I had to get out of there. Trapped between the wall and a man that I couldn’t seem to not be attracted to. My rock and a hard place felt like they were closing in on me.
“Let me out,” I said, feeling my lungs contract. The tightness in my chest a warning that I needed to get as far away from Reid Travers as quickly possible. He’d hurt me once, he was surely capable of doing it again.
“You okay?” he asked and he removed his arm from around me. I didn’t have time to answer him, so instead I pushed my hands against his arm and shoulder until he slid out of the booth and stood for me to exit. My feet hit the ground and his hand caught my arm to help me stand.
“I told you before,” I said, jerking free of his grasp. “I’m just fine.”
Had I done something wrong in the last five minutes? When Georgia had waved us over in the bar, I’d taken it as a sign that Nora was on board with talking to me, but apparently she was not. We were all laughing at Georgia’s complete shutdown of Brett’s advances when Nora fled the scene like she was wanted for murder.
“What’s got her in such a hurry?” Brett asked as we all watched Nora exit the bar.
“It’s my fault,” Georgia said, nudging Hoyt’s side to get him to let her out of the booth. “I’ll go get her.”
“Wait,” I stopped her. “I’ll go. I have a feeling it has something to do with me.” Georgia stilled herself in the booth and when she didn’t protest, I knew I was right. The guys each gave me a go-get-her look. I’d go get her all right. Go get her and tell her that I was sorry if I made her feel uncomfortable tonight and that I’d missed her. I had a whole lot of other things to tell her too, but I didn’t plan to have that conversation standing inside or outside a bar. That was a private conversation we would be having.
Did she really hate me so much that my arm around her had set her off? It wasn’t even a move. I was just casually sitting there. Okay, well that was a lie. I might have accidentally grazed her shoulder with my fingertips, but how could I not? Her sitting there all perfect and irresistible in that little dress. I had to test the waters.
Epic fail.
“Nore,” I called out when I found her on the sidewalk, leaned up against the wall a few buildings down. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay, he asks now,” she mumbled sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest and anxiously rubbing her hand up and down her arm. I’m not sure if she thought she was speaking just to herself or if I was supposed to hear that part but I’m positive I wasn’t supposed to think it was cute. “You missed your chance to ask me if I was okay a long time ago,” she said louder. I’m positive I was supposed to hear that.
I leaned up against the wall next to her and let my head fall back. She was right. I’d screwed things up with her. I knew it. She knew it. Hell, everyone in that whole damn bar probably knew it now, if they didn’t already know it, especially after the way she ran out.
“Fair point,” I turned my head to look her in the eyes as I apologized, but she kept looking straight ahead. There was nothing or no one in front of us so I knew that she was purposely avoiding eye contact. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to ask. Whatever I did in there to make you get up and leave, I’m sorry.”
“You should be,” she said after a long pause. When she finally turned her head to look at me, her eyes were glassy and I knew it had nothing to do with the liquor she’d been drinking. She kept them locked on mine and looked anxious about whatever it was she was about to say. “Reid, you can’t just come back to town after seven years and sit down next to me like nothing ever happened. You can’t… touch me, Travers. I’m not one of your track bunnies and you can’t just—”
“I didn’t... I wasn’t trying to,” I placed my hands on her shoulders and turned her to face me. “I’m sorry. It just felt normal to sit next to you. I missed you.”