“Hey beautiful,” he said, rubbing his thumbs over her stomach through the fabric of her shirt.
After a stunned second she turned in his arms, using her hand on his chest to push him away. He took a step back, relinquishing his hold on her, but he smiled.
“You look incredible,” he said, and she shook her head.
“Scott, don’t—”
“We need to talk,” he said, his face growing serious.
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Fine. Don’t talk then. Just listen.”
“I don’t want to do this now,” she said, stepping to the side in an attempt to walk around him, but he picked up on it immediately, stepping forward and putting his hands on the bar on either side of her.
“You won’t do it anywhere else,” he said smoothly. “I’ve tried.”
She looked down at his arms, caging her in, and then she lifted her eyes to his, her expression steely.
“Just let me say this. She meant nothing to me, Leah,” he said, and she scoffed before rolling her eyes. “I mean, we worked together, and she was constantly flirting with me, and I just…I was under a lot of stress, and she was always there, right in front of me. I mean, shit, a man can only take so much temptation. I had to get it out of my system. But it didn’t mean anything. She didn’t mean anything.”
As Scott spoke, she stared over his shoulder, her expression disinterested as she searched the bar for any sign of her sister and Kyle.
“I know you’re mad because I didn’t come out after you, but I knew you needed some time to calm down—”
Leah whipped her head toward him, her expression incredulous as a tiny laugh escaped her lips. “So, what? You figured you’d just finish fucking her while I cooled off?” She laughed outright then, shaking her head. “You know, for all the time you’ve had to plan this speech, you’d think it would be a little less pathetic.” She pushed his arm off the bar and took a step past him.
Scott stepped back and to the side in one swift movement, blocking her path. “I know you’re still upset—”
“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 Danny drew her against his side, his eyes trained on Scott.
“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 Danny used his hold on her to pull her partially behind him, shifting his body in front of her.
“She is my business,” he said, his voice disconcertingly calm. “And if you put your hands on her again, we’re gonna have a problem.”
Scott looked at Danny, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smile, and Leah’s heart began thudding in her chest. She didn’t like the look on Scott’s face, and at that moment, she didn’t care how much she hated him, or that he didn’t deserve a chance to explain himself. Her only priority became separating the two of them.
Leah tugged gently on Danny’s hand. “We do know each other,” she said, and Danny looked down at her, his jaw relaxing slightly. “Please, just let me handle this.”
“Yeah, let her handle this.”
“Scott,” Leah barked, and Danny’s eyes widened before they flew back to him. As soon as Danny realized who he was, the muscle in the side of his jaw flickered, and Leah immediately brought her hand to his face, pulling his attention back to her. He looked down again, but this time his expression didn’t soften.
“I’ll take care of this, okay? And then we’ll leave. We’ll go somewhere else.”
Danny stared down at her, hesitating as his eyes searched hers. She knew he must have seen the panic there—that he attributed it to her being uncomfortable about talking to Scott, when in reality she was afraid of what would happen if she didn’t talk to him.
Leah forced a smile. “I’m fine. I’ll be okay. Let me handle it.”
Danny dropped his eyes, his jaw still flexing as he inhaled. “I’ll be right over there, okay?”
She nodded as she leaned in and kissed him quickly, and as Danny straightened, his eyes turned to Scott. He held his gaze for just a moment before he turned and walked the few feet to the end of the bar.
“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 gonna be okay with me.”
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 Danny leaned up against the bar, his arms folded over his chest as he watched them.
“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 Danny unfold his arms as he straightened.
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.”