The One Left Behind (The One Series)

by Lena Nicole

  “Exactly. I asked him if we could get together today because I wanted to tell him about Pierce. I didn’t want to lead him on in anyway, so I wanted to tell him that we were seeing each other. Of course I was going to leave out the part about us having sex. Well, imagine my surprise when he already knew and said, and I quote, ‘Are you fucking him?’ I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to hurt him. I know I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights, but I really wasn’t expecting that, you know? That’s when he told me he saw Pierce’s car there. After that, he called me a selfish bitch, a whore, and offered me a meaningless fuck session. I mean, who says that?!” Replaying the words in my head ignites a fire in my stomach again. He had no right to name call and try to deliberately hurt me.

  Colby is silent for what seems like five minutes which is rare for her. Finally, she says, “I honestly don’t know what to say.”

  “Oh, that’s not all. He kissed me.” I hear Colby let out a small gasp before I continue, “the crazy thing is I kissed him back. I don’t know what came over me, but I didn’t pull away. The worst part about it is I felt nothing. Nada. He pushed me away and told me he didn’t want me, especially after I was with Pierce. He might as well have said he didn’t want sloppy seconds with the way he said it and looked at me.” The sheer disgust written all over his face was almost painful to look at. That one look said it all; he thought I was a slut.

  I wait for some sort of comment from Colby, but I’m only greeted by silence so I hold out my phone to make sure I didn’t lose her. When I see the call is still connected, I put it back to my ear. “Colby?”

  “I’m here. Sorry. I’m just at a loss for words and really blown away by all this.”

  “Well, that’s a first,” I murmur.

  Colby sighs before saying, “I have never heard or seen Colin act like that. Ever. I’m a little taken aback. He must have finally reached his breaking point. I mean this is very out of character for him. I almost wouldn’t believe you were talking about Colin if this was coming from anyone else.”

  “Not helping, Colby,” I deadpan.

  “Right, sorry. I’m just really shocked. Look, as much as I like Colin, I just want you to be happy. If you’re happy with Pierce then I will do my best to support that. But you need to be more understanding of Colin’s feelings. I’m sure everything he said to you was coming from a place of hurt. If you feel nothing for him, then that’s how you feel, but you need to give Colin time to adjust. It might take some time. Does moving on with Pierce make you a whore or a selfish bitch? No. What does is turning off your phone after texting me juicy gossip like you did the other night.”

  We both laugh and I love Colby for trying to make me feel better.

  “I love you and thanks for listening to me. You’ve made me feel a lot better.”

  “That’s what besties are for. Text me later to set up a girl’s night. Lord knows I need one. The stress of Damon’s family is taking its toll on me.”

  We hang up as I pull into my driveway. Even though Colby’s words were helpful in making me see this from Colin’s perspective, I’m still kind of upset by the whole fight. I walk into my condo and throw my keys and bag down. I decide to text Pierce hoping he can brighten up my day.

  Me: I need you. Are you busy?

  I hit send and walk over to the couch and stare blankly at the TV waiting for a response from Pierce. I keep checking my phone every few minutes and am a little sad that he hasn’t responded. Maybe the whole ‘I need you’ was a little too strong and he got weirded out by it. Fifteen minutes later with no response, I hear a knock at my door. I get up off the couch and open it to see Pierce standing there with a bouquet of blue calla lilies. I am so emotionally raw from earlier, that having him drop everything to come here makes me break down crying. Pierce pulls me into his chest and steps into the house closing the door behind him. He starts stroking my hair telling me it will be okay before picking me up and carrying me into the bedroom. Sitting me down on the bed, I crawl into his lap and he continues to stroke my hair as I cry myself to sleep.

  I wake up two hours later and notice a set of warm arms wrapped around me. Pierce is still here. He didn’t leave me. My eyes feel swollen and I have no doubt in my mind they are since I have been crying all afternoon. I look up at Pierce, who is still sleeping, and take in how handsome he is. He managed to take off his suit jacket and unbutton his shirt. I don’t want to wake him since he looks so comfortable and stress free. As if he can feel my eyes on him, he says, “You know, if you weren’t so hot I would be a little creeped out that you’re watching me sleep.” His eyes are still closed and a crooked grin stretches across his face.

  I feel my cheeks heat up as he opens his eyes. He leans up and places a kiss on my forehead. “I’m sorry. You just looked so peaceful I didn’t want to wake you,” I say.

  “Never apologize for being you, especially to me.” His words touch my heart deeper than he would ever know. After having my character attacked by Colin, this is exactly what I need to hear.

  “So tell me. What is wrong? I don’t like seeing you cry,” he says while pushing my hair out of my face and lightly running his thumb below one of my eyes. His eyebrows are pinched inward letting me know that he’s concerned for me.

  I begin to tell Pierce about what happened earlier. I tell him how I was going over to tell Colin that we decided to take our friendship to the next level and were dating, and about Colin’s outburst and how angry he was. Before I can continue Pierce gets a very serious look on his face and asks, “Did he hurt you?”

  “No, not physically at least,” I say as I trail off. “His words stung a little, but I mean what did I expect? I just broke his heart again.” I look down at my hands.

  “It doesn’t matter if you broke his heart or not. He’s a man and men don’t talk to women that way. Especially a woman they are supposed to love.” I guess he has a point. For the first time, I see anger on his face as he takes in what Colin said to me. I know I have to tell him about the kiss and I am dreading it.

  “Well, there’s something else I need to tell you too. He, uh, he kissed me.” I’m ringing my hands in my lap and look up at him through my eyelashes afraid of his reaction.

  Pierce takes a minute to digest what I just told him. His body stiffens up and I immediately feel guilty. I shouldn’t have let that kiss happen. Why didn’t I push him away? My biggest fear in this moment is that Pierce will doubt my feelings for him.

  “Did you kiss him back?” his body is still rigid and his jaw is slightly clenched.

  I sigh and hang my head low, ashamed of my answer. “Yes.”

  Silence again. I may not know what Pierce is thinking, but I do know silence is never a good thing. I try to intercept whatever line of thinking is going on inside his head and begin to speak, “Pierce, it was a mistake and I should have never let it happen. I didn’t—” Before I can continue Pierce looks down at me. I see the hurt in his eyes and it guts me. I don’t blame him. He just told me he loved me and I said it back and now I’m kissing my ex fiancé.

  “I know we just started dating, and I know it happened kind of fast, but I was cheated on once before and I won’t go through that again. I love you and want to be with you, but I will not tolerate cheating. So I need to know, after you kissed him, did you feel anything for him? Did it make you remember anything, because if it did and you want to be with him I won’t stand in the way of your happiness.” He breaks eye contact and looks down at the floor.

  I didn’t think it was possible to love Pierce any more than I already do, but after what he just said my heart is bursting open with the love and affection I feel for this man. He is willing to let me go if it’ll make me happy, showing what a selfless person he is.

  I grab his hands and hold them tight while looking him in the eye, “No, when he kissed me I don’t know why I kissed him back. But in a way, I’m glad it happened because I felt nothing and all that was running through my head was you. How I get butter
flies every time our lips touch and how I am never just satisfied with one kiss. I always want more from you and I will keep on taking till there’s nothing left to take. There’s that spark between us and that was missing when Colin kissed me. I know I messed up and if you give me the chance I will fix it. I don’t love Colin. I love you. I want you. I choose you. That is, if you still want me,” I bite my lip nervously as he studies me. I know he’s making sure I am completely certain about my decision. I release one of his hands and place mine over his heart. “This right here. This is what I want. The only thing I need is your love and I’m sorry if I made you doubt that. But please believe me when I say I love you.”

  Pierce places his hand over mine and gives me a kiss. I feel some of the tension in my shoulders relax when our lips connect briefly. I’m about to wrap my arms around his neck when he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder and starts to carry me towards the bathroom.

  “I love you,” he says.

  I’m hanging upside down as I ask, “Are we okay?”

  “More than okay,” he replies and I can hear the smile in his voice. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. God, I was so nervous about his reaction. I swear I was sweating the whole time waiting for him to get upset with me. I’m glad he is so understanding and we are able to move forward.

  “So, where are you taking me, Charming?”

  “I like this new nickname you’ve given me by the way. First, I’m going to take you to the bathroom and get these clothes off you and have my way with every inch of your body. Then I’m going to draw us up a nice hot bubble bath and we’re going to soak in it until we’re all pruney. Then I’m going to have my wicked way with you again until you pass out from exhaustion.”

  “I like the sound of that. Especially the last part.” My insides are doing somersaults and my center is throbbing with anticipation.

  He smacks my ass playfully and begins to throw me on the counter. Just as I think I’m about to hit it, he stops me by wrapping his arm around my back and places me gently on the sink. He stands up and starts to remove the remainder of the clothes he has on. Once he is done, he starts on my clothes. He goes to reach for a condom but the drawer is empty. His face instantly pulls down into a frown at the realization. I can tell he’s about to put the brakes on this operation when I grab his arm and pull him toward me. He looks at me confused and I smile and nod, letting him know it’s okay.

  There is no hesitation on his face as his eyes heat up with desire, “If you’re giving me the chance to feel you skin to skin with no barrier, I’m taking it. I want to be as close as possible while buried inside of you.” The deep, raspy tone of his words make me want him even more.

  His lips come crashing down on mine as he enters me slowly. I raise my hips to meet him and he slides into me like a perfect fit. He stills for a moment and closes his eyes enjoying the skin to skin contact. “Oh God, baby. You feel amazing,” he says before he begins to move again. We both moan out in pleasure and I know this is going to be a nice, long night.

  GOD, WHAT A fucked up day. I feel like complete shit for the way I acted toward Addison earlier this afternoon. I am such a dick. The things I said to her were unforgivable. She’s not a whore and I’m not sure I’ll even get the chance to apologize to her and I wouldn’t blame her if she never talked to me again.

  I can’t believe I kissed her after I verbally assaulted her. I’m so disgusted with myself. Even if she got her memory back, I doubt she’d want to be with me after all that. At first I was so glad she was kissing me back, and she seemed to be into it with the way she was clutching my shirt. I knew I had to stop and when I pushed her back, I thought I only saw confusion written all over her face. Like she was confused as to why I stopped us. Now that I’m thinking about it, it wasn’t just confusion; it was extinguished lust and desire. She might have physically responded, but emotionally? She wasn’t there with me. I think that hurts even worse. Even if she didn’t remember me, wouldn’t she be somewhat emotionally connected after a kiss like that? I guess not if she found someone else to love.

  Fuck, I’m depressed.

  Which is why I’m sitting here at the bar again. I don’t necessarily feel like drinking alone, so I text message Jeremy.

  Me: Hey, bro. I’ve had the shittiest of shitty days. Wanna meet me up at Docs?

  Ten minutes later I finally get a response.

  Jeremy: Sorry, dude. I’m already out.

  Me: That’s cool. What are you up to?

  Again, another long pause before his response comes through.

  Jeremy: I’m just hanging out with someone. No big deal.

  He has been acting suspicious lately. It’s almost like he’s hiding something. We tell each other everything, so I thought he’d tell me when he was ready. Until then, I guess it is just me and my trusty beer.

  Me: Okay….I guess I’ll see you around. Call me later.

  Jeremy: Will do. Be safe and don’t drink too much. Call a cab if you do.

  I roll my eyes. I’m getting tired of the whole mother hen thing from Jeremy when it comes to my drinking. I doubt he’d be handling this any better if he were in my shoes.

  I am about five beers in when Brooklyn walks in to take her place behind the bar. I guess she got the late shift this evening since it is 8:00 and she is just now showing. And damn, she looks hot in her barely there outfit. I really don’t know why that girl wears clothes at all. I can paint a perfect picture of her naked in my head right now. I wonder if she has any piercings in her….

  I stop that line of thinking and take in what she’s wearing. She is wearing a pair of cut off denim shorts. They are so short I can see the bottom of her ass cheeks when she turns around. She has on another short, baggy T-shirt that is semi sheer so you can barely see the red bra she’s wearing underneath. With it she has on some black combat looking boots that are quite intimidating.

  She turns around after giving me a nice view of her ass and says, “Hey.” She’s using a seductive tone and I know it could be a long night if she keeps this up.

  I try to smile, but I think I fail as I respond, “Hey, what’s up buttercup?”

  She leans over the bar to get closer to me. “Not much. Why so glum, sugarplum?”

  I don’t know why I say it, but it is like I’ve been dying to tell someone. “Addison is fucking Pierce.” I let out a long sigh as if the burden has been lifted from me. I know that’s not possible because I feel just as shitty now after saying it as I did before. Maybe even worse now since saying it to someone else makes it more real for some reason.

  She doesn’t look that surprised. “Well, shit. You gonna be alright?”

  “Well, considering I’m about six or seven beers in tonight, I’d say I’m feeling pretty damn good right now.”

  She leans closer and crooks her finger at me, motioning for me to come here. I hesitantly lean forward as she whispers in my ear, “I could make you forget.” She leans back and looks at me from under her eyelashes as she bites her bottom lip. I know it’s gotta be the beer talking, but that offer doesn’t sound half bad. Hell, maybe a small part of me wants to feel like I’m getting even with Addison. I give her a drunken smile and say, “Oh, really? And how would you do that?”

  She slowly licks her lips before leaning forward again, “I wouldn’t want to tell you and ruin the surprise, but let’s just say that it would involve you coming. A lot.” She walks away I guess to let me think about it. There’s not much to think about. I’m drunk, I haven’t had sex in months, she’s willing and offering, and right now my dick is throbbing. Yep, looks like my mind is made up.

  Looking at her, I take a swig of my beer and wait for her to turn around and look at me. She glances over her shoulder. I give her a smile and wink at her. She smiles back before returning to her current customer. Tonight could be crazy wild, or a really bad idea. Eh, I’m single. I might as well take advantage of it.

  All through the night Brooklyn would walk past me and whisper
in my ear what she was going to do to me. The longer I sat here in my alcohol induced haze and the more graphic her suggestions got, the hornier I became and I was ready to fucking explode and fuck her up against the wall in front of everyone. She would say things like she’d lick me from root to tip, to telling me all the places she wanted my mouth and tongue on her. Through these very graphic descriptions, I learn that she has a piercing down below. Interesting. I had slowed my drinking down the closer it got to closing time to avoid getting whiskey dick. I am committed to doing this, so not being able to get an erection would definitely put a damper on the evening, not to mention be embarrassing. I’d had a boner for about an hour now and I was beyond ready to get out of here.

  “Let me go clock out and we can get out of here, okay?”

  I nod and wait by the door for her. She meets up with me and I say, “I don’t think I should drive, so you’ll have to.”

  “No problem. My place or yours?” She’s facing me and we’re only inches apart. She puts her hand on my chest and starts drawing circles with her fingertip.

  “Yours,” I say almost too quickly. I don’t want to fuck her at my place. I don’t want lasting memories and associations of tonight to plague me when I’m home.

  “Okay, this way.” She grabs my hand and leads me to her car.

  The whole ride to her house she kept rubbing my dick through my jeans. I couldn’t wait to fuck her at this point. We walk into her small apartment, she closes the door and immediately drops to her knees. She unbuckles my belt, unbuttons my pants, and has them around my ankles within seconds. And holy hell, she pulls my boxers down with her teeth, the whole time looking up at me. I grunt in anticipation of what is to follow.

  She takes me in her mouth and all thought leaves my mind with the various techniques she uses. I lean my head back against the wall and grab a fist full of her hair. I’m not sure of the words that are uttered out of my mouth, but they seem to spur her on as she gets more eager. If she keeps doing this, I’m going to explode and leave her hanging. I might be drunk, but I’m not selfish. I make sure my partner gets an equal exchange at the very least.