Page 68 of Trapped With You

They were all right. I just couldn’t reason with my anger.

“Make sure you get his name,” I gritted out.

Josh could run fuckface’s details in his system to get me his address…so I could pay him a friendly visit with my gun.

Nate nodded and went over. He reached them and started having words with the soon-to-be-dead guy.

Satisfaction coursed through my veins seeing the tipsy fucker scurry away like a mouse with his tail between his legs. Ella’s expression went sour and she exchanged heated words with Nate. He crossed his arms over his chest and let her have at it.

Knowing my ex-girlfriend, she was probably shouting at him that she had the situation under control.

Nate said something to her.

Ella’s back stiffened straight, the colour leaching from her face.

Then her head snapped in the direction of the bar.

And she finally acknowledged me but didn’t smile at me.

Without seeing her eyes up close, I knew they’d be burning with that fire I loved.

Her gaze narrowed and she flicked her chin in a haughty, dismissive manner before shouldering past Nate.

Nate smoothed a hand through his black hair, tired. Ella had been really tight with my crew, and I knew our breakup fucked up the dynamics of their friendship. She barely spoke to the guys anymore and when she did, the mood was hostile. They missed her and were always nice to her. But Ella had a hard time being around anything or anyone that reminded her of me.

Knocking back the rest of my drink, I stood up and adjusted my diamond cufflinks. “I’m calling it a night. I’ll see you boys tomorrow?”

Nico and Sam eyed me suspiciously.

Revulsion continued to build in the pit of my stomach. Whether Ella was talking to other guys just to piss me off or actually trying to fuck someone to get over me, I couldn’t stand here and watch her slink off to another target.

“If you see her flirting with another guy, I trust you know what to do.”

They both nodded.

I bid them good night and tossed a salute to Nate before leaving through the back exit.

Crickets chirped in the summer night when I stepped out.

The warm air chafed at my skin and I reached up to loosen my tie, only to remember I ditched it in my car before entering the bar. A feeling of suffocation thrummed in my throat.

My footsteps ate the short distance to my black Ferrari, parked in the alleyway next to the bar. Every step away from Ella yanked at the invisible pull connecting us together. To the point where I physically hurt, swept under a current of torment that gave leeway to harsh cravings.

I wanted her so bad; I couldn’t think past the shameless hunger.

Fuck. I needed a smoke to take the edge off.

Reaching into my suit jacket, I pulled out a cigarette and the Zippo she got me two years ago for my seventeenth birthday. One side of the surface was engraved with my initials and on the other side she’d hand-painted an orange lollipop.

Depressed, I lit my vice and leaned against a brick wall, drawing smoke into my lungs in a vain attempt to calm my racing mind.

I couldn’t elude thoughts of Ella.

Not when I was carrying tokens filled with her reminder. The Zippo in my suit jacket. The obsidian crystal in my pocket. The promise ring around my neck. The initials stitched in the cuff of my dress shirt. And the tattoos inked into my skin.

She was everywhere around me like the wind, ribboning my form in her balmy embrace. Without her, I was lonely like a starless summer sky.

When I finished my cigarette, a miracle happened.