“I don’t know. I had three double shots, so I’m feeling pretty good right now.”
“You’re drunk.”
“I am and I’ve never been drunk before. I like it.”
“It feels good now. Tomorrow, not so much.”
“I leave myself in your capable hands, Kimber. All the times I got you home safe, it’s your turn to deal with me.”
“Done.” She leaned closer. “And Damian. Holy fucking hell. If he wasn’t the love of your life, I’d do him right here.”
And for some reason I found that hilarious.
Damian returned with a pitcher of water and bread. He poured me a glass then wrapped my hand around it. “Drink.”
“If I drink, I’m going to have to pee.”
“Drink, Thea.”
“Fine.”
I drank that glass and the two others he foisted on me and as expected, I had to pee ten minutes later.
“I’ll go with you,” Ryder offered.
She pulled me away from the table, but I looked back and leveled my best ‘I told you so’ face on Damian. “I’ll be peeing all night now. I might as well set up a table in the ladies’ room.”
Ryder yanked my arm almost out of its socket. “Ouch.”
“You’re an idiot. This is the first time in four years you’re seeing that incredible specimen of a man and you’re drunk.”
“He’s probably congratulating himself on his escape.”
“I don’t know if I should take you home or join the fun,” Ryder said.
“Join the fun. It isn’t likely I’ll be getting this stupid again anytime soon, but I have to say. I’m enjoying not feeling.”
We reached the bathroom and by some miracle there was no line. She saw me to a stall and shut the door, but I heard her mutter. “Set up a table in the ladies’ room.”
On the way back to the table a pair of gentleman waylaid us. They were attractive in a muscle head sort of way, but when compared to Damian…they were children.
“Want to dance?” The bigger of the two asked me. I didn’t want to dance because I was having difficulty putting one foot in front of the other. Attempting to dance would be a disaster.
Ryder was obviously thinking along the same lines when she said, “We have friends waiting.”
The big one looked behind us and I giggled when he looked up and continued to look up like something you would see in the cartoons. Clearly Damian was behind me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the back of the club.
“I’ll just see you back at the table, Thea,” Ryder called after us.
“Okay,” I called back then peered up at the dark angel that had a death grip on my hand. “He just wanted a dance.”
“And the fact you think that, is why I walked over.”
“I haven’t seen you in four years and I realize I’m not at my best at the moment, but you’re being awfully high-handed for a man who ran from me and never looked back.”
Did I just say that? By the steam that came from his ears, yes I had. We reached a dark corner and he pressed me up against the wall. The first time he had done that, the night of our first kiss, came flooding back in delicious clarity. “Is that how you remember it?”
It took a minute for my brain to move past the awesome memory and back to the discussion at hand. Right, him running. “Yep. Broke all ties with me, but you stayed in touch with Cam. That doesn’t hurt at all. It doesn’t really matter, does it? You have your life and I’ve got mine.”
His jaw clenched and for a second I saw that lost look in his eyes. I hated that look. “Are you happy?” he asked.
“I am. I’m finally able to say I’m happy and mean it. Are you?”
“I’ve found my place.”
He hadn’t answered my question, but I knew how much he needed to find where he belonged.
I was happy, but I would never be as happy as I had been with him. I couldn’t put that on him, not when he had finally found his place. My life was here and his was three thousand miles away.
“Are you going to continue to avoid me when I come home?” His voice was soft, with a hint of the Damian I remembered, and that damn organ in my chest ached. I couldn’t lie, he’d chosen his life and it wasn’t with me, but I couldn’t look into those eyes and lie.
“I’m not happy, not like I could be with you. I wasn’t trying to avoid you…well I was, but only because I’ve only just gotten a handle on it…of learning to live without you, but I’m still not doing so great with that. I miss you. Every day.”
And then he smiled and I wanted to weep. Instead I bit my tongue and fought to hold it all in. He brushed his thumb over my lower lip and my eyes closed as reality and an achingly sweet memory collided.