by Lisa Simmons
His ability to read me so easily was a little unnerving; he hardly knew me at all yet he could read me like a book.
"Do you want me to?" I turned the question back around on him. He signed heavily and rolled his eyes.
"Do you wanna know what I think?" he said, not answering my question.
"What do you think?"
"I think you absolutely want me to fuck you again but you won't admit it."
I sucked in a breath and steeled myself, psyching myself up.
"What if you're right?"
"I know I'm right."
"You're very difficult to talk to when you're so cocky, did you know?" I said, changing the subject.
"I'm gonna take that as confirmation, then."
I huffed in frustration, annoyed that he kept guessing correctly and proceeded to be so irritatingly smug about it.
"Ugh, fine. You're right."
He stopped abruptly, grabbing my arm and swinging me around to face him. My hands landed on his chest, stopping me from colliding into him.
"Say it," he demanded, smirking down at me, pleased I had finally admitted it.
"Say what?" I asked, knowing exactly what he wanted me to say.
"Say you want me to fuck you again."
I bit my lip between my teeth, not realizing until he let out a quiet groan what I was doing. Suddenly his hands wrapped around my face, gripping tightly as he tilted my head back and slammed his mouth on to mine, kissing me roughly. My body responded before my brain, letting my hands fly up to clutch at his neck, pulling him closer and bending my back backwards as he towered over me, lips pushing mine apart so his tongue could smooth across mine.
"Say it," he demanded again, pulling back enough to speak but not releasing his firm grip on my face.
"I want you to fuck me again," I breathed, feeling extremely unstable as the taste of his lips lingered on mine. My brain seemed to vibrate as they absorbed the words being exchanged between us. I can't believe I just said that.
He smirked, pleased to have finally gotten his way as he leaned forward, dipping his tongue against mine lightly and tugging on my lower lip with his teeth before releasing me completely and continuing walking. I took a deep breath before hurrying to catch up with him again, certain that this boy was going to be the source of a lot of physical exhaustion.
The party came back into view now as we neared, people scattered across the lawn just as they were when we left, if not more of them. I was surprised when he kept walking up to the house, letting me walk in with him despite what he had said back at his house. As soon as we were back inside, however, he pinched my hip quickly before peeling off from me, disappearing into the crowd.
Just like that, he was gone again.
I frowned as I looked around the party, hoping to spot any signs of my friends. Much to my surprise and satisfaction, I caught a glimpse of Emily's blonde hair across the room and started to make my way over to her. Pushing my way through the bodies, I got closer and could see she was talking animatedly to someone, grinning up at whoever had her attention for the moment.
She did a double take as she spotted me coming toward her, a grin spreading across her lips as she waved me over.
"Where have you been?!" she demanded. I had a strong sense of deja vu. "Nevermind, guess who's here," she said, waving off my lie I had been about to tell and pulling me closer.
"Who?" I asked nervously, fully expecting her to say Reece.
"Jack," she said, a slight hiss to her voice.
"Are you serious?" I asked, immediately looking around for his familiar figure, praying I wouldn't see him.
"Yeah, he got here like a half hour ago. He asked where you were," she informed me.
Funny, because about a half hour ago I had been stripped naked on a couch with Reece rocking into me. Oh god.
"Why?"
"I dunno, he said he wanted to talk," she said, frowning as she shrugged.
"I don't want to talk to him," I said firmly. She raised her hands in defense.
"Hey, I know, that's what I told him! Just... be on the lookout. He's probably prowling around still."
I nodded, desperately wanting to leave the party suddenly. Either that, or go find Reece, not that he'd be any help. What would he do about it? He didn't care.
I tried to act casual and enjoy my time at the party, but it was impossible between my frantic sweeps of the room, praying I didn't see Jack and hoping that I did see Reece. It was exhausting, really. I had made it nearly an hour back at the party without a sighting from either of them, so I started to relax a bit.
Twenty more minutes had passed and I was actually starting to have fun, enjoying a drink and laughing with my friends as Lauren appeared drunk off her ass and attempting to show us a 'dance' she had made up twenty minutes ago. I raised my drink to my lips and took a sip between giggles, happy to be having a good time at the party when I heard my name called from behind me.
"Abigail?" I froze, the color draining from my face as I recognized the voice. It was not the voice I had been hoping to hear, not a voice that belonged to the body I could still feel moving on top of mine. It was the voice I had been dreading hearing ever since I had known he was here. I turned slowly on the spot, my features blank as I dared turn around.
The first thing I noticed was Jack, standing a few feet away, staring down at me with his big brown eyes and a wide smile plastered on his handsome face. The second thing I noticed, the thing that caught my attention and held it, was Reece perched against the wall behind Jack, as he always was, watching me with his blazing green eyes.
This was going to be interesting.
"No need to be alarmed, that's just the chemicals; consider me charmed at the science in our skulls."
Chapter 7
I couldn't tear my eyes from Reece's gaze even though I felt Jack watching me, waiting for me to acknowledge him. My lips parted as I took a shallow breath, vastly unprepared to handle any interaction with Jack, much less one where the guy I'd just slept with watched and set me on fire with his gaze. I could feel it now, burning from my toes, through my veins, and spreading to my entire body until I was completely engulfed in invisible flames, all from a simple look from Reece.
"Abigail," Jack repeated, attempting to draw my attention to him. It was with great difficulty that I tore my line of vision from Reece and shifting it reluctantly to him. I could feel the shocked, blank expression on my face, masking my inner panic effectively solely due to the fact that I was too overwhelmed to register anything else.
"Jack," I said flatly, too shocked to express any type of emotion. If my mind could for once catch up to what was going on, my voice would have been dripping with anger. I hadn't spoken to him since the day we broke up a few weeks ago and that was how I wanted to keep it.
"I've been looking for you everywhere," he said, smiling sweetly at me. I almost punched him.
"Have you?"
"Yeah, I really wanted to see you," he said, taking a small step toward me.
"Why?" I questioned harshly. My eyes flicked to Reece, who hadn't moved from his spot and was watching me intently, an amused glint in his eye. I raised an eyebrow at him, confused as to how he found this funny before turning my attention back to Jack.
"I haven't seen you in a while and just wanted to catch up, you know?" he said, insisting on continuing his smile. He was making a lot of effort to seem like the nice, innocent boyfriend I thought he had been when we were together. Worse, he was acting like he could just come back and charm me back into his arms.
"I don't have anything to catch up with you," I said, folding my arms over my chest.
"Abigail, can we go somewhere quiet to talk? I really miss you," he said sincerely, eyebrows furrowing over his brown eyes. I stared at him, heart melting just the slightest at his confession, my mind slipping back to months ago when we had been happy together and almost agreeing. The moment of nostalgia was quickly wiped away, however, as
I remembered that he had been cheating on me during nearly half of our relationship.
"No," I said firmly. He stepped even closer and gently put his hand on my arm; it took everything in me not to rip it away.
"Please?"
"No," I repeated, a little weaker this time as his touch started to warm my skin, the feeling of it familiar. I hated it.
"Abigail-"
"Is there a problem, mate?"
Both of our gazes ripped to my right, my eyes taking in Reece's strong profile as he stared coolly at Jack.
"Who are you?" Jack asked, tone sounding considerably colder now than it had seconds ago.
"Reece. I don't think she wants to go with you," he said evenly, tilting his head in my direction but not looking at me.
"I don't think it's your business," Jack said calmly, shooting me a confused look that I did not return. Once again, my face was blanketed with shock at Reece's arrival and intervention. My mouth hung open as my gaze flitted back and forth between them.
"I think it is," he replied, surprising me by casually slinging his arm around my neck and hauling me to him, his arm hanging limply across my shoulders. My skin burned where he touched me, almost reaching the depth of the heat from the flame flickering inside me caused by his mere presence.
Jack's eyes traveled from Reece's face to his arm around me before finally resting on my face. I was surprised to see hurt registered there. I had been expecting him to be angry or jealous, not sad.
"Alright," he said slowly. "I really would like to get together sometime, Abigail. We need to talk about... what happened."
"Not now," I said. What I should have said was never in a million years, but I knew I couldn't do that. He had been a huge part of my life for so long, I knew we had to really talk about it someday. That day, however, was not today. He nodded, sad expression deepening on his face as he glanced at Reece apprehensively once more.
"Alright, well... see you around, I guess," he said, his lips pinching together as he gave a light shrug. I just nodded but didn't say anything as I watched him turn and walk away, disappearing back into the crowd of the party.
As soon as he was gone, Reece's arm dropped from around my shoulders before walking slowly to stand in front of me, a smug expression on his face.
"You're welcome," he said irritatingly.
"I was handling it fine on my own," I lied. I was grateful Reece had intervened, because in all honesty I knew I would have eventually given in and gone to talk to Jack, something I was not ready to face.
"Sure you were," he said, nodding sarcastically at me. I rolled my eyes.
"Thank you," I said begrudgingly. He ducked his head in a bow, eyes never losing contact with mine.
"Welcome. Just don't get any ideas."
I scoffed. "I already told you I don't want anything from you."
"And I'm guessing he's the reason why," he guessed correctly. I didn't say anything but sucked my lips into my mouth. "What'd he do to you?"
He narrowed his eyes at me, studying my face as I continued my silence. I wasn't going to discuss this with him, especially now in the middle of a party when Jack could easily still be lurking around. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, deciding what to accuse Jack of in his head.
"Did he cheat on you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. I seemed to be taking this far too lightly for my taste, which was annoying. What was even more annoying, however, was that even though he was sitting here talking about my horrible old relationship in a condescending and all-knowing tone, I still felt myself holding back from launching my body at him.
"That's a yes," he said, filling in the blanks when I refused to speak and continued to glare at him. I let out a huff of air as I turned abruptly from him, needing to get some space so I could think clearly for once. A quick glance over my shoulder told me he had quickly followed me, an irritating smirk plastered on his face. He was far too self-confident for my taste and it grated on me, despite the fact that I was so drawn to him.
"He's a dickhead," he said over my shoulder as I pushed my way through the people. His voice was low but not too low that I couldn't hear him. I ignored him as I wove through the crowd, wanting desperately to get away from him and to turn around and kiss him all at the same time. It was the most confusing emotion I'd ever felt. A cool breeze drifted across my skin from a door hanging open at the back of the kitchen I had found myself in, so I changed my course to head outside. Maybe the cooler air would help clear my head, even with the nagging man following closely behind me.
"You're not gonna talk to him, are you?" he pressed, following me outside. I spun around quickly, shoving my hands into his chest.
"Will you stop following me?" My voice lacked any conviction which he picked up on immediately, his smirk burning into my brain.
"No. Are you gonna talk to him?" he asked again. He looked like a weird mixture of amused and annoyed by this entire situation.
"I don't know, why?"
"'Cause he's a tool and you shouldn't."
"He's not a tool," I surprised myself by defending him. Old habits die hard, I suppose. He scoffed, amusement definitely taking over his features now.
"Okay," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"It's complicated," I argued. He blinked.
"How? He cheats, you're done. That's it, right?" He made it sound as if it were the most simple thing in the world.
"Theoretically."
"What the hell does that mean?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at me.
"I don't know, can we not talk about it?" I asked, my hands rubbing over my forehead in stress.
"Fine. Just one more question."
"What?" I sighed, squeezing my eyes closed before opening them and looking up at him.
"You're not still dating him, are you?" he asked, a slight mocking tone hidden beneath his question.
"Why?" I questioned, curious as to why he wanted to know.
"I don't like to make a habit of fucking girls with boyfriends," he said casually, lids blinking slowly as he looked at my lips once before returning his gaze to my eyes. He shifted his weight slowly from one foot to the other, wavering in front of me. I stared at him for a few seconds before responding, not sure what I had expected him to say but finding myself disappointed.
"He's not my boyfriend," I finally said. His smirk deepened.
"Good."
I stared at him, confused by his constant smirk and amused expression. "Do you think this is funny?"
"A little," he admitted, leaning forward slightly as he spoke before leaning back again.
"Well it's not."
"Okay." Again his tone was thick with sarcasm as he watched me closely.
"I'm surprised you weren't more jealous," I said, a smile tugging at the corner of my lips. If he wanted to be difficult, I could be difficult.
"I don't get jealous," he stated.
"Bullshit."
He shrugged casually, pursing his lips together and shaking his head. "Nope."
"So that's why you appeared out of nowhere and literally dragged me away when I was talking to that guy earlier?"
"Please, you were practically begging me to," he countered. He was so irritating with his constant need to be right, his cocky self-confidence not allowing him to back down from the slightest of disagreements.
"No I wasn't."
"No? What was that little show for then?"
"Because obviously you were watching me if you saw my little 'show,'" I said, throwing air quotes around the last word.
"See, you just admitted you wanted me to drag you out of there."
I rolled my eyes, annoyed that he insisted on arguing with me. "You wanted it just as bad as I did," I said, finally admitting to what he was accusing me of.
"Did I?" he teased, leaning over me once more and surprising me by dropping his lips to my neck, sinking his teeth into my flesh lightly.
"You're the one who said y
ou can't stay away from me," I whispered as I stepped closer to him, pressing my chest into his as I tilted my head to the side, allowing more of my neck for his lips to attach to. My eyelids drifted shut against my will when his tongue slipped out against my skin.
"That's still true," he finally admitted, murmuring into my throat before dragging his lips up it. I could feel myself getting sucked into him all over again, my insides boiling and heart racing in my chest. His hands started to slide down my side as a fog started to settle over my brain. Teeth tugged at my ear lobe before he breathed into my ear.
"Do you still want me to fuck you again?"
I groaned lightly at his words, wanting nothing more than for that to happen but knowing I couldn't let that happen again tonight. I had already disappeared for nearly the entire night, and there was no way I would get away with it again. Besides, Reece had been getting his way all night and I thought it was time for him to lose at least once.
"Yes," I sighed, speaking the truth before mustering all the self-control I possessed. "But not tonight."
His lips detached from my neck and his fingers cupped my jaw, pulling my face in front of his.
"Are you serious?" His pupils were already blown wide in the darkness as he looked at me in surprise. He clearly had not been expecting me to refuse.
"Yes," I answered, focusing on keeping my voice convincing when my body was screaming to the contrary. His hand dropped from my chin and he took a half step backward.
"Alright."
His tone was considerably cooler now that I had turned him down. My body ached from the lack of contact and I almost revoked my rejection, wanting nothing more for him to press his body into mine again.
"Just not tonight," I said, hoping I hadn't pissed him off.
"Again," I added, letting out a light giggle and blushing. I was relieved when his usual smirk was replaced on his features. His eyes were smoldering as he stepped closer once more. I stood perfectly still as his long fingers trailed up the inside of my thigh, my breath catching in my throat when he stroked them over my center slowly.
