Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,4

But he didn’t. He threw open the heavy door and disappeared inside.

HAYDEN

I dropped onto the edge of my bed, burying my face in my hands. I knew I shouldn’t have gone out there.

Miracle worker?

On what fucking planet? The girl clearly had me confused with someone who cared about other people. If she knew me—knew the truth about me—she’d see I was the complete opposite.

But man, after sitting beside her in that tight red tank top and ripped jean skirt showing off her incredible legs, I couldn’t ignore the obvious. Very few could pull off the model body with girl-next-door face. She could. And did. Tenfold.

Even with the tears flooding her emerald eyes, a color I’d only ever seen in a tropical fish tank, she had the most flawless pale skin. Tiny freckles, unnoticeable from a distance, speckled her little nose. Pouty lips any guy would die to kiss, or enjoy in other creative ways, sat perfectly perched on her face. And the scent of vanilla rolled off her body like she bathed in it.

Jesus. Just thinking about her heated me in all the wrong places.

I fell back onto my bed, growling out my frustration. Since when did I start daydreaming about girls? That shit didn’t happen to me. Hot girls surrounded me on a nightly basis. I had my pick. No need to think about them when they weren’t around. I’d just replace them with the next.

Sure, this girl’s looks might’ve caused my boxers to stand at attention, but something else wound me tightly, irritated me, fucked with my head. Something I sensed watching her. Sitting next to her. Having her frail hand on my arm.

Pain.

It had to be the pain. Pain so prominent in her eyes it put me on edge. Made me jittery. Made me uneasy. Because I’d been there. I’d felt pain so severe, so intense, so relentless, I thought I’d die from it.

She was obviously dealing with some major shit. Major shit I was not equipped to deal with.

I gripped the sides of my head, digging my fingertips into my scalp just enough to cause a sting. And then, like clockwork, my anger kicked in. It never ventured too far, always lurking right below the surface, ready to erupt. It was the only emotion that came naturally. The only one I could rely on. The only one I could trust.

Who the hell did this girl think she was worming her way into my head? What gave her the right to make me concerned like the pussy I’d been for the past four days?

Maybe I didn’t know her name, but I knew her type. Girls like her only slummed it with guys like me to piss off their daddies. Their twisted way of getting them to fork over cash for jewelry, shopping sprees, and fancy cars.

I needed to snap the hell out of it. I lived in reality. And my reality didn’t include expensive gifts or happy endings.

ALEX

Twelve hours had passed since the stranger left me sitting alone on the picnic table. The same amount of time since I’d shed my last tear.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway causing me to spring from my aunt’s loveseat and hurry to the front door. I lowered my eye to the peephole and instantly my cheeks heated and my heart thundered in my chest. It was refreshing to know it still worked. To know I was capable of feeling more than just anger, sadness, and guilt.

The stranger’s eyes focused on the floor as he passed by with his head tucked down, stopping at the apartment diagonal to my aunt’s. His dark hair flipped at his ears and the back of his neck like he’d worn a ball cap all day and just removed it.

A blonde in her early twenties stepped up beside him, hanging sloppily on his arm. Her barely-there skirt and too-tight black halter top left little to the imagination. Then, like a cat on a scratching post, she rubbed her overexposed body up his side as he unlocked the door.

Classy.

Her seductive eyes never left his as she slipped inside his apartment. Oh, he was definitely getting some. And he totally knew it. By the looks of the girl, the whole building knew it.

“Watch out for that one.”

My entire body jolted before I spun around.

My aunt sat on the sofa with her eyes on her iPad. It had only been a month since our initial meeting, but her shoulder length dark hair, pouty lips, and green eyes still struck me