Wrong Side of Town

little.”

Estella’s eyes wandered over the lanterns in the trees, to the fairy lights wrapped around the tree branches, and then to the table set up just in front of the dock. There was a picnic basket on it with some bread and cheese and chicken that I’d bought pre-cooked—nothing fancy, but I hoped it was the gesture that counted.

Estella’s face was glowing when she turned to me. “This is amazing! I can’t believe you did all this! No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.”

“I hope you like it,” I said, leading her to the table and pulling out her chair for her.

Once she was seated, all I could do was stare at her. Estella was goddamn beautiful and here she was looking at me like I was the most amazing person she’d ever laid eyes on.

And there was a smile on her face—a genuine smile that I’d given her, not that fake shit she was always putting on.

I served her up a plateful of food and she eyed it warily before accepting it.

“Don’t worry,” I said with a laugh. “I didn’t cook it this time.”

“I liked that you cooked for me,” Estella said as she chewed on a piece of chicken. “Even though I’ve tasted better food from an eight-year-old.”

“Ouch, that hurts my feelings.”

Estella laughed, tilting her head to the side so that her honey brown locks flowed over her shoulders. She was so beautiful and I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was everything I needed. Nothing else mattered anymore.

“I’m glad that you’re trying to change, Vincent. It gives me hope.”

I reached across and took her hand in mine. “I’m trying to change for you. I want you to see that I can be a better person. I want you to proud of me instead of being disappointed all the time.”

“Yes, but you being in this gang, you fighting, those are things that aren’t right. You can’t use violence and intimidation to solve all your problems.”

I squeezed her hand. “I’m leaving all that behind, Stelle. I’m giving all that up for you, for Dylan. I want us to have a life together because there is no way I could picture you not being in my life. I want you, all of you, and I’m giving it all up for you.”

“What about the fight that’s coming up?”

“I told Ryder I wasn’t going to do it. I told him I quit.”

Estella’s expression completely changed and her mouth fell open as she pulled her hand free from my grasp. She stood up from her seat and shook her head, backing away from me slowly at the same time.

Suddenly it felt like a crushing weight had descended into my chest at the look in her eyes. I’d been sure Estella felt the same way about me, but now I wasn’t even sure.

“Vincent, I don’t know how to do this with you.”

Her words cut into me like broken glass. I struggled to piece together what she was saying, but none of this was making much sense to me. As different as we were, we were right for each other. We didn’t make sense on paper, but we made sense on some other level. It was a level that only we could understand. So why was she pushing me away?

“You don’t realize someone was missing from your life until the moment they enter it. You were missing, Estella. Something brought us together, and I’m not going to let go. Push me away if you want. Deny that there’s anything between us. But listen to what I’m saying; I refuse to let you go. You can’t make me let go because you’re the only thing left for me to hold onto.”

Estella’s bottom lip quivered and I’d never seen her look so sad before.

“I’m a shell Vincent—empty, lifeless, dead. There’s nothing left inside of me to love.”

* * *

Estella

Vincent seized me by the shoulders, pulling me close to him so that I was faced with his dark eyes that seemed to be burning into me with each second that passed.

“Yes, there is, Estella. There’s a lot left inside of you to love. I see it in the way you put others before yourself. I see it in the way you take care of everyone. I see it in the way you look at me.” Vincent placed a hand on the center of my chest. “There is so much inside of you for me to love, but you have to love yourself first. You have to believe that you’re worth it, the way I know you are.”

His words were reassuring, but a part of me didn’t know what to believe.

“Don’t you understand? I’m dead. I died two-and-a-half years ago. I had to die so I wouldn’t keep reliving what he was doing to me. I didn’t want to stay alive anymore, so I killed a part of myself.”

Vincent took my hands in his, brushing his lips against my skin in a soft kiss. “Then let me bring you back to life.”

His words had me shaking all over. I didn’t want to feel this way, yet at the same time I did. I loved the way he made me feel. Everything was so confusing. Why couldn’t I just give into my feelings?

Without really thinking about what I was doing, I started to turn away.

“Don’t go, Stelle.”

If Vincent’s voice wasn’t enough to glue me to one spot, those eyes definitely were. They were so full of lust and desperation that I had to turn my head away. My legs still refused to budge—they were so immobilized by him that I was pretty sure my feet had grown roots and were absorbing nutrients from the sidewalk.

“Stelle?” Vincent asked, his voice uncertain.

I sighed into the night air, wishing I was a stronger human being, wishing I had the guts to pull away from him. “I’m still here, aren’t I?”

Even though I wasn’t looking at him, I knew as soon as he took a step towards me because my body went into some weird sense of hyper-awareness. The tiny hairs on my arms were standing straight up and every nerve in my body was reaching out, wanting to be closer to the source that was making me feel this way.

Vincent. I wanted Vincent.

And then he was in front of me, and those eyes burned into me like coals. And, still, I didn’t move. I couldn’t bring myself to move away from him. He was all wrong for me. He wasn’t the kind of guy you spent the rest of your life with. But then why wasn’t I running in the opposite direction?

“Say it.” Vincent’s voice was low as he ducked his head down to meet me; those lips of his were like a cruel taunt. “I want you to say it.”

What was I supposed to say? I couldn’t even form words, so I did some weird half-shrug thing. Wow. The hottest guy to walk this town was inches away from me and all I could manage was some lackluster gesture. I was too pathetic for words.

Vincent let out a low growl that sent shivers shooting across my skin. “I told you, I won’t lay a hand on you until you tell me to, Stelle.” Vincent’s eyes were hooded, dark with lust. The look in his eyes made me weak and I felt my pulse speed up. He leaned in, his mouth close to mine. “And I really want you to.”

I lowered my mouth to his. “I want you.”

And then without warning, our bodies were one. Vincent’s hands were everywhere. We were the same person. He was kissing me everywhere and every part of me was alive.

Vincent was bringing me back to life.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Estella

There were things Vincent needed to know about me—things that I couldn’t even begin to explain about myself and my life.

I wanted him to know about that dark part of me, but I didn’t want to scare him away. I didn’t want him to look at me differently; I wanted to be the same person but for him to have a better understanding of who I was.

Pressing my eyes shut, I started to speak, the words flowing from my mouth as though they had wanted to