“She was never like this before?” I asked him.
“Nope. Never. I just don’t get what’s going through her head. Never like this.”
“I don’t know what to think about this situation to be honest with you. It’s craziness. I think she’s insane. She could be dangerous. And why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have kept something like some guy constantly hounding—no, stalking—me away from you,” I said, trying my best to keep myself from losing my mind on him as a variety of emotions swirled though me. Losing it on him wasn’t going to get us anywhere.
“I figured I could handle it. It was just her and some dude breaking up and her needing to talk it out of her system, at least I thought. I didn’t think there was any need to worry you,” Grayson defended. “I’ve known her since we were teenagers. I really thought I knew her.”
“I see what you’re saying. I honestly thought her no longer going nuts on your social media meant that she was losing interest.” I sighed, running a shaky hand through my hair.
“No, it meant I lost my shit on her. I was quite clear—at least I thought I had been—in explaining we were never going to happen again. I have you and we had barely had any contact for a few years, since her last break-up.” He plunked himself down on the bed beside me.
“It’s just the fact that I feel you shouldn’t have kept this from me either. We’re a couple now—which means no secrets—and omission of facts that could damage our relationship is the same as lying. At least how I see it anyhow.” I’d been in a number of relationships in the past where omission of the truth was a go-to excuse. They would claim that technically they hadn’t lied, but just hadn’t told me information they felt I didn’t need.
Turning to face me, he took my hand. “I get it, really I do, and I sincerely apologize. I know your previous situations and I just didn’t want waves for us—especially when it came to something I figured I could fix and would go away.”
“Okay, then what do we do now?” I chewed at my lower lip as I stared up at him. “She can’t just keep showing up here or be allowed to pursue you when she knows we’re together. I don’t care what state of mind she’s in or how heartbroken she is from the last dude. Having her hanging about is causing me an issue and that means we have an issue.” I seriously doubted she was as upset as she claimed to be, she didn’t seem to me a woman who was heartbroken when I’d seen her. She seemed to me as a woman who was playing a very well-planned game.
He gave my hand a squeeze and I found myself grateful to have him. He was a good man, through and through. It was an error in judgement on his part, but it certainly wasn’t a deal-breaker. I wasn’t exactly without fault. I should have had more trust and faith in him; he’d never done anything to warrant me being suspicious. The fact he wasn’t upset at me going all Nancy Drew on him spoke wonders for the caliber of man he was.
“Well, I don’t think you’re going to like this, but I think the best way is that I need to get together with her so she can see how serious I am about no contact. I think perhaps I need to press her to seek help and if worst comes to worst block her completely. I’m just scared a complete block would have her dropping in.”
“You could always move in with me. Problem solved.” I laughed and gave him a wink.
He chuckled, leaning forward and giving me a quick kiss. “You allowed her on your social media. She probably Google Mapped your photos and has your house on twenty-four-hour surveillance.”
Even though I knew he was joking there was a part of me that trembled at the thought. Would she be that fucking crazy? I simply couldn’t imagine. As much as I hated the idea of him seeing her, he did know her best—or at least he used to.
After a moment’s consideration I nodded. “You know, I’ll get on board with that. But if that doesn’t work then perhaps it’s restraining order time.”
He grimaced. “You do realize how emasculating it is for a dude to go and get one of those.”
“Better emasculated then castrated with your jingle berries bottled and put on display on a shelf.”
He made a face of disgust. “That’s just nasty.”
“Exactly, it would be. Might want to meet her wearing a chastity belt.”
~*~ TT ~*~
Grayson
I didn’t even know how to process this ridiculous situation. Twenty or so years ago I was wanting to marry the woman I was meeting in a very public, very busy coffee shop, and now I was meeting her to try to get her help. Guess I’d dodged a bullet when she shot me down. This whole thing didn’t make sense.
All I wanted to do was get back home to where Riley was waiting for me. She was feeling insecure and a little suspicious and a lot concerned and she couldn’t be faulted for that. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I’d have tracked the fucker down and kicked his ass.
The little bell over the door dinged and my head snapped up to see Brooklyn entering the coffee shop. She was dressed in a sexy green dress, knowing I’ve always liked her in green and her make-up was flawless. She was really pulling out all the stops. Not that it would ever work—not ever again.
She went straight for the counter, ordered a hot beverage and then made her way to me with a wide smile on her face. I didn’t stand to give her a hug, not wanting to give her any sense of false hope.
She looked disappointed but sat down in the little black metal chair across the two-person mosaic table and smiled. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“Listen, I’m just going to cut right to the chase. It’s got to stop.”
“What has to stop?” She gave me a pouty look that I was familiar with.
“You know what. We’re not together, but the messages you send me and then popping up at my place. It’s creepy and inappropriate.”
She bucked back in the chair as if I’d just slapped her but didn’t speak.
“This isn’t new information. I’ve said this to you already. I can’t understand what’s going on with you; you’ve never acted like this before. You’re a fucking professional therapist for fuck’s sakes, you need to get a grip.”
Reaching across the table, she tried to hold my hand, but I snatched it out of her reach. “I just realized that you’re the one. You’ve always been the one; it just took me a long time and a lot of soul searching to see it.”
“I’m not the one though, Brooklyn. I never was. We got it right already by not being together. You’re a lovely person I’m sure the right man is out there for you, but I’m not him. I’m in love with someone else.”
“I know you, Grayson. You’re not going to stay with her. You’re just playing a game with me and making me work for it after all the times I walked away.” She shrugged. “I get it and I deserve it. I’ll play your game and wait this thing out so that we can be together again.”
This woman was infuriating. Maybe meeting her was a bad idea. Perhaps I should have blocked her in every aspect and fucking moved to Alaska so she couldn’t find me for fuck’s sake. Okay, well perhaps that was an overreaction, though I couldn’t say for sure.
“Look. What I think you need to do is move on. There’s no shame in seeing someone if you need to refocus, but thinking I will leave my girlfriend is insane and will never happen. Even if I wasn’t with her, we’ve tried, it doesn’t work, and it’s over. It didn’t work when we were young and didn’t work a few years back. I’m sorry.”
“You’ll change your mind. Riley is just a phase.”
I sighed, flopping back in the chair and shaking my head. She just wasn’t going to get it; she was going to refuse to see anything that she didn’t want to see unless it was thrown in her face. There was another reason I wanted to see her face to face, a reason that I couldn’t share with Riley—at least not yet. This was a necessary omission of truth for her benefit. It was a wild and crazy idea, one that I normally wouldn’t jump into lightly, but I’d seen the ring in the window of a jewelry store at the airport of all places the day before last and knew it was meant for her. Fuck, I still had
to tell her I loved her, which I would do the moment I got home from this hellish ordeal.
Reaching into the pocket of my jacket I pulled out the black velvet ring box and showed it to her. “Brooklyn, I’m going to ask her to marry me. It’s not a phase and it’s not a whim.” I opened the ring box to display a solitaire ring on a platinum setting.
Her eyes widened, she opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She was in shock, but I could see something happening within her. She was accepting it. I knew her well enough to see that the illusion she’d been living in was evaporating.
I continued, hoping to finish this hellish ordeal and get home. “I’m sorry, but this situation between us is over and will always be. I think it’s best we no longer have contact whether it be social media or otherwise. Please, let’s just all move on. We’re not in high school anymore and we have to stop living in the past.”
Her jaw clenched as she inhaled sharply, anger brewing her in her eyes as she nodded her head. “Fine.” That was the only word that came from her mouth before she stood and stormed from the coffee shop, leaving her untouched beverage behind.
“Fuck…” I groaned. All I could hope was that Brooklyn would keep her mouth shut long enough for me to pop the question.
17
Riley
Waiting for Grayson to come home from his talk with his ex was excruciating. He’d been gone for just a little over a half-hour, but it felt closer to three or four hours to me. Every little sound made me run to the window and look out, even though I knew the sound wasn’t his truck pulling into the driveway.
At long last, forty-five minutes after he left, Grayson’s truck pulled into the driveway and I heaved a sigh of relief, though I wasn’t out of the woods until I saw him and he told me that she understood they were over. Once I heard those words, then and only then would I feel the relief.
Chyna had gone out for the evening; apparently the sleepover was a go after all. It amazed me how teenage girls could be enemies one day and the very next day be BFFs again. Violet was the same way.
Sitting on the sofa, I waited for Grayson to enter the house. I didn’t want to look anxious, but I was, and there was no doubt that feeling was written all over my face. Grabbing my phone I pretended to play around on the Wish app, wondering if the stuff on there was anything close to as nice as it looked on the site once shipped to me.
Entering the house, Grayson hung his coat up on the rack and then came into the living room and joined me on the sofa.
Looking up from the phone, I turned it off and set it onto the marble coffee table. “How did it go?” I chewed at my lower lip so hard I was scared I’d drawn blood—I hadn’t.
He nodded and took a moment before speaking. “It went good actually. I really think she’s gotten the picture and that’s all over.”
Frowning, I looked up at him. It seemed hard to believe that she’d just drop it so quickly. “How do you know? Seems odd that after all the effort to reconnect with you she just up and decides to leave you alone and accept things as they are. What did you say to her?”
“I was just very clear. She had some insane idea that I’d come back to her when we were though. When I got her to see that it’ll never be over between us, she seemed to accept it.”
I wasn’t sure how to take his words. My heart swelled in my chest hearing him say that we’d never be over. It felt good that he had such confidence in such a short time. It mimicked the way I was feeling and made me feel less insane for having those feelings.
“I removed her from my social media.” I stated.
“Good, I was hoping you would because I’m ensuring she’s blocked from everything of mine. She doesn’t need to be part of our future in any way.”
Looking into his eyes, I could see the emotion in them. While he’d told me last night that he loved me it was hard to take it very seriously since he’d been intoxicated, but I saw it in his eyes at that moment.
“Look, Riley.” He hooked his thumb under my chin and lowered his lips to mine.
I waited on bated breath for the words I’d been longing to hear. I needed to be sure the I love you he’d said to me the previous night was real.
Just before his lips met mine, he whispered, “I love you, Riley.”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond as his lips brushed mine and words escaped me. Slipping my arms up his broad chest to lace my fingers behind his neck, I leaned forward, parting my lips and inviting him in. As our tongues danced there were a slew of emotions that raced through me. Love for the most amazing man I’d ever met. Fear that this would end and I’d discover it was just one big cruel dream. And anxiousness over where the future would take us.
The fire between my legs ignited and I moaned against his lips, falling backward onto the sofa and taking him with me, so that his hard body was covering mine.
“Where’s Chyna?” he asked, pulling his lips from mine despite my protest.
“She left about ten minutes ago for the night.”
“Hmmm. House to ourselves,” he growled, wiggling his eyebrows at me and making me giggle like a school girl. “Maybe it’s time to bless each of the rooms of this house.”
“If you think you can keep up with me?” I teased, running my index finger along his collarbone.
He grinned. “I can try.”
We stared at each other for a long, heated moment. “I love you too, Grayson.” I needed to embrace the moment before things got heated again.
“Good, because if I have it my way you’ll be stuck with me for the rest of your life.”
“I can’t think of something I’d want more,” I sighed, as his lips came crashing down on mine again.
My body went from 0 to 100 in seconds as he settled himself between my legs and I felt the evidence of his desire grinding against my pelvis. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I pulled him down tighter to me, savoring how good it felt to be teased with what he had to offer.
“Now, where do you want to start?” I asked, biting at the side of his neck and kissing my way to his shoulder.
When I reached the collar of his shirt, he sat back on his heels, grabbing my hands and pulling me up with him. Grabbing the bottom of his t-shirt, I pushed it up, revealing inch upon inch of glorious muscle. With his assistance I rid him of the shirt and tossed it to the floor.
My eyes explored every inch of his body, as my fingertips traced the fine scar lines. “You’re so perfect,” I muttered, planting a kiss on his chest while my hands worked their way down to his pants. Grabbing his belt, my fingers swiftly undid it and then did short work of his jeans, pulling the fly open and exposing his black and red striped boxer briefs.
“I think you’ve got too much clothing on, baby,” he said, looking down at me as he undid the buttons of my blue floral print blouse. With the last button undone, he pushed the garment off my shoulders and then lowered his head and kissed his way along my shoulder and to my neck.
Letting my head fall back, I closed my eyes and savored the feel of his lips exploring the sensitive skin. “Oh God,” I gasped as his head dipped lower along my collarbone and to the top of my floral bra.
His hands went to the front clasp and sprung it open, freeing my breasts from their restraints. The moment they were freed his tongue began to tease them, starting at the outside of my nipple and slowly working its way to the tip, using a clockwise circular motion while his other hand teased the other breast, turning my nipples into hardened peaks.
The fire raging inside me was increasing by the second. Between the feeling of his lips and hands and the erection that bulged against his briefs I was helpless to deny him, even if I wanted to.
“Grayson,” I moaned, grasping at his arms, my fingernails digging deeply into his shoulders, leaving deep crescent marks on his skin as I bucked up against him. My panties were becoming uncomfortably wet and all I could think about was how good it was going to feel having him buried deep inside of me.
“Yes, baby,” he said trai
ling kisses from one breast to the other. Once he reached the other nub, he gently nipped, making me cry out as a jolt of electric pleasure shot through me, making my pussy throb.
Opening my eyes, I looked down at him. “I need you. God, I need you.” I could hear the desperation in my voice and didn’t care; he knew what he did to me. Though I could also feel what I did to him, pressing against my groin. I wasn’t the only one in agony needing to feel our bodies connect.
He released my breast from his lips and looked up and into my eyes, giving me a heart-stopping sexy smile. “Is that a fact?”
“Yesssss,” I sighed. Sitting up, I shrugged off the blouse and bra, tossing them onto the floor with his shirt.
“Then why didn’t you ask?”
I asked, didn’t I? I really didn’t know at this point, my mind was jelly.
Standing, he quickly shed his jeans and boxers. Anxious to be consumed by him, I undid my pants and less than a minute later, I was staring up at him my legs spread and my hand between my legs stroking my clit as I waited for him to come back to the sofa to join me.
His gaze shifted from mine to watch my hand working its magic on my pussy. I was already so wet that there was a faint sound of as I stroked myself, periodically dipping my fingers deep inside to stroke my inner core.
“That’s so fucking sexy.” Coming to kneel between my legs, he watched me masturbate as he stroked that glorious cock of his until a pebble of pre-cum appeared at the tip.
Being an expert at self-pleasure, it didn’t take long to bring myself to the brink, just when I thought I was going to burst, a strong hand wrapped around my wrist denying me the satisfaction of release.
Frowning, I looked from his dick to his face and watched as he brought my hand to his lips and licked the cream from my fingers with a look of sheer satisfaction in his expression.
“You’re not going to get to come yet, baby,” he growled, his desire thick in his voice as he released my hand and sank down between my legs. Starting at my mound he slowly kissed his way up my body until he was fully settled between my legs, the head of his dick settling between my velvety folds, holding himself up with a hand on either side of my head.
Hold On To Me Page 11
