I gingerly remove myself from the bed, making sure not to wake her, and head to the bathroom for a shower. I’m frustrated—my morning wood is begging me for attention—but I don’t have time. I’m barely in there for five minutes, but when I step back into the room, I see she’s no longer in bed. I glance over to my bedside table, which is ajar.
“Shit!” I wrap a towel tightly around my waist, my wet hair dripping down my neck as I sprint down the stairs to the kitchen . . . where I find her pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“I didn’t run off,” she says without looking up from her mug.
“I’m surprised.” I reach around her as she leans against the counter, grabbing a mug and pouring myself a cup. I watch out of the corner of my eye as she tries to nonchalantly rake her eyes up my almost-naked body.
“You’re a sick bastard, you know that?”
“Okay, good to know things have cooled off since last night.” I take a sip of the piping-hot coffee.
“You said you wanted to talk, so let’s talk.” She’s pissed, defiant, and probably confused. “You can’t just toss me aside and then get angry when someone else wants me. That’s not how this works.” She crosses her arms over her chest, an angry blush creeping up her neck.
“I didn’t toss you aside, Leigh.” She rolls her eyes and it instantly puts me in a pissed-off mood too.
I let out an exhale slowly. “I told you I wasn’t ready for something serious, but I never said I wanted to stop seeing you or being friends.”
“Oh,” she flails her hands in the air sarcastically, “I completely misunderstood. You see, I thought I told you I was falling in love with you, and then you said you wanted to keep fucking me and being friends instead of committing to me. Yeah, that makes complete sense. What woman doesn’t want to hear that when she professes her feelings to the guy she’s been sleeping with? What woman doesn’t want to feel cheap and used, Grant?”
I shake my head. She’s clearly too angry to talk about things sensibly or hear me out.
“Leigh, I’m warning you.”
“Oh, you don’t like hearing the truth? That you only want me when I’m with someone else? Like Jeff from last night? Or Remi?”
“Enough!” I slam both my hands down on the island, my hair falling forward with the momentum. She jumps—startled—and I lunge at her from around the island.
I grab her, spinning her around and slamming her against the refrigerator door, my lips crashing down on hers. She pushes against my chest at first, before shoving her hands into my wet hair and pulling hard—so hard it stings. I grind my dick against her belly, and her legs instinctively spread as I repeat the motion.
I reach my hand beneath the waistband of my pajama bottoms she’s wearing, and find her pussy already slick with need. I run my finger up and down her slit a few times before delving two fingers deep inside her.
She breaks the kiss, a moan escaping her lips as her eyes roll back in her head.
“Did he touch you? Hmm?” I ask as I quicken my pace. She’s taking both my fingers down to the base as my thumb teases her clit. I kiss her again—hard—biting her lip.
My cock feels like it’s about to explode. I want to rip off my towel and force her to her knees—shove myself all the way down her throat and watch her choke as I fuck her mouth. My possessiveness has reached new heights and I’m on the verge of being unable to control it.
“Did you want him to touch you? I would have killed him if he did. You’re mine, Leigh. MINE.” I grit the words out so hard. Her eyes suddenly pop open and she shoves me away, her release never coming.
“Get the fuck off me.” Tears swim in her eyes and I’m instantly wrecked with guilt.
“I’m sorry. Baby—”
“No,” she points at me, “you don’t get to just fuck me or touch me whenever I’m angry or hurt. You can’t solve everything with sex. I am not yours, Grant.” She says the last sentence slowly and I back away. “You don’t get to not want me, but not allow me to be with someone else. You don’t get to use me when you’re feeling lonely or confused. You don’t get to have me, Grant, until you know what the hell you want.”
She walks toward the hallway to the bedroom, stopping just before she exits the kitchen. “Stop running from woman to woman trying to find yourself. Work on yourself first.”
15
Leigh
“This place is going to be so amazing.” Steph spins around the building I just bought that will soon become my Pilates studio.
“I know, it still feels so surreal.” As we walk through the building, I take a sip of the coffee August brought us.
The contractor I hired to do the second inspection didn’t find any major issues. There’d been a few more items to add to the list for the previous owners to address, and they did so without issue.
“So are you thinking a front desk here? Maybe a boutique section where you can sell Pilates merch and clothing over there?” August gestures to the area by the large bay window as I pull out my tape measure.
“Yeah, so I need to take some measurements, because there’s a guy in Boulder who built the entire front area of my last studio—all custom—and I think I’m going to stick with him. He wanted me to take some measurements and get them over to him.”
“Well, if he can’t do it, I know Sawyer has a custom furniture shop and I’m sure he could build you something,” August says.
“Oh, right, I completely forgot about that.” I jot down the measurements before walking into the other room.
“Are these wood floors original?” Steph asks.
“Yes, and insanely maintained. This was a just a small insurance office for the last 10 years. When they retired, they decided to sell,” August replies.
Her phone rings and she glances down at the screen. “Oh, this is a big client. Gotta take it,” she says, stepping outside to take the call.
“Hey, I owe you an apology,” Steph says, stepping closer to me.
“For?” My brows knit together in confusion.
“For ratting you out to Grant the other night.” She winces, probably expecting me to be upset.
“When I told him you were in Denver for the weekend, he was at the bar with Ryder and I didn’t think anything about it, but then Saturday night, he called me all frantic because he couldn’t get ahold of you, and I also hadn’t heard from you in a few hours and got scared. What happened with that?”
“Ohhhh, no, trust me, you’re fine. I actually forgot about that. And sorry, by the way. I ended up being stupid and drank too much and forgot to text you and my mom, who called me 38 times and said she was heading to the police station to fill out a missing person’s report.” I laugh and shake my head.
“Did you guys meet up?”
“You could say that.” I raise my brows. “He showed up and saw me dancing with this guy and threatened to kill him or something.”
Steph laughs and then covers her mouth. “I’m sorry, but what the hell?”
“Yeah, he had this bravado macho-man thing going on and got all possessive and bossy. Honestly, it was really hot but also fucked up. He took me back to his place to sober up and sleep it off so we could talk in the morning. And he kissed me.”