Everything In Between (COMPLETED)

BEFORE|| For What It's Worth

I pressed my palm flat against the chipped door, trying to steady my heart rate. I'd been standing outside the apartment for the last five minutes trying to hype myself up and force my hand into a fist to knock. Every time I tried, I got cold feet and started to retreat to the parking lot where nobody awaited me. I'd promised Ash when she dropped me off that I'd have a way home.

That had been a lie, but I refused for her to give up her life because of a mistake I made. I suppose if Dalton didn't completely freak and kick me to the curb, it was possible I'd have a way home outside of the bus, but it wasn't likely.

"Can I help you?" the quiet question came from a few feet behind me, and I immediately spun and crossed my arms over my chest.

The man stood only a few inches taller than all five-four of me, but he was stocky, his black henley stretching across his broad chest on the verge of tearing as he shifted the twelve pack of beers from his left to his right hand and fished his keys from his pocket. When he lifted his head again, a strand of his blonde hair fanned his forehead and his brown eyes softened a little.

"Dalton." I breathed, making a gesture with my thumb at the apartment over my shoulder. "Dalton Ambrose gave me this address."

As if his name were the connection the man needed, he cocked his head to the right and raised one of his light brows. He didn't even bother being civil or at least waited until I'd turned around to check me out from head to toe. It made my already sour stomach churn and if Ash hadn't drove me forty-five minutes to get here, I would have turned and walked off then and there.

"You're Harley." It wasn't a question, and I didn't respond. When he finally came to the realization, I had no desire to talk to him, he shrugged a shoulder and slipped passed me to unlock the door. He didn't invite me in but left the door wide open as he disappeared into the apartment.

I hesitated for a second before I shook off my anxiety and stepped through the front door. I pressed it closed behind me, and when I turned again I found a very shirtless Dalton perching himself on the arm of the leather sofa opposite a plasma.

"Hey." he smiled and even one hundred percent sober, it did things to my body that I refused to acknowledge. "I see you met my idiot brother Dylan."

Dylan lifted two fingers up in the dining room as he opened the case of beer. "She's not very talkative."

I raised a brow and almost laughed. I guess Ashley was rubbing off on me, because it took every ounce of willpower I had not to snap about his wandering eyes and being a creep.

"Can we talk?" I jerked my chin toward the hall. "In private?"

Dylan snickered. "Aw, come on, Harley. I won't tell. I don't even have anyone to tell."

I channeled my inner Ash and shot him a look that had him holding his hands up in surrender and ducking out of view to load the fridge.

Dalton smiled again and made a gesture for me to join him on our trek down the hall. We stopped at the end of the hall, him lingering outside the door on the right, and he stepped in, then moved so I could join. Once he'd closed the door, he didn't even give me the chance to sigh before he had me cornered with his arms on either side of me, trapped with his chest flush against me. The only thing between us was my thin tank top, and if given the opportunity I had no doubt he'd have discarded it if I didn't jerk my entire body to the right to keep from falling victim to his words and perfect smile.

"I didn't come here to hook up." I stated aloud as he clearly hadn't gotten the hint and rested his hand against my hip a second after I'd moved away from him. "We need to talk, Dalton. Seriously."