My suspicion that she’d slept with this guy dropped from highly probably to less likely, which helped keep me from punching him.
But while I was looking at Andi, the guy I was pinning took his opportunity to punch me.
I staggered back from the surprise of it. When I turned to face him, his hands were up like he was ready to fight.
“I have no idea who you are,” he said. “But I’m not going to let you hurt Andi.”
I wanted to laugh. “Hurt Andi? The only one I’m considering hurting is you.”
His hands dropped slightly. He looked at Andi, then me, and understanding settled on him. “Wait. Are you two together?” He was asking Andi—not me.
We both spoke at the same time, only I said “yes,” and she said “no.”
“Just stop trying to hit each other,” Andi pleaded.
“Is this why you snuck off to Florida?” I asked her. “To fuck this guy who can barely throw a punch?”
“That was a warning shot,” the other guy said.
“Great. I’ll add child-like tendencies to the long list of your charming qualities, Landon. Now, would you please get out of my room?”
“After him,” I said.
The guy looked to Andi.
She gave him a tired shrug. “I need to shower and get ready, anyway. We can catch up later. And thank you for last night.”
“Thank you for last night?” I asked. “What the hell does that mean?”
“What is your problem?” Andi hissed.
“You,” I said simply. The truth of my statement hit me with ten times the force of her potential lover’s punch. In a literal sense, it was obvious. She stood between me and the club. She was the only thing stopping me from doing what was smart and squashing the doubts my members had—from going to the lawyers and taking everything William had dangled between us.
I had hoped I could start putting her out of my head after our fight. I knew I didn’t deserve her forgiveness, and I hadn’t expected it. But she’d wriggled her way into my brain and set up camp. When I closed my eyes, it was her I saw. That was a problem. A big fucking one. It was the exact moment I’d decided not to get attached to anyone again. There was the pain of caring about something and having it taken away, or the duller, more tolerable pain of not caring in the first place. I’d chosen the later.
Except.
Andi put her hands on my shoulder and literally pushed me toward the door. I let her move me but didn’t let her close the door until the other guy left. My blood boiled when he had the nerve to reach in and give her a long hug before he did, though. I refused to move from the doorframe when he tried to slide past, forcing him to bump into my shoulder.
“Go,” Andi said. “Home. Back to New York. To a ditch, I don’t care really. Just go.”
I reached for her cheek, but she pushed my arm away.
“No, Landon. You don’t get to fix it with a kiss this time.” She shook her head, eyebrows scrunching together. “Just go”
I let her push me out the door and watched as the door slammed in my face.
Fucking wonderful.Crashing the wedding and all of the pre-game festivities was surprisingly easy, at least from a logistical standpoint. There were enough guests that Dana had apparently decided to just let people come and go without any form of security. I’d been able to walk into the hotel without having to explain who I was or what I was doing, and I’d even found a hallway full of unclaimed rooms. Conveniently, there was even an agenda with dates and times of every event for the wedding waiting on my bed.
I was lurking in the outer edge of the rehearsal dinner while I sipped on a cocktail. All around, little pockets of friends were catching up and laughing. All I could do was scan the room obsessively for Andi, or the piece of shit I’d found in her room this morning. I’d settle for either of them, because it would at least let me know they weren’t together at the moment.
I wasn’t sure what I hoped to gain from being here. Closure? Forgiveness? Whatever it was, I doubted I was going to get it.
Yet I still wanted everything—including the things I absolutely knew I’d never have a chance to take again. I still wanted to watch her beg. I wanted to unravel her. To ruin her. Destroy every silky inch of her.
The grin I’d been wearing melted when I saw her walk in with the guy from this morning. They were dressed to impress—her in some pretty little dress that couldn’t hide the gorgeous body she had underneath, and him in a navy suit with a crisp white undershirt.