She nodded slowly. “Of course. I invited all the models. But I didn’t know she’d come with a date, much less Daniel. I’m sorry about that. I was as surprised as you were.”
With a grunt he looked up to find Lance, Abby, and Chris in a semicircle behind Megan, blocking his view of the party. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he looked back at Megan. “I wish you would’ve warned me that she was coming. I don’t know how long I can stay, Megan.” I don’t know how long I can take seeing someone else touch Hannah without punching his face in.
Megan’s eyes roamed his face. “I understand. I’m going to give a little speech where I talk about the paintings and thank all my models. I’d appreciate it if you could stay until then, at least.”
He nodded, taking another deep breath and straightening his spine. It was Megan’s big night, and she was one of his closest friends. He could put aside his own shit for another hour or so at least. “Alright. I’ll stay until your speech. But I’ll probably bail pretty quick after. If I don’t get the chance to tell you later, your paintings are amazing. This is a great show. I hope you sell out.”
She smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug, her head only coming up to the middle of his chest. It felt strange to have another girl in his arms, one who didn’t fit so right. Of course, Megan wasn’t his, so it didn’t really matter.
She pulled back and looked up into his face. “I know she came with someone else, but I think you should try to talk to her before you leave.”
He started to shake his head and opened his mouth to tell her that Hannah obviously didn’t want to talk to him, but Megan kept going, not letting him speak.
“You’ve been miserable since she left, and since I know she hasn’t returned any of your calls, she doesn’t know about your plans. She needs to know so she doesn’t regret her decision sometime down the road when it’s too late to change anything. Talk to her, Matt. Don’t leave tonight without taking advantage of the opportunity when fate drops it in your lap.”
He pressed his lips together, not sure what to say. He wanted to talk to Hannah. That hadn’t changed in the weeks since she’d broken up with him and sent him away. But he didn’t know how Hannah would react. Or if he could keep it together in front of the crowd.
He meant to tell Megan that it was hopeless, but instead he nodded. “If I get the chance, I’ll talk to her.”
Megan smiled, her face brightening. “Okay, good. Now, I must get back to my adoring fans.”
He couldn’t help chuckling a little along with her, his eyes following her as she took Chris’s hand and led him back out to the party to greet more people who had arrived while they had their impromptu meeting in the back.
Lance gripped his shoulder. “You alright, man?”
No. But he nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.” Or he would be eventually. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime.”
The three of them moved back into the crowd. He went to the drinks table to get more punch, hoping that he didn’t crush this one. When he looked up, he scanned the crowd, needing to find Hannah and see what she was doing, his eyes drawn to her like metal filings to a high-powered magnet.
She stood in one corner of the gallery, Daniel next to her, not touching her for once, chatting with a few other people. As though she could feel his eyes on her, she turned, her gaze colliding with his. Even from across the room, he could see her green eyes widen and her face pale. She spun back around, her posture stiff.
Well, fuck. If she reacted like that to simple eye contact, how would he get the chance to talk to her?
Hannah stiffened, her eyes going wide when they clashed with Matt’s. She turned back to the group she stood with, trying and failing to focus on the conversation flowing around her. She had no idea what they were talking about anymore.
Daniel seemed to notice the sudden change in her posture, glancing down at her, his eyes curious. “You alright?”
She shook her head, then nodded. “I’m—I’m fine.” God, how ridiculous that just making eye contact with Matt across a crowded room reduced her to a stammering wreck. They weren’t together anymore. She’d ended it. He didn’t care as much about her as she did about him. It couldn’t work. She was moving on. That’s why she came with Daniel, after all, but when he tried to wrap his arm around her waist again, she stepped away, unable to bear his touch. Not with Matt in the room. Not with the memories of her and Matt playing through her like a film projector and her body the screen. The memories were visceral things. Each touch, each caress, each kiss played over her skin like a real, living thing, instead of the phantoms they were.
Daniel looked surprised when she didn’t let him touch her, and she couldn’t blame him since she’d allowed it up until now. He glanced behind him over his shoulder, and when he looked back at her, his face was grim. “You saw Matt.” It wasn’t a question.
She nodded, the movement little more than a downward jerk of her head. She wouldn’t look at him, but she felt his eyes studying her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded again, this time a little more convincingly. “Yeah. I was just surprised.” Though she didn’t know why. She’d expected him to be here. But she’d scanned the room after talking to Megan and Chris and hadn’t seen him. So to make eye contact with him so suddenly had shaken her up. Had he gotten there while she wasn’t paying attention? Or had he been
