In my bar.
What does this mean? And why do I have the urge to run to my car and get the hell out of Arizona?FuryI let the nicotine fill my lungs. I let Hayley leave after she showed me Ellie’s car. I’ve been standing here ever since. It’s clear they hate each other, but considering she has three hundred bucks and doesn’t have to do another damn thing for it, she left pretty happy. It figures it’d be my luck to finally get my fucking dick to work and run into the bitch who ruined me in the first place.
“When did you take up smoking?” Ellie asks, standing ten feet away from me. I reach up to take the cigarette from my lips, hiding the fact that my hand shakes when I see her.
I can’t believe that after all this time, she’s finally standing in front of me. I knew coming to Arizona was a bad idea. I should have called Gunner in sooner, hiked my ass back to Tennessee and continued forgetting this bitch…
I throw the cigarette down, grinding it out with my boot, my gaze never leaving her face. She hasn’t changed. She looks exactly the same, which doesn’t seem fair considering she nearly destroyed me and left me a fucking wreck.
“A man tends to pick up some bad habits when the woman he trusted with his life throws him over.”
“Yeah, I saw your habit in the bar. I’d say stick to smoking. It’s probably better for your health,” she murmurs.
“Didn’t know you cared,” I say with a cold laugh that has nothing to do with humor.
“Do you mind stepping away from my car? I’ve had a long day and I just want to get home,” she says, staring at me blankly.
No emotion, nothing. Just this matter of fact voice that is grating on my fucking nerves.
“What are you doing in Phoenix?”
“This is where I’m from, maybe you’ve forgotten, but I could ask you the same question. I don’t need to though, do I? I’m guessing the answer to that would be the club. Did they send you down here to kill someone else, Liam? Damn, should I worry you’ve decided to off me because of the secrets I know?”
“Shut your fucking mouth, Ice.”
“Yeah, I guess I should. Get the fuck away from my car and I’ll do us both a favor and leave.”
“You’re not from Phoenix. How long have you been here?”
“Why do you care, Liam? In all that time you haven’t bothered getting in contact with me once. I’m not about to play twenty questions with you now. Get the hell away from my car so I can make like a tree and leave.”
“Christ. You’re still corny as hell, Ice,” I mutter, taking out another cigarette and lighting it—needing something to do with my hands.
“Liam, I have a migraine and it’s going to be all I can do to get home. Your cigarette smoke isn’t helping. Please, just step away so I can get out of here and put an end to this horrible night.”
“You still get migraines? You really should see a doctor about those. They were getting more frequent before you left.”
“They’re brought on by stress. Funny how I develop one at the sight of you,” she huffs and it makes me smile, although there’s no joy in it.
“I figured you’d be living with your mom or sister. You always hated cities.”
“Mom was driving me crazy and I’d rather have my fingernails pulled out one by one than live with Dawn and Glenna. Are you done with your twenty questions yet?”
“Glenna?”
“I guess that means we’re not done with the questions,” she mutters under her breath. “Glenna is Dawn’s girlfriend.”
Now that makes me laugh. Fuck, I laugh so hard that I almost choke as I toke on my cigarette.
“Dawn’s a carpet muncher?”
“Liam—”
“I always knew that bitch hated dick.”
“Well, she always hated you, at least. I can finally understand that. Are you going to leave, or do I need to get my bouncer out here to make you leave?” she asks, her features set and hard.
“You don’t hate me, Ice. You might wish you did, but you don’t,” I respond, wanting to hear her admit it—maybe because I’m afraid I’m wrong.
“Leave me alone, Liam. You’ve managed to do that for way over a year now. For both our sakes, keep doing it.”
I step away from her car. Her eyes dart to my face, but she quickly opens her door and gets inside. She slams it without saying goodbye. I didn’t really expect it. Ellie is good at leaving me without a goodbye. I watch as she backs out and then heads out of the parking lot. She’s right. I should let her go. Instead, I climb on my piece of shit bike and follow her.
Because I’m an idiot.