“So what’s the matter? Have you talked to him?”
“No, not really. We spoke the first week of class, barely, but he hasn’t said a word to me since. He watches me and that’s it. And I think that’s what’s pissing me off. He’s treating me like any other student.”
“Perhaps it’s what helps him see you after all this time, Celia. Maybe he’s struggling with seeing you just as much as you are. Maybe he’s confused considering he probably didn’t expect to see you again.”
I know Simon’s right, but I hate that he is. But I’m not like every other student in that room. He’s had me in positions I’ve only ever read about. He’s kissed me with such passion and aggression that my insides felt it. We had so much between us before it was ripped apart.
“I just hate that I’m having these feelings toward him. I thought I was over him, Simon! Over. And now? Fuck, I don’t know.”
“Have you tried speaking to him?”
“No. He always has like a hundred girls waiting for him. And one of the other instructors always comes in right after class and is like all over him. I can live with the idea of him moving on, but I don’t think I can just sit there and watch it. That hurts even worse.”
“Damn.” I see Simon’s pained expression, and I know he feels for me, but isn’t sure what else to say. There really isn’t much else to say. I put this all on myself. “Well, I know where I’m taking you.” His lips curl into a wide grin. “Time to get you drunk.”
I laugh as he pulls out into the street. “Why is that always your answer to everything?”
“Booze heals the weak and brokenhearted, my love. Trust me.”
I narrow my eyebrows at him, confused at his words. “Who are you longing after?”
He tilts his head at me, but doesn’t say anything because it’s too obvious.
“I knew it!” I squeal. “I always knew, Simon.”
“I know,” he says softly. “I just wish she did.”
“Cora knows. You just need to grow some balls and tell her. Tell her you want her exclusively, not just one-night sleepovers. Tell her how you really feel.”
“I will when you do,” he mocks. “You tell Bentley that your panties are still wet over him, and I’ll tell Cora.”
“Oh, my god.” I blush. “Such a romantic.”
We end up at a bar where his friend works and gets us in since we aren’t twenty-one yet. Simon keeps feeding me drinks until I finally loosen up and play pool with him.
I bend over the pool table and line my stick up with the red-stripped ball. I pull my stick back twice before finally smacking the white ball. It flies over the table and begins rolling down the floor.
“Shit!” I screech. I put the stick down and run after it. It rolls under a high-top bar table, so I bend down to grab it. I’ve had way more than I remember. I stand up, forgetting I’m under the table, and smack my head against it. “Dammit!”
I stumble backward into something else and immediately regret those last three drinks. “Son-of-a-bitch.” I brace myself for the pain to come, but it never does. Two large hands wrap around my arms, securing me in place.
His scent consumes me immediately, and I know exactly who those hands belong to.
“Are you all right?” he asks, his voice raspy and deep.
“I’m fine. You can let me go,” I plead. I don’t want to see his face. I just want him to let me go so I can walk back to Simon.
“You’re stumbling all over the fucking place. What are you even doing in here?” His tone is angry, and I feel myself getting brave as the alcohol floods through my veins.
“I was playing pool with a friend. Is that okay?”
“No,” he responds curtly. “You need to go home and sleep it off.”
I pull my arms out of his grip and turn around to see a pissed off Bentley.
“Who the fuck are you to tell me what I need to do? You aren’t my boss anymore, Mr. Leighton.”
He grabs my upper arm and pulls me closer to him, lowering his mouth to my ear so only I hear him. “Either I’ll take you home or the police can take you home. Decide,” he growls.
“God, you’re an asshole. You haven’t changed a bit, Bentley Leighton.”
“Say goodnight to your friend. We’re leaving.”
The alcohol pulses through me and part of me is thankful he’s here. I tell Simon I’m leaving with Bentley, and he gives me a wink before I walk away.
“Well, let’s go,” I mock, walking past him with my hoodie in hand.
He casually follows behind me, not hurrying along as I walk in front of him.
I make my way to his Range Rover that brings back memories of our time together and how every time I saw one afterward, my heart immediately squeezed at the memory of us.
“Oh, the good times we had in this thing,” I say, an octave higher than necessary. “Do you remember?” I smile playfully as I lean up against the passenger door.
“I remember,” he replies roughly. He stands in front of me, his chest rising and falling heavily as we stare intently at each other. He leans in, our eyes not breaking, until he grabs the door handle behind me, and motions for me to move. I swallow, wishing I was sober enough to keep myself from acting like a damn fool. “Get in.”
The ride is awkward, but I’m too drunk to care at the moment. He keeps a firm grip on the steering wheel with his eyes focused on the road as rain begins to pour down all around us.
“I’m glad you decided to go back into modeling,” I say, breaking the silence. “I mean, I’m glad you went back to something you loved.”
His body relaxes a bit before responding. “It was inevitable, eventually, that I wouldn’t stay working for my dad. It just took a couple fuck ups to make that clear to him.”
I swallow deeply, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry. I’m sure that was my fault.”
“It didn’t help my case, but no it wasn’t all your fault. I knew better,” he says harshly. I knew it. He regrets being with me. He knew better. He knew better than to hook up with an intern. To be with someone that he worked with.
“Even so.”
“We don’t have to do this, Ceci. I know you’re sorry. I’ve moved on from it.”
“Good. Me, too.”
“I know.”
I snap my head in his direction. “You know?”
He ignores my question and says, “We’re here.”
He gets out and comes to my door. He opens it and puts his hand out for me. I don’t take it as I stumble out of the car myself.
“I’m fine,” I snap. “Thanks for the ride.”
I clench my hoodie and begin walking toward my house. I can walk my damn self to the door.
“Ceci, wait!” he calls out. I hear his shoes hitting the wet cement as he comes up behind me. “I don’t want you to fall,” he says genuinely, placing a hand on my lower back.
“Don’t touch me.”
“I’m just guiding you. It’s wet and you’re drunk.”
I laugh at his words. It’s wet.
“You don’t get to talk about being wet, Mister.” God, I’m a fucking lush. I wish I could freaking talk normal to him, but now my body is ready for a fight.
“What are you talking about?” He spins me around, making me face him. My hair is getting soaked, but I don’t care. His golden locks are molding to his face as he looks down at me. “I’m trying to be nice, Ceci.” He grips both of his hands on my upper arms, stabilizing me.
“Well, stop it. Stop being nice to me. You don’t get to be nice to me!” I scream, breaking the hold his hands have on me.
“You think I want to be nice to you? You think I like caring about you after all this time?”
“Well…I’m sorry to be such a damn burden! I’ll stop ruining your life and stay as far away from you as I can. Happy?”
“No, I’m not happy,” he says softer. “I’ve been fucking miserable for two goddamn years, Ceci. Why do you think I’ve worked relentlessly after I got back into modeling? I needed to be away fro
m here. Everything reminded me of you. I needed to keep my mind busy just so I wouldn’t think of you!”
“I’m sure all your hot model friends helped you plenty with forgetting me. Don’t even pretend you haven’t moved on. Stop being a hypocrite,” I fight back.
“I never moved on,” he says softly. “Don’t believe everything you read.”
“Then why couldn’t you forgive me? Why didn’t you come back for me?” I scream over the rain, tears flowing down my cheeks. His words have completely sobered me up now that we’re finally having the fight we needed to have all this time.
He firmly grabs my arms again, pulling me closer to him. “I did! I came back for you last summer. You’d already moved on. I wasn’t going to interfere with your happiness.”
“What?” I gasp. “I wasn’t with anyone last year. You think I could move on from you that easy, Bentley?”
“I saw you,” he admits, releasing his hands. “You ran to him when he pulled up. You wrapped your hands around him and he kissed you. That’s when I knew…” he stalls, pushing his wet locks off his face. “That’s when I knew it was too late. I was too late.”
I push him back forcefully with all the anger and regret building up inside me. “You were here?” I scream and push against his chest again, although he barely flinches. “You were here and never said anything?” I continue screaming, angrily.
He grabs my fists and holds them to his chest, stopping me. “And say what?” he asks softly. “I wasn’t going to interrupt your reunion with your boyfriend. I knew I hadn’t earned that.”
“You weren’t too late,” I sob. I lift my head up and meet his dark eyes. “You weren’t too late!” I repeat louder. “That wasn’t my boyfriend. He never was. Simon’s my best friend, and he had just returned from London,” I explain.
“Shit,” he curses, dropping his eyes. “I don’t know why I drove here that day. I shouldn’t have.”
“Why didn’t you call?” I ask. His hands are still wrapped around my fists. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you, Bentley. I know I fucked up. I know that. But if you were thinking of me, why didn’t you call?”
“Because I didn’t know what to feel, Ceci. You royally fucked me over, yet I wanted you. I wanted every fucking piece of you! You know how messed up that made me feel?”
“I have an idea,” I breathe out. “I became a tortured soul that didn’t let anyone in because I was so damn regretful for what I did. I was angry and broken, and I didn’t even want to live a life without you, yet I had to learn how because it was my only option.”
His hands grip around my face so fast, I don’t even see him leaning in. His mouth is on mine before I even have time to register it. My palms lay flat against his chest as he holds me, cupping my cheeks with his strong hands.
I moan and pant against his mouth as he strokes his tongue with mine—thirst and desire taking complete control. His mouth consumes me, holding me tightly against him as he takes me. I inhale his scent as one of his hands grip the back of my neck and the other hand slides down to my hip, holding me firmly in place.
It’s just as I remembered. His lips are fucking heaven and nothing ever compares to the way he kisses me. Feelings rush through me harder than the rain pouring down on us, and I realize I need to make him stop.
I push against his chest, breaking the heated kiss. He looks down at me curiously, and then his eyes widen as he realizes what we just did.
“God, I’m sorry.” He releases me and brushes a hand through his soaked hair. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
I don’t know if it’s because he regrets kissing me, or the way he’s looking at me right now that hurts the most. It guts me completely as I see the mixed emotions in his eyes.
“I should’ve called,” he says, taking me off guard. “But I was a coward. I wanted to forget, but I was a fool because I could never forget, Ceci. I can’t forget.”
A sob reluctantly releases deep within my chest. The last thing I want to do is cry in front of him, but what’s it matter anymore. This whole situation is fucked up.
I look up at him and we lock eyes when I finally say, “You’re too late.”
“What?” he gasps, training his eyes on me still.
“You weren’t late back then,” I clarify. “But you’re too late now.”
I spin around and begin walking toward the house. I’m soaking wet and freezing, but I don’t even care. I just want to feel numb.
Chapter Thirteen
Bentley
Goddammit. I’m an idiot.
Why did I fucking tell her all that? She’s drunk, and I’m a damn fool for thinking I had any claim on her.
“You weren’t late back then. But you’re too late now.”
Did that mean she had moved on and was with someone else or that she didn’t want me at all? From the way that her body reacted to me—the same way it did two years ago—I refuse to think she can easily ignore that. There’s no way she can deny it.
I’ve been battling my feelings for two years. It’s exhausting, and no matter how much I tell myself to move on—to forget her—I can’t. I never will.
Watching her in class for the past month has been pure torture. Not talking to her and barely making eye contact with her has been worse than trying to forget her. At least then, I didn’t have to look at her and watch her perfect little body moving and bouncing around during class. I could at least pretend my feelings were non-existent and that I was just a pussy for not being able to get over her.
But I’m tired of being that person. I’m going to make her see that giving in is much easier than fighting the inevitable. Giving in is what we both want.
My mind is made up, and I’m not going to take no for an answer. Unless she’s sporting a diamond ring, nothing’s going to stop me from making sure she knows exactly what I want and how I feel.
* * *
I watch her walk in Monday evening with Cora. She keeps her eyes down as she makes her way to the back of the room. I grin selfishly as I walk toward her.
“Where is everyone?” Cora asks, looking up at me as I step in front of Ceci. They’re sitting on the floor, changing their shoes out and realizing the room is completely empty except for the three of us.
“Class got pushed back to six-thirty,” I state. Ceci finally jerks her head up, staring at me suspiciously. “I sent an email out.”
Cora looks at her phone, checking her email for the message she won’t find. “I didn’t get one.” She narrows her eyebrows before looking back up at me. She smirks, obviously understanding the silent plea I’m sending her.
I never sent her an email.
“Well, since we have a half hour, I’m going to go grab a protein smoothie.” She uncrosses her legs and stands up to walk out.
Ceci goes to stand up and blurts out, “I’ll come with you.”
“No, stay and watch our stuff,” she blurts, rushing away before Ceci can protest.
She stands up and faces me chest-to-chest. She crosses her arms, scowling up at me. “What are you doing?”
I flash a confused expression. “As in general?” I raise brow, making her steam even more.
“As in this.“ She waves her hands in between us.
“I just wanted a few minutes alone to talk to you,” I admit. “I want to apologize,” I clarify. “I’m sorry for how I acted last weekend. It was inappropriate.” She continues staring at me, not saying a word. Her expression reads that she doesn’t believe me. She shouldn’t…but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try to convince her of it. “We can be friends, right? I mean, I’m going to be your instructor for another two months.”
“Friends?” She narrows her brows, still scowling at me.
“Yeah, it’s when two people talk casually. Maybe hang out. Strictly platonic.”
“I know what being friends is, asshole. But I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I slap a hand to my chest as if I’m offended by her dismissal. “All right. Ha
ve it your way.” I smirk. “You always did prefer the subordinate role.”
“Excuse me? What did you just say to me, Bentley?”
“It’s actually, Mr. Leighton,” I taunt. I wink at her, causing her anger to fuel even more.
Oh, yes, this will be fun. If she doesn’t want to admit that she wants to be more than friends, I’ll just have to make her realize it on her own.
I purposely avoid eye contact with her as I go over more lessons. I walk around the classroom like normal, but don’t step in to help her. Instead, I yell at her for slacking and tell her to try again.
She glares at me, dropping her arms to her sides. “If you need extra help, Miss West, you’re welcome to come to the front of the room. It’s a much better view.” I smirk at her.
She bites her lip, stopping herself from making a scene before she finally releases it and responds. “I’m just fine back here. Thank you, Mr. Leighton.”
“My pleasure.” I grin wide. “Keep your arms tight. You’re falling out of your stance. Flex your muscles as you drive into the bag,” I instruct and walk away, but I can feel her eyes daggering into the back of my head. She hates the fact that I know her so well. Even after all this time, I know her better than she realizes.
After a great class, I dismiss everyone and begin packing up. Maya walks in as usual after class and grabs a hold of my arm. I lean down so she can whisper in my ear. I laugh at her comments about bimbo one and two in the front row, and grin as I look up to find Ceci staring at me. She’s scowling and shaking her head at me. Shit. She’s going to think I’m playing her.
Good.
She’s jealous.
I’ll take it. Anything to make her realize she has feelings for me.
“Dude, that girl was close to lighting you on fire with her eyes. What’d you do to piss her off?”
“Oh…that story could take a while. Let’s just say, we know each other well. Very well.”
“What about her friend?” She watches them walk out of the studio and exit out of the gym. There are windows surrounding the building, so it’s easy to see everything outside. The windows are tinted from the outside so you can’t see in.
The Intern: Vol. 3 Page 8