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My breath hitches when he takes a step closer to me, caging me in under the stairs. No one can see us from here and that thought provokes a shaky breath to leave my lips. Elijah is here, his broad frame as enthralling as ever, his smirk doing insane things to my stomach. I shouldn't give in to him, it's not the time nor the place. 

"Elijah," I whisper, the name coming out throatier than intended. 

His eyes darken as they focus on my lips, I can't help myself but look at his lips either. The overwhelming desire to kiss him is burning, I find him so incredibly tempting. He takes a step closer, his muscular body pressing against my smaller frame. My hands move on their own accord, landing on his chest where my eyes find his again. 

"I don't want to fight with you," He whispers, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear, the gesture leaving fire on my skin from his touch. 

My mind can't seem to catch up as he allows his finger to trail down the hot skin of my neck, his other hand grabs my hip firmly. I support my head on the house behind me, enjoying the way he's touching me. Slightly frustrated by how easily he can get under my skin, but a lot more turned on by the way he's making me feel. 

"We can't do this right now," I finally find my voice, the raspy tone wasn't intentional, but I'm so turned on and it's difficult to hide it. 

"I know, love," He says, his face coming closer, leaving a small kiss on the nape of my neck, my sweet spot. A breathy moan falls from my lips as Elijah groans slightly in response. "Dance with me?" He whispers and his hot breath caresses my ignited skin with every word. 

I barely manage the nod, before he grabs my hand in his rough one, leading me out into the light again. The dance floor is packed with guests, as Elijah swings me around dramatically, before grabbing my waist and pulling me against his body. 

My hands land behind his neck, he sways our bodies to the rhythm of the slow song. Our eyes meet and a fire erupts in my stomach, I'm so attracted to him it's becoming harder to ignore. Especially with how he's holding me right now, how our bodies fit perfectly like a glove, how the lightbulbs are the only thing illuminating his handsome features. 

"Did you arrive just now?" I find myself asking, to which he smiles slightly.

"I had to work, unfortunately, but I wouldn't miss out on Will's wedding for anything. Shouldn't we talk about how the conversation escalated last time we saw each other?" The challenge in his eyes is visible and I try to ignore the annoyance of the little voice in my head. No part of my brain wants anything to do with him, but my body wants every fucking part of him. 

Shaking my head, he distracts me by tightening his hold on my waist, "Not here, Elijah."

"Then where? You've been avoiding me for years by now and it fucking frustrates me," I'm not used to him being this open with how he's feeling and my widened eyes focus in on his honest ones. There is a fire hidden beneath those green irises. "I still don't know what happened between us three years ago, why did you run off? I know I said some stupid shit, but what made you drive away from everything we had?"

His words contradict the way he behaved that day where I ended things in Barnsley, "You didn't want me there. You cancelled our sessions without informing me, you ignored me for so many days. I made the decision to protect myself from possible heartbreak."

He shakes his head sadly, "You may have protected yourself, but you broke my heart, love. I'm sorry to say it like this, you deserve to know the truth of how much you meant to me. The truth of the matter is that I want and need to talk this through with you, I need you to know how sorry I am for the words I said. No part of me wished for them to push you into leaving Barnsley."

Not knowing what to say, I stare up at him and try to make sense of everything. He meant so much to me, but his way of throwing me out that day ruined me, I had to protect myself. "You had a choice, Elijah, don't make it sound as if you didn't. I sought you out that day, wanting to know what went wrong and you spat horrific things at me. You damaged me with your words and you made it pretty fucking clear how much you wanted me out of your life. I couldn't sacrifice myself like that."

Abruptly, striking hurt flashes in his eyes and my hands itch to cup his strong face, the shock from how traumatized he appears to be has me forgetting our conversation. "Elijah, what's on your mind? Please don't shut me out."

He shakes his head and pulls my hands away from his face, stepping off the dance floor he walks across the yard and away from my sight. Leaving behind a deep yearning to know what just transpired between us, something happened to him and I need to know what it was. 

Spotting Relly in the crowd, I hurry in her direction and she sees me immediately. My panicked expression must've freaked her out because she walks towards me, her cold hands grab my shoulders and she searches my eyes. "What's going on?" She asks. 

Grabbing the keys to my house from my purse, I hand them to her and smile lightly, "You can stay the night at mine, keep the keys and tell Dani I said bye, okay?"

"Thank you, Kota. Remember Dani and I are coming over for late-night dinner tomorrow anyway."

"Shit, yeah. Of course!" I say and hurry away from her. "See you later, Relly."

Walking quickly through the Eastbrook home filled with people, I run out to the front of the beautiful house. My eyes searching every possible direction in which he could've left in, my head explodes with possible scenarios of what could have gone wrong. I simply stated the truth with him and he appeared to be so hurt by it. 

"Well if it isn't the one and only Dakota Moore," A slimy voice states from the sidewalk. "Still have those freckles of yours, I see."

Rolling my eyes I know exactly who is talking to me, I turn around and spot Caspar Willets standing with crossed arms and a sloppy smirk on his face. He has gained a tremendous amount of weight and he looks absolutely exhausted, "Sure thing, still obsessed with them, I see."

"My infatuation with your freckles won't stop, ever," He promises with a creepy glint in his eyes. "I did hear something about a new florist, shocked to see you returning to my town."

"Excuse me, I must've forgotten the fact that you own this land."

"I can say our town, would that make you happier?" The suggestive tone makes me gag. 

"No."

"Oh, come on, Freckles. I thought these years would've made you more entertaining to be around, at least a little bit."

"Sure, because I live to be your entertainment. Go pester someone else, Caspar."

Not wishing to indulge in this conversation anymore and needing to find Elijah, I hurry down the sidewalk again. The sound from my heels fills the silence of the night and before I know it, I'm standing in front of Elijah's house. My mind is made up and I need to act on this courage right now.