Submit to Me

10 - Sloane

I had stood alone in the back of the banquet room, with my eyes on the hall entrance, hoping, waiting, and watching for Aaron to arrive.

Then, my heart gained speed, and my hands shook when I saw the man I'd been staring at every night before bed for the past couple of months walk in and stop to look around.

Aaron looked just as delicious as his picture does.

Once he spotted who he was looking for, he moved, and so did my eyes.

I wanted to run to him, to hug and hold him, and to press my lips to his and apologize.

He's a mess...

If he's a mess, as his friend claimed he was, he didn't look it.

Aaron looked confident as he glided across the floor. And his warm, beautiful smile when he found his friends made my heart skip a beat.

Then my heart sank when I saw him talking to Chloe. And it sickened me when I saw her flirting with him, her eyes filled with lust and desire, and her smile I just wanted to smack right off.

Seeing what I did had me thinking if he only knew it was her who sent him chicken bones, an eating disorder guide, a note that said women want muscular men with meat on their bones—not some anorexic punk who can't even lift a feather, and some other items mocking him on graduation day.

I watched them walk together and talk at the bar. But the one thing I noticed when they were talking was that he didn't look happy to be talking to her. He almost looked uncomfortable or like he was trying to avoid her, but she continued to talk and follow him anyway until he left the bar—in a hurry.

It took me a good twenty minutes to convince myself to walk over to Aaron and his friends to say hello and ask if we could talk.

Now, I'm standing before him, unsure if I should cry or run as I look into his gorgeous hazel-colored eyes, looking back at me as if he's looking at a stranger.

God, this man was gorgeous before. But now? Wow! He's even more breathtaking now.

His manly peppered stubble, stellar smile, and hazel/golden eyes were a gleam of delight that my mouth watered from the heavenly sight. It's a spectacular vision I've missed looking at for twenty years.

I was shaking, nervous to see him, afraid to talk to him, and mesmerized by his well-proportioned, drop-dead gorgeous face, but everything I felt came to a screeching halt when he said, "Do I know you?"

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to react. And I didn't know what to do as Aaron's friends watched our interaction.

He's a mess... ran through my mind again.

If anyone's a mess, it's me.

Now, I'm even more of a mess; he doesn't recognize me. And because of that, I really feel like I could cry, run, and never be heard from again.

But I can't. I moved back to Chicago and came here for a reason. And since Hudson insisted I show up and that he'd ensure Aaron showed up as well, I have to stay and do what I came to do—apologize.

"Aaron, it's me. Sloane," I finally said, swallowing the tears that wished to be seen.

"You must have the wrong person. I don't know any Sloane's. The only one I ever knew died a long time ago."

My eyes closed, and then I squeezed them tighter when I felt tears springing from my eyes. "I'm right here." I swallowed, then quietly said, "I'm right here, Aaron. I didn't die."

I looked past Aaron and to his friends standing beside their wives behind him.

Jace and Greyson looked confused. Hudson seemed almost angry as he eyed Aaron. And Callum and Rory had a look of sympathy as they looked at me.