Page 35 of The Has-Been

And I have to admit that I do feel like one, stalking her on her walk home. But it’s too cold for her to be out here.

“Aubrey!” I call out to her.

Why does my voice react that way when I try to say her name now? It’s hoarse and flat and sounds like a struggle to pronounce.

It’s no surprise that she doesn’t recognize me, my Jeep’s headlights blinding her, and my voice sounding nothing at all like it once did.

I take another step closer, catching a glimpse of her as she storms up to me.

Aubrey’s breathtaking—her makeup th­icker than usual, her eyes dark and sultry-looking, but still beautiful nonetheless.

She’s always been able to take my breath away, even without all the additives.

But she really takes my breath away when she kicks me right in the fucking groin.

My body recoils from the pain.

“Fuck!” I groan as I grasp for my boys, nearly toppling over from the pain. It spreads, radiating from my balls over my whole body. “Shit! Aubrey! It’s just me!” I lean forward, sure I’m going to throw up from the discomfort.

I’m wheezing, trying to catch my breath, when her hand finds my shoulder. Aubrey bends down, her eyes wide with shock.

“Liam?!” She exclaims.

I try to stand, still clutching myself as I groan out, “Yeah. Liam. Me.” Is all I can manage to say.

She pulls her small handbag from her shoulder, grasping it in her hands as she swings it. Hitting me in the chest repeatedly.

“HEY! What the fuck!” I scold.

“You scared the shit out of me! I thought I was about to be turned into a damned skin suit! What the hell were you thinking?!” she shrieks, tossing her bag over her shoulder as she glares at me.

I throw out my hands, unconcerned about arguing with her in the middle of the road, as thankfully, not many cars are out.

My brows draw together.

“What was I thinking?” I scoff. “I’m not the one walking on the side of the road in a damned snow storm!”

She crosses her arms over her chest. The lines in her forehead are drawn tight, a dead giveaway she’s fucking pissed. I wince as the last of the pain jolts through me. I’m just now able to fully catch my breath. Throwing my hands up higher, my temper is burning, and I can’t hold my anger back. I fling the door of my Jeep open, climb into the driver’s seat, and throw it in drive.

I yell out the window as I speed past her, “I was just trying to help. My fucking bad!”

I roll my window up as I watch her flip me off in my rear view. I drive to the end of the road, planning to take a left and go home a different way. But I sit at the stoplight, the sound of my turn signal grating against my nerves as I run the palm of my hand over my face.

Then, without so much as a second thought, I look back.

I’ll always look back.

At least for her.

My jaw set tight, I check both directions, doing a U-turn in the middle of the street, throwing my takeout box onto my dashboard, making room for her to get in.

As I close the distance back to her, I can see she’s fucking fuming. Her legs cut long strides as she walks home with a fierceness I know I shouldn’t be testing.

I roll down the passenger side window. My Jeep creeps along as I try to keep up with her pace. Leaning forward, my elbow rests on the console as I mumble, “Just get in.”

She flips me the bird, not even looking in my direction.

“No.”