Secrets We Hunt (One Night #2)(3)

“Hi,” she breathes.

“Do you guys know each other?” Quin all but shouts over the music, still half-heartedly dancing.

“Barely,” I tell her, letting my eyes leave Zo?’s for a moment to look at Quin. She hesitates before someone else comes up and steals her away. She motions with two fingers from her eyes to mine, letting me know she’s watching me. I laugh and wave as she gets pulled through the crowd of people.

“Barely?” Zo? asks, her face in a mask of smugness, but I know her well enough to know there’s some hurt under there at my brush-off.

“It was an honest answer,” I tell her. “I haven’t spoken to you in, what? Eight years? I’d say I barely know you anymore.”

“Fuck off, Wesley,” she says, using my full name like I’m a kid. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” She rolls her eyes and brushes past me, bumping into my arm with a pretty hard push for such a tiny thing. I smile and turn to follow her.

There’s nowhere to go, Little Doe.





CHAPTER TWO





I watch her ass as she walks in front of me. That fabric clings to it perfectly as it moves and, God, I want to reach out and grab it. She isn’t the little girl I knew anymore. She grew up, got curves, and got an attitude.

“Stop following me, Wesley!” she says over her shoulder, flipping me off.

“It’s a small yacht,” I tell her, getting close enough to reach out and touch her. “Where do you want me to go? Especially when there’s no one else I’d rather be talking to.”

She stomps down the stairs to the deck below with surprising agility.

“You move pretty easily in those stripper heels, Zo-Zo,” I call after her as I follow her down. The music isn’t as loud down here, but I still say it loud enough for others to hear. “Something you want to tell me?” I smile as she turns on me, her entire neck and chest lit up with embarrassment. She looks at the people around us who glance in our direction before turning her narrowed gaze back to me.

“When did you become such an ass?” she asks me.

“When some girl broke my heart,” I say in an exaggerated tone, pouting and clasping my heart.

“Sarcasm to cover your actual feelings?” she asks as she walks closer to me. Her scent invades my personal bubble, and I can’t help but inhale it into my lungs. She still has that same floral scent in her hair, and it drives me fucking insane. “How mature of you.”

“Who said it was sarcasm?” I lean close to her, making her crane her head back to look at me. Her eyes glance down to my lips before she catches herself, and I smile. I’m giving myself a tally for that. Wes, one. Zo?, none. “Maybe you did break my heart, Zo?. You disappeared without a word.”

“Like I said, Wes,” she says, closing her eyes and moving a bit further into my space. “Fuck off.” I can feel the heat coming off her body. I can’t stop myself from reaching out and wrapping my hand around the back of her neck, tangling those soft curls in my fingers. My thumb traces the line of her jaw. When she opens her eyes again, they’ve softened a bit.

“Tell me, Little Doe,” I whisper as I pull her as close as she possibly can be. Her body presses against mine, and her hands land on my hips. “What exactly is it I don’t understand?” She chews on her bottom lip, and her eyes flit back and forth between mine.

“What don’t I understand about my best friend leaving me behind, not telling me goodbye, not giving me a reason, just fucking off without a word?” I continue. “Was I not good enough for you? Poor little Wes with his dead parents and no money to his name. You left me behind to go chase your dreams and better yourself. What about that am I not getting?”

“Wes,” she says in a warning tone, her hands moving up my body to rest and push against my chest. But I just cling on harder, giving her head a gentle shake.

“Zo?,” I mimic, brushing my lips across her jaw. She sucks in a deep breath, and I feel her relax against me. In that split second, I step away, leaving her swaying a little too far forward in those heels. She swings her arms out, trying to catch her balance.

Once she does, she swings around on me and pushes me hard in the chest. As to not bruise her ego even further, I let her shove me a step back. I wag my eyebrows at her.

“Get fucked, Wesley. You have absolutely no idea of what I went through and why I had to walk away. And let’s not forget that you could’ve chased me. But you didn’t.” She points her finger at my chest. “You sent me, what? Five texts? Maybe one phone call? And then nothing. You let me go, and you didn’t have to. So don’t put all the blame on me, asshole. If I was so important to you, you could’ve come after me.”

She walks off again toward the next flight of stairs, and I chase after her. She’s picked up her pace, her hair bouncing behind her as she practically runs down step after step.

“You don’t get to throw stones at me,” she says as she continues her pace down the walkway. I look out over the ocean to my right as I follow her, taking in the sun finally trying to dip below the surface of the water. “You are just so fucking clueless, Wes,” she groans, pulling my full attention back to her.

“Where are you going?” I finally ask her, trying to keep up with her.