Page 37 of After You Returned

Soon enough, my Blaze is going to realize I’m not giving up. She should just go ahead and give in now. But my girl doesn’t give in. She’s a fighter.

I lean against the wall and settle in to wait. A few minutes later, the door opens. Hazel peeks her head out and glowers when she notices me.

I open my arms wide. “Where are you going to go? This isn’t theBootlegger.There’s no secret exit for you to use in your escape.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Who says I’m escaping?”

“Me and every single person in the bar.”

Her cheeks burn with embarrassment, but she tilts her chin up. There’s my girl. She won’t let anything in the world get her down. Including me. Too bad she doesn’t realize I’m not here to bring her down. I’m here to lift her up.

“What do you want?”

“You.” And to find out why she was escaping but ‘you’ is a correct answer as well.

She huffs. “Are you drunk?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? The only time you want me is when you’re drunk.”

“Wrong. I want you all the time.”

She rolls her eyes. “Which is exactly what you say every time you’re drunk. And then the next morning, you can’t forget my name fast enough.”

I growl. “Unfair. You’re the one who snuck out of my house on New Year’s Day.”

She points her finger at me. “You can’t complain about me sneaking out.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I can’t?”

“Nope. Not when I snuck out to avoid the awkward morning after. In fact, you should thank me.”

I crowd closer to her. She retreats a few steps until her back hits the wall. “I should thank you for abandoning me?”

Hazel isn’t intimidated by me one bit. She narrows her eyes at me. “I didn’t abandon you. Ask me how I know.”

I don’t need to ask. I know exactly what she’s referring to. “You can’t bring up me breaking up with you when we were twenty every time we argue.”

“Yes, I can.”

“How are we supposed to build a relationship if you keep bringing up the past? The painful past?”

Her eyes widen, and she rears her head back. “Ouch,” she mutters when she hits the wall.

“Are you okay?” I reach to check her for injuries but she bats my hands away.

“I’m fine. Shocked as a mermaid encountering a smuggler in the deep sea, but I’m fine.”

“Why are you shocked?”

She snorts. “Are you serious?”

“As a smuggler hiding his loot of moonshine.”

“You literally said you want to build a relationship with me.”

“It’s true. I do.”