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written, but the words weren’t hard to find. They were within
reach, right in front of me.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 5
     
     
    A CURTSY FROM
LUCY and a bow from Andrew signified the end of their first dance. I bolted to
the house for a much-needed bathroom break. Alone for the first time, I
breathed through my distress. David’s presence had thrown me so far off-kilter that
I almost felt alive again. With only one glance, he had managed to stir up my emotions
while simultaneously providing comfort. I felt somehow safer in his bubble,
like everything was better when he was near.
    I exited the bathroom and skidded to a halt as I almost ran into David’s
wall of a body.
    “Shit, sorry,” I muttered, swerving at the last
second. He leaped into my path. I cast a nervous glance around the empty foyer.
    “What is this?” he asked angrily. Hard eyes
scanned over my dress.
    “What?”
    “When was the last time you ate anything?”
    “This afternoon,” I said smugly. He shot my hand
a glance, and I dropped it instantly. Though no one else had ever brought it to
my attention, David never seemed to miss my nervous habit of tugging on my
earlobe.
    “Don’t play coy with me, Olivia. Why are you so
thin?”
    “I’ve been busy,” I said, straightening my posture.
    “That’s bullshit.” He touched my arm with
obvious restraint. I bit back a gasp, because his skin on mine was like liquid
sun, radiating through my body. “What is going on with you?”
    I sighed. I wanted to yank my arm from him, but
he was slowly warming my bones again, and I was tired of being cold. No, my
body had not forgotten the feel of David Dylan. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not
your problem.”
    “The fuck it’s not. Why are you doing this?”
    “I’m not doing it on purpose,” I said
defensively. “I just can’t,” I faltered and took a breath. “I can’t eat; it
makes me sick.”
    “I’ve been watching you. You’re different.” His
tone softened into velvet, coating my skin. “Tell me what it is, and I’ll fix
it. I’ll do anything.”
    Faint cologne filled the space between us,
instantly transporting me to all the moments when I’d been lost and drowning in
him. I flickered back to reality. “No. It’s not fixable. You can’t just swoop
in and fix everything all the time.”
    “What’s the problem?” he insisted, his tone
heavy with warning.
    I drew my lips into a line and looked away.
    “Olivia.”
    “You, David! You’re the problem!” I snapped.
“What happened between us is eating me from the inside; it’s all I can think
about. It haunts me day and night. It consumes me!” Brown, melancholy eyes searched mine until I pulled my arm from his grip.
“I have to go, I can’t do this,” I said, dropping his gaze.
    “I’m surprised you’re still here,” he countered.
    “Don’t.” I raised my eyes to his again, and my
heart wilted slightly at the way his expression had hardened and closed. “This
has been harder than you could ever know. You have no idea what I’ve been
through.”
    A burst of air left his mouth, and he scoffed.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Don’t forget that you walked out on me. You have no
idea what I have been through. Me . Fuck, I shouldn’t even be talking to
you,” he muttered. “I promised myself I wouldn’t.”
    I blinked at him. “You promised . . . What?”
    “I only came here tonight because . . . because
I needed to see you, to just see that you’re all right. I promised to leave you
alone, I just needed to see you, even from a distance.”
    “But it’s been so long, and . . . I thought
you’d be over – ”
    “Everything okay, Liv ?”
Gretchen’s brother approached us, puffed up and obviously ruffled as he took in
the scene.
    “Yes, it’s fine,” I hastened to reassure him. “Thanks,
John.”
    David looked warily at John and then back at me
before stalking away.
    “Where’ve you been, you handsome devil? You owe
me a dance,” I said