Run (19 page)
Authors: Amanda K. Byrne
He shrugged. “Worth a shot.” Screwdriver in hand, he bent over the knob while I poked around the shelves, looking for anything else that might be useful.
The screws were in tight, and there was much cursing involved before the first one came loose. The second one was mostly out when we heard footsteps and a drunken giggle in the hallway. He glanced over his shoulder, stuck the screwdriver in his pocket, and started banging on the door. I hurried over and added my fists to his, the door vibrating under the blows.
The knob rattled loosely, then turned, and I stumbled back, bumping into the guy trapped with me. His hand landed on my waist, hold tightening as my heels caused me to sway. I opened my mouth to thank whoever opened the door, and the words died in my throat.
Jonah stood in the hall, a tall, curvy blonde wearing a scrap of metallic fabric draped over him. His mouth dropped open in shock. “Hannah?”
No. I was seeing things. This was not happening.
The door started to close, and the guy holding me up lunged forward, with me still in his arms, catching the door before it shut us in again.
The four of us stood there, awkwardness spreading like honey, sticky and slow and surprisingly heavy. The blonde recovered first, her eyes narrowing. “You know, it wasn’t very nice of you to lead me on like that. Make me think you were into me and then go off and spend seven minutes in heaven with
her
.” She jerked her head at me. It wasn’t until the
her
that I realized she wasn’t talking to me, but the man behind me.
Jonah’s mouth was still gaping open like a fish. “What are you doing here?” Like he just realized the blonde was clinging to him like a monkey, he pulled at her arms and shuffled to the side.
I, however, did not. The hold my fellow captive had on me had softened and morphed, from a brace meant to steady and hold me upright to a source of comfort and protection. His front was flush against my back, his arm across my tummy, and his free hand on the door. “Lucy made me come,” I said.
We stared at each other, and my vision blurred. Why? Why was he here? Now? He was supposed to be in Berlin. Thousands of miles from here.
Lips brushed the tip of my ear, and sharp tingles shot down my spine. “Ready to go?” he murmured. I nodded, and we edged through the doorway and into the hall. The door slammed closed behind us, and I shuddered.
I nodded to Jonah and the blonde. “Have a nice evening.” Still secure in his arms, the man and I shuffled down the hall and into the fray, which had gotten louder and drunker in the ten or so minutes I’d been gone.
“Shit,” I whispered. Jonah had been here for mere minutes compared to me and had already snuggled up to someone new. Although maybe “snuggled” was the wrong word for it. He’d come in, took in the room in a quick sweep, picked off one of the herd, and, unless I was totally mistaken, was ready and willing to hook up with someone he’d met probably seconds before.
And I’d loved him. I was going to
marry
him. Obviously, my judgement could not be trusted.
Numbness crawled up my legs, and I started to sag. My new friend swore and tightened his arm, preventing me from collapsing in a heap.
He guided me through the mass of bodies toward the coat check near the front. The attendant was leaning on the counter, head bent over a phone, thumbs flying. “Hey, you got a chair in there?” Without waiting for an answer, we shuffled into the stuffy room. Another closet. A giggle bubbled up and burst out, the lone giggle cascading into hysterical laughter. The attendant took one look at me and abandoned her post, phone in hand.
I kept laughing. I laughed because if I didn’t, I’d start bawling, and Jonah didn’t deserve my tears. I laughed until my stomach ached with it. My laughter subsided, leaving me with the hiccups and a stranger holding my hands like I’d break at the slightest provocation. The concern in his eyes was hard to take, so I glanced around the room. Coats lined the walls, the lighting as dim as the rest of the place. “Another -
hic
- closet, huh?” I smirked. “R. Kelly would be proud.”
He burst out laughing, and my smirk widened to a grin. “Probably. But at least we’re not on the fifth floor.” He squeezed my hands. “So you’re Hannah? Alex.”
Alex. Simple. One syllable. “Hi -
hic
- Alex.” He stroked a finger over the back of my hand, and I drew in a breath. “Thanks for -
hic
- everything. You know.” I shrugged and lowered my gaze.
There was a commotion on the other side of the counter, and we both glanced over. Jonah stood on the other side, surprise written all over his face. “Hannah?
Hannah
.” He darted through the door and practically knocked Alex over in his haste to get to me. “Baby, are you okay?”
Alex sidled up and dropped a hand on my shoulder, and I wondered how I’d managed to earn so many good karma points, that a gorgeous man I barely knew had my back, with nothing in it for him. I reached up and fisted a hand in the front of his shirt. “Hey.”
Hic
. “Could you get me some water? Please?”
He regarded me steadily, carefully, then nodded once. After he left, I turned to Jonah. “What -
hic
- do you want?”
Jonah knelt in front of me, and the gesture was discomfortingly similar to how he’d proposed. “To see how you’re doing. You didn’t look too good a moment ago.”
And here I’d thought I’d handled it quite well. “How was Germany?”
Hic
.
For the first time since he walked through the front door, he looked uncomfortable. “Fine. Look—”
I held up a hand. “No.”
Hic
. “We’re not going to pretend everything’s all well -
hic
- and good between us. You left, decided you didn’t want to come back, and -
hic
- you didn’t want me there. It fucking hurt. A lot. I got over it.” Mostly. I was firmly in the kicking myself and regretting him stage. “Our story’s over -
hic
- and I wish you the best with whatever, and whomever, you want. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to -
hic
- sit here and listen to you.” Alex appeared in the doorway, holding a glass, and I almost wept with relief. I wasn’t lying; there was nothing left to say to Jonah. I held out a hand for the glass, and Alex stepped forward, pushing it into my hand.
I drank it in one, long gulp, then stood, locking my knees to keep from stumbling. “’Night, Jonah.” I placed the glass on the chair, flipped through the coats until I found mine, and walked out of the tiny room.
“Hannah. You can’t just
leave
.” Jonah’s voice followed me. “We need to talk.”
Got a Spotify account? You can listen to the complete
Run
playlist
here
.
“Sorrow” (acoustic) Bad Religion
“Afraid” The Neighborhood
“Rooster” Alice in Chains
“Trembling Hands” Temper Trap
“Short Change Hero” The Heavy
“Hurricane” Ms Mr
“Blue Moon” Beck
“The Pit” Silversun Pickups
“Bleed Like Me” Garbage
“Rain King” Counting Crows
“Pendulum” Pearl Jam
“Line of Fire” Junip
“Me and the Devil” Gil Scott Herron
“Woke Up in a Car” Something Corporate
“Another Shot” Lostprophets
“Breathe Me” Sia
“Pour It Up” Rhianna
“The Only Way (Is The Wrong Way)” Filter
“S & M” Rhianna
“Midnight City” M83
“Breaking the Girl” Red Hot Chili Peppers
About the author
When she’s not plotting ways to sneak her latest shoe purchase past her partner, Amanda writes sexy, snarky romance and urban fantasy. She likes her heroines smart and unafraid to make mistakes and her heroes strong enough to take them on.
If she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking hot chocolate, and trying not to destroy her house with her newest DIY project. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and no, it really doesn’t rain that much.
The Perfect Man
(available January 2016)
Broken Down
(available April 2016)
Game of Shadows
(available July 2016)
Game of Vengeance
(available October 2016)
Game of Lies
(available January 2017)
Copyright Amanda K. Byrne, 2015
Published by Radiodemon Publishing
Cover design by Rainey Cloud9
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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