Contrite ✓

Chapter 18.

          harry.

The night was insanely busy and I felt sweat trickling down my back. But I loved it — the loud music, the dancing people, the whole atmosphere. Nights like these were my chance to momentarily forget about my lame excuse for a life.

But even in my most relaxed state, I felt a constant worry rest in my stomach. Cole could appear out of nowhere, whenever he felt like it. In a way, he actually wasn't that different from Batman.

And he also knew exactly how to ruin people's good moods.

I shook my head and tried to avoid thinking about that scum. I eyed the desperate girls in front of me. They were shamelessly flirting with me, letting their tits rest against the counter while they rolled strands of hair around their fingers.

One girl was pouting her lips, her tongue sneaking out to wet her lower one. She was pretty hot and I offered her a grin. She gestured to the beer taps and help up two fingers. I poured her drinks and when I gave her the change, she slid a paper across the bar to me.

Putting the note in my back pocket, I turned to the next girl. I didn't want to fuck some random chick. The only one taking up my mind with those kind of thoughts were unavailable and I had told her to stay away. It hadn't done any wonders to my mind however. Ella was constantly there, reminding me of the life I could've lived if I never went to New York. It was maddening.

When I leaned forward and tilted my head so the girl could shout her order in my ear, my heart skipped a beat.

Ella was standing farther down the bar, looking more beautiful than I'd ever seen her. The black dress hugged her curvy body in all the right places and she her straight hair flowed down her back in the most mesmerising way.

But what got to me the most, was her smile. She looked so happy and carefree. Was she here with the douche? I wanted to know who made her smile like that.

Just then Dylan reached out to take her money and I saw him fucking pet her hand. She blushed and giggled, which made me frown. When he leaned over the bar towards her, I stood up and ignored the girl in front of me trying to order. I couldn't look away as I saw Ella giggle again, then lean forward and place her ear to Dylan's mouth.

I knew exactly what she smelled and felt like in that spot.

What the fuck was he doing? He needed to back off. My nails were pressing hard into the skin on the inside of my hands, but the pain was nothing compared to the ugly feelings developing inside of me.

When I was about to stalk over and push him away, Ella turned her head and caught me staring. Her eyes widened and her lips started to pull up into a smile when she saw me. But as soon as she noticed my stance, the almost-there smile dissolved.

No baby, I'm not happy.

She backed away from Dylan and let her eyes dart between the two of us, before she picked up the two drinks he had made her and walked away. I watched her back until she was swallowed up by the crowd.

Dylan came over and gave me a confused look. "Hey, you know her or something?"

"You could say that," I bit out.

"Whoa, calm down, man. I was just flirting a bit. She was really beautiful," he said and held his hands up defensively.

"I know that," I spat. "Don't ever try to get into her pants, you hear me?"

Dylan shook his head. "You seriously need to chill. What the hell? I didn't know you had dibs on her. Of course I'll step back."

Realising I was acting like a maniac, I took a deep breath and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Sorry, man. It's just. . . Shit, it's a long story and I don't want to talk about it right now. As long as you stay away from her, I won't come at you again."