“How did you know I was at the bar?”
“You posted it,” I shared and frowned. “You should be more careful about posting your location,” I scolded, knowing very well I was putting my foot in my mouth.
“Why? Because some crazy creeper might pop up out of nowhere? There is no way you got there that fast. Were you following me?”
“No! Look,” I exhaled, “I know this is going to sound like a crazy coincidence, but I was only a couple bars down. With my team. I was released today, and they wanted to celebrate.” I blurted everything out as quickly as I could manage. “I saw you were close by and—"
“And stopped by and lied to me.”
“I— Fuck. Look—”
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head, pulling her hand away, and I begrudgingly let her go. “This is too much. You don’t even like me, and now you show up.”
“It was a coincidence.”
“Even so. Maybe it was. But you didn’t say hi. You don’t even like me.”
“Stop saying that!” I clipped, and the cutest little lines formed over her brow. Fuck, why was I getting so damn turned on pissing her off?
“Why? It’s true!” I hated she thought that. Without thinking, I reached for her. My hands at her hips pulled her close to me, flush against me.
“Joy, that’s the furthest thing from the truth you could get!” I gritted. “God! You drive me crazy!”
“Good.”
“Good?” I repeated. Frustration and sexual tension broke free, swirling in my veins. She felt too good right in front of me. A breeze washed through us, giving my over-heated body some relief. “No, that’s the last thing it is.”
“Well, sorry,” she mumbled, but I could feel it.
She wasn’t scared of me. Her nipples were poking through the material of her bra and top, grazing against my chest. My hands stroked her lower back, and I dropped my face a little further.
“I can’t sleep. I can’t think. Not without you being in each and every thought.”
“Obsessed much?” she sassed, slightly breathless.
“You have no idea.”
“It’s really you?” she asked as she pulled back. I braced, ready for her to push me away, not that she did. Her hands rested at my chest and slid up to cup my face as she looked at me.
“It’s me,” I confirmed. Before my accident, I’d never been self-conscious about my looks. I was an okay-looking guy. But the scars that lay beneath my clothes had me doubting myself.
“You’re kinda cute,” she observed with a small teasing smile. “You should have just told me who you were.”
“I know. I kinda… I’m not the greatest with people.” Her lips twitched.
“Linus?” Her brow rose, and I shrugged.
“I freaked,” I confessed, making me feel completely exposed. And not in a good way. My only saving grace was the way her eyes softened as she stared at me.
“Why? It’s just me,” she whispered as her thumbs stroked my jaw line. Just her. She had no fucking clue just how important she was. How much she had shaken up not only my life but my world. All due to her letters. And I could only blame myself for being that much of an asshole I was.
“I got discharged today.”
“I see that.” She bit down on her lower lip. “You didn’t mention that last night,” she softly observed. Her hands dropped to my shoulders.
I rested my forehead against hers. “I didn’t want you to stop writing to me,” I confessed. She rolled her eyes before pulling back completely, and my body missed hers immediately.
“That’s silly.” She shook her head. “I’d still write.”
“Can we start over?” I asked, hoping to god she would give me a chance. Praying I hadn’t lost my shot and she would walk away. Her shoulders rose and dropped, and my heart sank as she started to turn around.
I’d fucked up.
She was walking away.