“You’ve seen my wife, right?” He asks as he settles back into his chair. “I’m not trusting any of these fucking neanderthals alone with her.”
Laughter spills out of the other guys here, and even from the client laid out on Tripp’s table, but all I can offer him is a light chuckle before I gear up and head out of the shop.
It isn’t out of the norm for me to go to the salon. Before Julia started cleaning up mine and Tripp’s cuts at their house, we’d hang out in the salon after hours. I’ve stopped by on weekends I wasn’t working to get a quick trim before a date or an upcoming event.
Even still, I do not want to be here right now.
How many of these people know about what happened between us?
Julia is standing at her station as I walk into the building, pulling the cape off of the chest of a smiling client. She gives a quick fluff to the woman’s hair and waves her toward the front desk, wearing a brilliant smile.
Her eyes meet mine, and for a second, she looks almost angry with me, but she replaces the anger in her features with a cool smile as she sets a hair brush down on the counter of her work station.
“I thought Tripp was bringing them,” she says. “Sorry. Hi.”
“Hey,” I nod. Pulling the keys from my pocket, I offer them to her. “Here you go.”
“Thank you,” she says. “I feel like such an—”
Without giving her the time or the opportunity to finish her sentence, I pivot, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans as I make my way toward the door of the salon. Jules is on my heels in less than a heartbeat, following too closely behind me as I step into the parking lot.
“Can we please talk?” She begs.
I keep a steady pace as I move through the lot. If I pretend that I can’t hear her, I can pretend that none of this ever happened and that things aren’t weird and uncomfortable and horrible right now.
“Connor!”
I try to ignore the hurt in her eyes as I chance a look over my shoulder at her.
“Sorry, I’ve gotta head back,” I tell her, jerking my thumb in the direction of my bike.
“I’ve only had sex with two people,ever,” she says, and my steps come to a screeching halt. “You don’t remember being the second person? I cheated on my husband with you, and you don’t remember that?”
A sick feeling settles into my gut. Guilt that twists itself into a rancid bile that burns in my chest and begs for escape.
“I remember everysecondof what we did,” I say quietly through my teeth as I round on her. “It’s all I’ve been able to think about for the past week, and it’s the single worst thing I’ve ever done to another person.”
Stepping closer to her as her lower lip trembles, I say, “Tripp is mybest friend. How the hell am I supposed to work with the guy all day and look him in the eye, when all I can think about is the way his wife whined when I made her come?”
For too long, we stand immobile, staring at each other.
My heart races in my chest like it’s trying to break free and leave me here on my own. I can hear my pulse. I cansee it in a dark halo around my vision.
Julia’s chest heaves with every breath, but she doesn’t speak.
She doesn’t even move.
Her throat bobs with a hard swallow, and I’m not sure that I’m entirely in control of myself anymore.
“Unlock the car,” I finally order, quickly casting a glance around us to make sure that we won’t be seen by any passersby.
Fumbling with her key fob, Julia presses the unlock button until her SUV lets out a beep. I follow closely behind her, resting my hand at her back - or using it to push her forward, I can’t be entirely sure which – and I throw open the back door.
I don’t bother to untie the apron around her waist before I reach around the front of her for the button of her pants. I push them down quickly, forcing them to her ankles before doing the same to my own, and I spit onto my cock –god, I hate spit- before I quickly push inside of her to earn a harsh groan in response.
She feels like heaven.
“You need to stay away from me,” I tell her.
