Love Her Wilde

Snowy Apologies: Asher

"Maybe YOU can," Dylan retorted.

"Dylan Caroline..." Shayne began.

"Stop. Okay? I'm not fucking doing this." Dylan slid off her stool, grabbed her drink and headed out onto the snowy patio.

Damn. Rather deal with Chicago winter than you.

I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I turned back from watching Dylan's dramatic exit. "I... um... you guys go ahead. I'm going to go try to fix this."

"I don't know if I..." Mason began.

Shayne raised a manicured hand and silenced him. "Let him. This mess is his fault. If she swings on him, he's earned it."

"Shayne," Lita scolded.

"No," Shayne argued. He rose to his full height, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit intimidated as he stalked toward me. He was a BIG man. "I honestly don't know if I should shake your hand for chasing off Brock or hit you myself for what you said..."

I could feel my eyes widening and my heart hammered so loud my ears were ringing. "I, um... I mean..."

"I'm not going to hit you," Shayne stated with a roll of his eyes. He then lifted his hand and glanced at his manicure. "I just got these puppies done, and they were fucking expensive."

I laughed, partially out of humor, partially out of relief. "I... I appreciate that..."

"But I will say, if she does, I wouldn't blame her for it," Shayne stated. "And don't bother going out there if you're going to be more of a shithead later. If you can't mean your apology, then leave it alone. She doesn't need another person that tugs her around according to their emotions."

"I wouldn't... I wouldn't do that."

Shayne gave me a cold look, up and down, before meeting my eyes again. I felt like I was his prey, and he was just waiting for a moment to pounce. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

I pursed my lips and gave him a nod before turning toward the door.

"She likes gin and tonics. Ya know, in case you want to take a peace offering."

"Right."

I took a deep breath, practically shaking as I headed for the bar. I wasn't sure why, but Shayne scared the shit out of me...

Only slightly less than his sister did.

I stepped slowly out onto the patio, gin and tonic in hand. Dylan was standing in the corner, cigarette between her fingers, staring out into space as a light snow fell. She looked like a heroine in some winter-set movie and it only made me more nervous.

She was absolutely beautiful, her features accented with dark makeup only standing out more as the snow fell around us. She was gorgeous in a way that made grown men nervous and, if I had to hazard a guess, made a lot of women hate her. Her energy made you want to know her. I could tell just by the brief bit that we'd actually gotten along. She was magnetic and I could only hope that she'd allow me to make this right.
I cleared my throat and took a few more steps toward her. "I come in peace."

Dylan looked at me over her shoulder and rolled her dark eyes. "What do you want?"

"To apologize."

"Why?" she asked, gaze back on the streets. She lifted her cigarette to her lips and took a deep drag. "We don't need to be friends. Don't worry about it."

"Dylan..."

"Look," she snapped, suddenly rounding on me. "I don't want your fake ass apology. I don't want anything from you. I just wanna get this trip over with and then we never have to see each other again. Is that alright?"

"Please, just let me explain..."

"There's nothing to explain!" Dylan exclaimed. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was holding back tears and it made me feel even worse than I already did. She wanted to portray this uncaring, badass front, but the words I'd idiotically let spill out of my mouth, without so much as a second thought, had obviously hurt her. It was written all over her face. Her dark eyes looked like never ending pools of sadness. I suddenly realized that it wasn't my comments that had set her off. More that I wasn't the first one to make them, simply the most recent.
"You think I'm some sort of trashy whore and that's fine. I don't care. I don't fucking need your or anyone else's approval, alright?" She stamped out her cigarette on the snow that had collected on the patio fencing and tossed the butt into a nearby bucket. "I should've just stayed home tonight. Coming out was a bad idea."

"Dylan," I began as she moved to walk past me. My hand circled her wrist and the second our skin touched, I felt a jolt. A spark, like I'd made contact with a live wire. It startled me so much, I dropped my hold, but I could tell by her widened eyes that she'd felt it too. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did. I shouldn't have said anything at all and... honestly, it wasn't me that was freaking out..."

"Don't blame your asshole level on your girlfriend. She wasn't even there."

"It's not... just her. I'm... under a lot of pressure to live my life a certain way, surrounded by certain people who live by a certain set of rules and... It's stupid and it's cruel and I swear to you, it's not who I am. I shouldn't have opened my mouth at all. I'm sorry. Truly, Dylan." She kept her eyes on the pavement under our feet, so I slouched down a bit, forcing her to make eye contact. "Please. I never intended to hurt you. I am... truly sorry."

She swallowed and nodded her head. "Okay. Fine."

I chuckled a bit at her dismissive response. "Can we start over?"

A little smirk turned up the corner of her mouth as Dylan finally looked me in the eyes again. "I don't know. Our actual meeting wasn't what made you look like a jerk."

I smiled back, suddenly feeling lightyears lighter than I had the rest of the evening. "Can we pretend someone else said all the stupid shit before we met then?"

She laughed a bit, her smile causing her eyes to sparkle in the streetlights. God, she was stunning. Maybe I should've let her stay mad at me, because at this rate, I was going to be well and truly obsessed with seeing that smile again before we even left for Hawaii.

"Sure. Let's go with that."

I grinned. "Now, I'm not trying to toot my own horn here or anything, but I happen to be... INSANELY good at darts, and it would be a shame if we didn't go in there and kick all of their asses at least once tonight."

"Yeah?" Dylan retorted, tilting her head at me in challenge. "Talking an awfully big game there. Sure you can back it up?"

"Ryder has literally never beaten me."

"Never?"

"Nope," I stated, with a pop of the 'p'. "Not once."

"Well, what in the hell are we waiting for then?"

"Just your forgiveness."

Dylan rolled her eyes, but I watched as the slightest flush made her cheeks glow. "Fine. You're forgiven. For now."

"For now?"

"You're a man. You'll mess it up again eventually."

"Hard to argue that." I stepped around her and opened the door. "After you."
She laughed and shook her head. "Are we playing the gentleman now?"
"Always," I stated, shooting her a wink.
She smiled and hurriedly walked by me, back into the bar. And if I didn't know what any better, I thought there was a bright blush hearing those gorgeous cheeks.