Steal You Away

by Ashley, Victoria

  He’s quiet as I step away and reach for the bottle again, because he and I both know he can’t.

  After a few more shots, I grab my hat. “I’m going to be with her whether you like it or not, so get used to seeing us together. And this is me telling you, not fucking asking for your permission.”

  I can feel his eyes on me all the way to the door, until I finally disappear outside, shutting it behind me. Once inside my truck, I sit here, squeezing the steering wheel, because next will be the hardest part: telling Kennedy how I feel and hoping she feels the same.

  “How are the interviews going?” Dixie joins me in the office now that I’m in between interviews, her green eyes looking optimistic. “Find any potential replacements yet?”

  I force a smile, even though smiling is the last thing I feel like doing. In all honesty, I barely want to be here right now. “Not yet. None of these guys have experience working in a food truck or a kitchen. I don’t even know why half of them interviewed other than to come on to me.”

  My grandmother’s face grows serious as she watches me shuffle through the applications. “He’s been gone for two weeks now. I know you don’t want to replace Colson, but it must be done. Roger can’t help much longer. We have three days to find a replacement. If you’re not up for the task, then I can ask Sally to step in and interview the remaining applicants. Don’t forget that before the food truck Colson didn’t have any experience either. Look how well he did.”

  I feel sick to my stomach that my grandmother thinks I’m not capable of taking on my new position and it pisses me off that she even suggested Sally stepping in. “I can handle it. Sally can stay home with her kids where she belongs.”

  “Sally doesn’t have any attachments to the person that needs replacing. I understand you do, but as a boss you need to step up and do what’s right for business.” A knock at the door has Dixie giving me a stern look. “Stop being picky because you’re comparing everyone to Colson. Trust me, I want him working the food truck too, but the reality is he’s gone, and we don’t know when he’s coming back. Fill his spot by tomorrow or I’ll have no choice but to step in myself.” My heart drops to my stomach as Dixie opens the door to let the next applicant in. “Hi, Dane. Take a seat and Kennedy will ask you some questions.”

  Once my grandmother is gone, I take a deep breath and pretend I’m into interviewing the twenty-six-year-old attractive guy sitting across from me.

  In fact, every single person that has applied over the last few days have been young, attractive guys looking to be the new Colson. For any other girl, this interview process would be a dream come true. It’s the complete opposite for me. Every time one of these hot men hit on me, it makes me miss Colson even more. I’m not even certain if there’s still an us, yet it makes me feel guilty all these guys are into me.

  “…I see here that you have three years of experience working in the kitchen at Monroe’s,” I say, while scanning over his application. “Are you available to work six days a week from five to midnight and help out at the bar some nights after the food truck closes?”

  Dane nods, the smile on his face growing as he watches me nervously play with the pen in my hand. “Yes to both.” He laughs and reaches out for my hand to stop it from moving. “I believe I’m supposed to be the one nervous here, not you.”

  I swallow and look down at his hand on mine, before pulling it away and clearing my throat, not liking the feeling of another guy’s hand on me. “I’m not nervous. I just have a lot on my mind and want this process to be done.”

  He’s quiet for a moment as he looks me over, before leaning back and getting comfortable in the chair. “Look, I’ll make this easy. I’m a great cook and I have experience with marketing. Anything Colson did, I can do too. That’s a promise.”

  The mention of Colson has my chest feeling heavy, making it hard to breathe, but I ignore the feeling, because I have to in order to make it through this. “If hired would you be available to start right away?”

  He grins, flashing his dimples. “Hell yeah. Tell me the day and I’ll be here.”

  “Okay,” I whisper, hating that this guy is sort of perfect for the job.

  “Not gonna lie, I was hoping Colson would be around to hang out at the skatepark, but I haven’t seen him there in a while.” His toned arms flex as he crosses them over his chest. “Maybe we can hang out instead.”

  “I don’t think so.” I stand, motioning for him to do the same. “I’ll be in touch by tomorrow to let you know if you’re hired. Thanks for coming in.”

  Smiling, he stands and reaches out to shake my hand. “I’m looking forward to hearing from you, Kennedy. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you from Colson.”

  Before I can compose myself enough to ask what he means, he’s out the door, shutting it behind him. I almost go after him, but stop myself, not wanting to get my hopes up just because Colson mentioned me to this Dane guy in the past. Colson is gone, and clearly, with every day that passes, it’s becoming more likely that he may never be back.

  After Dane I had two more interviews, and then I sent Libby home for the night to clean and do inventory in between helping customers for the last few hours. Last call is in thirty minutes, so I’m surprised when the bell on the door dings and I look up to find Dax standing in the doorway.

  I haven’t seen or spoken to him since the fight at his dad’s house, and frankly, I don’t care to. In my head, he’s the reason Colson is gone.

  “Hey,” he says, walking farther inside. “Mind if I order a drink?”

  Tense, I reach for a glass and fill it with Vodka. “What do you want, Dax? Your brother is gone, just like you wanted. I have nothing to say to you.” I slam the glass down in front of him once he takes a seat at the bar. “You won. We’re not together.”

  His jaw is tense as he reaches for the glass and takes a drink. “I want to apologize for my behavior two weeks ago. I was pissed and hurt, but I never should’ve went after my brother in front of you or Blaire, knowing it’d get as violent as it did. My anger and jealousy blinded me, causing me to make a rash decision. I saw red and nothing else mattered.”

  My eyes lock with his, the sincerity in them showing me that he means it. “You had every right to be pissed, Dax. I don’t blame you for that, but I begged you two not to fight and your sister got hurt because of it. Luckily, her nose wasn’t broken. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

  “I know. I get that. That’s why I’m here owning up to my mistake. I don’t regret punching that asshole in the face,” he lets out a humorless laugh, before taking another drink, “because he deserved far worse, but the little prick is stronger than he used to be. I think I came out of it far worse than he did.”

  We both laugh at the last part, the tension easing up a little.

  “You definitely got your ass kicked,” I hold my thumb and forefinger an inch apart, “just a little bit.”

  “It was worth it, though, Kennedy. At least you got to see that I truly did care about you all these years. Yeah, part of what Colson said was true. I did go after you at a time when I knew he couldn’t, but I also liked you too. I saw how close you and Colson were, always hanging out together at the skatepark and him cooking for you and shit, and I knew if I didn’t go after you then, that he’d get you in the end, but I guess it’s true that fools rush in, because he did anyway.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” I say, my stomach twisting into knots again. “I told him to leave and he did, in more ways than one. Your brother is gone, and I don’t know if he’s coming back.”

  Dax stands and finishes off his drink, setting it down in front of him. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. The asshole loves you, and I can’t stop that shit no matter how hard I try. Even threats to kill him multiple times didn’t keep him from going after you.” He exhales and runs a hand through his hair. “Take it easy, Kennedy.”

  “You too,” I barely get out, my mind stuck on him saying his brother loves me. Everyone around me but
Colson has said it, and I’m losing my mind, wishing I could hear it from him and hoping with everything in me it’s true.

  I miss him like crazy; everything about him.

  Getting wrapped up in my anger of Colson being gone, I throw Dax’s dirty glass into the sink a little too hard. It shatters against the stainless steel. “Goddammit!” I turn away and lean against the sink, fighting to slow my breathing and calm down. Once I’m no longer shaking with anger, I clean up the glass and lock the doors, before turning off the lights.

  This time I’m quick with the closing procedures, just wanting to get out of here and into my bed so I can force sleep. I’m done with today. I’m done with hurting. It doesn’t help that Dixie is forcing me to replace Colson. I know it has to be done at some point since Roger can’t stick around, but looking through applications again today made it all just a little too real. Everything stacking on top of each other is too much right now.

  When I step outside, my heart stops, the ache in my chest growing when I notice Colson leaning against the food truck with his arms crossed over his chest.

  He’s the best sight I’ve seen in two weeks, dressed in his usual plain T-shirt and jeans, baseball cap turned backward. My first instinct is to run into his arms, but then I remind myself that he disappeared for two weeks. For fourteen long days and nights he ignored my phone calls and texts, leaving me scared that he was gone for good.

  “What are you doing here?” My hands shake at my sides, my nerves getting the best of me as I wait for his response. He could be here for any reason. It could be to tell me we’re done for all I know. “I haven’t heard from you in two weeks and then you just show up here as if you never left?”

  He pushes away from the truck, his eyes locked on mine as he walks toward me, stopping once we’re only a foot apart. “You asked for space, Kennedy, and the only fucking way to give you that was for me to cut you out completely. I stood there and told you I couldn’t just walk away and pretend there was nothing between us.” I swallow when he takes another step forward. “My sister got hurt because of me and Dax. You could’ve gotten hurt too. If I had stuck around, I would’ve been at your door within twenty-four hours. Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to answer your calls and text? Ignoring them fucking hurt me more than it hurt you. Trust me on that.”

  “I thought you were gone for good,” I say quietly, my heart pounding against my ribcage. “It was nothing like when you left that summer. I was terrified I’d never see you again. Do you have any idea how it felt these past few days interviewing people to replace you here?” His jaw flexes as I step in closer until we’re almost touching. “When I asked for space so we could figure things out, I didn’t mean for you to fucking disappear, taking my heart with you. I expected us to figure things out so we could be together. Instead, you left me in the fucking dark.” I push his chest, letting some of my anger out.

  Grabbing my hands, he pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me, holding me so tight that I couldn’t pull away even if I wanted to. “There’s no way I could’ve or would’ve left for good.”

  “Why? Tell me why.”

  “Because you’re my only chance at love and have been my entire fucking life. I’ve always been in love with you, Kennedy.” He grabs me tighter, his mouth moving down to hover over mine. “My heart hurt so bad without you that at times I wished I could rip it straight from my chest to stop the pain. That’s how much I fucking love you. I had to do things right this time if I wanted it to last.”

  My breath catches in my throat over hearing him say he loves me. It takes a few seconds before I can finally speak. “You love me?”

  He moves his hands to cover my face as he speaks against my lips. “I’m so in love with you it hurts to think of a life without you anymore. I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you. There was never a doubt in my mind that you weren’t meant to be mine. I’m here now, and I’m not walking away again. Ever. I don’t need any fucking breaks to know that you’re the girl for me. I hope you can handle being mine for a lifetime. I need you to be sure I’m it for you, because like I said, I’m not walking away from this.”

  “I can handle it,” I whisper, my gaze lowering to his lips, desperate to feel them on mine. “I love you—”

  Next thing I know, his lips crash against mine, taking my breath away. I don’t even care that I can’t breathe, because Colson is back, and that’s the only thing I’ve wanted since that night he walked away.

  “Fuck, baby,” he whispers against my lips when we finally pull apart. “You have no idea how many years I’ve waited to hear those words from you and imagined what it would sound like if you said it.”

  I smile, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I’m in love with you. It should’ve been you all along, not your brother.”

  He bites his bottom lip and moves his hands around to fist my hair. “I fucking love you.” His lips capture mine again, him kissing me harder this time, before he pulls away and laughs. “And don’t you dare replace my ass in the food truck, because I’m not going anywhere. I’ll call and talk to Dixie myself if I have to.”

  “You probably should. She’s not very happy with you or me right now. Dane was about to get your job.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers, rubbing his thumb over my cheek. “I’ll take care of it. I promise.” Smiling, he picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder, walking straight to his truck and shoving me inside.

  “Where are we going?” I ask after he jumps inside and shuts the door behind him.

  “My place where we can be alone.” He grabs my hand and pulls it into his lap, my stomach filling with butterflies just like before. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that fluttering in my tummy.

  But with as strong as it feels now, I have a feeling I’ll be feeling it for a long time to come, because just like Colson, I’m not walking away this time. He’s back, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep him.

  I didn’t know what to expect when showing up tonight at Dixie’s. All I knew is that I couldn’t go another day without seeing Kennedy. When she stepped outside, my heart about leapt from my chest at the sight of her in her ripped-up jeans and little leather jacket.

  I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman in my life, and I don’t think I ever will. She’s always been perfect to me, and now she’s mine, without a fucking doubt this time. Hearing her say she loved me solidified that. There’s not a chance in hell I’ll ever leave her again. I had my reasons for staying gone for as long as I did, though, and cutting off contact completely, but seeing the look in her eyes tonight showed me just how much my absence hurt her. Hurting her is the last thing I ever want to do.

  Something as simple as a phone call or a text would’ve led to me showing up outside her house or the bar far before the time was right. I tried giving her time once before when her and Dax first took a break, and that didn’t work out so well. Keeping a safe distance was the only way I could do it, so I took a trip back to California to grab some of the things I left behind.

  “How long have you been back?” she questions when hopping out of my truck.

  “Two days.” I grab her hand and kiss it, before pulling her into my arms and wrapping them tightly around her. I love the feel of her holding me back without hesitation and guilt. “I had to have a discussion with my brother before seeing you. I wanted to make sure no shit like what happened at my dad’s would go down again. As your man, it’s my job to protect you, not put you in danger. That shit can never happen again.”

  “What about your sister?”

  “I went to her work today and spent a whole hour apologizing to her. She finally forgave me after I left and came back with food.”

  She laughs and squeezes me tighter. “If you disappear again, I’ll hurt you.” Her gaze rises to meet mine, the pain in them causing my heart to ache. “I mean it, Colson. I can’t handle you leaving me again even if I yell at you and ask you to leave. Promise me you’ll stay.”

  I pre
ss my forehead to hers and cup her face, speaking against her lips. “I’d let you hurt me every fucking day before I’d ever leave you again. Leaving for two years sucked—I hated not seeing you—but leaving for two weeks after finally having you as mine destroyed me.”

  Her lips crash hard against mine and I pick her up, wrapping her legs around my waist as I walk toward the apartment building entrance. I’ve gone too long without touching or kissing her, and I don’t plan to go another second without showing her just how much I love her.

  Pushing the door open, I carry her straight to my apartment door, struggling to unlock it, because I don’t want to stop kissing her. “Fuck,” I mumble against her lips, pressing her against the door while I fumble with my key.

  “Hurry,” she demands, kissing me harder, as if she’s dying for me to take her.

  “What’s going on out… oh shit. Never mind.” Travis laughs before going back into his apartment, knowing what’s good for him.

  Kennedy laughs against my shoulder, before capturing my mouth with hers again right as I push the door open and hurry inside, heading straight for the bathroom. I’ve fantasized about making love to her in the shower more times than I can count.

  Setting her down, I reach into the shower and turn the water on while struggling to undress myself as she throws her jacket and shoes off, in as much of a hurry as I am. Once I get my jeans and shirt off, I grab Kennedy’s panties and yank them down her legs, before picking her up and stepping into the water.

  She grabs onto my shoulders, digging her nails in when I press her against the wall and dig my hard dick between her legs. “Take them off. Now, Colson.”

  Her demand has me growling as I yank my briefs down far enough to grab my dick and ease it inside of her with one deep thrust. “Fuck, I’ve missed being inside you.”