"I told you you I don't … " It was pointless to deny. She might not be mine. She might not be what I told myself I wanted, but Roan could read me. Even if I didn't admit it, she had infected every part of my life. I didn't bother lying to him. "Willow. Crazy white chick with hair that goes on forever and ass like you wouldn't believe." I took a breath, knowing I couldn't pretend that was all that drew Willow to me. "She also is funny and weird as hell and I can't get her out of my head."
Roan nodded, working his fingers over his beard like he needed a minute to decide what advice to give me. Finally, when he nodded again, some silent decision that seemed to satisfy him, the smile returned to his face. "Good. You go to her and you tell her all the things you think make sense. You tell her you'll do whatever she wants to keep her. You tell her you're no good without her."
"I never said I was sprung."
The laughter was loud again and I hated that it was me and my miserable life that seemed so funny to him. "Hell, Nash you are. Maybe not bad, but you're getting there." Roan stood, slapping me on the shoulder. "There's worse things in life than been all sprung over a woman."
"Like?" I asked because I couldn't imagine anything worse.
Roan's eyes sparkled then, lit with something that brightened his dark skin. "Not being with one at all."
Nash
The lobby was dark when I finally made it back to our building and the silence, the eerie quiet put me on alert. There were only two people near the elevators, and I might have not noticed anyone at all, except one of them was Willow. Her back was to me, so she hadn't seen me, and I just stood there watching her twist a strand of her chaotic hair around her finger. Then came her laugh, sweet, high pitched, and I noticed with a start that she was laughing with the guy standing next to her. That's when the alert I was already on flared and my temper made me a little hot.
She wore an oversized sweater and tights, boots that hit above her knee and a chunky scarf that made her looked like she'd prepared for a hay ride in the country and not a Friday night sitting in front of her T.V. or, whatever it was that crazy chicks like Willow did when they weren't reading auras and basically messing with the calm of complete strangers.
"So," the guy said, as he leaned against the wall right next to the elevator. "You think that'll work for you? Next weekend?"
"Yeah. Sure." She sounded so excited, so upbeat.
Funny thing about jealousy; it stings a lot more when you're the one feeling it which made no damn sense in the least. I wanted her out of my hair. I wanted Willow to stop blocking my focus and keep clear of me. From the looks of it, she was working on doing just that. So why the hell did me seeing some burley looking guy that was too pretty to be anything more than a punk standing a little too close to Willow, speaking with a tone that he definitely wouldn't use if he was hanging with his boys bother me so much? There was too much sweetness in his question, and it made me want to tussle with him until he stayed the hell away from her.
"Alright then, lucita. I'll see you next weekend." The asshole nodded at me as he walked away, but I didn't bother to return the gesture. I was too damn focused on ignoring Willow as she watched me reach in front of her to push the up button.
"Nash?" she said, standing next to me as we waited for the elevator to hit the lobby.
"What's up?"
I could feel her eyes on me, that cool, calculating stare like the sun against my face, but I took a breath, not looking at her as I pushed down the need to ask her who the hell that guy was and why she'd been talking to him. I hated feeling this way-out of control and unable to handle myself, even if I kept silent. But damn, it bothered me that Willow was getting attention from anyone else - and bothered me even more that it had worked my nerves.
"Nothing's up," she said, looking up at the display as the numbers above the elevator got lower and lower. "So I guess you're still denying the obvious."
My breath was loud as I exhaled, regretting that I hadn't taken the stairs the second I spotted Willow in the lobby. But it had been a long night coming back from Roan's and the lack of sleep and the stress of everything surrounding me had made me exhausted; my body felt like dead weights locking my feet to the tile floor as I stood there.
"Willow, I'm not in the mood."
"Oh you don't have to tell me." She looked to her left and I glanced at her, held back a head shake when she moved her gaze up and down my body. "Your aura is off again." She waited a beat and I could have timed her next question down to the second. "You want me to … "