her breath quickens. But she doesn’t say a word.

I step closer, so close our foreheads almost touch. “Ally.” Still nothing.

Then, fuck it.

I close the distance.

The second our lips collide, something inside me snaps. It’s a rush, years of tension and longing and denial exploding into this single, desperate kiss.

She gasps against my mouth. Then she’s kissing me back with everything she has, her hands tangling in my hair, nails scraping against my scalp.

I groan, pulling her flush against me, deepening the kiss, drinking in the small, needy sound she makes when I nip at her bottom lip. God, I’ve wanted this for so fucking long.

Pressing her against the bricks of the building my hands roam, memorising the shape of her, the way she feels, solid and real against me. Her fingers clutch at my shirt, holding on like she needs this as badly as I do.

Her warmth, her taste, it consumes me, and all I can think is how much time we’ve lost. If it weren’t for that fucking arrangement, Ally and I could have been experiencing this for years.

And then, just as suddenly as it started, she pulls away.

Her breathing is ragged, her lips swollen, and her eyes wide with something I can’t quite name. “Ally?—”

With a shake of her head, she steps back, fingers to her lips, as though she's trying to hold on to the taste of me. Or erase it altogether. “I—” Her voice catches, and she exhales shakily. “I can’t do this.”

A sharp pang cuts through my chest, quick and deep. All the air leaves my lungs, and I fight to find my voice. “What do you mean?”

She swallows hard, looking at me like she’s trying to figure out which of us is the bigger idiot. “This... us. I don’t know how,” she stutters.

I take a step forward, holding on to hope like a lifeline, but she’s quick to shake her head again. “Rhys, we’ve spent years pretending. We don’t know how to be anything else.” Her voice is small and sad, and I hate that I’m the one making her sound like that.

Clenching my jaw, my hands fist at my sides in helpless frustration. “So what? You’d rather run back to Justin?” The bitterness seeps out.

Her expression hardens, cutting and fierce. “This isn’t about him. It’s about us.”

She turns away, and for a moment, I think she’s going to leave me standing here like a goddamn fool.

But then she looks over her shoulder, her voice so quiet I almost don’t hear it.

“I just need time.”

Then she’s gone, disappearing into the night, leaving me standing there, fists clenched, heart racing, lips still tingling from the kiss I’ve waited years to have.

I watch until she’s completely out of sight, expecting her to turn around one last time, to say, to do something.

But she doesn’t.

And just like that, she’s already slipping away again. I breathe deeply, trying to steady myself, to bring my pulse back to a normal rhythm, but nothing about this feels normal. Nothing about this has felt normal since the moment I saw her laughing at the bar without me. I came out tonight because I needed to get away from the house. I just needed some time on my own. But then she was here.

She may be gone, but her presence lingers, a tangled knot that I can’t unravel. My hands throb from being clenched so tightly, and the urge to hit something wells up inside me, as strong as the urge to hold her was just moments ago.

I need to calm down, to regroup, but the heaviness in my heart won’t let up. I know what I should do. I should walk it off, try to find some way to forget how her lips felt against mine, how she tasted, how her stupid red hair smelled when I pressed her against the wall and devoured her like she was the only thing I wanted.

But I can’t.

I can’t forget any of it. I can’t forget how she pulled away, how she looked at me, and most of all, how she said she needed time. Frustrated and running on fumes, I hightail it out of the parking lot and head home.

When I get there, the house is quiet, but the light in the living room is still on. Ashley is curled up on the couch, staring blankly at the TV. She doesn’t react when I walk in, but she knows I’m there.

“How bad was it?” she asks without looking at me.

I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face. “Bad.”

She finally turns her head, studying me. “You look like shit.”

“Feel like it too.” I drop onto the couch beside her, letting my head fall back. “I kissed her.”

Ashley doesn’t look surprised. “And?”

“And she ran.”

Ashley hums. “She’s scared. So are you.”

I glance at her. “Yeah.”

For a moment, neither of us speak. Then I shift, turning to face her. “How are you?”

She sighs, pulling her blanket tighter around her. “I haven’t told Caitlin yet.”

I nod, understanding. Caitlin is kind of Ashley’s girlfriend. Ashley came clean over a year ago, but because of the arrangement, she couldn’t be with Caitlin, so they would see each other when it was safe to do so. “You should.” Caitlin’s family are rivals of the Slade family. It’s complicated, but if anyone will understand the politics, it’s her.

“I know.” Her voice is quiet. “I just... don’t want to say it out loud. Feels too real.”

I rest my hand on hers, clutching gently. “You don’t have to do it alone.”

She gives me a small, tired smile. “Neither do you.”

I exhale, leaning back again. “Guess we’re both a little fucked up, huh?”

Ashley laughs softly. “Yeah. But we’ll figure it out.”

I don’t know if she means her and her girlfriend or me and Ally.

But either way, I hope she’s right.