Bailey

The flight back to Michigan felt endless. My body was in the seat, but my mind was stuck in that bedroom in Chicago... the sounds, the smirk and the way Nolan looked at me like I was nothing.

Seven years of dating and three years of devotion. All reduced to an ugly joke in one afternoon.

I'd grabbed my bag, booked the flight with shaking hands, and didn't look back. There was nothing left to look back to.

By the time the plane landed, it was morning. I walked down the aisle with nothing but the bag I'd grabbed in my rush to escape.

Stepping out into the cool Michigan air, the familiar scent of home wraps around me. For the first time in months, I let myself breathe.

I hail a cab and give the one address I know will get me what I need... comfort.

Minutes later, I'm standing outside Talia's apartment, ringing the bell like my life depends on it.

The door opens fast and Talia blinks at me.

Her hair is disheveled and eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Bailey..." Her voice cracks as she takes me in.

I don't say anything.

I know I look like a mess.

I am still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, no shower, nothing. Talia doesn't ask. She just steps aside and allows me in.

"You look like you've been through hell," she points out behind me.

That's what breaks the dam. I sniff hard, fighting my tears back.

I don't want to fall apart in front of her, even though it's all I want to do.

"Can I take a shower?" I ask instead.

"Of course. You don't need to ask." Talia replies.

I take the familiar path to her bathroom, strip down, and step under the water. It streams over me, rinsing off the stench of heartbreak.

I press my forehead to the tile and let the tears I have been forcing back to finally slip free, muffling the sobs with my hand.

By the time I step out wrapped in her fluffy robe, my limbs are still trembling but I feel human again.

The smell of coffee pulls me into the kitchen. Talia is seated at the table with two mugs of steaming coffee waiting. She pats the seat across from her and I take it without another word.

Talia takes two sips before she sets her cup down.

"Bailey. What the hell happened? You were fine yesterday, excited about surprising Nolan. Why are you back already, looking like this?" She asked. I could feel the concern in her voice despite the sharp tone.

So I tell her. Every sickening detail.

By the end, my voice is shaking with anger and grief. Talia slaps the table so hard I feel it on her behalf.

"That prick did what?" she growls.

"I caught him balls deep in another woman. He didn't even look sorry and said I was suffocating him." I take a sip of coffee.

Saying it out loud, i realised it sounded even more ridiculous than it felt.

"Six months, Talial. Six months he's been with her."

That's the part that guts me most. He should have just ended it, if he didn't love me anymore.

He should have been man enough and spared us both the wreckage.

"Love?" Talia scoffs. "Men like him don't care what you offer them. They cheat regardless."

She'd warned me about him once and told me not to put everything into one basket. I never listened because back then, Nolan was my everything.

Maybe Talia saw it coming all along.

"I gave him everything, Tal. I moved cities for him." Just thinking about it makes me feel miserable.

"That fucking prick," she spits. "Somebody should mutilate his junk and hang it at the hockey rink."

I almost laugh, despite everything.

Talia's anger is its own kind of comfort.

"As satisfying as that sounds, it's illegal. I'm not going to prison for him." I replied.

"You don't have to do it yourself. We could find someone." She suggests.

I can tell that she is dead serious about her revenge plan but it's absurd enough that I just stare at her.

She sees the look on my face and grins.

"What? I'm brainstorming," she defends herself.

. "Quality revenge takes planning."

Something in her ridiculous suggestions cracks the weight in my chest.

She is furious on my behalf and protective in the way only Talia is.

I can also tell that underneath it, she is trying to pull me back to myself.

I set down my mug and meet her eyes.

"No, Talia. I'm not wasting another second on him. He doesn't get my time, my energy, or my tears. I've already given him enough." I point out. Seven years is way too long to end up with a broken heart and humiliation.

Her expression softens. "So what are you going to do?"

I take a breath, and for the first time in months, my head feels clear.

"I am going to focus on my life. Grandma needs me, and it's time I choose myself for once." I declare.

For years, my whole world revolved around Nolan. I thought we were building something together. Now I can see I spent it all on a man who never actually cared.

Talia's smile turns blinding. "There she is. I'm so proud of you."

She pulls me into a hug, and I let myself sink into it.

It's not too late, I tell myself.

Over the next three months, I throw myself into rebuilding my life.

I split my time between taking care of my grandma and bringing the dream of owning a bakery shop to life.

Talia helps me hunt for a perfect shop, and after making sure it met my standards, I put down a six-month down payment for the rent.

I polish the recipes that were half-developed and set on getting the menu ready.

" See! This is what happens when you choose yourself." Talia whispers as we stand outside the shop, lease contract at hand.

A smile paints my lips at that.

I seem to see the bakery bustling with customers, their faces glowing with delight at the first taste of my pastries

-and that vision alone tells me I'm exactly where I belong.

My healing journey was going well until I received an alarming call after a week.

Bailey POV

" Miss Dawson, can you come to the hospital immediately?"

I had been in the middle of arranging my small bakery shop when the call came.

At first, I was confused and then dread followed.

When I arrived at the hospital, my grandmother was already laying in the ICU.

That's when my world started cracking again.

" Your grandmother's condition worsened and she needs a heart surgery as soon as possible."

I trembled and took a step back as I felt like my world was running in circles.

A heart surgery? When I had drained my savings to set up my bakery?

Desperate, I pleaded with the landlady to give back the six months down payment I had made but my efforts were proven futile.

I mortgaged the house my parents left me but it was not enough. That's how I found myself here, in a club serving drinks to earn money.

The bass thumps so hard through the velvet-lined walls I could feel it in my bones. I clutch my tray a little tighter, reminding myself for the hundredth time: This is just temporary. Just until I scrape together enough money for Grandma's surgery.

The smell of liquor and smoke curl around me as I weave between tables, keeping my head down.

Every step screams humiliation. If Nolan could see me now... No. I shove the thought away. Nolan has already taken enough from me. I can't think about him right now.

My grandmother is very important to me and that's why I took this humiliating job. Anything as long as she can get well.

"Table twelve," the floor manager hisses, shoving another order slip in my hand.

I grab the drinks, arrange them on the tray and make a beeline to the assigned table.

My heart stutters when I see where table twelve is.

It's a corner booth filled with laughter and testosterone - jerseys and leather jackets everywhere.

Then I see him. At the center, lounging like he owns the damn place... Orion Kane.

Of course. Out of all the gin joints in Michigan, he had to walk into mine. How unlucky can I get?

From Nolan's everyday tale in the past, Orion is a prick and a bastard who doesn't lose an opportunity to act cocky.

His gaze snaps to me the second I approach. A smirk curls on his lips, slow and sharp.

"Well, well. Look who we have here.

Bailey Dawson. I didn't think you knew how to hold a tray." He says, each word laced with mockery.

I wish the floor would open up and swallow me whole. Instead, I square my shoulders and look him in the face.

"Didn't think you knew how to speak without bragging. Guess we're both full of surprises."

My retort is followed by a low whistle from one of his teammates. Orion just chuckles, his eyes glittering with something unreadable.

I set the drinks down carefully, but as I turn to leave, a hand reaches out and rough fingers graze my thigh.

"Hey sweetheart, how about you stay and give us a little show, huh?" one of the guys jeers and I fight with everything inside me not to slam the tray on his face.

Disgust stirs inside my stomach and before I know it, I push myself away.

The tray tilts in my hand and the liquid splashes over the edge of a glass.

It spills down his expensive jacket and amber streaks soak the fabric.

The man shoots up, his face twisting with anger. "Are you fucking kidding me?" His voice booms, drawing the attention of the onlookers.

"This jacket costs more than your entire paycheck, you stupid..."

"Sit. Down."

A voice cuts through the rising tension.

It's low, dangerous and laced with authority that silences the table.

In one fluid motion, Orion stands, towering over the guy. His hand clamps down on the man's shoulder.

"If you so much as look at her again, you'll be picking your teeth off the floor."

The threat lingers in the air, I even taste in my lips.

The guy's bravado from earlier wilts instantly. He mutters something under his breath and drops back into his chair.

Slowly , Orion turns, his eyes locking on mine.

For a split second, I see something different in them. Not arrogance. Not rivalry.

I see possession. Like he damn owns every part of me. I swallow hard, heat forming and spreading across my body.

"She's with me," he announces, loud enough for the whole damn lounge to hear. "Nobody is allowed to touch or humiliate her. Only I can do that."

Heat surges to my cheeks mixed with something else I can't quite pinpoint.

My eyes remain locked on his and for a fleeting moment, we gaze at each other.

I see imaginary sparks flying between us. Eventually, I look away.

I can't help but wonder what the hell he is playing at?

I want to snap at him, to scream that I am not his but the way every pair of eyes in that booth shifts off me, I just stand there, trembling.

Orion leans closer, his smirk returning but it's softer this time.

"Relax, sweetheart. I don't bite." Then his gaze flicks to my lips. "Not unless you ask nicely."

My pulse hammers.

I hate him but a weird sensation erupts from deep insíde me and spreads all over my body.

I glare at him. " Asshole." I murmur before walking away.

The rest of the shift runs smoothly. Nobody bothers me and while I don't exactly appreciate how he claimed ownership over me, why does a small, treacherous part of me feel like he is cool?

When my shift is over, I grab my bag and head out. When I step outside the club, the harsh night air slaps my body and I wrap my hands around myself.

I walk towards the bus stop hoping I don't have to wait for long. I don't make it far when a black motorcycle pulls up before me.

The scent of his cologne hits me before he removes the helmet covering his face.

" Hop on, I'll drive you home." Orion offers.

" No need. I can find my way home." I retort. Just because he helped me earlier doesn't mean I suddenly like him.

"Hop on, Bailey." His tone leaves no room for argument. "It's late and I am not letting you ride a bus with creeps after what just happened inside." Orion presses on.

I cross my arms tighter. "I don't need saving."

His mouth curves, equal parts smirk and challenge. "Funny. It looked like you did about an hour ago."

I glare at him in defiance but when a couple of rowdy men spill out of the club behind us, laughing too loud, my resolve wavers.

It's almost ten and the streets can be unsafe, especially for a woman like me.

With a sharp exhale, I swing a leg over and settle behind him.

The engine roars to life, and the world blurs into shadows and neon lights. My hands grip the edges of his jacket, and even when I try to resist it, the warmth seeping through steadies me.

When he finally slows near my street, he doesn't kill the engine right away. Instead, his voice cuts through the night.

"So. You and Nolan...?

The sound of that name feels like a slap.

" It's none of your fucking business." I snap. Orion's jaws suddenly tighten.

"Everyone in the hockey world knows he has been screwing around with the daughter of the club patron. He left you for her? What an asshole." His tone feels heavy, like he is mad about something.

So that's how it is? The connection the dumb blonde was talking about?

My throat works, but no words come out.

Then he turns to me.

" I know you need money urgently. I have a proposal.

Be my girlfriend and I'll take care of everything you need."

I laugh bitterly.

" You really are delusional. You think I would date you? My ex's rival?"

"Exactly," he says, lips curving into that infuriating grin.

" This makes it even more interesting. Don't you want to get back at your cheating ex? What better way than to be with me- the man he hates the most?"