Chapter 2 The handsome stranger

Melissa POV

It didn’t take long for him to figure out the spot light was exactly on him, this was exactly the kind of news youngsters like us feed on.

When his eyes found mine, the color drained from his face instantly.

I was already moving towards him.

The crowd was thick and unforgiving, bodies packed tight, and this stupid dress kept tangling around my legs with every step I took.

The dress just pulled and slowed me down, and I could feel the eyes of the entire room tracking me like I was the night’s entertainment.

I grabbed a fistful of the silk at my thigh and pulled. The tear was loud as it ripped the fabric from my tight, freeing my legs completely.

My jaw was locked so tight my teeth ached. The back of my eyes burned with tears but I swallowed it, forcing it down, refusing to cry here in front of everyone.

The crowd parted ahead of me without me having to ask. People stepped aside, fell silent, watched with wide eyes as I walked toward the VIP section with the torn dress and my chin up and every emotion I owned locked behind my teeth.

Troy scrambled out to meet me before I even reached the rope. His shirt was wrinkled. His hair was a mess from her fingers. His eyes were wide and frantic and i know he was already cooking up a lie.

“Babe, it’s not what it looks like…”

I slapped him with all the strength I had in me. My palm connected with his cheek so hard my hand stung all the way up to my wrist.

The entire room went silent. Even the music seemed to hold its breath.

Troy’s head snapped to the side. He stood there with his hand hovering near his cheek, too stunned to speak. So was everyone else.

“Babe…”

“What does it look like?” My voice came out low and steady, which surprised even me, because nothing inside me was steady right now. Nothing inside me was even close to steady.

He opened his mouth.

My hand moved before the words came out.The second slap was harder than the first.

Another collective gasp tore through the room . Someone near the back actually said oh my God in a loud voice.

Troy stumbled back half a step, his cheek flushing deep red, his eyes glassy with shock.

“Melissa…”

“Don’t you say a fucking word, you cheat. How dare you after everything we have been through together?”

A hand found my arm from the side; it was none other than Aria.

She pressed a glass of red wine into my shaking hand without a single word, her jaw set, her eyes hard and dark with a fury she was holding in. She positioned herself beside me like a wall.

I looked at Troy for one short moment. Then I turned the glass upside down over his head.

The wine soaked through his blond hair, running down his face in rivulets, staining his white shirt red. It pooled at the collar, dripped off his jaw, spread across the fabric. It looked like blood.

Tasha shrieked behind him as the splatter caught her chest, her hands flying up to cover herself, stumbling backward in her heels.

The VIP section was a painting. Nobody moved.

I looked Troy in the eyes, letting him see the humiliation. The betrayal. All the months I’d given him. All the times I made myself smaller and quieter and more available to him because I thought that’s what love required. Giving him all my savings even though he was already out of school. He was never a real boyfriend but I tried to be patient and loving because I honestly did love hom.

“I hope she was worth it.”

I turned and walked toward the backstage area behind the screen, my torn dress trailing behind me. My hands were shaking. My vision was blurring at the edges, and I blinked fast, furious at myself, furious at my own tear for choosing now.

I found the wire and yanked it from the wall with everything I had.

The screen went black. The crowd groaned but I didn’t care.

I pressed both hands flat against the wall and stood there for a moment, just breathing. In and out. In and out. The back of my eyes still burned. I pressed the back of my wrist against my mouth and held it there until the shaking in my jaw eased.

You are not crying in this building. You are absolutely not crying in this fucking building.

When I walked back to the VIP area, Troy had straightened his shirt. The wine still dripped from his hair onto his shoulders, but he was trying. Tasha had retreated to the corner, one hand still pressed to her chest where the wine had hit her.

“Babe, please listen…”

“Don’t call me that.” My voice was quiet. “You don’t get to call me that anymore.”

His face crumpled. “Melissa, please. I was drunk. I wasn’t thinking. I swear to God if you just let me explain…”

“You weren’t thinking.” I let out a short laugh that had nothing funny in it. “That’s what you’re going with.”

“It meant nothing. She means nothing. You’re what matters, you have to know that…”

Tasha shifted in her corner, looking at her nails. The audacity of it sent a hot wave of something through my blood.

“Girl, honestly, just chill.” Her voice was bored. Almost amused. “It’s not like you two were even that serious. Troy told me you’re always working, and you weren't fun, not even in bed.” She shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not my fault he thinks I’m better.”

My vision went red at the edges. My hands curled at my sides.

“Tasha.” Troy’s voice was sharp with panic. “Shut up.”

“Boring.” I repeated the word slowly, tasting it. “You called me boring. Because I had deadlines. Because I had a future I was building. Because I didn’t want to spend every night at a party getting drunk and…”

“If you say one more word about my friend,” Aria’s voice sliced through the room like a blade, “I will break your nose myself.”

She stepped forward, arms folded, purple hair glowing under the lights. She looked at Tasha and Troy like they were both trash and not even worthy of our attention.

“Boring?” Aria’s laugh was sharp enough to cut. “Interesting take from someone whose idea of a good time is giving blowjobs in VIP rooms. That’s not fun, babe. That’s called being desperate.”

Tasha’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You’re just jealous.”

“Jealous of what?” Aria tilted her head. “Your chlamydia?”

The silence that followed was magnificent.

Tasha’s face drained white, then flooded red, then climbed toward something approaching purple. Her mouth opened and closed twice without producing a sound.

“How did you…”

“It’s a very snall campus.” Aria smiled sweetly. “Word travels. Now do yourself a favor and leave before I tell everyone exactly what happened at Delta Kappa’s party. The part where you got drunk and pissed yourself. In front of everyone.” A pause. “Including the photos.”

Tasha snatched her purse from the seat behind her and walked out so fast she nearly caught her heel on the rope. The crowd peeled back to let her through, and she was gone.

Troy turned back to me. He reached for my hand, his fingers cold and slightly clammy against my skin.

I pulled away like he’d burned me.

“I made a mistake, Melissa. One mistake. Please…”

“We are done.” I said it simply. We are over. I will only say it once.”

“You don’t mean that. Tomorrow when you’ve calmed down…”

“I am calm.” And I was. That was the strangest part. The storm inside me had gone completely still. “I’m not confused. I didn’t stutter. We are done, Troy. And trust me when I tell you I have already moved on.”

“Melissa, please…”

I turned to pick up my purse from where it had fallen earlier. My hands were steadier now than they’d been all night, which felt wrong.

The tears were building behind my eyes again, blurring the edges of everything. I blinked hard. Raised the back of my hand to the corner of my eye before anything could fall.

I turned to walk away. My heel caught the torn hem of my dress.

I was very sure I was going to fall and humiliate myself even more this night but strong arms caught me before I finished falling. One around my waist, one at my arm, pulling me up with ease. I grabbed onto whoever it was purely on instinct, my fingers closing around solid forearms, my heart was beating loudly.

I looked up and my heart stopped the moment my eyes locked onto those perfect Ice-blue eyes.

The world went very quiet and very still in the exact same moment.

He was tall … well over six feet, and had really broad shoulders. Dressed entirely in black. Dark hair fell loosely over his forehead. Something about his face was dangerously, unfairly calm … he looked like a dark angel.

My heart forgot what it was doing mid-beat.

“Are you okay?” His voice was low, and a bit husky I had to hold him tighter to stop the wave of dizziness I suddenly felt.

My vision swam slightly. The tears I’d been holding back all night were right there … right at the surface … blurring the edges of his face, the lights behind him, all of it. I raised one hand quickly and pressed my fingers to the corner of my eye before anything could fall.

Do not cry. Do not cry in front of a stranger.

“Yes, she’s fine.” Troy’s voice hit the moment like a hammer. He pushed forward through the people around us, jaw tight, eyes locked on the stranger’s arms around my waist. “This is between me and my girlfriend. Back off.”

“Ex.” The word left my mouth before I’d decided to speak. I gripped the stranger’s arms tighter, not ready … not willing … to let the beautiful anchor go. “Ex-girlfriend.”

Troy’s eyes flicked to mine, he looked almost desperate as he reached for my arm.

The stranger didn’t move, he locked eyes with Troy and that was all it took for Troy to stop moving.

I felt the stranger’s arm still around my waist tighten a little pulling me closer.

The tears were still blurring the edges of my vision, and I was so tired … So completely and utterly done with this night, with this room, with everything that before my rational brain could intervene, before I could think through a single consequence, I rose up onto my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his.

It wasn’t planned. It felt like stepping off a ledge before you’ve looked down. He didn’t hesitate.

His hands found my waist and pulled me in, and the kiss was nothing like the night. It was warm and beautiful. Before now I have never actually enjoyed kissing or knew the pleasure it could bring . But this beautiful stranger was literally fucking me with his mouth.

His tongue traced my lips, coaxing them open, then swept inside, he tasted like whiskey and his warm tongue just kept pulling out my pleasure from me, making me moan into his mouth softly as everyone else disappeared.

I pulled back first, breathing unsteadily, my lips were warm and slightly tingly.

His eyes were still on my face.

“What the fuck?” Troy’s voice cracked. “Who do you think you are?”

The stranger looked at him and set me gently back on my feet.

He straightened to his full height.

Troy, to his credit, didn’t move. But he looked utterly defeated and humbled.

“She said it’s over.” The stranger’s voice was quiet. It didn’t need to be anything else. “Leave.”

“This is none of your…”

“You made it everyone’s business.When you put it on the screen.”

Troy’s mouth closed. The aura radiating from the stranger was enough to freeze everyone in the tracks. Who exactly is this man?

I was about to thank him and move away when his hands tightened on my waist. The stranger guided me toward the exit, his hand warm at my back. I didn’t look behind me. I didn’t need to.

We walked through the front doors and the night air hit my face and I breathed it in like I’d been underwater.

Aria appeared at my side seconds later, slightly breathless from pushing through the crowd, her eyes moving between me and the stranger with an expression she wasn’t even trying to hide.

“Do you need a ride?”