AARON
If she thinks she’s going to walk away from whatever’s between us, she’s got another thing coming.
Fists clenching and unclenching at my hips, I pop my neck by stretching my head all the way to one shoulder, then the other, making a satisfyingcrackas an ear touches each side. Resolution flows through my system, filling me with a ferocious determination I’ve felt very few times in my life. It’s a welcome reprieve from the guilt of earlier.
That look of betrayal, of accusation, on Gemma’s face shook me to the bottom of my soul, leaving nothing but unrest at every echelon of my existence. Who does she think she is? Crawling beneath my skin, setting off this monster inside me, and then judging me for its actions.
I’m sure the obsession, the analysis will come later. For now, this frustration needs an outlet. And I know just the one.
By the time I get back to our table, the other couple has departed, and Kayla is looking more than a little confused.
“Everything okay? She practically ran out of here, she grabbed Spencer, it sounded like she said you guys had a fight?”
A wry smile broaches one side of my mouth and I give her a single, firm nod of my head. “It’ll be fine. You ready to go?”
She puts on a smile for my sake, working to calm me, and she nods eagerly. My gaze is drawn to the waiting check on the table, and without looking at it, I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and drop a large handful of hundred-dollar bills on the table, ready to get the fuck out of here already.
We get stopped no less than four times on our way to the front door by fans asking for pictures. So much for hoping to get through tonight without my location being shared. Normally, I don’t mind engaging with people, especially because we don’t have a huge paparazzi culture here in Atlanta, so I’m not so burnt out on the attention, the cameras, being hounded everywhere I go. That mostly only happens on my trips to LA, or less often, New York.
Tonight, it’s a little harder to bring my normal persona to the forefront, but I manage somehow, smiling for the selfies, grinning and thanking each of the fans for their support. One of the groups even recognized Kayla from her success on Instagram, which was cool for her.
Eventually, we make it to the valet stand, where our cars are waiting. I guess Kayla texted the ticket numbers while I was still withher.
Kayla leans into my body, her curves pressing against me, that voice a seductive purr.
“Can I come over?”
Something in the general vicinity of my stomach turns at the thought, and I bite down the reflex to reject her outright.
“I have something early in the morning,” I tell her, watching her face fall.
This must be the first time I haven’t jumped at the chance to have her presence in my bed since we got serious. But she misunderstands. I definitely need her body tonight. Something just doesn’t feel right about having her in my bed when everything in me is still focused on what happened with Gem. SoI deflect, bending my neck until my lips crest the shell of her ear, whispering into it. “I’d love to come over for a while, though.”
The beaming grin she rewards me with is almost as good as the pleasure I take out on her flesh a half an hour later. I’m rougher with her than I’ve ever been before, needing an outlet for this unsettled, pent upwhateveris going through me right now. She doesn’t seem to mind, screaming mindless encouragements in my ear as I ravage her.
The overpowering lavender scent of Kayla’s bedding isn’t enough to get Gemma’s sweet fragrance out of my nose, the feel of her soft skin under my fingers, the way she trembled at my nearness tonight, like my proximity alone drove her crazy. It’s enough to spin a thousand fantasies out of.
When my release scores through me like a whip of hot flame, it’s not the girl under me who I’m thinking of. For the first time in my life, it’s a pair of honey-brown eyes I know better than my own staring back at me as I grunt my satisfaction into my girlfriend’s neck. And it’s the hardest I’ve ever come in my life.
And then I leave.
You don’t have to say it. Even I’m disgusted with myself right now.
I have some shit to work out, clearly.
I waited as longas I could.
I swear, I did.
It’s just…that was only until around seven this morning. Patience isn’t my strong suit right now.
I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I paced, I fumed, I freaked.
I beat myself up theentirenight, until I was bordering a panic attack.
What kind of fucking idiot am I?
I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know what I did last night, or why.
