Chapter 4
Hands trembling, Ariel took a deep breath as she finally lifted one of them to knock on Stuart’s door. She’d been standing in the hallway for ten minutes trying to build up the courage to face him.
The truth was she had no options. She had to confront him, and it needed to be today. Even if the man was too stubborn to face her, she still had to force him.
Ariel was young and inexperienced in so many ways, but she was no coward. If it were simple, if it were possible, she would walk away from Stu and never give a shit what happened to him. But it wasn’t that simple. Life wasn’t.
Stu had been the first man she’d been attracted to in this new world. After spending more than a day in the presence of all of Layla’s partners, she knew the difference between liking a guy as a friend and wanting more from him.
The moment she’d made eye contact with Stu in the rearview mirror of the van he’d driven to pick up the newest members of The Wanderers, she’d known. Her heart had beaten faster and her hands had grown clammy. She’d wiped them on her thighs several times, unable to stop the physical reaction to being introduced to someone she had a connection with.
He’d felt it too. She’d seen it in his eyes. A heartbeat and then another before he shook himself free of the connection and looked away. His face had conveyed his interest one moment and switched to frustrated and closed off the next. All because of her age.
Ariel had been humiliated. She’d forced herself not to cry, not to let anyone in the van see her reaction to his brushoff. He’d treated her like a child, someone who couldn’t possibly know their own mind.
And the worst part? He’d continued to do so for the last three months.
She’d learned a lot of four-letter words since she’d arrived, and she wished she could tell him to fuck off, but that wasn’t very mature, and proving her maturity was paramount.
She had to confront him. There was no other option. To ignore him and enter into a serious relationship with one or more other people would be cowardly. She had to be the bigger person even if he refused. At least she could say she’d tried. The rest was on him.
Ariel wasn’t willing to waste another day keeping Tarin and Kester at arm’s length while she waited for Stuart to decide he cared. It was time to choose.
Now or never.
She flinched when the door swung open, half forgetting she’d knocked.
Deep frown marks cut across his forehead, and he hesitated a moment, but then he took a step back and waved her into the apartment.
She lifted her other hand to hold up a cloth bag and a cup holder. “I brought breakfast,” she pointed out though the gesture suddenly felt like overkill.
He stared at her a moment as he shut the door, closing them inside alone, and then he took the drinks from her hand and nodded toward the table. “That wasn’t necessary.”
She forced herself not to groan or start yelling at him. The objective here was to prove she was an adult. Having a tantrum wouldn’t help her case.
He set the steaming cups of coffee on the table and then took the reusable bag from her. “But thank you,” he murmured as if it were an afterthought that perhaps he could find a way to be kind.
He pulled out a chair for her next. Shocking. He’d never extended any sort of courtesy to her before. Their entire relationship consisted of nothing more than a series of grunts from him in response to whatever she said.
After pushing her chair in, he hesitated at her back and then set both hands on her shoulders and gave a slow squeeze. For a heartbeat, he didn’t move, and she didn’t dare breathe or flinch either.
Stu had never touched her. Not intentionally anyway. He finally rounded the table and sat across from her, setting his elbows on the metal surface and threading his fingers in front of him. He ignored the coffee and the food.
She licked her lips and pointed at the bag. “Muffins. They had cinnamon ones today. And I know you take your coffee black.”
He narrowed his gaze and inhaled slowly. If he’d heard her, he gave no indication. He didn’t glance at her offerings. “I owe you an apology,” he finally stated.
She sucked in a breath. This was unexpected. It was also true. She wasn’t going to argue his point.
“I’m sorry. I’ve treated you unfairly from the moment we met. It was rude and uncalled for, and I’ll stop. You should move on with your life. I won’t get in the way. I promise.”
She gasped. Unexpected just went up ten notches. Was he telling her he didn’t want to have anything to do with her? “Look, I know you think I’m too young to know my mind. You’ve made that clear, but—”
He shook his head and cut her off. “No. That was a lie. I never thought that. I just said it to piss you off and make you not like me.”
She gasped again, eyes wide. “Why?”
“Because I could see in your eyes that you felt something for me that I can’t return. I’ll never be able to be what you deserve. I thought if I was a dick, you’d walk away and never give me another glance.”