Fatal Attractions

Chapter Fifteen

I opened my mouth to say something, but realized I had nothing to say. Nothing I could muster up at the moment would come close to damaging Alex as much as he damaged me.

"Oh good, more company! Just what we need, right, Lena?" Sam asked, but despite her cheeriness, my mouth was set in a hard line.

"Not exactly," I responded, taking another sip of my drink. I felt the urge to throw it in his face, but somehow I had new-found self control and decided not to.

"Oh," Sam said, pouting. She clearly didn't notice the tension between me and Alex.

"Samantha, would you give us a moment?" Alex said, taking a quick swig from the beer bottle. His gaze was focused on the wall ahead, and he began absently picking at the label on the bottle.

"Sure thing," she said, still oblivious, and hopped off the bar stool. Once she was out of sight, I felt his eyes burning into me although I refused to return his look.

"If you're surprised I'm still here, don't worry, I'll make sure I'm gone before the end of the day," I said, and I heard him take another swig of beer.

"I obviously have some explaining to do, but if you'll just hear me out-"

"There's nothing to hear, Alex. I've heard enough already. You want me gone, right? Well, I'm gone," I said, and slammed my glass down on the bar top, hopping to my feet and marching in the opposite direction. As I walked over to the false door and slipped out, I saw Sam in the corner of my eye staring at Alex at the bar, her jaw practically to the floor.

As I made my way up the staircase, I could hear Sam's voice call to Alex. "What was that all about?" At least now she'll know not to allow us in the same room together. Alex disrespected me way too many times, and this morning was the last straw. I've had enough of his mood swings. I've had enough of him caring about me one second, and then not giving a damn the next. I've had enough of-

"Oof!" I ran into something hard at the top of the staircase, and suddenly I was on my back.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" I heard Nate say, and I opened my eyes to see him hovering over me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, holding his hand out to me. I pushed it aside and got to my feet, catching back the air that was just knocked out of me.

"I'm fine. Now if you'll excuse me," I said, passing him, but he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"Wait. About earlier. I'm sorry for acting so weird. There's just a lot you don't know about certain people here," he said, and it was obvious he was talking about Alex.

"Trust me, I've had this talk a hundred times before. There's no need to make it one hundred and one," I said, pulling my wrist out of his grip. He nodded his head and brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Right. Well, again, I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted. Now, can I go without being manhandled?" I asked, crossing my arms. He stepped to the side and made a sweeping motion with his arm. Without another word, I walked past him and made my way to my bedroom.

An hour later, I was still laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Without my cell phone, or even a TV in the room, I was bored out of my mind. I didn't want to leave the room and risk running into Alex again, however.

Who did he think he was, talking to me like that? And then popping up out of nowhere like nothing happened. And to top it all off, he was drinking again. I'm pretty sure that's what caused his sudden outburst in the first place. If that was the case, I'll be avoiding him at all costs, especially if he's intoxicated.