Sugar

50

chapter fifty
florence thompson
song: sometimes - chelsea cutler

I wanted to turn and run exactly then, more than I had when we'd walked into the room. He looked more handsome than I remembered him, and I wondered momentarily if he'd been struggling as much as myself, at that I nearly laughed.

Of course he hadn't been, he understood our relation much more than I ever did. He knew the lines he could comfortably cross without becoming attached to me, or anyone for that reason, he'd been doing it for awhile now. He never got feelings mixed and muddled like I had, letting the lines blur together.

I'm sure he had been just fine.

I zoned out as Julia continued on, my gaze locked on Vincent as a feeling of complete unwelcomeness washed over me. To see them here together, like I had been with him at that charity event, was a hard slap in the face. Not even as an insult, just a huge reality call.

All this time I had been able to push the image aside because I'd never seen it in person other than when he visited her at that charity event, but this was different. This was where he seemed so at ease as he gleamed up at her, he seemed happy.

I couldn't blame him.

She probably didn't show up unannounced, and even if she did, I bet she at least showed up to have sex with him. Something I could've never given Vincent.

I sighed, and just as I went to tear my gaze away after everyone erupted into cheers after Julia's speech, Vincent's mismatched gaze floated through the sea of people and much to my displeasure, landed on me.

Not only on me, but me holding the hand of Sebastian Vanderbilt.

His expression switched in a matter of moments from passive, easy, happy even, to something much more complex and confusing. Something with an underlying tone of annoyance and anger.

The feeling that had drowned me when he'd yelled at me that night seemed to come back tenfold as I tore my eyes away from his, glancing down around the room as I tugged my hand away from Sebastian's, crossing my arms loosely around my midsection.

My heart was thumping so rapidly in my chest, making me feel like I was going to pass out at any second.

"Hey, I'm going to go talk to someone real quick. I'll be right back, will you be okay?" Sebastian's voice pulled my attention over to him where he was looking down to me, a worried expression on his features.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I answered, smiling lightly as I looked up at him, trying to reassure him as best I could.

He nodded, taking off and disappearing into the groups of people completely after a moment. I released a sigh after I lost track of him, hesitantly moving my gaze back over to where Vincent had been but he wasn't there any longer.

Part of me was thankful since the thought of him catching me looking at him was wildly unnerving, and very unwelcome at a time like this.

I dropped my hands in front of me, wringing my hands together nervously. I knew two people here, one of which was unbelievably angry with me, that I absolutely didn't want to face, and the other that had disappeared.

I nearly screamed when a pair of large hands gripped my waist from behind, about to turn around and smack the shit out of the person who happened to have no personal boundaries, when a familiar, smoky voice spoke in my ear.

"Follow me," Vincent whispered into my ear, and just like every other damn time that he told me to do something, or placed his hands anywhere on my body, my brain turned to literal mush and I followed his command.