by Amiee Louise
“Is everything OK, angel?”
I nod and smile.
“Yeah, of course it is, baby, why wouldn’t it be?” I say a little too enthusiastically.
Sam cocks his head and regards me intently. We spend most of the night chatting, laughing, and drinking. Halfway through the night, I get up and go to the toilet. As I approach the ladies, I see J.D with his back to me, so I decide to hang back in the shadows and listen.
“I want her fucking gone, Lyla; I want you to make sure they split up for good this time.”
The person he is talking to steps to the side. The woman from the gig. I put my hand to my mouth to stop myself from making a sound.
“I tried, J.D., I really tried.”
J.D. shakes his head.
“No, you obviously didn’t try hard enough. She is a manipulative little slut who’s using Sam as her meal ticket; I’ve seen girls like her a million times.”
“He really loves her, he is … different. He’s not the same Sam I fell in love with. He’s grown up; as much as it hurts to see him with her, I can’t do it to him.”
My eyes glaze over at her words. Why have I never heard of her? Sam said his only serious relationship was years ago with some girl he grew up with. J.D holds his finger up.
“I’ll make it worth your while. Five grand? Ten grand? How much is it going to take, Lyla? Name your price.”
Lyla takes a breath.
“I don’t need your money, but make it twenty grand, and I’ll make sure she dumps him. This is the last time, J.D., the last fucking time.”
She actually sounds angry which makes me wonder what her story is. J.D nods.
“Thank you so much, sweetness. You won’t regret this, you know it makes sense, I’ll be in touch.”
He hugs Lyla, and they both stride off in opposite directions. I step out of the shadows and rush to the toilet. I quickly swing open a free cubicle door and step inside. As soon as I lock the door, I try to compose myself. A few minutes later, I unlock the door, wash my hands, and exit the toilet. I am in desperate need of a drink, so I go off to the bar. I order my drink, and there is a guy standing next to me smiling.
“Grab your coat, sweetheart, you’ve pulled.”
I cock my eyebrow at him. Seriously? On what planet would that line actually work?
“Pulled what, a muscle?”
He chuckles.
“I deserved that one. Can I buy you a drink, sweetheart?”
His accent is soft and Scottish. I look at him and shake my head.
“No, I’m good, thanks.”
He shifts closer to me.
“Oh, go on, just one drink. You’re gorgeous.”
I move subtly away from him.
“I said no thank you, I’m fine. I’m actually here with my boyfriend.”
He smirks and moves even closer; I can feel his alcohol breath on my cheek. He touches my arm.
“Come on, sweetheart. If you were my girl, I’d never let you out of my sight, not for a second.”
I look up at him.
“Luckily, I’m not your girl then. Just fuck off and leave me alone,” I snap, and I unexpectedly feel a presence behind me and Mr. Scottish is removed from my side.
“You heard the lady, I suggest you take your hand off my girl and fuck off if you know what’s good for you.” Mr. Scottish holds his hands up in defence and walks off. “Are you OK, angel?”
I nod, and his face is marred with worry.
“I’m fine, baby, honestly.”
He plants a kiss on my cheek.
“When I saw him put his hand on you, I actually wanted to physically damage him,” he says through clenched teeth.
My possessive rocker is back. I suddenly feel an overwhelming sense of anger towards him, and I yank my arm free from his grasp.
“Stop fucking suffocating me, Sam!”
Even over the music, I can sense the eyes of the people in the club on us. He steps back, and his eyes widen.
“Angel, I’m just trying to protect you, please understand that,” he says softly, and I shake my head.
“No, Sam, I don’t, I just need to be on my own right now.”
He goes to speak, but I back away and storm off towards the exit, leaving him with a truly dumbfounded look on his face. I am so angry with him for being so suffocating, overprotective, and possessive. I can’t help but think that every time I think our relationship is moving forward, something comes along to push us back three steps.
I walk out of the club and into the cool night air, relishing the fresh air on my clammy skin. I feel an arm reach for me and grip my wrist gently.
“We should talk,” she says softly and without an ounce of malice in her voice. The woman from the gig. Lyla. She pulls me into an alley beside the club. “I’m doing this because you seem like a really nice girl, but you can’t trust him. He is good at acting, he has perfected the sincere rocker thing, but once you get to know him, once you break the surface, and once he is drawn you in, he’s got you right where he wants you.”
I cock my head and look up at her. Even in heels, she is at least a foot taller than I am and extremely beautiful.
“Who are you? He won’t tell me.”
She smiles. “I’m Lyla. Sam and me … We go way back. We were together for a while; I was totally smitten with him.”
She seems a little vague, which makes me more suspicious and I fold my arms.
“Why are you doing this? I don’t know you.”
She brushes my arm.
“I know that he’s serious about you and I can see it going the same way as me and him did. I don’t want to see you get hurt, and don’t get me wrong we’ll never be best friends not by a long shot, but I’d like to think I care enough to at least try to prevent what happened between Sam and me.”
I smile. “I saw you with J.D…”
Her face drops.
“It wasn’t what it looked like; you need to watch out for him,” she warns. “Promise me you’ll be careful around him?”
Her voice is full of concern, and I begin to wonder what she could mean. I am about to ask her when I hear a male voice call my name, “Peyton.”
I recognise the voice as Jax. I peek around the corner, and when I turn around again, Lyla is gone. Strange. I have all these thoughts rushing around my mind, and my head is spinning. I step out from the alley, and Jax rushes over to me.
“There you are. Sam is about to tear the walls down in there looking for you.”
I take a breath.
“Take me back to the hotel, Jax, please. I really can’t be around him right now, please.”
He sees the pained look on my face, and he nods, brushing my arm reassuringly.
“I’ll be right back, babe, I need to get my phone, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t follow. Trust me.”
He winks and goes back inside. The large doorman steps to my side.
“Do you need a taxi, darlin’?” he asks in a soft Scottish lilt and smiles cordially. I nod and smile as he flags a taxi down, and it pulls up at the kerb.
“Thank you so much.”
I open the car door, and a few minutes later, Jax joins me in the back seat as we make our way back to the hotel. I lean my head on his shoulder.
“Hey, do you want to tell me what that fuck-wit did this time?”
A tear rolls down my cheek. “A girl called Lyla showed up.”
Jax’s eyes widen.
“Lyla? Lyla was here? Are you sure, babe?”
I nod. “She was at the gig as well, she kept telling me not to trust him. What’s he hiding, Jax? Who is she?”
He puts his hand to his head. “Fuck,” he curses and takes out his phone.
“Jax, don’t call him, please,” I plead. Jax looks at me and puts his arm around me.
“He needs to know she’s here, babe.”
Defeated, I lean my head back on his shoulder and nod as he carries on texting Sam. Ten minutes later, we are pulling up outside the hotel. Jax pays the
driver, and I stride into the hotel foyer. I press the button for the lift, and Jax runs to catch up with me.
“This isn’t his fault, babe, at least hear him out, he deserves that. I have never seen him the way he is with you ever. It’s a first for him, he is … happy.”
We both step into the lift, I push the button for the fourth floor, and the doors slide shut.
“What’s going on with you and Ruby?”
I swiftly change the subject, and he smiles, leaning back against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
“I’m falling for her, Peyton, she is … incredible. She doesn’t stand for my bullshit. She doesn’t expect anything from me, I know I slept with someone behind her back, and I’m so fucking sorry for that. We never made promises to each other, I thought we were clear on that. Now she keeps blowing hot and cold, I can’t keep up with her. Her mood swings are literally giving me whiplash.”
I definitely know that feeling all too well.
He sighs. The lift stops at our floor, and we step out into the corridor.
“Do you want me to talk to her?”
He smiles. “Thanks, Peyton, that’s really sweet, but I’m a bit old for the whole my friend fancies your friend!”
“She has been hurt so many times, Jax, but she must have some feelings for you; show her how much she means to you. I see how she is around you, she plays down her feelings, and she hides behind the tough girl act.”
“Just like you, you’re more alike than you realise, babe.”
I smile shyly and fidget with my hands. “Maybe, but this isn’t about me.”
He stops outside mine and Sam’s room.
“But it was about you; until you changed the subject, remember?”
He raises his eyebrows, and I hold my hands up. “OK, you caught me!”
“Look, I’ve seen Sam at his lowest points, he has bounced back every single time, but I don’t think he’ll bounce back so easily if you run from him again. You were the reason he got up on that stage tonight. Talk to him, he is … fragile right now. Please don’t break his heart, babe.”
Jax’s voice is pleading, and I nod. There are so many things I want to say and ask Jax about Sam’s past because he seems to be the person who knows him best. But a part of me is terrified of the answers, so I decide to keep my mouth firmly shut.
“I won’t.”
He brushes my arm. “I’m going back to the boys at the club, text me if you need anything, love,” he says softly, and I nod.
“Thanks, Jax.”
I kiss him on the cheek, and he smiles. He salutes and turns to walk back down the corridor. I insert the key card and push the door open. The door clicks shut behind me, and I turn on the light. I kick off my shoes and go straight into the bathroom to take off my make-up. I pull out a baby wipe and look at my reflection in the mirror. I look so different to the way I looked a few short weeks ago before Sam breezed into my life with his leather and his tattoos.
I hardly recognise the girl staring back at me. My blue eyes have a sapphire-like sparkle to them, my cheeks are rosy, and my smile is no longer the fake one I have perfected over the years. They say love changes you, but I didn’t believe them for a second. I am living proof that love changes everything. From your appearance to the way you feel inside, that broken, mess of a heart that Callum ripped out of my chest and trampled on the day he cheated on me has now been mended, and my heart is growing stronger by the day with every minute I spend with Sam.
The door of the hotel room slamming shut interrupts my thoughts. I step into the doorway of the bathroom and look up, my eyes instantly locking with Sam’s blazing green ones. He moves towards me and is in front of me in two large strides. His chest is heaving, and he is so close I can feel his warm breath on my cheek. His familiar Sam scent envelopes me as he runs his thumb across my bottom lip.
“Please don’t run from me, angel, I can’t stand it.”
“I promise I won’t run anymore, but you need to start being honest with me, Sam. You can’t keep things from me. I have to know what’s going on in that head of yours. Don’t shut me out, please.”
He takes my face in both of his hands and presses his lips hungrily to mine. His kiss is deep and his tongue probes mine. It is as if he possesses me so completely by putting everything he has into one kiss. He pulls away and looks into my eyes.
“You are mine, Peyton, every fucking inch of you belongs to me. I won’t let you leave me again.”
I shake my head. “I’d never leave you, baby, you’re my world.”
I stroke his face and he lifts me into his strong arms.
“I need to be inside you now, angel.”
I start to wonder what has gotten into him, but I don’t want to push him while he is obviously feeling vulnerable, so I decide to give him what he obviously needs, and I wrap my legs around his waist to pull him closer. He takes that as a green light, and he crashes his lips frantically against mine. He moves us towards the king-size bed and deposits me in the middle. He tears off his t-shirt and unbuckles his belt. He pulls off his jeans, boxers briefs, and is naked in record time. I know something is off when he doesn’t give me a chance to admire his rippling physique. He climbs on the bed and parts my legs with his knee. He roughly pulls off my clothes; his eyes are blazing with lust. I have never seen him this way before, and a large part of me is so turned on by this dominant side of him. He cups my breast in his hand and kneads it. He moves to my other breast and latches onto my nipple, causing me to moan softly.
“Oh, Sam.”
He moves up to nuzzle my neck and bites down as if to mark me as his. I gasp in both pleasure and pain.
“You’re mine.”
I grip the nape of his neck and force him to look at me. His eyes aren’t their usual sparkling green, and a lump starts to form in my throat. I swallow it back and try to hide the quiver in my voice.
“I’m yours, Sam, yours. Just yours, baby.”
He seems satisfied with my statement. He grasps his steel erection in his hand, and he enters me forcefully; I cry out at the invasion. His pace is rapid and unrelenting. With every stroke, he growls, and I moan.
“Look how greedily your cunt swallows my cock. No other man is allowed even a taste of how fucking sweet you are.”
My heart constricts at his crass words and how conflicted his thoughts have become. It is as if his body has been possessed and taken over by a complete stranger. He slams into me so hard, my eyes start to water.
“Sam, baby,” I say softly to try to make him slow down, but his pace doesn’t let up. He pumps into me one more time, and he yells out as he comes inside me.
“Mine.”
His breathing is laboured as he collapses on top of me. He pulls out of me after a few seconds and silently gets up off the bed. He walks into the bathroom and closes the door behind him, leaving me laid on the bed in a state of shock at what just happened. What the fuck has gotten into him? Sam never acts this way. Something must have happened for him to behave this way. I get up, wincing in pain. I pull on the hotel robe and pick up my phone off the dressing table. As I go to dial Jax’s number, my phone starts ringing in my hand. Cole’s name flashes up on my screen, and I answer straight away.
“Peyton, is Sam with you?”
I lower my voice, “Yeah, but he’s acting really strangely, Cole. I don’t know what to do.”
It is taking everything I have right now to stay calm and not freak out at Sam’s odd behaviour.
“Fuck,” he curses.
“Are you back at the hotel?”
“Yeah, he’s locked himself in the bathroom.”
“Shit! He was about to tear the walls down after you left, then he dodged me and just disappeared from the club. I tracked the GPS on his phone, and I’m on the way to you right now, sugar.”
“What’s going on? Please tell me, Cole, I’m sick of you keeping secrets from me.”
He is silent for a second.
“Look, sugar, you just need
to trust me and keep him in the hotel room. I’m coming right now. I’ll be as quick as I can, and I’ll explain everything, whatever you do, don’t let him leave.”
My stomach flips at his words.
“OK, I’ll make sure of it.”