CHAPTER ELEVEN
NOVA
I breathed deeply, in and out, curling my fingers into my palm.
My body felt every bit of last night’s events, specifically my vagina. I glanced between my legs, wincing at the puffiness. It looked like a hoagie roll. I had no regrets, though. The sex had been more than worth it. Rhett was amazing. It didn’t him long to figure out exactly where and how to touch me.
Unable to get more than another drop out, I wiped as gently as I could and stood up.
I was glad I hadn’t worn jeans. No way were these lips going into denim.
The reflection in the mirror was flushed, exhausted even though I’d slept longer than I usually did. Once my hands were washed and my mouth rinsed again, I went to find Rhett, finger combing my hair and checking my notifications on the way.
It was going on ten after ten, so his house was active, and all the sound seemed to be coming from one main area—the kitchen. I followed the voices and smell of food. I’d never done this whole fling thing before, but Rhett hadn’t kicked me out right after we finished so I took that to mean he would be taking me home.
I walked in surveying the scene. The guy with hair prettier than mine was standing in front of the fridge, donning a pair of Family Guy pajamas, a carton of orange juice at his lips. A redhead who could give Jessica Rabbit a run for her money sat at the breakfast bar.
Beside her was the girl version of Rhett. Same dark hair, only much longer. Those pretty eyes. Less tats though, with only a sleeve covering her entire left arm.
“Oh, hey!” she let her spoon hit the side of her bowl and got up. “It’s so nice to meet you.” That was followed with a hug.
“You too.” I patted her back awkwardly.
“I thought we met her last night,” the redhead said. I’d called it before she even spoke, she didn’t like me. That meant her and Rhett had some sort of history, or she was bitter because I got what he wouldn’t give her.
There was too much cock in the world to be so upset over just one. Then again, after going round after round with Rhett, I almost understood.
“Ignore Evie, she’s a bitch to everyone with a vagina other than me, and that’s only because I’ll drown her ass in the lake if she pisses me off.” The girl stepped back, smile still on her unnaturally beautiful face. “I’m Angel by the way.”
I laughed at the irony.
“I’m Tripp,” the guy at the fridge announced, holding his bear sized paw out for me to shake.
This was all out of my comfort zone, but instantly liked him so I took his hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, both of you.” I purposely left of Evie. I didn’t feel the need to make nice with her. She was majorly insignificant in my life.
“We’re gonna be besties, I feel it,” Angel enthused.
Um, no. She seemed cool as hell, so that sucked, but me and Rhett weren’t a thing. Emery and Callum’s arrival saved me from the approaching awkwardness. They entered the kitchen hand in hand, her laughing at something he’d just said.
Now that I knew he and Rhett would be leaving at the end of the summer, I wanted to snatch her away from him and safeguard her heart.
“Morning!” she greeted everyone sweetly while Callum ignored them, giving me a, “Sup?”
“I gotta get home and ready for work. Want to ride with me?” Em asked.
I could have kissed her right then. All I wanted was a sitz bath, a morning after pill, and then a long nap. “Yeah,” I replied. “Do you know where Rhett is?” I asked Angel, who had since returned to her cereal.
“He’s outside!”
“Damn, Angel. Did you need to yell?” Callum cringed.
“Sorry. He’s down by the docks.”
“Thanks,” I said, withholding a laugh since she looked embarrassed.
I told everyone goodbye and agreed to meet Em by her car in five.
Finding the dock was easy as there was a path leading right to it. The walk, however, was hell.
Rhett was facing the water, turning to face me when I got about halfway there. He was wearing fresh clothes, his hair damp from a shower.
“Em’s going to give me a ride home.”
He met me the rest of the way, placing his hands on my hips. I had to tilt my head back a little so that I could see his face.
“You don’t have to go.”
“Actually, I do. I need to take a sitz bath and then track down a morning after pill.”
“I’ll see you later then.”
No mention of our lack of protection. Just, later. I was already looking forward to it. I had this gorgeous man for a few more weeks and I wanted to enjoy them.
“Guess you will,” I replied.
He kissed my lips, softly, wrapping his arms around me and pressing another to the top of my head.
When I finally turned to go, I knew he watched me the entire way to the car.
I was going to ask Em when she got her car back, but I could feel her giddiness as if it were my own. Sighing, I shifted in and gestured for her to speak.
“What?” she asked, pretending to be innocent.
“You’re like dancing in your seat. Go head and let it all out, but before you drive all through town, I need a morning after pill.”
“Oh.” Her lips puckered.
“Is that the surprised kind of oh or a disappointed one?”
“I heard you last night so there’s nothing to be surprised about. And I’m not disappointed, I am proud. Its just…I need one to. I left my birth control at Tyler’s.”
That was the first time I’d heard her say his name in what seemed like forever. “Oh.”
“See. It’s okay though. I’m glad that I’m not a lonely whore. I have you.”
“We’re not whores,” I laughed.
“Maybe not, but I still should have asked to see Callum’s papers. You need to ask Rhett for his too. And birth control, we need to make you an appointment.”
“You need to calm down. What do you mean by papers?”
She took her eyes off the road long enough to look at me as if I were insane. “Papers. You know the kind dudes carry around that say their clean.”
Emery was so naïve, bless her heart. “They wouldn’t randomly have something like that in their glove boxes or wallets and if they did, I’d be more concerned with why.”
After a minute she started to laugh. “Ignore everything I just said, except that I’m proud of you.”
“For having sex?”
“Shut up. No. For giving Rhett a chance.”
I didn’t think he would’ve let me say no, but that wasn’t anything she needed to know. “It’s just until they’re gone. It’s nothing serious.”
“It could be.”
“Did you miss the part where he’s leaving? Why would I do that to myself?”
“Who said you’d have an option not to?”
“Uh--.”
She cut me off swiftly. “Most people don’t plan on loving someone. It just happens.”
I side-eyed her. She knew how I felt about that ridiculous word and all that it represented. “Are you talking about you and Callum?”
She pursed her lips, a sign she was growing irritated. “Just know it can happen, sometime extremely fast. I know he’s leaving.”
“And I know Annika is going to lose her marbles over this whole thing, but I don’t care because we’re not doing anything wrong.”
I hadn’t thought of Nika since I’d replied to her text after I woke up. As with Evie, I was following Rhett’s advice. If someone didn’t like us messing around, that wasn’t our problem.
“You’re right.” I wasn’t going to elaborate on what I was agreeing with, but I knew she needed to hear some type of reassurance.
She also made me think. About everything going on right then, and about Rhett. I knew nothing we were doing was bad. The only person who could be hurt was potentially me. We weren’t getting married or running away together, we were enjoying one another’s company. That’s it
.
That had to be good enough because my life was such a mess, I didn’t know how to fully involve myself in a relationship.
I still had to figure out how to save my families business and potentially keep myself alive. With Martin’s wife being caught in the crossfire, that meant Em wasn’t safe either. All things she had no idea were occurring.
I leaned my head against the window, watching the town slip by. It might have been better to distance myself from him. He’d came into my life at a terrible time and I didn’t want him to be hurt. On the flip side, I felt as if I needed him right now.
Rhett was like a rainbow, breaking through an endless sea of storm clouds, bringing an array of color back to my world. When he left everything would return to a dull grey, and all my butterflies would wither away.
He was the first thing that made me feel good besides an empty bottle. I was scared to get close to him and scared to let him slip away. The alternative wasn’t an option. He would be my biggest regret, and my deepest heart break.
CHAPTER TWELVE
NOVA
I could hear the whispers starting up already, precisely why I came in and had Em wait in the car.
Gossip about this would surely spread and I’d rather it be my name inserted in the ridiculous fables people would come up with than hers. I stood in the pharmacy checkout line, two purple and white boxes in one hand, a Hershey bar in the other.
The cashier was a girl I’d went to high school with. She eyed my items with a tight-lipped smile.
“It happens to the best of em,” she said, scanning the box. I wasn’t sure if that was an insult or a reassurance.
I paid and left the store without a word, swinging the bag in one hand. I spotted Mickey coming out of the coffee café a few doors down. Remembering what Rhett said about him made me see him in a different light. I’d always thought of him as perfect, but perfection was nothing more than an illusion.
“Hey!” he called out in greeting when he noticed me.
“You on your way to your mom’s office?” I nodded to the large box of muffins cradled in his hand.
“Yeah. I meant to text you back by the way.” He eyed the bag in my hand, probably trying to see what was in it. He’d know soon enough; I was sure of that.
“About Sullivan, I know you were with him yesterday…” He must have seen something in my expression, because he trailed off and re-routed. “I’m not judging. You’re a good girl, great actually. I don’t want to see you hurt. He’s not…”
I turned to look in the direction he was staring, wondering what caught his attention. It didn’t take long for me to spot the distraction. A black lifted pick-up was moving through the intersection at a snail’s pace. The tinted windows prevented me from seeing inside, but I had a pretty good idea of who was behind the wheel.
“He’s not what?” I urged Mickey to continue.
His blue eyes darted back to mine, and then to the truck. “Nothing. You’re smart. Just be careful with him.”
And there it was. Written all over his was fear. He was afraid of Rhett or Callum, more than likely both. But why?
“I’m gonna go. I have Em waiting in the car.”
“Right. You’re okay though? The house is good? You’ve got a way to get food?”
“Everything’s fine in that department.” His concern was sweet, but not necessary. My dad left me enough to get by on for the time being. I’d have some type of plan in place by the time my cash flow ran out. It helped our house and the store were paid for.
“Alright, I’ll text you in a few.”
I told him bye and then went back to the car. I debated telling Em what had just happened, but then that would mean telling her about Mickey’s pill problem. I kept my mouth shut, adding another secret to my vault.
They say flaws make us human, our weaknesses can make us strong. Take a tragedy and make something beautiful from it, like I did with my art.
I’d added some more details to the painting I’d been working on the past few days. The setting was a forest of dead trees and broken branches, they represented the feeling of fear and desperation my rabbit felt as it tried to run away.
Bite marks pierced its spine, turning pure white fur red. Far away was an open field, above it a stormy, lightning-lit sky.
It was an illusion of hope. The rabbit would never reach it, for the wolf had come running.
He was a new addition, not yet finished. Needing a break, I hit the pause button on my wireless headphones and sat them on my stool.
I grabbed my cell from its charging dock on my way downstairs. One text from Em, another from Annika inviting herself other. Three from Rhett along with two missed calls, fifteen minutes apart.
I hit send on his number and put the call on speaker so I could pour myself a nice mixed drink. It rang twice before he sent me to voicemail. I waited five minutes, wondering if he’d call back before I went back up to my studio.
A knock on my front door had me abandoning both the phone and my glass.
The shape I could make out through my stained window was large, male.
“Who is it?”
A gruff, “Me,” came in reply.
I undid all three locks and opened the door, leaving him room to come in.
“I just tried to call you back.” I heard the door shut behind me and then the sound of his heavy boots following me back into the kitchen.
“You were painting.” Another observation. At least this one was more obvious since I’d told him just the other night that I painted, and my fingers were currently stained with black acrylic.
“Yeah. That’s why I didn’t pick up. I lose track of time when I’m really into what I’m doing.”
“I see that. I saw you with Mickey today too.”
His tone didn’t sit right with me. I turned to face him, almost wishing I hadn’t. His eyes were rigid, cold and hard like two pieces of solid steel.
“I saw you too.”
“Did you?”
“Yeah. Do you have an issue with that?”
He came a little closer, stopping just out of reach. “Isn’t Mickey your ex?”
“Why are you asking me something you already know the answer to?” I crossed my arms over my chest and shifted on my feet, wondering where this conversation was going. This was new to me, a path untrodden.
“Were you trying to make me jealous?”
I laughed in disbelief. “I’m not that kind of person. If your jealous of--.”
He tisked at me, shaking his head slowly from side to side.
“I don’t get jealous. I don’t waste my time or repeat myself either. So, I think we need to establish a few things.”
“Or you could just leave,” I suggested. “I’m sure there’s some other girl you can spend time with for the next few weeks.” The words felt like sandpaper on my tongue. I was trying to be the bigger person and offer an olive branch. When the tension between us became tangible, I knew I’d failed.
I took a small step back and he advanced. The look in his eyes dared me to run, that’s when I knew. I was that bloody white rabbit, and he was the wolf.
“When did I say I would be done with you in just a few weeks?” he questioned, now a hairs breadth away.
“You’re leaving.”
“What does that have to do with us? I could go to the fucking moon and you’d still be mine.”
“You’re insane.”
“I know.”
I went to move away, finding myself pressed against the wall before I could blink, caged in on either side.
“I’m even more unstable when it comes to you.”
I had nothing. My brain scrambled to find a response and make sense of this. It was as if he admitted he was insane knowing there was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t care that he was out of his goddamn mind.
Honestly, I liked it a little too much. But this could not be me. I couldn’t be the girl who accepted his flaws when I had so many of my own. My god, we would be a disa
ster together.
I didn’t know how to say all of that to him without giving too much away so I simply said, “I can’t.”
“Its too late for you to decide otherwise.” He kissed me then, his mouth hit mine, hard.
I brought my hands to his chest and pushed. The outcome was the same as me trying to life a brick wall. Unable to get him off I did the most natural thing I could think of.
I bit down on his lower lip until a metallic taste flooded my mouth. He jerked back and brought a hand to his mouth, swiping away a trace of blood.
“Is that how you want to do it?” he murmured, staring down at me.
My heart was thundering my chest, but not from fear. He grabbed hold of my jaw and kissed me again, squeezing until I granted him access.
His other hand worked fast. I heard the jingle of his belt and sound of a zipper. He shoved my silk-y pajama shorts down and lifted me out of them.
“Rhett.” I tried to stop him, pushing at his arms.
He gripped the back of my legs and hoisted me up, forcing me to grab hold of his shoulders or risk falling to the floor.
There wasn’t any time for me to process was what happening before his cock was inside me and I was clawing at him. Pain reverberated through my core, the rough intrusion bringing tears to my eyes. He fucked me against the wall until the pain began mixing with pleasure, my pussy growing wetter with every thrust.
“Rhett,” I gasped his name, clinging to him as if my life depended on it.
Our mouths met in a fusion of carnal, twisted passion.
We went from the kitchen to the living room and both of our shirts disappeared. Half my body was on the sofa, the other half was spread wide, both my thighs held in a bruising grip as he drilled into me. Slowly only for a moment to reach out and grab a handful of my hair and force my chin down.
“Look,” he commanded, resuming his grueling pace. I stared at his cock, watching it slide in and out of me, seeing how slick it was, feeling his balls slap against the groove of my ass.
“Whose pussy is this?” Each word was accompanied by a deep-seated thrust, hitting my G-spot just right.
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