𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐧┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐰𝐨

157. 𝐼 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑀𝑦 𝐷𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝐼𝑛 𝑁𝑌𝐶

Syn

One Year Later

I sat on the bed and lit the cigarette as I looked around at the messy bedroom floor. I was never in my room for these things, but I hated people making messes. I felt the bed move behind me, and I rolled my eyes before taking a long drag of the cigarette.

"Come back to bed, baby," the woman spoke from behind me. My jaw clenched at the intimate nickname and I ignored her completely. I had told her multiple times that I wasn't okay with her calling me anything but my name, yet she always managed to let it "slip".

Those were names I associated with relationships, and that was something I never involved myself in after...her. I'd had countless meaningless flings, but nobody had ever been able to replace her. After a year of waiting and hearing nothing from her, I forced myself to move on, but there was no one remotely like her in any way.

I knew it was fucked up for me to search for her in other women, but what was I supposed to do? I would unintentionally end up in bed with women who made me think of her in the slightest, and it continued until I realized how unhealthy it was. Since then, every single thing that reminded me of her would be pushed into the furthest corner of my mind.

These measures of course were taken after I looked for her. I'd never be with another woman if I felt like there was a chance she'd come home. But looking at where I was now, you could imagine my loss of hope...laying on the bed, in the shape of a naked woman that wouldn't leave me alone.

Her hands moved to my shoulders, but I grabbed her wrist and faced her. She jumped at the touch and I wondered why she was in bed with a man she feared. My face being all over magazines in Juva as the most eligible bachelor seemed to make me an object for a lot of the women I'd come across, but they didn't see me.

And I didn't see them.

I could hardly even remember the name of the girl that was touching me at this exact moment. "Get out," I said. Her frown deepened and she slowly removed her arm from my grip.

"Why?" She asked. "I like you and I think that we would—"

"You think that we would what?"

"Be good together," she muttered with a shrug.

I sighed as I pushed her platinum straight hair behind her ear, and I heard her heart slow to a calm one. "In what world would I be with a girl I've met less than seventy-two hours ago? When I met you, I told you not to expect anything."

"I mean you say that to a lot of girls," she whispered. "But I'm not them. I'm-"

My snicker cut her words off, and she looked at me in confusion. I would've listened to her bullshit if I didn't know the next dumb shit words was about to utter, and I couldn't help myself. "You should leave before I hurt your feelings."

"You could never hurt me," she said as she reached out for me. I quickly moved my hand away before she could touch me and I removed the cigarette from between my lips.

"Fine then," I said. "Were you about to tell me that you're different?"

"I am," she nodded. "You never see anyone more than once."

"And you believe that your being convenient makes you special?"

"Excuse you?"

"No, excuse you," I said. "For thinking that you're any different than anyone I've seen before. I want nothing to do with them, just as I want nothing to do with you."

"You're an asshole." She hopped out of the bed quickly and began putting her clothes on as I rolled my eyes.

"You knew that," I mumbled. I stayed to myself until she was gone, and when the door slammed, a wave of disgust flared in my body. I immediately rushed to the hotel restroom and turned the water onto its hottest temperature. I got into the walk-in shower and ignored the scalding sensation in my skin. The only thing keeping me from turning it down was knowing that I was practically burning the woman's touch away.