Highest Bidder

I should hate him. He was no good for me.

It was as if from outside myself that I watched myself begin to draft a message. It was angry and of what it said, I wasn’t even sure. I should have called Maddie first for her opinion. Or even Ella. I should at least have read it again and made sure I hadn’t just completely humiliated myself, but without giving myself any time to change my mind, I hit send.

I turned around to stare at myself in the mirror. I sensed I had just made a mistake that I would soon regret, but I did not care. I pulled out my hairbrush, brushed my hair, re-applied my lip gloss, and walked out of the Ladies.

He would receive it, but probably ignore it.

That was alright. I’d said my piece, whatever it was.

Even before I could get to the bar, my phone began to ring. I jumped. Then I hit the connect button and pressed my phone to my ear.

“Where are you?” he rasped.

“Campus bar,” I replied. “Blue Boats.”

He ended the call and I stared at the phone in shock. Rude man. That was not the response I had expected and ‘Campus bar, Blue Boats’ wasn’t enough information to get him anywhere, if he was truly coming to me. I looked towards the bar’s entrance and wondered if he would be able to find me. Did he even know what University I attended?

I took my seat, my heart beating like crazy, until I received my next text. I opened it with my heart in my mouth.

Outside.

Freya

I wanted to rise but I couldn’t seem to move. I remained where I was and listened to my teammates discuss our project without hearing a single word they were saying. Very soon another text came.

You have two minutes. Then I’m out of here.

I immediately scrambled to my feet, making my team mates all stop talking and stare at me in surprise. Grabbing my backpack, I apologized for my sudden exit, walked out of the bar and into the parking lot.

I saw the same black SUV I had seen on television earlier, with its engine running. I arrived at the window and the door was pushed open. I refused to look at him as I got in and even after I did, I leaned back and looked straight ahead.

He didn’t look at me either and as unreasonable as it was, considering I wouldn’t look at him, the fact of him not looking at me made my blood boil. I took a deep breath and my nostrils filled with his now familiar scent of musk and luxurious spices making me remember his naked body on top of me. It didn’t help either that I felt as though the world was spinning round me.

Perhaps I was more intoxicated than I had judged.

“What was the text you sent to me about?” he asked.

I shut my eyes at the way his voice rolled down my skin. Jesus, I felt a bit sick. Beads of sweat gathered on my forehead and I was sure it was the car. I rolled down the glass just a little for some of the wintry air to filter through.

“Fuck. How much have you drunk?”

“None of your business,” I croaked.

“Do you need to be sick?”

I shook my head. All I needed was the chill of the evening air. “I feel better now.”

“What did my brother say to you last night?”

I braced myself and turned towards him. To my surprise, he had on a pair of dark rimmed reading glasses and as I stared at him, I felt my bones begin to melt. His sex appeal in that moment was beyond the usual primal lure. He seemed so sophisticated. So different. Almost as if he existed on a different world from the one in which I lived in.

My eyes roved over him hungrily.

He had on a thick cream turtleneck jumper and black jeans with his dark hair tousled away from his face.

I tore my gaze from him and looked away with a heavy heart. No one looked like Brent Lucan … or could even come close. He was so vital, so special. So unforgettable. Unreplaceable.

I wished then, it had been some random stranger who had bought me that night. I’d always considered myself to be quite level-headed and sane, but in the presence of this man, I was slowly but surely losing my mind.

“I asked you a question, Freya.” He sounded impatient.

“He said that he was sorry for not protecting me from you, the way I did for him years ago.” I turned my head and looked at him.

Brent didn’t blink, just continued staring at me.

I wondered what he was seeing or searching for, then I didn’t want to know. “What did he mean by that?"

“How would I know? Why didn’t you ask him what he meant?”

Asshole. I looked away, certain now of what he was seeing. A silly girl doing what she could to get his attention. I hated myself in that moment and worse, I hated him for turning what should have only been a momentary nightmare into a phase of addiction that had rendered me frighteningly brainless. I jerked the door handle suddenly, the door opened, and cold air rushed in. I don’t even know what I was thinking of. I definitely had no intention of hurting myself or falling out, but Brent’s reaction was shockingly fast and violent. In a heartbeat, his hand reached over to yank the door shut.

From his side, he pressed the control down and sealed me inside the car.

I turned to him in surprise.

“I’m not done talking to you,” he said, his eyes watching me intently.

I hated how small my voice sounded but I couldn’t help it. “Let me go.”

“Why did you send me that text?” he asked.