by Skye Turner
Am I up for the challenge? Of Ty? I can handle Ty.
Shit, no I can’t. I can’t think. This is insanity. Ty is not right for me. This can’t happen.
Why not? You wanted a break from the monotony of your life, AnnaBeth. Ty just offered you more than you ever imagined.
If I leave with Ty, I’ll sleep with him. That’s what he wants. But why?
Does it really matter?
Ty wants to sleep with me. I can’t date him, but what’s the harm in sleeping with him?
Just this once.
Glancing at Coralee, I see her hungry gaze riveted on the door. I can imagine who’s standing there.
Ty smiles at me and holds out his hand. Without a second thought, I place mine in his and he leads me to the door.
Chapter Two
Ty
Three months later
I stretch and look at the clock as the sun infiltrates my eye-lids. The warm body by my side starts to stir. I grin. AnnaBeth slept over again last night. We’ve been sneaking around for three months now. I’m falling for her and judging by the way she acts lately… she’s falling for me, too. The sleepovers becoming more frequent are proof of that.
At first, I wasn’t certain what to expect. I wasn’t sure she’d even leave the bar with me. I mean, this is Tifanie’s, my partner and best friend’s, sister. She’s the epitome of a typical Southern Belle. Rich, from a powerful, political family, and perfectly poised and cool on the outside. I’ve wanted to crack that shell and light a fire inside of her since the first time I saw her, three years ago, but with her being her and me being me, I didn’t think that would ever happen.
Our lives are polar opposite. She’s the society maiden and I’m the beer drinking, golf playing, wings on Tuesday kind of guy. Yet, she always sparked a hunger in me. Of course, with Tifanie hating everything to do with her political family, snubbing her rich upbringing, and trying to avoid the Bellafortes at all costs, the opportunity never really presented itself… until the night three months ago at Mustangs.
Tifanie has no idea about us and it’s starting to make me feel like a cad. I feel like I’m lying to my best friend, the person I have to put imminent trust in on a daily basis to help me save lives. I don’t like it and I want to be able to finally come clean and spend time with AB outside of my house.
She stirs again and her petite body presses against my much taller and broader one. She mumbles, “Damn, I guess I fell asleep again.”
I look down into her sleepy face and tangled blonde hair, wavy from sleep, and smile. She smiles back and her bright blue eyes clear as she reaches for me. Rolling, I pin her underneath me and she squeals. “You’re too heavy. Get off of me, Ty.”
I grin and move against her. Her eyes widen and she moans as my girth presses against the apex of her thighs. Her legs start to part of their own accord. I laugh and lean down until my face is level with hers and our lips are millimeters apart. “Still want me to get off you?”
She moans again and grabs my head, pulling it down to hers, and capturing my mouth. I love it when she loses control and her wanton desires come out. She mutters hoarsely, “Condom. Now.” Grabbing one from the nightstand, I slide it on. Her legs part farther and I easily slip inside her warm cavern. We groan into each other’s mouths as I start to move. Soon, her nails are scoring my back and her ankles are locked around my hips as I drive into her over and over. Her passionate cries and quivering muscles are about to be my undoing, but I hold back. I want her to come for me first.
Reaching between us, I flick her clit as I thrust into her. Her eyes roll back and she screams out with her orgasm, “Ty! Dear God… Ohhhhh, God!”
I follow right behind her, spilling my seed, before collapsing beside her on the bed. My face is buried in her neck as I attempt to catch my breath.
Her ragged breath is in tune with mine.
After discarding the used condom, I roll to look at her.
Finally, I lean up on my elbow and lay my head in my palm as I gaze at her. She’s so beautiful. Who knew that beneath that prim and proper exterior a fiery vixen was just waiting to be let out?!
She squirms under my gaze. “Why are you staring at me?”
I chuckle. “Because I like the way your face looks.”
She grins and blushes. “Yeah, well I kind of like the way yours looks, too.”
Her blush spreads from her cheeks and travels down her chest. I follow the trail with my gaze and am startled when my dick once again starts to stir. Shit! She always does this to me. I can fuck her senseless and lose my mind in the process and then she smiles or does something without even realizing it and I’m raging to sheath myself in her again.
I’ve never been like this with another woman.
I sit up and the sheet falls to my waist. Her eyes trace my chest and head down my stomach. It causes my dick to jerk against the sheet. She notices and chuckles. “You’re insatiable.”
I grin. “Yeah, I am.”
Grabbing the pillow from behind her, she whacks me with it. Laughing, I take it from her and wrestle for possession. I’m on top of her again, perfectly hard and ready for another round, but I stop and just look at her. I want to go somewhere. “Let’s go to breakfast.”
She jerks back in shock. “Wha—What?”
I laugh. “Breakfast. You know that thing people eat in the morning before they start their day? Well,” I waggle my eyebrows at her, “we’ve already started our day with some cardio, but I’m hungry. Let’s go to breakfast. My shift doesn’t start until six. We have all day.”
She shakes her head. “No.” Sliding from underneath me, she scoots away from me, and sits up. Her hands wring the sheets. “We can’t, Ty. You know we can’t.”
I frown. “No, I know you say we can’t. But, why not? Why can’t we go to breakfast? Or dinner? Or anywhere for that matter? Why can I only have time with you in private, AnnaBeth?”
I’m angry. I thought we were past this. I thought that we were headed in the right direction. I can’t believe that I’m angry, but I am. I’m pissed! I’ve realized that I want a relationship with AB… I want more than just sex and stolen moments. I’m not ok with being her dirty little secret. I want more, dammit!
She won’t look at me. She’s staring out the window as she picks at my sheets. Finally, she sighs and it sounds defeated. She turns to face me and I can already tell where this is going. Her face is saying it all.
My stomach drops. She’s going to do it. We just had sex. No, we made love. We passed the just sex part up months ago. But it doesn’t matter. None of it matters. She’s going to do it.
Feeling like someone is squeezing my air way, I spit out, “Don’t you fucking dare, AnnaBeth Bellaforte!”
*
AnnaBeth
Why is he doing this? Why is he looking at me like that? He knows we can’t. He knows. I’ve told him over and over and he said he was ok with it. I thought he was ok with it, so why is he looking at me like this? Why is his voice filled with rage as he says my name?
I care about him. So much, but I can’t care about him. I can’t. This can’t be. I’ve already been walking a dangerous line and I just can’t cross it.
I knew this was coming and I’d have to end it, but I selfishly wanted more time.
I look at him. His lips are white he’s pressing them together so tightly.
Is he… hurt? Does he actually care about me?
No, no of course not. This was just a good time. It was a forbidden treat and now, now it’s time to end it.
I have to end it.
“Ty. We can’t go to breakfast. Or dinner. We can’t be seen together. You know this. My life… I—I have plans and well, they don’t include you. They can’t include you. You know that. I’ve told you!” He jerks back as if I just struck him.
“You know I have responsibilities. You know!”
He grits his teeth and jumps off the bed. I shriek at the unexpected action. He stalks over to the wall and punches it. A hole
appears in the sheetrock. He pulls his hand back and looks at the dust on his knuckles. Plaster crumbles onto the floor. He stares at it dumbfounded and then, he looks at me. His face is full of… pain.
He spits out, “Dammit, AB. Of course not. How could I possibly think the peasant would ever have an actual chance with the princess?!
“I was good enough to fuck.” I recoil at his harsh words, but he doesn’t stop. He just lashes out at me. “But, I’m not good enough to actually be seen with, right!?
“I can be the dirty little secret who makes you scream in pleasure, but God forbid I actually want to be seen with you!
“I stopped messing with anyone else.” He laughs harshly as he jerks his jeans on. He grabs a shirt from the top of the dresser and yanks it over his head. His sage eyes are blazing as he glares at me. My eyes start to burn. “I stopped it all… for you! For three months, we’ve played the game. I can get a woman at the drop of a hat, but I stopped all of that! For you! Because of you!
“I actually cared about you, AnnaBeth.” He laughs again and the lack of any warmth sends chills up my spine. He’s so cold. “But all I was good for was a fuck, right?”
I’m hurting him and I hate it. But I can’t… I have responsibilities.
I shake my head in denial. “No, that’s not it! I’m a Bellaforte, Ty! My father is a US Senator! He’s counting on me! Tifanie shirked her duty so that leaves me. I don’t have a choice! One of us has to play the part and… she left! She just cut her ties and left! She changed her name, Ty!
“She plays the part of a blue collar worker when she’s got millions in the bank!”
His eyes flash and the rage on his face is unmistakable. “Don’t you dare talk about your sister like that! She is a ‘blue collar worker.’ So am I, AnnaBeth! She might have millions in the bank, but you’d never know it! She cares more about people than money and power! I actually fooled myself into thinking I misjudged you! I thought you were different! The last few months, you acted different. You were no longer the pampered, selfish, spoiled princess… or so I thought. But I was the fool. The joke’s on me!
“You are your father’s daughter, after all.”
I physically recoil at his words. They’re like lashes to my chest. I can’t breathe, yet he doesn’t stop. It’s like everything he’s ever thought about me comes flying out all at once.
“You dare to talk down about Tifanie! She’s one-hundred times the woman you’ll ever be! She doesn’t live by your ridiculous family’s rules, but instead she forges her own. She busts her ass and lives her life the way she chooses. She saves lives! Every single day. She saves lives and I help her. We save people together. Our life has a purpose. Your purpose is to look pretty and agree with everything daddy and the idiots like him say! They pull your strings and you blindly follow along. You’re nothing more than a puppet, AnnaBeth!
“Don’t you dare insult your sister.”
Tears are running down my face. I can’t stop them. He’s right, but there’s nothing I can do about it. My father has expectations. I have to fulfill them. It’s up to me now. There is no one else. But, I should not have talked about my sister like that. The truth is, I’m jealous of her. She marches to the beat of her own drum and the hell with what anyone else thinks. I can only dream of that.
I find myself wiping the tears as they rain down my cheeks and I quickly pull my clothes on. I feel dirty and I need desperately to cover my nakedness.
Ty never says anything else, he just glares at me as his chest rapidly rises and falls and his hands clench and unclench at his sides.
Mustering my courage, I turn to face him directly. “I’m sorry, Ty. I never meant for this to get this far. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
He stares at me as if he’s never seen me before. I jump out of my skin as his voice suddenly booms. “Get this far?! Get this far?! What do you feel for me, AnnaBeth? What am I to you? Take away the family and bullshit. What do you feel?”
What do I feel? Right now, I feel cold and hollow. Somewhere between the bar three months ago and right now, I fell for Ty Boudreaux. I didn’t want to and it was incredibly stupid, but I did. And now, now I have to walk away.
Straightening my back, I pull my “Bellaforte face” on and meet his gaze. “It was a good time, Ty. But it’s over now. The reality is that we just don’t work. We wouldn’t work. We live in different worlds. I had a good time, but it’s done now. I’m sorry.”
His face falls and he turns away from me. He stops at the threshold and I think he might turn back… but then his feet take him down the hall and out of his house.
My heart breaks as the door closes with force behind him.
I’m left alone in his house. Lost and defeated, but with the knowledge that it’s better this way.
Shake it off, AnnaBeth. You’re a Bellaforte and you have responsibilities. You’ll do what needs to be done because you have to.
I have to.
That fact doesn’t ease the pain in my chest though.
Chapter Three
Ty
I just left. I left AB in my house before I did or said anything stupid. I’m not begging any woman to want me. Either she does or she doesn’t. I thought she felt something for me. I was convinced that she would be honest enough with herself to admit that we actually had something.
I was wrong about her.
I’m driving aimlessly around town. Realizing this is getting me nowhere and I actually do have to work tonight, I make the conscious effort to put AB and all of her bullshit out of my mind.
She was a fling. Just like every other woman. She meant nothing and I can move on and just get back to doing me. I’m Ty fucking Boudreaux and women love me. All women. Oh well, AB was nothing but a way to kill some time.
A way to kill time? No, no she wasn’t. She was different for a bit. She actually let her hair down and lived a little, but of course the Bellaforte chains tightened and she was pulled back in.
I was an idiot for thinking I would ever have a real shot with AnnaBeth Bellaforte. She slummed with me for kicks. At least I know she’ll never forget me. She often let me know during sex that I was the best ever.
Pat yourself on the back for that!
My phone rings and I hit the button on the steering wheel to answer it as I see it’s Bently.
“Hey man. What’s up?”
He chuckles. “Hey, I wasn’t sure you’d answer. Thought you might be with the princess.”
My hands tighten on the wheel. “Nope. That’s old news, man. What do you need?” I’m harsher than I intended to be, but Bently mentioning AB just riled me up.
You have to stop, Ty. You can’t get pissy about her. Fuck her. She was a piece of ass, just like the others. Shake it off. Forget her.
Yeah, forget her…
You know damn well that’s not going to happen.
I’m talking to myself in my head and miss what Bently is saying. All I hear is, “game. Four of us. Want to go?”
“Sorry, Bently. The phone cut out. I missed that. What?”
He laughs. “I said we’re going to play a few rounds of golf since it’s a gorgeous day. You can probably get in a good little run before you have to get ready for your shift. If you come, it’s four of us. You in?”
I look at the clock. It’s only 8AM. My shift is at six. I can do that depending on what time they’re meeting. “What time are y’all meeting up?”
Bently says, “Nine-thirty. You want in?”
I tell him I’ll meet them there and end the call. A game of golf with the guys is just what I need. Too bad I can’t drink today though.
*
It’s a quarter after noon and we’re on the ninth hole. The course is a little crowded today, but that’s not unexpected with the weather being so nice. I’m enjoying the sunshine and comfortable temps. My game is off today because my head is elsewhere. Bently bumps my shoulder as I once again go way off with my shot. “Hey, you ok man? You’re playing like shit today. Somet
hing on your mind?” He looks over at the other guys and lowers his voice. “Something happen with the princess?”
I look up at him and frown. “Nah. Just stuff going on.”
Bently is my boy, but I’m not comfortable talking about this with him. It’s too new and I’m not even sure how I feel about it. I thought this game was going to take my mind off it. Off of her. But, she’s cemented in my head and she needs to get the fuck out. Now.
He nods but looks at me. “Ok, dude. But you know you can talk to me. I give you a hard time, but I always have your back or can lend an ear. If you need to talk, man, you know you can.”
I nod and look at the sun. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I line up to take my shot. Before I do, I say, “Thanks, B. I’m good.”
The look on his face says he doesn’t believe me, but like a good friend, he lets it go. He turns back to the other guys. They all flirt with the girls on the beer cart as I take my shot. It goes wide again and I cuss. “Fuck!”
Get your head in the game, Ty. She’s just a woman and she has you all fucked up. Screw that. Get out of my head, AnnaBeth Bellaforte!
We play a few more holes before I head out to get ready for my shift. I leave the others at the sixteenth hole, once again flirting with the beer cart girls.
*
It’s been a slow night and the calls are not really coming in. We don’t get quiet nights like this very often, so I’m lying out on the couch in the trailer watching some sitcom as Tifanie, my partner, lounges in the chair with her E-reader.
She’s just staring at the screen. She hasn’t tapped it in a while, so I can tell she’s not focused on whatever she’s reading. Seems like we’re both lost in our own heads tonight.
I couldn’t tell you what I’m watching even if I wanted to.
She’s not talking and neither am I so we just chill in silence as the radio doesn’t go off and both of us think about who knows what.
