Unable to look him in the eye, knowing he’ll see right through me, I refill my glass. “You don’t know a damn thing about Roman.”
“I know something bad must’ve happened or you sure as hell wouldn’t be here, and Broken Euphoria wouldn’t have canceled last night’s shit-show.”
My heart slams to a stop. “What?” I wheeze out.
“Saw something on Facebook that said your boy was an hour late and couldn’t spit the lyrics out once he finally showed. He dropped the mic and walked right off stage.”
Oh hell. Roman stuttered on stage? Have I managed to destroy his career?
“You look like you’re going to puke,” Chaz growls, slapping his fingers around my wrist. “Don’t lie to me, Is. What the hell did he do? Answer me or I’ll hunt him down and kick his ass!”
“It’s nothing he did, all right? It was all me!”
Still not satisfied, he shakes his head while sniggering. “You know, I figured some things out while you were gone. Roman Stone is the one who fucked you over all those years ago, isn’t he?” His grip becomes painfully tight. “He’s the reason you don’t want a relationship with me, right? Answer me, dammit!”
“Yes,” a deep voice rumbles from somewhere nearby. “I am the one who fucked her over.”
Almost choking on a sudden breath, I look over to meet Roman’s starry green gaze, and my hardened shell instantly cracks. I’m unable to look away as he heads in our direction, wrinkled clothing and messed hair evidence of the journey that brought him here. His overwhelming presence swallows the atmosphere of the bar and suddenly it’s just the two of us. We’ll forever be soulmates drawn together by love, but separated by unavoidable circumstance.
He dropped everything to find me. He’ll regret his decision once I tell him the reason I left.
His nostrils flare when he notices Chaz’s fingers still wrapped around my wrist. “I would suggest you let go of my girl,” he growls out, teeth bared. “I’ve had a real shit day, so I promise you don’t want to fuck with me.”
I swallow down a gasp. He’s still calling me his girl.
Chaz reluctantly releases his hand and wraps his fingers around his bottle of imported beer. “The way I see it, you’ve done a real shit job of taking care of your girl.”
“Don’t make this any harder than it already is,” I tell Chaz with a warning glare. Then my eyes swing back to Roman and I sense myself breaking all over again. “You shouldn’t have come here. You can’t just walk out in the middle of your tour.”
“That shit doesn’t matter to me right now. We need to talk and confront our issues head-on. I’m not letting you go this easily.” With a slow shake of his head, he plants his feet. “No more running, Belle.”
Eyes flickering between the two men, witnessing the tension building between them, one thing’s certain: If I don’t get Roman out of here, punches will be thrown. So I slug down the second glass of tequila before heading around to their side of the bar. When Roman slips his hand into mine, it feels so natural that I don’t fight him.
“Let’s get out of here,” I tell him.
My heart sinks when I realize it’s probably the last time he’ll ever want to touch me.
Once we’re sitting in the back of a four-door sedan, the middle-aged driver eyes Roman with recognition. I decide to hold back and not reveal anything until we reach my apartment, but the way Roman’s lips brush over the side of my head as he holds me tightly chips away at my resolve one heartbreaking second at a time. I never imagined our whirlwind reunion would end the same way it all started—holding my emotions in when all I want to do is kiss him until I can’t breathe.
Roman follows me up the stairs to our place and kicks off his shoes inside, silently waiting for me to direct him where to go. His willingness to make things right all but kills me as we enter the living room and he sinks into the armchair beside the couch.
“Brooke brought my father to last night’s show,” he blurts, leaning back against the leather material. His expression remains neutral as he adds, “But you knew that already.”
I almost miss the couch when I realize his father must’ve told him his version of how things went down. How else would he know that I had seen him? The heartbreaking truth settles with a hard lump in my throat as I blink rapidly back at him.
The man I’ll always think of as the love of my life flew all this way to tell me it’s over.
“What do you want me to say?” I whisper, swallowing against the sorrow building in my chest.