“Never.” I rolled over, burying my face into the closest pillow I could reach. This king-size bed was perfect, but the only downfall was that it was Greg’s room. I had roomed with Alexa, so once she left Vegas, goodbye room. Greg had only kept the reservation open because he was supposed to be here visiting some college friends.
I felt the bed dip beside me.
“So, motorcycles?” Ugh. He wanted to continue our talk from this morning. I groaned inwardly, but my response must have made it out of my mouth. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”
“Eric still rides his, but he wasn’t the one to teach me how to ride,” I spoke into my pillow.
“Who taught you?” Greg tried to pry a little more.
“My first boyfriend.” I lifted my head a little so my answer wasn’t muffled. “I was sixteen and he was four years older.”
I waited for him to respond, but nothing. I almost turned around before he finally decided to speak.
“It’s the middle of the day. You want to go anywhere?” I could hear the agitation in his words and the way the tension was rolling off him. It wasn’t just that he was still sitting on the bed with me, I couldfeelhim there with me even though I wasn’t looking at him.
“No.”
“Fine.” He was stern with his word, but he didn’t move right away. We stayed there in awkward silence until I heard him huff and walk out of the room. I still didn’t move. I laid there and started to doze off. The sooner I could make the days go by, the sooner I could get back my life. The one that didn’t involve Greg anymore than what we saw each of each other at work.
I thought back again to when our relationship had changed. He kissed me and then suddenly I started to feel self-conscious. I tried to hang out with him, but I never knew if he was going to make another move, so at one point I started to make up excuses to not hang out. I would make sure I didn’t have the TV on when I was home, so he wouldn’t be able to hear me staying home all night by myself. When it came to family dinner though, I still made sure I went there every Wednesday with Greg. I loved seeing his parents and they had brought me into their family like I was one of their own, which did something to my heart. It made me think they were my family, rather than my actual family.
I hadn’t talked to my parents in at least four months. They had been traveling around Europe and I just didn’t see the point even though when they were in the states, they only lived ten minutes away from me. I never bother messaging my sisters, Mila and Daisy, because it would turn into me babysitting, rather than seeing them. And forget about my brothers. Jim was a loner just like me and stayed away from the family as much as he could, which was why he moved out of the country and never told us. Then there was Eric, who I sometimes talked to, but very rarely, since after Alexa’s divorce there was no true connection to keep us together. I was the baby of the family, but that felt like an understatement. My parents were almost in their seventies’ and the closest sibling to me in age was Jim, and he was ten years older than me.
I took in a deep breath and tried not to think about them, tried not to let my family sink into my head while I had bigger and more important things to work out.
I finally drifted off into a light sleep and when I awoke a few hours later, the first thing that came to mind was a shower. I needed to wash this day off of me. I grabbed for a robe from the closet and made my way to the giant bathroom that was attached to the bedroom. One thing I loved about Vegas, when you got a big-ass room, the bed and bath were always closed off from the main part of the hotel room. I could lock the door and never have to see Greg—well, until I needed food. The thought made my stomach rumble, but I forced myself into the hot shower first before even attempting to see if there was any food in this place.
The water felt soothing against my skin and brought me back down to a sane level of happy. Even the soap, the loofa, and the towel that was left for me were divine. There was nothing like showering at home, but then again, there was nothing like being pampered when it wasn’t your own dollar being spent. I looked around the bathroom, steam from the hot shower still filling the air. I stood there in just my robe and took in the sight of not just this room, but the whole hotel room. The space was massive, something I hadn’t noticed when I first entered the room with Greg, just hours ago. I moved from the bedroom to the living room, which had two couches and a flat-screen TV. The kitchen was so big, it had a full area to cook, as if anyone in this town would spend their nights making their own food. This place was more than massive, it was luxurious.
“Well, don’t you look cozy.” I jumped at the sound of Greg’s voice and turned to where he was standing at the doorway. He was holding a few bags and had a smug look written across his face.
“Just looking for food.” I pulled the lapels of the robe tighter around me to block Greg from catching any type of view. The robe wasn’t short, so I didn’t have to worry about bending over, but all it would take was one wrong move or catching it against something, and Greg would have a free show.
“Isn’t it perfect, then, that I picked up your favorite?” I followed him into the kitchen. I no longer had control of my body as my nose searched for what my stomach wanted most. The burritos that I knew were sitting at the bottom of that bag. I didn’t have time to jump back, though, when Greg turned around. Before I could fall, his arms caught me around my center to steady me, but he held me so tightly to his body that I wasn’t touching the ground any longer.
“I bought two.” His piercing green eyes didn’t leave mine as he held me with one arm and used the other to reach into the bag, grabbing only one burrito from it. He didn’t hand it to me, though. He held it in the air and dangled it between us like it was a compromise.
“I’m good.” I tried to push out of Greg’s arm, but he tightened his grip. His eyes turned dark. The burrito scent made my mouth water and I placed my hands on Greg’s chest. A place where they should not have been.
His muscles leapt at the touch.
We were the same height but how he was holding me had me looking down slightly. My feet dangled a few inches off the floor, so I had no leverage to get further away from him.
“You sure?” His question held many different meanings, and my answer would hold so many more questions. As would my actions. I had no reason for doing what I did next, but it felt like last night in the wedding chapel. There was a pull between us, that no matter how much I didn’t want to give in to it, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I let my hands travel up to his neck and wrapped them around, interlocking my fingers to pull him down closer.
“No.” I closed the last little space between us and pressed my lips to his. I didn’t hold back as I let my tongue slip along his lips. I was asking for this and by doing that, I knew I was playing with fire. He gently laid the burrito down on the counter, then moved his hands to my ass and lifted me up. I quickly wrapped my legs around his waist and I knew the second my core touched his growing erection that this was going to be trouble, but that didn’t stop me. I deepened the kiss further, running my fingers over his short hair, almost wishing that it was longer so I could pull at it.
Greg’s hands slowly slid over the bottoms of my thighs and the sensation that I felt inside of me started to cloud the thoughts I should have been listening to in my head. That this was what I was supposed to be running away from. A man who did things on impulse and didn’t think about the consequences of my heart. The moment his hands moved back to my ass and squeezed, I was sent out of the burrito trance.
“Put me down.” I pulled back from Greg and placed my hands on his chest, trying to push him away. “Put me down now!”
When I yelled, he obeyed, and I tried to get my bearings back together before looking up at him. When I did look up, the darkness I had seen before was masked by concern and a fire that I wanted to put out. He licked his lips and it was like an invitation to come back to him, but I declined, not so graciously.
I turned on my heels and ran towards the bedroom without another word. I flipped myself around, turned the lock and placed my hands on the door, like he would be able to somehow magically open it.
I could hear him slowly pad across the hotel room and, when he stopped in front of the bedroom door, I didn’t know what to expect. He pounded against the door, the vibrations moving from the tips of my fingers, back down to my core. It was like his anger beckoned me to him. I wanted it.
“Open up.” Another pound hit the door.
