Homecoming 7

"You tricked me!" Stellar shrieked. She braced her hands on either side of her hips and exhaled loudly through her nose. "What is wrong with you, Beau? Tired of playing around that it's convenient to seek me out tonight? Is that it?"

"You know you're the only one for me, precious."

Stellar closed her eyes in disbelief. The certainty in Beau's voice was playing tricks on her heart, giving it false promises of a happily ever after.

If she was the same Stellar half a year ago, then maybe she might have swooned and giggled. Unfortunately, that innocence was long gone.

"Says the one who left me without a word. Not a single text. Not a letter. Not a phone call. And when…" Stellar paused, her chest heaving, "and when you came back, you didn't even bother to show your face to me and what? Spent dinner dates with my sister! Say it again, Beau! Say that I'm the only one for you. Lie to me one more time, then I might believe you!"

Looking at her straight in the eye, Beau spoke, "There's nobody else for me, but you, precious." His voice dropped low—that sexy kind of low that sent a glorious wave of vibration under Stellar's skin. For the first time in a long while, she felt alive.

Suddenly Stellar's throat dried. Her hands turned clammy and her heart hammered so hard in her chest she had to press a hand over it.

It had been a long time since she heard that voice. For months she yearned to hear it. How he called her.

'Precious'

'My precious'

'You're mine, precious.'

For months he whispered sweet nothings in her ears. She believed his words, but look where it got her? A single journey ticket at the Heartbreak Express Train.

"Don't call me that…" Stellar mustered up her courage and spoke. She jutted her chin up and look him straight into the eye but realized it was a wrong move when her heart did a somersault. Averting her gaze to the potted lavender on the table.

"Then what do want me to call you then? Mrs. Beau Spencer? My patience is this thin from dragging you to the marriage bureau. You know that."

"Are you F-ing kidding me?"

"Careful with your words, precious."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Stellar stood her ground. Who did Beau think he was that he could tell her what to say and not say? "You cannot silence me, Beau Spencer."

"Are you sure?" He took a step forward.

Holding her hand up in a stop sign, Stellar warned, "Come any closer, or I will scream for the whole neighborhood to hear."

Slowly, a corner of Beau's lips tugged up in a cruel smirk. "Give me your best shot. You do know I have a lot of ways to silence you, right?"

Heat crept up from her neck to her cheeks, painting it with a blush of rose. She knew exactly what Beau meant, and she would be ruined if his lips would so much as brush against hers. Shaking the thought away, she turned her back against him and angrily whispered, "What is your problem?"

"You are my problem!"

Stellar flinched in her spot. The tone in Beau's voice was sharp, and it sliced through her rough and calloused exterior. She turned again to face him, and the blush on her cheeks was gone. "What have I done this time?" Her eyes pooled salty tears.

She was always the problem. Whatever Stellar would do was always wrong. And she would always be out of line with whatever she would say. Maybe her being alive was wrong too. Who knows?

She saw Beau's face softened, and before she knew it, he took long strides towards her that he was standing right in front of her. Before she could open her mouth, before she could even protest, she found herself melting against his touch.

Wrapping her in a hug, the side of Stellar's face pressed on his broad and muscular chest. If her ears weren't lying, she could hear his heartbeat, slow and rhythmic—her lullaby for their stolen summer nights.

"Stop pushing me away, precious," he said, painting a frown on Stellar's face. "Let me explain, please."

There he went again. Saying words she rarely heard Beau saying. He never had to say words to make a polite request. Whatever words came out of his mouth was a command that everyone had to bow and follow.

It was the reason why she thought she was special. It was the reason why she let him in her world. But no matter how thick and high Stellar's wall was, Beau would always find a way to get through her.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault," Beau apologized. Another rare thing for him to say. He never apologizes for anything he did wrong, which hardly ever happened. But on the occasion that he did commit a mistake, the one at the receiving end would end up apologizing for getting into his way.

It was another reason why she thought she was special. Words like please and sorry would come flying out of his mouth the instant he noticed that she was upset.

Stellar was not a snowflake, but he treated her as such that sometimes she wondered if that was the reason why he cared so much for her back then. Maybe she looked like a damsel in distress. Maybe he just pitied her. And when he grew tired of her, he just left.

Wriggling out of his embrace, Stellar freed herself and took a step back away from him. "It's okay. I've moved on." She smiled at him, or she thought she was until a blob of tear streamed from her eyes down to her cheeks. She angrily wiped it away with her hands and sniffled.

"You've moved on, huh?" Beau gritted through his teeth. He dipped his hands inside his pocket and exhaled his frustration. He knew nothing could get through Stellar when she made up her mind. She was as stubborn as a nail lodged too deep into a block of wood. She trained herself to be that annoying.

Catching Stellar off guard, Beau kept walking closer to her.

"Who said you moved on, precious?"

"I do!" In her confusion, she kept taking a step back until her back hit the wall. She looked to her side to find a path for escape, but she was late.

He already trapped her with his hands braced on either side of her head, his nether region's dangerously close to her belly. "Liar." He smirked.

Pinned on the wall with nowhere to escape, Stellar had to lift her chin up to meet his gaze, since Beau was a head taller than her. Anger and pleasure from their proximity detonated inside of her like a bomb. He was the same as the last time she saw him save some for a few lines on the corners of his eyes.

"I'll find out the truth eventually, precious, so might as well come clean now," he spoke with so much confidence, it annoyed the hell out of Stellar.

But before she could react… before she could open her mouth, Beau dipped his head and invaded her being with a kiss so ravenous and insatiable—it pulled the air out of her lungs.