Keep This Promise

by Willow Winters

  “I can only imagine.”

  “It’s one perk of my lifestyle.” He doesn’t sound happy when he says that.

  “I’m sure there’s more than one.”

  He glances at me, and his eyes stay on mine. “There are a few things. Meeting you was, of course, one.”

  “Of course.” I grin.

  He picks up his phone and starts playing with it. A few seconds later, Prince’s “When Doves Cry” starts to play.

  He mutes the TV and stands up on the bed, holding out a hand to me. “Dance with me?”

  “Dance with you?” I stare up at him.

  “Yeah. I know how much you love a good twerk.”

  “This isn’t really twerking music, West.” I smile.

  “Well, maybe I just want to dance with you, so I can use it as an excuse to grope your ass.”

  I laugh. “Like you need an excuse.”

  “Come on, dance with me, Pins.” He moves his open hand closer to me.

  So, I slip mine in and let him pull me to my feet. He brings me close to him and starts to move us on the bed.

  I link my arms around his neck. His hands go to my back and then slide lower where he squeezes my ass, grinning at me.

  I laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t think you know how to be serious.”

  “Hey, I can be serious when I want to be.”

  “Like when?”

  “Like when I’m licking your pussy and making you come. I’m seriously concentrating then.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you that.”

  “And when I’m fucking you. I’m serious then.”

  “Any examples that don’t involve sex?”

  He presses his lips together, giving it some thought. Then, he looks down at me and says, “Nope.”

  And I laugh again.

  “Whose idea was it to dance on the bed? Because this isn’t fucking easy,” he says.

  “I could’ve told you that.”

  “Dance on beds often, do you?”

  “No, I just have this thing called common sense, and common sense says it wouldn’t be easy to slow dance on a squishy mattress.”

  “Harsh, Pins. You’ve hurt my feelings.”

  “You have feelings?” I tease.

  “You’re an evil woman,” he grumbles. “Good thing you’re hot.”

  “Right back at ya, West. You don’t think I’m sleeping with you for your brains, do you? I just want you for your hot body and big cock.”

  “I fucking knew it!” He lifts me up before taking me down to the bed, making me squeal.

  I wrap my legs around his waist. He lifts his head, staring into my eyes. Then, he kisses me.

  He kisses me like he always does. Intensely. Like he’ll die if he doesn’t.

  I’ve never been kissed in this way before. And I don’t think I ever will again if it’s not him I’m kissing.

  The song moves onto Cigarettes After Sex’s “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby.”

  Vaughn removes my T-shirt and bra, and then he pulls his own shirt off, tossing it to the floor.

  He’s straight back to my mouth, kissing me again. His hand goes to the zipper on my jean shorts. He opens them and then shifts, pulling them down my legs and off. My panties go next.

  He reaches into his pocket and gets out a condom. Then, he removes his own jeans.

  I don’t take my eyes off him once.

  Then, he’s suited up and back between my legs.

  Eyes on mine, he pushes inside me. No words spoken.

  I push my head back into the mattress, my eyes closing.

  “Eyes open.”

  I blink them open.

  “Eyes always on me,” he says, thrusting into me, taking me to that place no one else can but him.

  And I keep them locked on him the whole time until we’re both exploding together.

  Then, later, when we’re lying in bed in the darkness, and I’m in his arms, sleepy and sated from the orgasm he gave me, he says, “Pins, I’ve just thought of something I’m serious about.”

  “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?” I ask, yawning.

  “You,” he says.

  And, suddenly, I’m not so sleepy anymore.

  Does he even mean that the way it sounded? Or is he just fucking with me like usual?

  He kisses my forehead. “Night, Pins.”

  “Uh…night, West,” I say, my heart pounding.

  He pulls me closer and sighs a sleepy sound.

  He was joking, right?

  Yeah, he was definitely joking.

  I mean, he wouldn’t just say it like that if he actually meant it, right?

  Right.

  But, even still, I can’t sleep, and I lie there for ages, feeling confused as hell.

  And, when his breathing has evened out and he’s sleeping, I trace my fingers over his cheek. “I’m serious about you, too, West,” I whisper, knowing he can’t hear me.

  Because, even if he didn’t mean it, I do.

  And it scares the hell out of me.

  Chapter 21

  Vaughn

  I step out of the shower in my trailer. In that last shoot we did, I was covered in fake blood. It’s a motherfucker to get out of your hair, so I was in there for ages, scrubbing it out.

  I dry off and pull on a pair of jeans. I forgot to bring a shirt in with me.

  Toweling off my hair, I wander out of the bathroom to grab a shirt.

  “Hey, V.”

  I freeze. Slowly, I turn around.

  Piper.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I toss the towel aside, not caring where it lands.

  “It’s good to see you, too, V.”

  “How did you get in?”

  She laughs and rolls her eyes. “It’s not exactly hard. I am Piper Watts. Not some scum off the street.”

  “Opinions vary.”

  Her eyes sharpen.

  “Well, it wasn’t nice seeing you, so…” I gesture to the door.

  Ignoring me, she steps forward. The look in her eyes is telling. “I want you back,” she says.

  I laugh. “You’re insane. And I definitely don’t want you back. In fact, I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

  “I made a mistake.”

  “You screwed my best friend for months. Hardly a mistake. How is Cain by the way?”

  “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen him since the show. I’ve regretted so badly what happened. I’ve wanted to come see you so many times, but I knew you were angry, and you needed to get that out of your system.”

  “You mean, my drink and sex addiction. Oh, and my tendencies toward violence. You told them I hit you, for fuck’s sake, Piper.”

  “I never said any of that, V. You know the press; they make shit up.” She steps forward and wraps her hands around my wrists. “I miss you.”

  I yank them away and step back. “Yeah, well, I don’t miss you. I don’t even like you. I’m not sure I ever did.”

  “Do you remember how good we used to be together?”

  “No. I remember I used to like fucking you, but that got old fast.”

  Her brows draw together. I’m surprised they can move with the amount of Botox she has done.

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I really do. What are you here for, Piper? Really?”

  “You, I told you.”

  “No, you’re after something. But, honestly, I don’t care. There’s nothing you can do to hurt me. Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to do.” I nod in the direction of the door.

  “V, listen to me; the only thing I want is you. I want you back.” She’s in my space in seconds and presses her hands to my chest.

  “Yoo-hoo! It’s me! You’d better be decent…or not…”

  Charly’s soft laughter tickles my ears just as I’ve caught hold of Piper’s wrist to try to get the crazy bitch off me.

  But, instantly, I know how this will look to Charly.

  And it’s not good. Not good at all.

  She loo
ks frozen to the spot. The hurt in her expression is so clear and evident and like a punch to the chest.

  “Charly.” I shove Piper aside.

  She seems to snap back to attention, her face and eyes clearing of all emotion. “I just came to drop off your clothes for tomorrow.” She drops the garment bag in her hand over the chair by the door. “Sorry to interrupt.”

  And, before I can say another word, she’s gone, back out the door.

  I’m going to fucking strangle Piper.

  “You.” I turn on her. “Out. Now.”

  She laughs, her eyes going to the door that Charly just exited, and in this moment, I can’t see one thing that I ever saw in this woman. She’s a total bitch.

  She looks back at me, a twisted smile on her face. “Her? Really, V? I thought you had better taste than that.”

  “Clearly not because I dated your psycho ass for six months. And, for fuck’s sake, stop calling me V! I hate it. I’ve always hated it. And not that it’s any of your fucking business, but no, I’m not dating her. Even still, she has more class in her little finger than you have in your whole body. Now, get your bony ass the fuck out of my trailer before I pick you up and throw you out myself, and then you’ll really have a story to sell to the press.”

  My chest is heaving. I’m raging. And I need to find Charly.

  “Fine, have it your way, V,” she accentuates just to piss me off. “Have your fun with your little chippie. You’ll be crawling back to me soon enough when you get bored.”

  I grab a T-shirt that was hanging over the back of the sofa. Not caring if it’s dirty, I pull it on. “Honestly, I’d rather chop my nuts off, fry them in a hot pan, and eat them than ever get back with you.”

  “Fuck you!” she snaps.

  “And there’s the girl I never loved.” I laugh, pushing my feet into my sneakers. “Now, get the fuck out of my trailer, and don’t ever come back, you crazy bitch.”

  “You’ll regret this, Vaughn West!” she yells like a bad movie villain before slamming her way out of my trailer.

  I grab my cell and call Charly’s number, but it just rings and then goes to voice mail.

  I wait for a beat, making sure Piper is gone, before leaving to find Charly. I don’t trust Piper, and I sure as hell don’t want her following me to Charly. Knowing Piper, she’d take pictures of me with Charly and sell them to the highest bidder.

  I head straight for the wardrobe trailer, hoping she’ll be there.

  And she is, but she’s not alone. Ava’s there.

  “Hey, Vaughn, what can we do for you?” Ava smiles at me.

  Charly hasn’t looked at me. She’s over on the other side of the trailer, looking through a drawer.

  “I just need Charly for a minute.”

  “Oh, yeah, sure. Charly, Vaughn needs you,” Ava calls to her before disappearing into the back.

  I see Charly’s body stiffen.

  “Is it important, or can it wait?” she says without even looking up, her voice as rigid as her body. “I’m busy right now.”

  Pretending to look through a drawer. Right.

  “It’s important,” I say in a voice that means I’m not fucking around.

  I won’t have her avoiding me and hurting over something that she thinks happened that definitely did not when I can fix this with a few words.

  She pauses and then slowly rights herself before turning to face me. The hurt in her eyes that she’s trying to hide slays me.

  “Fine,” she says tonelessly, her eyes narrowing, her hands going to her hips. “What’s so important that it can’t wait?”

  If she wasn’t hurting and this wasn’t a fucked up situation, I’d be turned on right now.

  Okay, maybe I’m a little turned on, but she’s hot as fuck. And, when she’s angry, she’s off-the-charts hot.

  “I ripped my shirt,” I lie, knowing that Ava could be listening to what we’re saying right now.

  “Okay, give it here, and I’ll fix it for you.” She sticks her hand out, knowing full well I don’t have a ripped shirt and that I definitely don’t have one with me.

  “It’s in my trailer.”

  “Convenient.”

  I step closer to her, and she steps back.

  I hate that so fucking much.

  I grit my jaw. “We need to talk,” I say in a whispered voice. “And we can’t do that here with Ava listening.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to talk to you,” she hisses.

  “I don’t care if you do or not; you’re going to. I won’t have you thinking something that’s not true when I can clear this up for you right the fuck now.”

  She laughs, and there’s not a trace of humor. “I’m not an idiot. I know what I saw, Vaughn.”

  “And I know what happened.” I step toward her again, and she doesn’t back away this time—probably because there’s nowhere for her to go. “I’m going nowhere, so you’d better come with me to my trailer if you don’t want me to cause a scene and let everyone know what’s going on between us.”

  Her eyes narrow to slits, and her lips pinch. “You won’t do that because you have more to lose than I do.”

  I fold my arms across my chest. “Right now, I don’t fucking care if the whole world knows about us. I care that you hear me out.”

  “Fine,” she huffs as she shoulders past me. “Let’s get this over and done with.”

  “Oh, we won’t be done,” I mutter behind her. “Not by a fucking long shot.”

  “I’m popping out for a few minutes, Ava,” she calls out before stomping out of the trailer.

  Arms folded, she marches her way to my trailer, ignoring me the whole way.

  The minute we’re inside and alone, I lock the door. “What you saw isn’t what you thought it was.”

  She laughs bitterly, her face reddening with anger. “You couldn’t have used a more cliché line if you’d tried. But whatever, Vaughn. You’re free to do whatever you want. We’re not together. We’re just fucking.”

  Well, if that doesn’t sting.

  I know she doesn’t really mean that. She’s hurt and angry, and she’s lashing out, but it still pisses me the fuck off.

  “That’s bullshit, and you know it,” I bite.

  “Do I?” Her voice pitches higher. “Because, from where I’m standing, that’s all we seem to be doing.”

  “I told you last night that I’m serious about you!”

  “And I thought you were just messing around!” she yells back at me.

  I grab her arm, crashing her into my body, and I slam my mouth down on hers. She fights me for all of a second before wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me back.

  I break off, breathing heavily and pressing my forehead to hers. “Does this feel like I’m just messing around?”

  “No,” she whispers.

  I take her face in my hands, tipping her head back, forcing her eyes to meet mine. Knowing I have her attention, I say what I’ve needed to since she walked in on Piper and me, “Pins…Piper just turned up here and let herself in. I was in the shower, hence the lack of a shirt. I told her to leave, but she wouldn’t listen. She said she wanted me back. But I don’t want her, Charly.” My words are clear, so there’s no misunderstanding. “You just walked in at the worst moment possible. I was just about to shove her off me, I swear. I don’t want her. I don’t even fucking like her. Honestly, I don’t know what she thought she would achieve by turning up here.”

  “You loved her once, not so long ago, and she broke your heart. I saw the news stories, Vaughn, about how you were out nursing your broken heart with drinks and…women.” She looks away.

  “You’re wrong. I never loved her, and she definitely didn’t break my heart. What happened with her and Cain…it was his betrayal that hurt me.” Her eyes flash back to mine, and I know she’s still listening, so I continue, “With Piper, I felt humiliated because she’d been screwing around with my best friend behind my back, and I had no clue until it was outed on live TV. I never loved
her. I know that for sure. But Cain…that fucking hurt. He was supposed to be my best friend. I trusted him. I’d known the guy for ten years. And, when it came down to it, I didn’t know him at all. That was what the partying was about. He broke my heart. Not her.”

  Her expression softens, and she touches her hand to my face. I close my eyes at her touch.

  “I’m sorry he did that to you,” she whispers.

  “And I’m sorry you walked in on that psycho trying to get grabby with me.” I open my eyes. “But I swear to you, it was all her, not me.”

  “I believe you,” she says.

  I can’t tell you the relief I feel at that.

  “Thank you.” I take hold of her hand and kiss the palm.

  “I’m sorry I acted like a jealous person,” she says.

  “Don’t be. If I’d walked in on the same scenario with you and an ex, I’d be in jail right now.”

  She giggles.

  “My trust took a real battering when all that shit happened, but I trust you, Pins.” And I do.

  “I trust you, too. I’m sorry I reacted badly. Just seeing her and you…”

  “Like I said, Pins…jail.”

  I grin, and she laughs again.

  “If I’d known she was groping you without permission, I would have stabbed her in the ass with a pin.”

  “And I would have really liked to see that.” I laugh.

  Then, I kiss her—because I can and because I have to.

  Honestly, I can’t imagine a day when I won’t be kissing her.

  Chapter 22

  Vaughn

  I’m running lines with Alex in my trailer when there’s loud hammering on the front door. Before either of us gets to say anything, the door flies open, and Charly comes stomping through it.

  “What the hell is this?” she asks, waving her cell phone around in the air.

  I’m getting the distinct vibe that she’s pissed off about something. I’m just not sure what the something is.

  “Um…your cell phone.”

  “I know it’s my cell phone, smart-ass! I’m talking about what’s on my phone.”

  “And what’s on your phone?”

  She glares at me. “You tell me!”