She cups my cheek and leans up as if she’s going to actually kiss me. I have to pull back slightly. I don’t want to embarrass her but I need to create a chasm of distance between us.
“I’m good thank you. How are you?”
“I’m good.” She winks and drags a finger down my face, moaning blissfully as if she thinks this is foreplay. I’m not a sure thing, not for her no way. “Obviously, I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, right, I see.” I shoot Trent a desperate look but he misses it because he’s embroiled in flirting with one of Ally’s friends. He’s out of reach so I can’t even nudge him. “So, you’re out tonight?”
“Haven’t you missed me?” She pouts out her bottom lip. “I thought you would have by now…”
I raise one eyebrow knowingly at her. She knows why I haven’t missed her, why I haven’t really thought about her since we ended our little fling. She’s just trying to wind me up asking this.
“I have to go, Ally. Me and Trent have got a big of a night ahead. I don’t get to see him much.”
“I don’t know, your friend doesn’t seem too bothered to go anywhere any time soon.” She smiles, thinking that she has me. “We should just hang out for the night. It’s been such a long time.”
Ally would happily be the woman in my bed, even if I told her she was only a distraction, but I don’t want that. She’s trouble, she opens a can of worms that I don’t want to think about. She’s in the past, and I like to forget about the past once it’s done. Living in it never does anyone any favors.
“I know it’s been a long time, Ally, but that’s for a reason.”
She rolls her hips into me, showing me her desire. Her puppy dog eyes widen in a pleading gesture, but I won’t be sucked in. She may be a beautiful woman on the outside but I’ve seen the ugliness that she carries within and that is not something that I would ever be interested in.
“Oh, don’t be like that. You don’t have to be so serious. I don’t see why we can’t just have fun…”
“No, Ally, you know that we can’t have fun. It doesn’t work like that.”
“Once upon a time, but it’s different now. It can be no strings attached.”
“I don’t believe you. There’s no such thing as no strings attached.”
“There is now, Noah,” she whines. “Just give me a try and I’ll see.” She lunges at me, trying to kiss me and I sense an anger bursting within her as I pull away. “For fuck sake, Noah, what is wrong with you?”
“You know,” I growl. “And I’m out tonight to have a good time. I’m not getting into it.”
“You’re being an asshole for no reason.”
I reach across and grab Trent, yanking him to me. “Ally, I have to go.”
“Stop it, Noah. Don’t be like this. Don’t be such a dick.”
She yells after me, calling me names for not falling to her whims, but that only makes me even more determined to get the hell away from her. Memories of having her in my life flood back and they aren’t pleasant. The further I get away from her and the drama that she brings with her lifts a weight off my shoulders.
“What the hell was all that about?” Trent demands. “She was hot. I thought you wanted to pull.”
“Not an ex fling, no.” I shake my head vigorously. “Definitely not.”
“Ex flings are the best kind. They are wild because they don’t have anything to prove. Or they have too much to prove… either way it leads to a wild night in bed.”
“Not with Ally, no way. It’s trouble.”
“Why?” I feel Trent glance backwards. “She seems really in to you. What happened?”
“She wouldn’t accept Alex.” Even saying these words now twists in my gut. “She didn’t want him around. She couldn’t attach herself to another family. She wanted kids of her own, not one I already have. She actually wanted Alex gone because she thought that she was more important to me. That was after three weeks. Three weeks of casual dating and she thought that she would take priority over my child.”
“Oh.” Trent gets it now. “I understand. That’s rough.”
The finality in his tone brings everything flooding to the surface. I pushed Ally away, I got rid of her for a reason, I didn’t want to ever see her again. Why does she have to be out tonight when I’m supposed to be having fun? It isn’t right. Las Vegas is a big city. Why did I have to see her?
“She wanted me to send Alex to live with his mother.” I let out a bitter mirthless laugh. “That would never happen. Obviously, that wasn’t ever going to happen. I don’t know why she even thought it would…”