hayden stavros

The words that left her mouth were far from the truth, but he couldn’t tell her any different. He wouldn’t tell her any different. If she knew who he really was, maybe she would run away. Or maybe she wouldn’t. Phoebe was the most difficult woman to peg and that still hadn’t stopped Hayden from wanting to know her, from wanting to be with her. Everything about her drew him in and now he was the one that was scared of the situation. His family was nothing to want to be a part of. Hell, he barely considered himself a decent person. Every time he so much stepped foot inside that flower shop, he was sure her mother was going to beat his ass just for being who he was. He was darkness seeping into the light and he couldn’t help himself. The woman would have to deal now, especially given the current moment. His eyes met hers as she looked at him, those beautiful brown eyes swallowing him whole. He wanted to know everything about her. Every thought that ran through her head intrigued him. Her hand resting on his cheek made his eyes dart towards that for only a moment before looking back at her. If she hadn’t said his name like that with those words, he probably would have been able to withstand kissing her until they were in private. However, she had done exactly that with her thumb ever so gently caressing his lips. “Phoebe...” He looked down at her mouth for only a second. “Like I said, you’re going to be the death of me,” he said as he pressed his mouth to hers. He was sure this was the moment where he knew he was going to fall. But it would be the greatest fall he would ever know.

Hayden had never been afraid of anything before in his life. Everything had all but been handed to him on a silver platter. Sure, he had been the black sheep of his family, but he had made a name for himself in this city. And here came this woman wearing a flower crown making him doubt everything. All he could really know for sure was that he was completely enamored by her. Every word she said made him feel like he was wrong for her and good for her at the same time. Maybe if they both didn’t have all of these feelings running through their veins, they wouldn’t be in this predicament right now. Maybe if he didn’t have his brothers breathing down his neck making him doubt everything, he wouldn’t have tried to push her away. There were so many things telling him not to fall into this with Phoebe, but here she was telling him otherwise. His eyes could only focus on hers as she spoke, his ears hanging onto every single syllable that left her mouth. Once she was done, he lifted his hands to rest on the sides of her neck, his dark eyes scanning her face. “I don’t want you to go anywhere. I’m sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t choose to do what you wanted. You deserve better from me. I promise I’ll be better for you. I swear on my life.” He so desperately wanted to press his lips to hers, but he wasn’t going to let that be his choice. This was going to be at her pace and he would let her make that move whenever she was ready.

Hayden was, for lack of a better word, fucked. It had always been easy for him to just live his life without any strings attached. With the life he led, it was just simple for him to find a different woman every night so he didn’t get attached to anyone. And he did not, at all, want Phoebe to be involved with anything he was doing. He had served enough time in hell to know how it would feel for her to be involved in something she didn’t really want to be involved in. They weren’t the same person though. They were completely different from each other and that was why this was such a struggle for him. However, listening to Phoebe speak changed things for him. After all he had said and here she stood in front of him still calling him a coward. It was what he deserved and it was true. Hayden tried his best to convince himself that he was trying to save her from this life he led. The funny thing was that she didn’t need to be. It was clear to him now that she didn’t care about any of that. There was something about him, and he didn’t know what it could possibly be, that drew her to him. He knew what made him want her, but he couldn’t figure out why she would want him for the life of him. Her hand resting on his cheek made him lift his dark eyes to look into hers. “I’m not...” He shook his head. It was stupid of him to deny anything now. It was almost like she could read him like a book. “I’m afraid of you. Of anything I could feel for you in the future. I’m afraid of you.”

Liquid courage. That was exactly what he needed. His brother had such a hold on him, he felt like he was always being pulled towards what he shouldn’t be doing. It was exhausting and he was fed up with it. Hayden headed towards the bar, immediately asking for a shot. “You don’t need her. We’re kings, Hayden. The sooner you learn that, the better.” Hayden took his shot and downed it immediately. “Shut the fuck up, Dick. If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked for it.” He walked away from his brother to run into his youngest brother. He assumed his imposition told Gio to move out of his way because he simply did. Hayden followed the direction he saw Phoebe head in, his eyes dropping upon every face he saw on his way. The people moved out of his way because they just knew who he was, but of course there were a few women that wanted to interrupt his mission to find her. All he could do was pry them off of him so he could just find Phoebe. That was all he cared to do. Once he got outside and saw that red dress, he headed towards her to stand in front of her. “I’m not a fucking coward.” He looked at her face to see she had started crying. It was his fault this had happened. He couldn’t even blame it on his brother because he was a grown ass adult. This was all on him. “If I was a coward, I wouldn’t have bothered with you at all. I wouldn’t have spent nights looking for you in a sea of people I couldn’t care less about. I wouldn’t have stopped by a flower shop I had no interest in being at letting your mother drag me through the fucking dirt constantly. I have been trying and trying, Phoebe. So just...don’t go. Please. Give me the opportunity to fix this.”

Hayden gave a nonchalant shrug at her words. “I’ve got a little practice.” The words left his mouth before he could stop them. He only hoped that she wouldn’t care what he meant by that. It wasn’t like he was a saint by any means, but he was not going to let her think something different of him from what she already had in her head. “You’re my favorite partner though,” he said to somehow cover it up. Not that it should’ve mattered to him, but he wanted to impress her. Something about her drew him in. Maybe it was because they were two entirely different people or maybe it was just her. Nevertheless, he wanted to be around her. The distance closing between them made him open his eyes to look into hers. “Phoebe.” His eyes flicked down to her mouth for only a moment before he heard a commotion only he knew was happening at the bar where his brother was standing. It was nothing to worry about at all, but the look on his older brother’s face made him question everything he was doing right now. Why was he infatuated with this woman? It was enough for him to semi-pull away from her to the point where they were stood in front of each other now. There still wasn’t much distance between them, but it was enough for right now. He cleared his throat as he tried to look at anywhere but her. HIs eyes eventually settled on the floor, his hand still linked with hers for some reason. It was like he was trying to let go, but still couldn’t at the same time. “Phoebe.” His eyes then locked on his brother’s from across the room. “I’m not good for you. This isn’t where you belong.”

“None at all. I basically just wake up looking this handsome. It’s a burden really,” he stated with a shrug. The smile on his face made it obvious that he was joking. He didn’t want her to think he was the kind of guy that thought like that when he indeed was not. The jolt he felt when he put his hands on her hips almost made him pull away. Well, that was until she spoke. “That’s relieving,” he muttered under his breath. Hayden had to lean his head down to hear her better. Not that he minded being closer to her. God, he did not mind being closer to her at all. “It’s okay. It’s all in the hips. You just kinda sway.” He slowly started moving, his mouth near her ear as he spoke. His hands that were on her hips attempted to help her move along with him. “It’s, uh...” He took a breath. “It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I’m sure you’ll be a great partner. It all depends on the person you’re dancing with.” Hayden knew there was music playing, but he could barely focus on anything but her. His eyes closed as his hand drifted down to hers to intertwine their fingers. “You’re going to be the death of me,” he whispered, not even caring that he said it loud enough for her to hear anymore.

There were so many expressions running over her face that Hayden wasn’t sure what was going through her mind. It was hard to see much in this lighting anyway so it made seeing anything difficult. He had definitely noticed the flush fall over her face though, but he chose not to say anything. If there was one thing he didn’t want to do, it was embarrass her when he had her in the palm of his hand at the moment. Then again, maybe it was the other way around. After all, he was the one who had been looking for her. “No problem. I only tell the truth.” It was hard for him to keep his eyes situated on hers given her current attire, but it was also fairly easy at the same time. He was infatuated and he could not help it in the slightest. Would he ever admit that out loud? Hell no. “Thanks. I barely put in any effort really,” he joked with a slight grin lifting onto his face. At her agreement with them dancing, Hayden moved closer to her. “This isn’t the kind of place where you tango, you know.” He circled her until he was standing behind her again, his hands gently resting on her hips. “Do you mind?”

“Left you alone again? Well, that’s just not nice. I would never leave you alone. That would just be foolish of me, wouldn’t it?” His dark eyes trailed down her body before focusing back on her eyes. The dress surely was distracting, but he definitely tried his best to focus on her actual face right now. Not that that was any less of a hindrance. In all honesty, Hayden found Phoebe entirely distracting. His brother was right in saying he was slightly obsessed. It wasn’t the kind of obsession where he wanted to spend every waking minute with her. No, it was the kind where he just felt good being around her. Something about Phoebe made him feel warm inside. It was a feeling he hadn’t had in a long while and it was one he didn’t want to get rid of. The two of them couldn’t have been further from the same person and yet, here they were. Or here he was. She was innocent and he was...not. It was a wonder to him how he even got her to want to be around him. “You look lovely tonight,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers. “You wanna dance?”