Coming Home

“Actually, I’m not. I’m over this whole thing. Which is why I want to be left alone,” she said, stepping to the other side.

This time he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back in front of him.

“Take your hand off me,” she said, her voice low but firm.

She was not in the place to deal with this tonight; she had already been teetering on her breaking point before they’d even walked through the doors of the bar. She had nothing left for him.

He leaned in and cupped her face in his hand. “I can’t let you go. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I still want you, Leah. I still want us.”

She leaned back and his hand slipped from her face, but he tightened his hold on her wrist so that she couldn’t walk away.

“Scott, knock it off. You’re hurting me.”

“You don’t think I’m hurting?”

Leah closed her eyes and shook her head. She needed to change her approach. She needed to stop antagonizing him. If she had any hope of putting some distance between them, she was going to have to placate him.

“Look,” she said. “I don’t want to make a scene. Let’s not do this here. We can talk, but just not here, okay?”

His eyes searched hers before she felt his hand go slack on her wrist. “Okay,” he said. “Where, then?”

Leah slipped her wrist out of his hand, and before she could answer, she felt someone grip her other hand and pull her away. She glanced up just as Da

“Is everything okay over here?” he asked, his eyes appraising her quickly before settling back on Scott.

“Hey, buddy, no one needs you to play the hero. We know each other, okay? This is none of your business.”

Scott reached for Leah’s arm, and Da

“She is my business,” he said, his voice disconcertingly calm. “And if you put your hands on her again, we’re go

Scott looked at Da

Leah tugged gently on Da

“Yeah, let her handle this.”

“Scott,” Leah barked, and Da

“I’ll take care of this, okay? And then we’ll leave. We’ll go somewhere else.”

Da

Leah forced a smile. “I’m fine. I’ll be okay. Let me handle it.”

Da

She nodded as she leaned in and kissed him quickly, and as Da

“So, I guess that’s your man?” Scott said, his brow quirked in amusement. “He’s a little overprotective, don’t you think?”

“Scott, listen to me,” Leah said gently, trying to appeal to the kindness she remembered in him, because even though she knew those three years were based on lies, she needed to believe there was something good in him somewhere, some part of him that might still care enough about her to do the right thing. “This is over, okay? Whatever your reasoning was for doing what you did, it’s never go

He shook his head slightly. “You’re not looking past your anger. You’re not remembering what this was like,” he said, trailing the back of his finger down her arm.

She moved it out of his reach. “You don’t get it. It’s not about me being angry. It’s about me knowing that I don’t want to be with you.”

A flash of hurt registered behind his eyes at her words, but it was gone before she could react to it. “Is it because of this asshole?” he asked, nodding over her shoulder.

Leah glanced over to see Da

“We were over long before this,” she said, “but if you really want to know, then yes. I don’t want anyone but him.”

Scott stared at her for a moment, his eyes searching hers. “Kiss me,” he said suddenly.

“What?”

“Kiss me,” he repeated. “If you can honestly tell me you feel nothing after kissing me, then I’ll let this go.”

“I don’t need to kiss you to know that I feel nothing.”

His mouth lifted in a faint smile. “See? You’re scared,” he said. “You’re scared because you remember what it was like. How I made you feel. What I could do to your body. You remember. And you know that if you kiss me, you won’t be able to deny it,” he said, bringing his hand back to her face.

Leah took a step back, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Da

Her heart leapt into her throat, and she knew she needed to end this immediately.

She reached up and removed his hand from her face. “Okay, that’s enough. Stop calling me, stop texting me, and stop sending me things. If you really care about me the way you say you do, then you’ll respect what I want. And it’s not you.”

And then everything seemed to happen at once.

She turned away from Scott and started walking toward Da

Her hands flew to his chest, pushing against him, but he had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist and his other hand clutching the back of her head, holding her mouth securely against his. Leah whimpered, and he took it as a sign of encouragement, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

And then his mouth was gone as she was yanked backward.

Her eyes focused just in time to see Scott with his arm cocked back, ready to swing at Da

“No!” she yelled. “Don’t!”

Scott swung, co

“Da

She hurtled forward, attempting to grab his arm, but he pulled it easily from her grasp as he swung at Scott, hitting him square in the mouth. She went to grab him again, but she was jerked back suddenly.

Instantly, a group of men converged on them, blocking them from her sight. Someone’s arm was wrapped firmly around her waist, but she didn’t fight against whoever it was. Instead she stood there, looking on with panic as the group of men undulated with the struggle before they finally broke apart.

Two of the men, who she could now see were bouncers, dragged a still-shouting Scott toward the back exit, his mouth covered in blood.

She turned just in time to see Da

Leah attempted to follow him, but the arm around her waist pulled her back. “Are you out of your mind trying to get between those two?”