Page 51 of Sunflower Persona (Classic City Romance #2)

Kori

D one up like a life-sized Barbie—courtesy of Shaunee’s killer fashion sense and Jayla’s goddess-tier hair and makeup skills—and already a little tipsy from the pregame shots, I stroll downtown with a smile on my face.

Things fell into place after that first screening back at the start of the semester, and without much effort, I had two new friends without any baggage.

I didn’t realize how much I needed that.

I still hang out with Nathan and Evelyn, but their friendship hasn’t felt the same. It’s too tainted with my memories of Gage, even if they never bring him up without my prompting.

The real problem is that the urge to ask about him hasn’t gone away.

Five months later, and he still lives rent-free in my head.

Or maybe he’s a ghost haunting the halls.

Evelyn says I need to get laid to get him out of my system—exorcise the demon, so to speak—but the thought of anyone else touching me in the ways he did is repulsing.

Gage is the only man who has made my skin tingle with need instead of crawl in disgust.

I’d rather be alone than go through endless trial and error on the off chance I find someone who affects me the same. No, thank you. I’ll stick to movie nights with my girls.

Not tonight, though. Tonight they convinced me to go out with them against my better judgment.

The late-April air is warm against my skin—a welcome change from the cooler nights that have dragged on over the past several months.

We aren’t the only students with the idea of spending their reading day doing anything but what the name intended.

The streets are crowded but not packed, which is perfect for me.

It means I can actually breathe and enjoy my time out with my friends.

“Where are we hitting first?” Shaunee asks.

“Anywhere but Cutter’s.” The thought spills past my alcohol-loosened lips before I think it through. The last thing I want to do tonight is face my phantom.

I never did tell them about my history with Gage, or anything about my drama-filled first semester.

Hell, I don’t think I’ve even mentioned my other friends to the girls.

It’s not that I’m keeping them secret on purpose, but I like that divide.

The last thing I want is reminders of my ex tainting the only place I’ve carved out for myself without his influence.

I did a damned good job of keeping that separation too. Until now.

Both of my friends stop and give me questioning looks, and I know the gig is up. They will tag team bombard me with questions until I give in for my own sanity. My past is coming back to haunt me tonight.

“That sounds like a story. What secrets have you been keeping from us?” Shaunee asks.

“I might have dated the big bartender for a few months last semester. Things didn’t end great between us, and I’d rather not risk running into him.”

“You mean the ugly motherfucker who looked like he took a few too many hits over the years?” Jayla asks.

Pain lances through my palms as my nails dig into the flesh. My protective instincts flare for a man who isn’t mine to care about anymore, but that doesn’t stop me from jumping to his defense.

“He isn’t ugly,” I snap, and her eyes widen at the tone. My lashes fall shut as I take a centering breath. “But yes, him.”

“Well, you have nothing to worry about. He hasn’t been around in months,” she says with a shrug.

Ice fills my veins.

Where the fuck is he?

“Hey, Kori, you good?” Shaunee asks.

“What do you mean he’s not there?” I ask.

My friend shrugs. “He’s just gone. Got some fresh blood in there now who is way less brooding.”

Is he okay? He has to be okay. Nathan would have told me if he wasn’t. Right?

Those thoughts do nothing to ease my panic.

He could have lied when he said Gage was doing good. Or maybe the gloom became too much for him over time. Gage could be suffering, and I’m out here living my life without a care in the world. He might need me.

“I—I need to go,” I stammer out as my heart jackhammers in my chest.

“Go? Where? It’s 11 p.m.,” she calls after me, but I ignore her as I try my best to hurry along the sidewalk in my borrowed heels.

I’m not even sure where I’m going. My dorm is in the other direction, and I’m in no state to drive, but I have to see him. I have to know he’s okay. After moving away from my friends and the scattered crowd, I stop, pull out my phone, and call Nathan.

“Kori, what’s wrong?” he answers after the first ring. His voice alert and sharpened with concern.

“You tell me,” I snap. “Where is Gage? Why hasn’t he been at Cutter’s? Is he okay?”

A deep sigh is the only sound that comes down the line. I can practically hear him shaking his head.

“That’s his business,” he says in a gentle tone.

The condescending jerk.

“Like hell it is.”

“You can’t block him out for months and then demand to know about his life on a whim. If you really want to know, ask him yourself. He still has a phone. You still have his number. We both know he’ll pick up if you call.”

“Fine.”

“Kori—” Nathan starts, but I hang up before he can finish the thought.

I will ask Gage himself, then.

Fuck it, I’ll do one better. Why call when I can go check on him myself?

With the alcohol fueling my confidence, I call for a rideshare, plugging in my ex’s address as the final destination.

My resolve doesn’t start to waver until I’m in the car and halfway to his place.

A few shots are enough for some liquid courage, but not enough to make me drunk or stupid.

And this idea is the definition of stupid.

My driver doesn’t look in my direction as they pull in front of the dark apartment and wait for me to get out.

I hesitate for a moment before steeling my spine and climbing out of the back seat.

Dim light flickers from the dying streetlamp a few units down, casting his front door in a dark shadow, making the approach even more ominous.

I’m not sure he’s even home. A strange truck sits in Brandy’s usual spot out front—either the car is fucked, or someone else lives here now.

Five months is plenty of time for someone to make major life changes—he could have moved halfway across the country, and I’d have no idea.

It’s not like his friends were giving me a play-by-play.

This was a mistake, but I’ve made it too far to give up without at least knocking on his door.

With false bravado, I march up the stairs and pound my fist on the peeling wood. The wait stretches on forever without anything happening. No lights flick on inside and no sounds travel through the too-thin door.

And then he’s there—a shadowy figure looming in the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung sweats that leave nothing to the imagination.

Sparks of heat that have lain dormant for months shoot straight into my core.

God, he looks every bit as edible as I remember.

My mouth dries at the sight, and my tongue darts out to rewet my lips.

“What?” Gage barks as he looks outside.

The harsh annoyance falls away when his gaze lands on me, and something softer takes its place.

“Low?” He says my name on a reverent breath and looks at me like I’m all of his hopes and fears wrapped up in a shiny bow.

His hand runs over his face, and then he blinks like I’m a mirage he’s trying to clear away.

The second it clicks, the softness in his features hardens again.

“What are you doing here? What’s wrong? Are you okay? ”

This isn’t a conversation to have on his front porch in the middle of the night.

The air between us is alive, crackling like dry kindling in the sun.

All it will take is one spark to ignite it into a raging inferno, but I’m not sure if it will be a passionate blaze or a catastrophic explosion of every emotion I’ve tried to repress.

Either option ends with the cops showing up if we give in to it out here, so I ignore his brusque questions and push my way inside.

Static erupts across my bare shoulder as it brushes against his exposed chest. I’m going to lose the plot real quick if he doesn’t put a shirt on soon.

He closes the door and flips on the overhead light without a word.

So much has changed in the dated space that it knocks me off-kilter.

It’s somehow emptier than it was before—the television is gone, as well as several of the photos that decorated the shelves around it—and I’m almost positive the coffee table is different too.

“Why are you here, Kori? It’s late.”

In the light of his apartment, I can see the weariness written on his face that the shadows outside hid.

“Why aren’t you at work?” I ask, resisting the urge to run my fingers over his tired features.

“Because it’s eleven o’clock at night.”

No shit, Sherlock.

“I mean in general. You haven’t been at Cutter’s.”

“Been looking for me?” he asks with a hint of a smile, and my heart flips in my chest.

I’ve missed that elusive expression—I’ve missed him.

“What? No,” I stammer as my cheeks heat. “My friends said they hadn’t seen you around in a few months, and I got worried.”

“I quit,” he says with as much tact as I’d expect from him.

“You what ?” I screech.

“Goddamn, woman, inside voice. I didn’t just walk out or anything.

Jesus. I figured Nathan was keeping you up to date with how much you two talk.

” His hand runs down his face again, but this time it’s an agitated motion.

When he pulls it away, his cheeks are tinged with a faint pink. “I’m doing an apprenticeship.”

“Apprenticeship?”

“Electrical work. Started back in March.”

“Gage! That’s awesome! I didn’t even know that was something you wanted to do. Why didn’t you tell me?”

What else have I missed in the months we’ve been apart?

I throw myself at him, and he turns to marble in my embrace. It’s inappropriate, but I can’t find it in me to care. I’m too proud of him.

“It’s not like we’ve been on speaking terms,” he grumbles as he extracts himself from my clinging grasp, setting me on the ground a few inches away from him, still close enough I can feel the heat radiating from his naked chest.

Tension crackles between us again. The air is ripped from my lungs as I meet his stormy gaze and see the hunger there, and for a moment, it’s as if nothing between us ever changed.

Unable to resist the magnetic pull any longer, I reach out and cup his cheek in my hand.

He tracks my movements with dilated pupils, and he lets out a growl as my fingers make contact.

Why did I ever push him away?

This right here is where I’m supposed to be. That truth resonates to the very bones of me.

“Gage,” I all but whimper.

That’s all it takes for the kindling to finally catch, and every bit of burning passion I’ve tried so hard to repress reignites.

I’m not sure who starts it, me or him, but our lips crash together in a sloppy, desperate kiss. There’s nothing careful about the clash of tongue and teeth, or gentle in the way he nips at my lips with sharp bites.

Fuck, that’s new, and from the wave of molten heat that floods my pussy, I don’t hate this rougher side of him.

He traces a hand along my side, not stopping until his fingers are at my throat.

His thumb presses in, not enough to restrict my breathing, but in an act of pure possession that pulls a soft moan from my lips.

That small sound yanks him from his lust-filled haze. He pulls his lips from mine, but that’s as far as he goes. Our breaths mingle between us, and his fingers don’t uncurl from around the column of my neck.

“Fuck, that shouldn’t have happened,” he says, still unmoving.

“Like hell, it shouldn’t have. Don’t pretend like we both didn’t need that.”

“I didn’t do this shit with the GED and apprenticeship so I could win you back. I did it because you were right.”

“I know that—”

“Please, just listen to me for a few minutes. It’s important that you know I didn’t do this for you.

I did it for me. I’m becoming a man I can be proud of.

Losing you was my wake-up call, and it was a long time coming, but I can’t handle having a taste, only to lose you again. I won’t survive it a second time.”

“Who said anything about losing me?”

This man is making me eat every word I said when he came to beg for my forgiveness.

He’s made changes and is learning to be happy with himself—for him.

It’s all I ever wanted and everything I didn’t know I needed to trust him again.

My heart is his wholly and completely. All he has to do is accept it.