If You Were Ours

Chapter Fifty One - Kinsley

Kinsley ~

A black town car pulled up at 6:45 and sat outside the gallery. I knew it was Dane, but he didn't get out of the car until exactly 7:00, per my instructions.

You are making it so hard to be mad at you, Dane.

"There's my gorgeous girl." Dane said with a charming smile that made me swoon where I stood.

My...he said my, not our. Maybe Dane can see the writing on the wall as well, that Tyson truly doesn't want me anymore.

"How was your day?" Dane asked as he opened the car door for me.

"Boring." I said with a slight smile, feeling a tiny bit more like myself the more time I spent around Dane.

"Ah I highly doubt that. Did you eat lunch?" He asked, taking a seat beside me.

"I ate a little." I said, fidgeting with my hair as I lied.

Dane's jaw clenched at my words, picking up on my lie immediately. I should have known better than to try to lie to his face.

"You've gotta eat baby." He said softly.

"I'm just never hungry anymore." I admitted in a voice barely over a whisper.

Pushing out a hard breath, Dane ran his hand over the top of mine and grasped my fingers, letting his thumb brush back and forth.

"Let me fix that." He said quietly.

"How?"

"Let's order from your favorite place and watch a movie while we eat, like we used to do. I even brought you a prize." He said with a grin, pulling a package of oreos from the front seat.

"I noticed you didn't have any in your cabinets this morning."

Because they make me think of you.

"What do you say gorgeous? Have dinner with me?" He asked, lowering his head to try and break my eye contact with the floor boards of the car.

"Okay." I finally agreed.

******

Dane pulled out all the stops and got me every food imaginable from sushi to pizza. He carried multiple carry out bags and boxes as we headed up to my apartment and for a few minutes I felt like we were ourselves again. We laughed a few times as we learned how to get to know each other again.

I unlocked the door and held it for Dane who was barely holding on to the food containers. My hand reached for the light switches as Dane set our food on the counter and my apartment illuminated enough to see a large tattooed figure sitting on my couch with his head hung low and defeated.

Tyson.

My body froze and I had to remind myself how to breathe as his massive body rose to a standing position in the shadows of my living room.

Dane saw him too and took a hard stance behind me with his chest against my back as a show of support to me.

Anger didn't even begin to describe the emotions I felt at the audacity of Tyson to show up this way in my home...the home he sent me to against my will without my consent.

I felt my expression harden and my chest start to pump air into my lungs that felt like they could collapse at any moment from holding my breath.

"Where have you been?" I asked coldly.

"I had to take care of some things." Tyson said in a deep voice that contained zero emotion.

"Not good enough." I snapped. "Tell me what was more important than being here." I demanded with more confidence now that Dane was standing at my back.