“She’s mine,” I said into his face.

“Fuck you,” he said.

I hit him again.

Chapter Eighteen

I don’t hear anything from her. How much time goes by? Everything feels so much longer when you’re hurting. I am so consumed by thoughts of her, that when a few people from work invite me to go out for drinks, I agree just for the distraction. Among the group is a girl who works in the accounting department and flirts with me relentlessly. Steve raises his eyebrows when he sees me leaving with them.

“A word of advice,” he says, as I stop in his office to say goodbye. “When you’re in love with a woman, you shouldn’t get involved with other women.”

“Noted,” I say. “Though, I would like to offer that she is probably sleeping with another man as we speak.”

“You still think she’s coming back to you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because she always does.”

He nods as if that settles things.

We land up at an upscale martini bar in Fort Lauderdale. I leave my suit jacket in the car and loosen a few buttons on my shirt. One of the girls smiles at me as we walk toward the bar. I think her name is Asia spelled Aja.

“Your ass looks great in pinstripes,” she says. My buddy, Ryan claps me on the back. I’ve known him since college. Steve gave him a job when we graduated as a favor to me. Turns out he’s pretty good at what he does. Ryan looks at Aja with mock sympathy.

“This guy,” he smirks, “is not going to sleep with you.”

Aja grins. “That would be a new experience for me.”

I laugh and really look at her for the first time. She reminds me of Cammie.

“Broken heart?” she asks, ignoring Ryan who is trying to insert himself between us.

“Something like that.”

“I specialize in those.” She winks at me, and now she reminds me of Leah. I shiver involuntarily. I don’t want to be reminded of Leah.

“I’ve grown attached to my broken heart. I think I’ll keep it.” I hold the door open for the girls, who file in one by one. Aja waits for me on the other side of the door, and I inwardly groan. I’d rather not spend the night fighting off advances from a woman I’m not interested in. On the other hand, she’d be no work at all. I don’t like that. Women hold all the power. They should use it like a whip, not offer it up like a sacrifice.

I haven’t done the group bar scene since I was in my early twenties. I buy the first round, hoping that buying drinks will make up for the fact that I’m about to slip away from their group and drink on my own.

Aja finishes her martini in two sips and decides to make me her sole prey for the night. She is joined by Lauren from the accounting department. I’ve tried for the last ten minutes to have an adult conversation with the two of them, but if I talk about anything other than office gossip and movies, their eyes glaze over. Aja suggests that we leave and go to her place.

A whip, I mentally tell her. Use it as a whip.

“Dude,” Ryan says when they’re distracted by their third round of shots. “You could have both tonight if you wanted to. Loosen up, man. Every time Olivia is around, you become celibate.”

I love Ryan, but in that moment, I want to slam my fist into his jaw. I stand up, looking around for the bathroom.

“I didn’t mean anything,” he says, catching the look on my face. I nod and pat his shoulder as I walk by to show no hard feelings.

My friends never liked Olivia. None of them could understand how a man that went from sleeping with every girl on campus could wait to cash in on a girl’s virginity for two years.

Ryan had relentlessly tried to get me to cheat, to the point where I’d eventually stopped hanging out with him.

My other friends had been no less direct.

“She’s a f**king c**k tease. There are other girls who look like her.”

It was true … most of it. She wasn’t an intentional c**k tease, but that didn’t mean that ninety percent of the time I was with her, I didn’t have blue balls. There might have been other girls who looked like her, but there was no one who moved like Olivia. She was like water. She moved through everything no matter how hard it was. If there was something she couldn’t control, she’d flow right over the top of it and keep going.

I splash water on my face in the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. She’s in my eyes tonight.

I feel ridiculous being here. Clubbing like I’m a kid. I wipe my face and head out. I would say my goodbyes, call a cab, and stop acting like a twenty-year-old douchebag. I am weaving through the suddenly packed bar, when something flashes in the corner of my eye. An emerald green dress curved around a truly magnificent ass. Her hair is up, coiled like black snakes and falling down in places that make her look like walking sex. Two things happen: I get immediately hard, and I get immediately angry. Where the f**k is Noah? I search the crowd for his dark hair and can’t find it. Maybe he went to the bathroom. I flinch at the thought of meeting him at a urinal. I’ll wait here until he comes back, then I’ll call a cab and leave before they see me. I stand glued to my spot for five minutes.

Olivia. I should have known she’d do this. When her life is in turmoil, Olivia hides on the dance floor. I find it disturbing. The girl knows how to move, which makes every male in the near vicinity move toward her. I watch as she lifts her arms above her head and sways from side to side. I see Cammie’s blonde head bobbing around next to her, and I grit my teeth. I look to the bar where my group is still lingering, and then back to Olivia. In a split decision, I move toward her. I am shaking I am so angry. I want to get to her before she—

She climbs onto a speaker. I stop short. She now has her own stage, and everyone is watching her. Including me, I’m watching her. I stand transfixed. If what just happened in my pants is happening to the other men in the room … I need to get to her before I kill someone. Where the f**k is Noah? If he’s ever seen her dance, there’s no way he’d allow her to go out alone. Maybe they aren’t working things out. I brighten up at this. She’s dancing so seductively, a guy is trying to climb onto the speaker with her. Cammie smacks his back and shouts something at Olivia — who bends down to hear her. Her dress gapes and I see cle**age.

I shove someone aside and shoulder my way through her admirers. When I reach the speaker, I grab the guy by his shirt collar before he can hoist himself up and shove him to my left. Cammie turns around to see what’s happening, her eyes growing wide when she sees me. She tilts her head up to look at Olivia — who is still oblivious. All I can see are legs — toned, tanned — I reach up and wrap both hands around her waist, lifting her down. Her mouth drops open. I make sure to run the full length of her body down my own as I lower her.