Wicked in Love

Chapter 5 - and yours

So what if it staggered me when I saw him standing on my porch? When I was staring at the despair on his devastatingly beautiful face. After he'd cut me out of his life so brutally, why would he look at me like that?

Like what?

Like I was the sky. And the sun and the moon.

Please stop. Part two of the horror film, coming soon to a theatre near you. Don't buy a ticket, Kara. The reviews were bad, and everybody died in the end.

Why did he come back?

Maybe to get his underwear back. The one you stashed in a box under your bed along with the other things he didn't bother to pick up after he... abandoned you.

Shut up. We don't talk about that box. Besides, he rarely wears underwear.

But why now? What right did he have to come see me? When did he come back? Did he come back for... me?

Why would he come back for you?

I don't want him to come back at all. I hope I never see him again.

That might be the last time you'll ever see him again though.

My heart sank. And now I was furious because it made me aware how much he could still affect me even after all this time. And he shouldn't anymore. It should make me happy if that was the last time that I would see his face again. It should...

"Hey."

I squeaked and turned to find Trip behind the counter.

"You scared the shit out of me!"

"I did? Sorry." But he didn't look sorry and, judging from his I-know-girls-love-me grin, he looked like he enjoyed it. "Haven't seen you in a while. How's it going, Kara?"

Trip had been friends with Damon since high school and would sometimes hang with us back then, until he left for college and rarely came home. I heard he graduated and was now taking over his family's business. His brown eyes always sparkled with trouble, and sometimes he'd recklessly look for it. The tiny silver cross on his ear glinted when he tipped up his chin, eyes lighting with pleasure as he studied me.

"Your hair's shorter," he said.

Face falling, my fingers automatically touched my bangs in dismay.

"It was down here when I saw you last time." He tapped two fingers on his waist. "Wasn't it?"

Ah. That's what he meant. "Oh, yeah. I read on the internet how I'd get smarter if I cut it."

"And did you?" He rested his elbows on the counter, his face inching closer to mine and looking like he'd want to stay there all night.

Okay, he was hot. I'd give him that. He'd always been. He was half Filipino and half Ukrainian with thick, dark brown hair that was always charmingly dishevelled, and suited him just fine.

I rolled my eyes because I knew flirting was like breathing to him. "What are you doing here? We're closed for the day, Casanova."

"Then why is your door still open?"

I shot him a smile. "Laziness."

"I get nowhere with you, Kara."

"Sure you do, Trip. You can come with me to my cash register."

He chuckled. "I was gonna drop off my keys in your drop box, then saw the light in the shop. Figured I'd say hi, hand them in person."

"You got an appointment?"