The hands stayed exactly where they were, and I groaned. Great. I looked up, my brows twisting with confusion when I saw Mia, Callie, and Zoey all heading back toward our table, leaving me stranded. Gee, thanks, guys. I’ll remember this. The hands wrapped around my waist, and I squirmed in place. I felt lips brush against my ear. “I’m not taking no for an answer, princess.”
My mouth dropped open, right as every nerve in my body sparked to life all at the same time, from one simple sentence. Justin was here, standing right behind me with his arms wrapped around me. It felt all too comforting, especially since my head was so fuzzy.
I twisted myself around, and he smirked at me, reaching up to tuck back a piece of hair that escaped from the tight knot on the top of my head, before placing his hands back on my waist. I eyed him carefully as he continued to stare at me silently.
I blinked a couple of times, thinking that maybe I was imagining things, or maybe this was just some guy that looked like Justin with my drunk goggles on. But then he flashed me his dimples and I stopped questioning myself. I may have even stopped breathing, too.
He looked beyond good, in a pair of dark jeans and a white long sleeved Henley that was stretched tightly across his chest, rolled at the elbows so his one sleeve of tattoos was on display. His black beanie sat low on his head, just above those gray eyes of his that were sparkling as he stared back at me.
“See something you like?” he teased, his mouth twitching faintly. I shook my head fiercely. Even though that was most certainly the truth, he didn’t need to know that. He was still on my shit list.
“Nope.” I turned my head sideways so I wasn’t looking at him anymore, trying to back up a step when his hands loosened from my waist, but that just made my legs turn to Jell-O, and I stumbled slightly.
“Whoa.” Justin’s hands snapped back up to wrap around me, this time crushing me tightly to his chest so my nose was pressed into him.
I was getting lost in the scent of Justin. This was not good. I lifted my head back up, narrowing my eyes at him. “Don’t you think your girlfriend would find this a little inappropriate? I’m not gonna be your dirty little secret or whatever you think is happening here. I’m not starting a relationship again with you based on a lie. I’m not going to willingly put my heart through the shredder again.” I hiccupped loudly after closing my mouth, and tears started brewing in my eyes. I knew I was probably overreacting. I was a little bit of an emotional drunk, if you couldn’t tell. I really couldn’t help it.
“Della,” he whispered hoarsely, dipping his head low to brush against my ear once again. “There’s no one else, but you. There has never been anyone, but you. There will never be anyone else again, but you. Why can’t you see that?”
I shivered when his tongue darted out, licking the shell of my ear, before moving down to trace a path down my neck. He pulled back, touching his forehead to mine. “I’m not taking no for an answer anymore. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not. But I promise you’ll like it.”
His hand pushed on the smooth skin at the small of my back, causing my hips to arch against him and push against the hardness that was slowly growing in the front of his pants. He started moving us rhythmically to the music that was blaring, and I shut my eyes, allowing the overwhelming feelings that were running through my body to just takeover and let my brain shut off for a while. I liked being in Justin’s arms like this. No, I loved it, actually.
It reminded me of the first time we met. I was thrown by the sexiness that he exuded, from not only his looks but also the overwhelming air of cockiness that surrounded him. I was ready to turn the other way, thinking he was a complete ass, but Mariah had shown up when I was supposed to be hanging out with Nash, and I didn’t want to have to stomach watching the two of them together.
So, I agreed when Justin asked me to dance. And I was glad I did, even though I told him to fuck off afterward because he was a little too touchy-feely for some guy I just met. Luckily, that wasn’t the last time I saw him. I didn’t think I would ever actually be in his arms again, dancing with him like this.
He suddenly turned me around so my body was flush against his and buried his nose in the crook of my neck, guiding my hips to the music. His knee went in between my legs, and I grinded against him before leaning forward. I heard a loud groan and peeked over my shoulder to see a pained expression on his face before I popped back up and pushed my body back into him.
I’m not sure how long we danced like that together. Time didn’t matter out there with him. I knew we had things to discuss. I knew that things between us just couldn’t go back to being normal, well, as normal as things could get when it came to Justin. But right then I didn’t care.
He twisted my body back around so I was facing him once again, and he brought his lips down to brush across my forehead. I turned my head, trying to contain a smile. I could make out with Justin for hours, and be perfectly content, but the small kisses on my forehead were really my favorite. They were so intimate, and felt like a special thing between us. “Um…I think I need a drink.”
He wiped his brow that was gleaming with sweat, and nodded toward the bar, so I led the way. After both of us ordered waters, which of course earned an unhappy look from the bartender, I latched onto Justin’s hand and led him in the direction of the girls. My feet stopped right near the edge of our table, my head snapping back and forth from there to the dance floor. All glasses were gone, except for one, which I think was mine from earlier. There were no purses, no phones, no nothing. My friends ditched me. I glanced behind me and Justin just shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I’ll call a taxi then, since everyone left me.”
He rolled his eyes, grabbing onto my hand. “Like I would let you go home in a taxi. You’re coming with me.” He started heading for the front entrance, and I hesitantly trailed behind, knowing that this probably wasn’t a good idea. Things always tended to happen too fast whenever I was with Justin. Yeah, I guess in the beginning our relationship progressed slowly, until it turned into something real, but my feelings for him were overwhelming, even after everything that happened.
I laughed aloud when we finally stopped and I looked up to see that we’d reached his car. “You really still have this thing?” I pointed at the heap of rusted metal on wheels. I wasn’t a car girl or anything so I had no clue what year it was, but it definitely wasn’t one of those “classic” cars. He always kept the thing impeccably clean on the inside, though, and that was good enough for me.
“Are you gonna be a princess about it again and not want to get in?” He pulled on the handle, the door creaking loudly, and stood there, waiting for me to slide onto the seat.
“Of course not.” I ducked under his arm and sat down, watching him through the windshield as he jogged around to the driver’s side. I was mesmerized by how fluidly his body moved. The way his shirt clung to his chest, and his jeans sat low on his hips, so when he reached up to take his hat off, I could see just a sliver of his stomach. What I wouldn’t do to see the rest of that body, preferably naked.
I sighed loudly as he got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot. My eyes were starting to droop closed, and the silence that filled the car wasn’t helping any. The fog in my head was clearing a little bit since I had swallowed the last bit of alcohol over two hours ago, but the day was catching up with me. And I had tomorrow with Chris to think about, too. I wasn’t sure how that would go exactly, and it had me a little worried. What kind of feelings would be stirred up from seeing again?
I fell asleep in Justin’s car, and didn’t wake up again until I was gently being lifted out and being carried in his strong arms. My eyes popped open when I felt my arm brush against a door and we walked into blackness. He didn’t stop until he got down the hallway, opened another door, and placed me right in the center of his bed. His bed.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” I looked up, barely able to see him in the darkness, and reached over to flip on the light tha
t was next to his bed. Yup, my suspicions were confirmed. We were definitely at his house.
“What do you mean?” He bit down on his lip as he stared down at me. He knew exactly what I was talking about, and I could tell he was trying to hold back a grin.
“You know exactly what I mean. You said you would take me home. This isn’t my house.”
“Well, this is where you belong, so I just figured….” He trailed off when I sat up straighter and scooted myself to the edge of the bed.
I rubbed a hand over my eyes, desperately needing more sleep so I could have a clear head about things. With the way he was watching me, I was ready to just rip off my dress and let him have his way with me. I would enjoy every second of it, and then some, I’m sure. But afterward, that’s when I would be questioning myself, and him.
“Della, we didn’t come here so I could fuck you.”
My mouth dropped open, and he took a step closer, his fingers reaching out to lightly cup my chin. My insides were tingling at that one word, wanting to shout out “Yes, please!” but I kept my lips sealed. It felt good to know that wasn’t the reason he brought me here. After I broke things off, I was worried that maybe our relationship didn’t mean as much to him as it did me. That right there seemed to prove me wrong.
“I brought you here because I just needed you to be here. To sleep in my bed, to make a mess of my house, to be with me.” He released my chin, his fingers dropping to trail down my neck, and then stopping on the bare skin of my shoulder. “I only need you here, Della. I don’t need anything else. Is that okay with you?” He dipped his head down, lips following his fingers’ recent travels to place feather light kisses that caused my eyes to roll to the back of my head.
“Okay,” I whispered. “I’ll stay then.” He sighed against my skin, and I lightly pushed on his chest. “But can I at least take a shower?”
He laughed before moving backward a few steps, letting me stand up to head toward the bathroom. It was weird being here again. Everything seemed to be the same; everything was in its exact spot, not a speck of dust to be seen. Justin was the ultimate neat freak.
I stepped under the steaming hot water, so soothing and making me want to fall asleep on my feet, but I also wanted to get back to Justin. I popped my eyes open, smiling when I saw two bottles tucked into the corner. It wasn’t Justin’s yummy smelling guy stuff, even though I wouldn’t mind washing myself with that. No, mixed in with all of his stuff, were two bottles of my favorite shampoo, the only kind I used. And there it sat, just waiting for me to come back. Yeah, maybe that sounded stupid, but Justin wasn’t the type of person to let just things lay around. He wasn’t being lazy by keeping them. He saved them for a reason, for when I came back, because he knew I would.
I stayed an extra few minutes under the water, thinking maybe I would hear the door open and Justin would join me. Part of me wished he would, and the other part was happy by the fact that he didn’t. He was keeping true to his word. It made me feel even better about being in his house. It made me think that he did care about our relationship before, that it wasn’t just some fling between us.
It gave me hope that things might work out this time around.
THE CLINKING OF metal woke me, and I blinked my eyes several times, peeking up at the white, swirled ceiling to recall where I was.
Justin’s.
I closed my eyes. I needed more sleep but was surprised that my head wasn’t pounding considering everything I drank at the club. But then I remembered Justin had forced me to down two cups of water and take Tylenol before he let me go to bed.
I fell asleep in his arms last night…and it felt so unbelievably good. The best sleep that I’ve gotten in a long time. He wrapped me in his arms, resting his chin on my shoulder from behind, pressing one simple kiss on the bare skin revealed by the oversized shirt he gave me to sleep in. I was so going to steal that shirt so I could sleep in it every night.
Something clicking made me pop my eyes open once again and I looked up to see Justin hovering over me, messing with something above my head. I went to reach for him, and it was then that I realized I couldn’t move my hands. They were trapped above my head, and I could only guess what was keeping them there.
“What in the hell are you doing?”
He grinned down at me, moving back slowly so he was straddling my hips. “Keeping you right where I want you.”
“By using handcuffs?” I shrieked, pulling at my hands, which weren’t budging from the metal containing them. “Are you insane? I slept in your bed all night!”
“Mmhmm,” he murmured. “And now, I need you to stay here. I was a good boy last night, but I can only be good for so long.”
And here I thought we were actually going to take things slow. How stupid of me.
I squeezed my eyes shut, imagining all of the very bad things he could do to me, and it made me forget briefly that he’d actually handcuffed me to his bed. Who does that? Yeah, the fuzzy handcuffs, I got those, but actual handcuffs. Only Justin Parker. I guess being a cop had some added benefits that I hadn’t considered.
“Fine.” I opened my eyes, biting back a smile. I didn’t need to let him know that I actually liked what he was doing. Not yet anyway. “But we need to talk about some things first.” Sure, I might just be jumping feet first back into things, but I needed to know what exactly we were doing here.
He sighed loudly, but sat back on his knees, the warmth of his body leaving mine. “I know, Della.” He started rubbing light circles around my ankles, which was way too distracting. I couldn’t think when his hands were on me. I kicked at him, and he moved his hands away with a smirk. “Sorry, I just can’t help myself.” He slid off the bed to stand over me.
“Um…do you think you can at least undo these while we talk?” His eyebrows twisted together and he looked up to the ceiling, like he actually had to think if he was going to let me go or something. “And I have to pee,” I added.
“Fine.” He reached over to undo the cuffs, and I got up quickly to rush for the bathroom. He smacked my ass as I ran past him. “But as soon as we’re done talking, those go right back on. I’ve waited long enough to have you in handcuffs.”
My stomach clenched, and I hurried to the bathroom, going in record time and jumping back on to his bed all within under a minute. I hoped that this talk went well because I was already anticipating what was coming next.
“So….” I looked at Justin, not sure where to even begin. So much had happened to bring us to this point. As I stared into his gray eyes that were boring into mine so intently, it was hard to remember exactly what those things were.
“Della, let me just start.” He dropped down onto the bed next to me, scooping up my hand to lace his fingers through mine. “I never meant to hurt you. Ever. When things first started between us, I had no clue what we were doing. I’d never been in a real relationship before, because I never felt the need to be. I was having fun. I knew that you didn’t want anything serious either, for whatever reason, so it worked out well. But then, I started having these feelings for you that I couldn’t explain. They freaked me the hell out.” He paused and took a breath.
I knew what part was coming next but that didn’t stop me from wanting to cover my ears to block out the words. They were the words that I was never supposed to hear in the first place, and I’m not sure if I ever would have.
“So, I thought maybe if I got you out of my system, maybe things would go back to normal. And that’s when….” He trailed off, and I turned away, blinking my eyes rapidly to keep the tears from spilling. He cleared his throat loudly. “And that’s when I hooked up with that girl.”
My stomach dropped, him saying the actual words to me this time, possibly hurting even worse than when I originally overheard them. I tried to pull my hand from his, but he wasn’t letting his hold up.
“I need you to hear me out, Della. I know I fucked things up when I did that. Royally. Anyway, that right there was what sealed the deal for me. I wa
sn’t going back to being the old me, because I couldn’t. Because having you in my life made it so much better, and that’s when I decided things between us couldn’t just be casual, couldn’t just be a simple fling or whatever the hell we agreed on when we first started things up.”
He squeezed my hand, and I took a deep breath, pushing out the thoughts of that other girl. I needed to get over that. Yes, he screwed up, but I was the one that told him I didn’t want things to be serious between us. I mean, at the same time Nash had been going back and forth between Mariah and me, and while I didn’t let anything happen between the two of us, I guess it was sort of the same thing. That didn’t mean that I had to enjoy the fact that he slept with some other girl.
“So, when I told you I wanted something more between us to happen, I meant it. It wasn’t from guilt or anything else. I wanted you to be mine and I wanted to be yours. I never wanted either one of our pasts to affect our future. And that’s where I messed up. I should’ve told you the truth, but I can’t go back and change that now. So, I’m asking if you can forget the past. If you can give us another chance, because I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”
It sounded like a pretty damn good idea to me, but I was stubborn. I couldn’t give in so easily and let him think he won. That just wasn’t me. Plus, I needed to clear up a few more things. “What about everything else, Justin?” I whispered.
He scrubbed his free hand over his face, frowning. “You mean how I was a dumbass, believing every lie that Mia was feeding me?”
“Exactly. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“I was pissed, Della. Angry at you for moving on with Nash, and forgetting about me, forgetting everything that we had. And then you showed up at my dad’s funeral.” His voice shook slightly, his dad’s accident still so fresh.
Twisted Bliss Page 12
