“Christ I’m so sorry this is happening to you,” he sighed, “You deserve better Lennie, you should never be second best to any man. Don’t you ever let a man degrade you and put you down again.” Dads voice cracked. “I know I wasn’t the picture perfect dad and husband, I made mistakes and paid dearly for them. I didn’t get to see my daughter grow up and I hurt my best friend. Damn’it Lennie, just walk away from him—he doesn’t deserve the gold heart you have.”
I sniffled and wiped tears away, “It’s just hard I wanted him to love me like he did before.”
“You’ll find somebody that is going to sweep you off your feet, he’ll be a man that will love you and only you. Don’t rush in to anything, but don’t dwell on that piece of shit Justin either. He was just a speed bump in life, shut that door—scratch that, slam that fucking door and lock it. Walk away with your head held high.”
I smiled, “Okay, I’m here now so I need to hang up. I’ll call you when I get back to Corrina’s.”
“Uh no, you’ll call me as soon as you are gone from there so I know my baby girl is safe and sound!”
“Yes sir, I love you.” I told him.
“I love you too Lennie, if I don’t hear back from you within an hour I’m calling the cops.”
“Okay.”
“Talk to you in a bit.”
I disconnected the call and took a few calming breaths, I didn’t want Justin to see how upset I had been so I reapplied some eye makeup and put some lip gloss on. Lyle met me at the front reception desk, a sad look in his eyes. “I really wish it was him leaving, not you.” He said as he hugged me.
“We’ll have to keep in touch. For now let’s go get this over with.”
He nodded his head and walked beside me to the elevator. I took a few deep calming breaths as we rode up in silence. “You got this, I’m right here with you.” Lyle patted my shoulder. We exited the elevator, walking to the door felt like I was carrying twenty-pound sandbags strapped around my ankles. Dread and fear filled my body. Although I still had a key I didn’t want to just walk in, I knocked and waited and waited…I knocked again and waited some more. When Justin never opened the door I twisted the handle, it was unlocked so I quietly walked inside. There were boxes upon boxes stacked by the entryway but no sign of Justin anywhere.
“Justin I’m here!” I called out. He didn’t reply so I started looking what he had packed in the boxes, after I checked each box Lyle stacked them on the luggage cart. Surprisingly he had actually packed all of my stuff even if he had literally wadded it up and just tossed it in a box, not caring if anything broke. I was grateful to find the things of moms unharmed.
“You couldn’t fucking call and let me know you were coming?” Justin said as he walked down the stairs.
I jumped, “Sorry I just thought…”
“Cut the fucking bullshit bitch and just get out. Scared to be alone with me since I interrupted you fucking that asshole at the club when I showed up?” he grinned and looked at Lyle.
“Enough! Let her get her stuff and she’ll be gone. I’m here to be a neutral party.” Lyle said to Justin and leveled him with a glare.
Justin laughed out loud and shook his head, “Hurry the fuck up, I have things to do today.” He told me then left the room.
After Lyle made the third and final trip with the luggage cart I called out Justin’s name to let him know I was finished. He didn’t answer so I decided to go upstairs, if he was in the shower he probably couldn’t hear me.
When I walked into our bedroom it looked like a tornado had ripped through it. One dresser was flipped over, curtains were partially ripped down, a lamp was in pieces on the floor…and on Justin’s nightstand was a mirror with a pile of white powder in the middle and a clear straw. “What the fuck are you doing in here?” He yelled.
“I…wanted to tell you I was finished. I’ll just leave the key in the basket.” I looked back over at his nightstand. He did the unthinkable, he walked past me still wrapped in a towel, and sat down on the bed.
“You want some?” He asked with a grin. Using a razor blade he sliced lines out on the mirror. My stomach dropped, how had he gone from being the man of my dreams to somebody in my nightmares.
“I’ll just leave.” I spun around and left the room. His laugh sent chills up my spine.
“You okay?” Lyle asked.
I shook my head, “I can’t—we need to leave.” My voice and body shook. I was so hurt, mad, and disgusted.
Once we made it to my car I started bawling. Lyle held me and rubbed my back, “You deserve better Lennie. Just be careful, okay? I’m afraid that you haven’t seen the last of Justin.”
I sniffled, “Thank you.”
My cell phone rang, dad was calling. I hugged Lyle tightly before answering the call.
“I’m fine dad.” I said with a sniffle.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked angrily.
“No…he, he had drugs…cocaine right there on the nightstand.”
“Jesus.” Dad whispered. “Are you sure we don’t need to come down? I’ll drop everything just to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’ll be fine, I need to call Corrina and let her know that I’m okay.”
“I love you Lennie, you call me if you need me okay?”
“Okay, I love you too.”
When Corrina answered the phone she asked the same questions as dad. I reassured her that I was fine, physically. Mentally I was a mess.
Back at her apartment, with the help of the bellman, we got everything unloaded out of the car and in to her apartment.
I flopped down on the couch, “I’m not doing anything else the rest of the weekend! I want to curl up in my fleece pajama pants, t-shirt, and fuzzy socks while I binge eat chocolate mint ice cream and drink too much wine.
Corrina laughed and sat down beside me, “Please don’t let this destroy you, I know you’re not okay Lennie. You put your heart and soul into your marriage only to have it ripped out and stomped on. I can’t imagine going through what you’ve been through, even though you say he never hit you…mentally you’re not okay.”
I rolled my head to the side and looked at her, “It feels like a dream honestly. I thought that everything was caused by stress at work. How am I ever going to trust another man?”
She wiped a tear from my cheek, “You’ll find the perfect prince charming, and he’s going to prove to you every single day how lucky he is to have you. As your best friend I’m not going to let you hide away and sulk over Justin. If you need or want to see a counselor to help you with the mental abuse you’ve been through, I will support you one hundred and ten percent. You’re a very strong willed woman, but he’s tore you down to nothing.”
I wiped my face, “Can I have some ice cream now?”
We both laughed, “Sure, I’ll scoop us up some—you get the wine!”
For the rest of the afternoon we lounged on the couch watching movies and talking about Corrina’s job. It was her dream job, anything to do with history, made her happy. I ended up falling asleep around eleven o’clock that night. I woke up the following morning to the delicious smell of coffee.
I hurried back to the bathroom, my head pounding slightly from the amount of wine I had consumed the night before. After brushing my teeth I went to the kitchen and poured me a mug of the liquid gold.
Corrina came out of her bedroom, dressed in workout attire. I raised one eyebrow at her in question.
“What? You’ve seen the gym down there, I’m going to take full advantage of it!” she said with a smile.
“Mmhmm, who is he?”
“He—who?” she wouldn’t look at me as she grabbed a mug from the cupboard.
“Corrina’s got a crr-uushh!” I teased.
She shook her head and tried to hide the smile on her face, “I have no idea what you’re talking about or who you’re referring to.” She feigned innocently.
“Bullshit!” I said with a cough.
“God you’re persistent! I migh
t happen to think that Trevor is somewhat cute, okay?”
I laughed, “Eh, he’s not bad.” Honestly Trevor was very good looking. His eyes were a lighter shade of blue than Dominique’s. They reminded me of blue icebergs almost. He had tattoo’s covering both arms and short blonde hair.
“Sooo, do you have any details you’re leaving out from Friday night? Hmmm?” Corrina asked.
I pursed my lips, “None.”
“I know you’re lying because you’re biting the inside of your cheek.” She grinned at me from behind her coffee mug.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about or who you’re referring to.” I threw her words back at her.
“Oh for fuck sake, seriously?” she screeched, “I leave for two minutes and you vanish, then Trevor appears at the table. You and Dominique were nowhere to be found!”
I shook my head, “It makes me feel like a whore if you really want to know.”
Her shoulders sagged, “I know that you didn’t have sex with him, don’t you ever say that about yourself around me again!”
“It’s not every day that you find out your husband is having an affair then you go out to a club the next night and make out with a guy in his office until your panting and wanting to rip his clothes off.” I told her.
She sat there silent for a few seconds, “You’re right, but that doesn’t make you a whore. I would do the same with Dominique fucking Hasting too!”
“It’s not like me and you know it, I just—I couldn’t stop myself for some reason. I don’t even KNOW him for crying out loud.”
Corrina walked over to the sink and rinsed her mug out, “There’s obviously something about you that he likes and something attracted you to him. You wouldn’t be the first woman to have a one-night stand and you won’t be the last. Google him, you’ll be pretty fucking shocked at what you find out about him.” She turned and winked at me. Then she was out the door to go work out.
Over the following couple of hours I unpacked a few boxes, mainly clothes and shoes, things I knew I would need on a daily basis until I could get my own place. After everything was organized and the rest of the full boxes tucked away in the back of the closet, I face planted on the bed. I rolled over to my back and stared at the ceiling, for what could have been minutes or hours. Thoughts of Justin running through my mind those were overshadowed by thought of Dominique. I blew out a breath and sat up on the bed. “Google him huh? No harm in wanting to know a little bit more about my super sexy, panty melting, fantastic kissing client…right?” I said to myself as I typed his name into the search engine.
Picture after picture of him in his football uniform showed up, in his gear he looked like a massive wall. Black tribal tattoos covered in sweat, dirt and blood as he tackled opponents. More pictures of him in underwear ads, I might have stared a little longer than necessary at those pictures. Then a picture of him with a stunning woman on the red carpet was next:
Ava tames the Destroyer ~ Congrats to the new couple! Wedding details not yet released, check back often for updates on this stunning couple!
I was staring at their picture, my stomach churning, he was engaged? The door flew open and Corrina walked in. I snapped the lid shut on my laptop.
“Did you look him up?” she wiggled her brows up and down.
“He’s engaged!” I yelled. “I really am a whore, oh my god! I kissed another woman’s fiancé!”
“What?” she grabbed my laptop but I pulled it away from her.
“Totally explains why he’s buying such a big house, uggg, why didn’t I put two and two together? You can’t be that hot and that rich and be single.” I said as I put the laptop back on the charger.
“Are you sure?” Corrina asked.
“Yes!” I blew out a breath, “After tomorrow he can carry on with his lovely life, in his new home…with his fiancé. He’s a fucking pig in my opinion.” Without another word I went into the bathroom to shower.
I scrubbed my skin until it was red and sore, no matter how hard I scrubbed though I didn’t feel clean—I didn’t feel like me. Justin’s words ripped through me, “Whore, slut, insatiable bitch…” and now I actually believed him. When I got out of the shower and dried off, I dressed in the baggiest sweat pants and t-shirt I could find. Not wanting to open my laptop and see the article again, I climbed under the covers and begged sleep to pull me under until tomorrow morning when I would have to face Dominique again—one final time.
“You calmed down now?” Trevor asked me snapping me out of my thoughts. Thoughts of Lennie and how she lit my body on fire when we kissed. Thoughts of how easily I could have broken Justin’s fucking neck when he called her a slut and a whore. No it wasn’t the Nigger word he used that pissed me off, over the years I grew a thick skin against being called that. On the field guys would say whatever they wanted or thought they had to, to distract me and piss me off. I learned pretty quickly that starting a fight did no good what so ever.
“Fuck no, Justin’s god damn lucky I didn’t kill him.” I said.
“I know, but man, if he’s wants to work shit out you can’t be interfering with it. She’s still married. I don’t know what went on with you two but you’re going to have to let it go. He was pissed!”
I snorted, “He’s been banging that Jill bitch and snorting drugs, I don’t think he has much room to judge Lennie.” I all but yelled. The cab driver gave me a questioning look in the rear view mirror. Trevor shook his head and the ride to the apartment was finished in silence.
“Go take a cold shower and call me in the morning, we’ll hit the gym together. You can work out some frustration.” Trevor said to me as we walked to the elevator.
“I’ll call you after I get back from my run in the morning.” I told him.
He laughed, “State of the art facility in this building and you still prefer the smog and pavement under your feet.”
I shrugged my shoulders, “Always have always will, be prepared to hold that two hundred pound bag still for me when I get there tomorrow.”
“Gotcha big man.” He clapped me on the back before I got off the elevator.
Back at my apartment I couldn’t stop thinking about Lennie, she was fucking perfect in my eyes. From the speckles of gold flakes in her eyes to the freckle next to her left eyebrow. Her skin against my fingers was like silk.
I stripped my clothes off; the smell of her perfume still clung to my shirt. With the cold water blasting I stepped under the stream, my muscles tightened with shock. Memories flashed through my mind, Lennie against the door, our tongues touching, her teeth sinking into my bottom lip. The sharp angle of her jaw line as I kissed along it to her neck, her nipples so hard I could feel them through our shirts. Even with the water ice cold, my dick was rock hard. I started stroking it, I needed the release. Memories of her soft moans, the way her skin pebbled with goose bumps from my touch, her legs gripping me tightly around the waist as I ground my dick against the hot heat of her pussy. The way her fingernails scraped my skin and our kiss turned more intense. With a few more hard strokes my stomach muscles contracted and my balls tightened then spurt after spurt of come ejected out of my cock. “Fuck” I blew out a breath. It wasn’t good enough, I needed Lennie, only she could satisfy the deep intense burning desire I was feeling.
The following morning at six o’clock sharp I was out of bed and headed out the door for my early morning run. Usually I’d run for a few miles then turn around but this day I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I needed my muscles to scream in protest.
In total I jogged for two and a half hours, my lungs and muscles screaming for me to stop. At the gym Trevor was all smiles, “Damn dude how far did you go today?” he asked me.
“Two and a half hours.” I said.
He shook his head, “You’re fucking nuts!”
We worked out for a couple of hours, taking turns holding the heavyweight bag until Trevor finally stepped away. “Just kill the damn thing! You’re wound up tighter than fucking hell today, man. Y
ou still have that Lennie chic on your mind or what?” he asked as he wiped his face with a towel.
“You could say that, I’m hoping we can talk tomorrow when I go to sign the papers. I’m not saying I want us to date, just get to know each other…something.” I wiped my face off and finally took some deep breaths. Lennie was under my skin like no other woman had ever been and it would only get worse if I didn’t talk to her about it. “What bugs the hell out of me is, I don’t even fucking know her. But yet I feel like I’m going out of my mind thinking about her so much over the last few days.”
Trevor shrugged, “Stranger things have happened.”
“You’re always so full of good advice—not really.” I told him.
“I try man…I try.” He said and we both laughed and walked over to the elevator. Trevor went to his apartment and I went to mine. Since I would be signing papers on the house Monday I needed to pack up some of my personal stuff that I didn’t trust movers to pack. After showering and boxing up a few boxes I made myself some lunch, and answered emails while eating. I rearranged my schedule for the following week then emailed it to Tiffany.
Later in the day I was on the phone with mom when there was a knock at the door. Trevor had a key and never bothered knocking, so when I opened the door and Ava was standing there it took all I had not to slam the door in her face.
“Hey stud!” She threw herself at me. My skin about crawled off of me and the smell of her perfume burnt my nose and made my eyes water.
I pushed her away, “Why are you here?” I asked.
She cocked her head to the side and looked past me, “Umm—are you moving or something?”
“None of your business, why.are.you…” she walked past me before I could finish asking her again.
With her hands on her hips Ava spun toward me, “Don’t you think that you should tell me you’re moving?” she said with venom in her voice.
“Ava, I don’t know how else to make it any more clear to you. We are done, through, not getting back together. MOVE ON!” I told her.
Tears filled her eyes, as usual, she walked toward me, “We were so good together, baby. I regret doing what I did, every single day. You won’t give me another chance though.” She rested a hand against my chest.
Love Again Page 8