Filthy English (English #2) - Ilsa Madden-Mills Page 0,76

back. Alexandria had taken her shot and now they stood against the wood paneling of the wall. She stood in front of him, her back pressed into his chest. I imagined her melting into him like I always did.

Don’t think about them together.

I sucked in a breath, willing myself to not stare at them. But I couldn’t stop. I wanted to march up to Alexandria and pluck every bleached hair out of her head. Maybe her eyeballs too.

Lulu had obviously seen them too. She gave my hand a squeeze. “Ah, Alexandria. You know, girls with five syllable names are all huge sluts. Always. We proved this theory freshman year when we met Eva-Maria.”

I gave her a small smile. “I have three syllables.”

“You’re just a tiny bit of a slut,” she said.

“I love you.”

“Awe. Love you too.”

We toasted our drinks, and I drained mine. I held up my empty glass. “Looks like I need another one.”

Hartford found me near the end of the bar with another tequila in my hand. As he strode over to me, I pushed out a smile. Wearing a pale blue shirt that drew attention to his blond hair and a pair of preppy plaid shorts, he sat on the barstool next to me. His handsome face seemed tense. Dax’s party hadn’t been his idea of a great time. He’d only come because I’d asked.

“Hey, you disappeared for a while,” he said.

“Yeah. Went to the bathroom and decided on a drink.” I tipped back the rest of the shot.

“That doesn’t seem like you.” Earlier I’d told him I wasn’t drinking since classes started tomorrow and I wanted to be at the top of my game. He swept my hair back so he could see my face more clearly. He sighed, the heat from his body warm and safe and familiar as his fingers touched my cheek and trailed down my jawline to my lips. “There are times when I feel like I don’t know you at all, Remington.”

There was an odd sadness in his eyes.

I started. “What do you mean?”

He slid his eyes from me to the hallway where the restrooms were.

Had he seen us?

“Do—do you mean since we took our break? Or since forever?”

He clutched the beer he held, took a long drink, and set it down carefully as if he was thinking through each motion. “Both. I don’t know. I mean, you come back from London and you’ve got this wild hair and you seem—different. You’re not soft anymore—you seem like you might break.”

He paused. “You don’t look at me the same way.”

I faced him, my knees between his, not wanting any of the other people standing around to hear us. “There’s a hole in us—somewhere—and you saw it, and now you want me to suddenly patch it up.”

His hand cupped my nape. “But do you want me back?”

I wanted the guy who’d make me happy.

“So much has changed.”

“I haven’t.” He pulled me in with his hand, and for a long moment, he stared at me, searching my face. “I still love you, Remi, no matter what you’ve done.”

What did that mean?

He kissed me, his lips cold, his tongue bitter from the beer.

“Finish your drink. Let’s get out of here,” he said as we pulled apart. “There’s hardly anyone here I like anyway.” He tossed money on the bar to pay for my drink.

I blinked at the suddenness, my eyes scouring the room for Dax. “Isn’t it rude to leave so soon?”

“I want to be alone with you.”

Not now. Not after Dax. I couldn’t.

“Hartford . . .” My voice was hesitant. I plucked at my bracelet, and his eyes widened.

“Remi! Where did you find it?”

I looked down. My chest ached. God, that moment in the bathroom. “Dax.”

His eyebrows slashed down. “How did he find it?”

“I—he just gave it to me tonight . . . I don’t know.”

“Yeah?” His eyes went to my lips.

I licked them, knowing they were swollen. “He didn’t say how.”

“He just handed it over and walked away?”

I shrugged.

“When did this happen?” he asked.

“Earlier. In the hallway.”

I was lying to him.

This wasn’t right. I couldn’t do this. I was an awful person.

He took my hand and helped me down off the stool, an urgency to his movements as we moved around the bar.

“Wait,” I said. We’d gotten to the front door ready to head out. “Shouldn’t we tell Dax goodbye? It’s—it’s his party.”

Hartford’s lips thinned, but he nodded, his eyes already scanning the room until they lasered in on the pool tables. Holding