Pulled(21)
Author: A.L. Jackson

My fingers dug into Katie’s shoulder as I wil ed myself not to lose it in the middle of the restaurant. I couldn’t tel if I wanted to crash over the table and devour him or if I wanted to scream and pound his chest, releasing all the anger and hurt that he’d caused me in the last nine years.

I don’t know how long we stared at each other before Nicholas tugged on my elbow, anger burning on his face.

Katie looked at me with concern, and I pried my fingers from her shoulder, leaving Shane looking between Daniel and me in confusion.

Nicholas took over the situation, extending his hand across the table to Daniel, who had risen as we had approached. “You must be Daniel. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Nicholas Borel i.” Daniel barely acknowledged him, his eyes never leaving me for more than a second as he halfheartedly took Nicholas’s hand.

Nicholas frowned, shrouded in annoyance at Daniel’s obvious dismissal of him. still , he continued. “This is Shane Preston and his wife, Katie.” Nicholas gestured to them, and Daniel tore his eyes from me. “Nice to meet you both,” Daniel said and nodded, unease evident in his every move.

“And this is my beautiful wife, Melanie.” Nicholas presented me like the trophy I was.

Daniel’s eyes came back to mine, sadness pouring from them as he reached across to take my visibly trembling hand. A whimper escaped through my lips as my fingertips grazed his before he took my hand. Too long—it had been too long since I’d touched him. A flash of energy burned up my arm, my wounded heart pounding with its first true beats in nine years. Relief at the contact washed over my whole body, making my head spin and desire throb in my stomach as his warmth sped through my veins.

I couldn’t let go and neither could he, it seemed.

“Hel o, Melanie.” The words were soft but laden with need, each tumbling from his lips like a song. My cheeks burned red, the heat rising up my body and settling on my face.

I could only nod and swal ow.

A slight “ahem” from beside him caused him to reluctantly drop my hand. My arm felt heavy with the loss. I glanced to the left at the ridiculously beautiful woman sitting in the chair beside him, bile rising in my throat at the sight of her. She wasn’t even the same girl who’d taken my place.

Confusion clouded my head. My knees started to shake, and I grabbed the back of the chair to steady myself, trying to remain coherent. I’d never passed out before, but I was sure I was only seconds away.

I tried to focus as Daniel introduced Vanessa to everyone around the table. She leaned forward, taking each person’s hand before settling back into her seat.

My hands shook and my legs wobbled as

Nicholas pulled my chair out for me. For once, I was thankful for the false chivalry as I stumbled into my chair.

Nicholas took the chair to my right directly beside Daniel, and Katie sat to my left.

Katie kept glancing my way, but I tried to avoid her eyes. I gave in when she clenched my thigh with her hand, demanding my attention.

I snapped my head in her direction as she mouthed, “What’s going on?” I shook my head. I’d tel her later.

I kept my head down while the waiter came and took our drink orders, but the pul wouldn’t all ow it for long.

My eyes traveled up until they rested on Daniel’s face.

God, I missed him.

So many emotions raged inside me. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through dinner. Either I needed to run to Daniel or run from him, but I could do neither, so I sat and stared at the one person my heart cried out for every day.

I tried to pay attention to what was going on around me as Nicholas and Shane began to present their proposal to Daniel.

“So Daniel, I’m sure you’ll find…” Nicholas’s voice was a distant sound in my head, everything other than Daniel was a haze around me. I still had never seen a more beautiful man, but he was so different from the carefree boy I once knew. His hair was in utter disarray; the color had darkened with age, but still had natural light streaks. I longed to run my fingers through it the way I used to. His body was still firm, muscles toned and smooth, now maybe even thinner than he had been before.

But it was his eyes that broke my heart all over again. No longer did they glimmer with the joy that used to radiate from them. Instead, the intensity was gone, the life sucked from them. There had been a faint flicker of it as they first met mine, passing in the same instant.

The sadness surrounding his presence was

sickening, like a disease had taken over his body, and he had given up his wil to live. His cheeks were sunken, and there were dark bags under his eyes.

I had never wanted to comfort anyone more. I wanted to cal his name, to touch his face, to taste his lips. I wanted to assure him that my love for him was unending. I wanted to promise we could heal together. I wanted to forgive him, to forget about the past, to move on. There was one simple fact that held me back.

He didn’t want me anymore.

But seeing him now—my spirit couldn’t believe that. I could feel he loved me. But sometimes love just wasn’t enough. He needed more than I could give.

I looked at his wife or girlfriend, I wasn’t sure which, and jealously surged through my whole being.

Had he pledged his life to her, to love her forever?

Did he go to bed with her every night and pul her body against his, holding her the way he used to hold me? Did they have children waiting at home?

Sweat broke out across my forehead, and I swal owed back the bile that had risen in my throat.

If he had all these things, why was he so broken?

He had the same look on his face that I had every day when I looked in the mirror. He was nothing more than a shel of a person.

Daniel seemed to be struggling to listen to what Nicholas was saying. His gaze would travel to me and then snap back to Nicholas as if he was in a constant war with himself. I could almost feel his body drifting in my direction even though it stayed in place.

Nicholas kept looking at me and then back at Daniel, suspicion thick on his brow. While he had no idea who Daniel was, it was clear there was something going on.

“So, Daniel,” Nicholas handed him another sheet of paper. “If you take a look at this, you’ll see that we have the building permit outlined here. We should be able to get it through the city in four to six weeks.” Nicholas pointed something out on the paper, but Daniel did little more than glance at it before his eyes came back to me.

Nicholas tensed, his possessive nature getting the best of him, and he reached his hand out to stroke my face. I cringed away. He ran his hand down my face to rest on the side of my neck, his fingers digging into my skin. He leaned into my face as if he was going to kiss my cheek.