“Amber!” I call again as I chase after her.
But she doesn’t stop. I run faster until I’m able to rush around her and physically stop her myself, a hand to her shoulder. “Amber, what are you doing? Where are you going?” I ask, breathless.
“Back home!” she shouts, pushing my hand away and trying to get past me. I move in front of her again.
“Why? You’re already here. Why leave?” I ask, pleading. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her leave, not when she’s already here.
“Just move, Torres. It was a mistake for me to come here. I’m going back home.”
“So why show up then?” I demand. “If it’s such a mistake, why are you here? Clearly some part of you doesn’t think this is a mistake.”
“I don’t know!” she snaps. “I guess I just wanted to see that you were actually here, but then I saw you and I thought of all those unanswered calls and text messages and I just...I can’t. I can’t. I’m not putting myself through that again with you—the agony of waiting and wondering when you’ll reach out to me.”
“Amber, please just listen to me.” I place my hands on her shoulders. “I came here because I want to apologize to you. I am so damn sorry for not answering you when I should have but I...I was going through so much. I didn’t know how to let it all digest, but that’s no excuse, okay? I know that. But it also doesn’t change how I feel about you, I promise. I came here because I know I fucked up, okay? It was a mistake to not answer you—to let you go for weeks without hearing from me. I just....” I sigh, exasperated. “I just knew at the end of the day, you deserved better than me and I didn’t want to hold you back anymore.”
She shudders a breath, a stray tear running down her cheek. She looks away, swiping the tear away with the back of her hand.
“Please,” I beg. “Come back in with me. We can discuss everything. You can yell at me as much as you want to, call me an asshole, slap me—whatever you wanna do,” I murmur, and that causes a giggle to bubble out of her. “Just please don’t leave me. I need you here with me right now.”
Her amber eyes lift to mine and she draws in a deep breath before exhaling. She then looks around. The bass of the music from the club down the street is bumping and people are walking right past us, not giving a damn about our moment.
She finally looks me in the eyes and nods. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll come back in with you, but only if you really agree that I get to slap you for ignoring me.”
“Deal,” I laugh, reeling her in for a hug, my arms so tight around her, I don’t ever see myself letting go. She feels so good in my arms. I’ve missed this so damn much—her cherry scent and how she molds perfectly to my body. She’s the perfect fit for me. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking before.
We make our way back into the hotel, my arm hooked around her shoulders. She clings to my hand hanging off her shoulder, a subtle smile on her lips. She’s still bothered by something, and I can understand that.
I’ve hurt her, betrayed her trust, but I’m here to fix it. She means so much to me. I have to make things right again.
As we ride up to floor six, to the same room I’d booked last time, I can’t help feeling like all my worries and all my troubles are gone.
There is no life without Amber next to me and I came to that realization a long, long time ago.
As soon as I open the door to my room, I turn toward her, reel her close to me, scoop her up in my arms, and kiss her like my life depends on it.
Hell, maybe my life does depend on this. I drove from Fayetteville to Raleigh to be with her. I knew she lived in Raleigh, and I’d been planning to come here for a while, but with my money becoming slim, I had to wait.
I received one last check from Bennett and I used some of that to book this hotel room.
Amber palms the back of my head and kisses me with fervor and need, our lips molding and our bodies meshing.
“I missed you,” she says through ragged breaths.
“I missed you too.”
“Don’t you ever ignore me again,” she snaps, leaning back when I try to kiss her. Her palm lightly grazes my cheek, a playful slap, and I chuckle.
“I won’t. Not ever.”
“Why did you anyway?” she breathes.
I feel an ache in my chest that’s raw, and it cuts me deep. I hate seeing the pain in her eyes. She holds so much innocence that she won’t understand my motives. She will never be able to accept how fucked up life is sometimes and how tough choices have to be made.