Vindicated

by eliza_000

  “I don’t know. Maybe,” he said, avoiding her gaze. “Ask me tomorrow.”

  “Well, I really want to see it. It’s expected to sell out. I wanted to get tickets in the morning.” Despite his weary sigh, she continued, pressing the issue. “If you don’t want to go, just tell me. I’ll ask Ally or Josh.”

  His face darkened at the mention of Josh’s name, and the grip on her toes tightened. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”

  She pulled her foot away and sat up. “I don’t want to talk about it tomorrow. I want to know tonight. It’s not like I’m asking you to marry me.”

  “I never said you were.” The bewilderment in his voice showed in his eyes. He sat up and laid the remote on the coffee table. “Jesus, Karly. It’s just a movie. Lighten up. What’s the big deal?”

  “I really want to go.” Her chest tightened. She couldn’t look at him. “Either you want to come with me or you don’t.”

  “You’re being unreasonable.” The stubborn set of his jaw ignited her temper.

  “So you want me to hang around all day tomorrow and wait on you to decide whether or not you have time to go with me.” She chewed the inside of her cheek, biting back words of hurt and anger, hating the way she sounded.

  “No, I’m just not sure what I’ve got going on.” He spoke warily, as if aware of the dangerous territory he had entered.

  “Fine.” She stood and stumbled over his feet in an effort to get past him. One of his strong arms reached out to steady her, but she pulled away. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Karly, you’re scaring me.” He came after her. His footsteps thudded down the hallway behind her, echoing the heavy thumping of her heart. She slammed the door to the bedroom, shutting him out, clicking the lock between them. He banged on the door. “Baby, let me in.”

  “No.” She leaned her forehead against the door, one hand on the knob.

  “Karly, please.” His voice sounded so close, right above her ear.

  “Damn it, Karly. Let me in, or I swear to God I will bust down this door.” Despite the edge to his words, there was hurt in his voice, and his tone was soft. “I don’t understand.”

  She unlocked the door. When she opened it, he was only inches away. Their eyes met. His brow furrowed. There was a fine line between anger and lust, and it stretched taut between them. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into the room. Their mouths met, open and hungry. They fell backward onto the bed, his weight heavy on top of her. His knees parted her thighs while his hands rucked up her T-shirt. The heat of his skin burned against her hands. She tugged his sweats down over his hips and erection.

  They merged in a fury of clutching hands and needful kisses. He slipped inside of her with one thrust and a low groan. She tangled her fingers in his hair and crushed her mouth to his. The room filled with the sounds of their moans and the smell of sex. Skin smacked against skin. The headboard thumped against the wall.

  Pain and pleasure melted into each other. Each thrust of his hips brought her closer to orgasm. His ragged breathing echoed in her ears. He gave her everything and she took it, raking her nails down his back and biting into his shoulder.

  “Oh God, Karly,” Randy said. His breath seared the tender skin of her neck. She slid her hands to his buttocks and gripped them tight, knowing it would send him over the edge. “Baby, stop. You’re going to make me come.”

  To even the playing field, he slipped a finger between them, rubbing her sweet spot, reminding her how well he knew her body. Her core tightened and clenched around him. She cried out, control slipping away from her with every stroke of his cock. They both became lost in a battle of wills, each fighting to send the other into release.

  Randy rolled to his back and took her with him, setting her astride his hips. Her foot hit the bedside table. The lamp crashed to the floor. They didn’t stop. She gripped his shoulders and buried him deep inside her. He gripped her hips and bucked…once, twice, three times. On the fourth thrust, sweet agony burst into her center. Release spiraled through her, convulsing her limbs and stealing her breath. Randy cursed and clutched her to him as his orgasm raced to meet hers. He emptied himself into her with a shudder, his fingers biting into her, adding intensity to her climax.

  She collapsed onto his chest. They were silent for a long time. Their unspoken words taunted her. When their breathing had slowed, he sat up and clutched her to him, face buried in her neck. She felt the tremors in his arms as he held her.

  “What the fuck was that?” he asked in a voice rough with shock. “God, how do you do that to me?”

  She stroked a hand through his hair. Unshed tears stung her eyes.

  “I can’t do this,” she said.

  “Don’t say that.” He lifted panicked eyes to search hers and frowned at what he saw. She ducked her head to shut him out. She’d already given him too much. “Baby, please tell me you don’t mean it.”

  “I thought I could,” she said into his chest. She twirled a finger in the wiry hair over his sternum. “But I’m always going to wonder if this time is the last time, and I don’t think I can take that.”

  “Right now is all I can give you,” he said. “Why can’t that be enough?”

  “I know it should be enough,” she whispered. “But it’s not.”

  Chapter 50

  Karly rolled away from him and went to the bathroom, leaving him cold and alone in the bed. He kept his eyes shut tight, listening to the noise of running water from her shower, and waited for her to return. She didn’t.

  Panic constricted his chest. She’d shut him out. Since their meeting, he’d feared the moment when she finally realized he wasn’t good enough for her, and it had finally arrived. He didn’t deserve her, the same way he had never deserved Pilar or Caleb. For the first time since he was a kid, he felt the prick of tears in his eyes and a lump choking his throat.

  He passed a hand across his face, got up, and went to the bathroom door. Nothing but silence greeted him. His ears strained for sounds of her return as he got dressed. Still nothing. The bed creaked under his weight when he sat on the edge of the mattress to pull on his boots. The alarm clock on the dresser ticked like a time bomb, but the bathroom stayed quiet.

  Please, God, say something. Anything. He held his breath and waited. The toilet flushed. He exhaled and waited some more. Still nothing. When she hadn’t come out after an hour, he gathered his coat and the shreds of his heart and left.

  ***

  He wasn’t sure how he ended up there. He just got into his truck and drove without destination or purpose. Somehow, he ended up on a familiar dead end street across from a rambling brick house on the opposite side of town. The windows were dark. The driveway was empty. No one was home.

  Resting his head in his hands, he sat with eyes closed and pain in his heart until he could pull himself together. The night was young even though the sun had set hours ago. The darkness clung to him like a heavy blanket, smothering him.

  He smacked the steering wheel with his palm. He’d fucked up again. The way he always did. The way everyone expected him to. And he had no one to blame but himself.

  The transmission groaned as he shoved the truck into gear and set off down the street. The low fuel indicator lit up the dash before he reached the intersection. He stopped at a nearby gas station to fill the tank. A sleek Lexus SUV pulled up to the pump next to him, and a tall man got out to fill the tank. Two teenage kids spilled out of the passenger doors.

  “Five minutes and I’m leaving,” the father called after them. “And don’t buy a bunch of junk food.”

  “Sure, Dad,” the teens replied in unison. “Back in a second.”

  Caught by Randy’s stare, the father nodded in polite acknowledgement but didn’t speak. The gas pump clicked off. Randy stood rooted to the pavement. The man shoved a hand through rusty brown hair streaked with silver and straightened the collar of his trench coat. His gaze flicked back to Randy’s, and their eyes locked for a brief second.

>   “You’re front tire’s low,” he said with a nod to Randy’s truck. “Better get some air in that.”

  “Thanks,” Randy replied in barely a whisper.

  Their eyes met one last time. Randy swallowed back the words at his throat, incredulous that his own father didn’t recognize him. The kids returned and tumbled into the van. His father got back behind the wheel. Randy turned and watched their taillights until they disappeared around the next corner. Within seconds, they were gone, leaving Randy alone once more.

  Chapter 51

  In Randy's experience, when shit went bad, it went bad in a big way. He knew the second Ally cornered him behind the bar at Felony that his time had come. He was restocking the shelves after a delivery when she came out of the office. She stood next to him, with arms crossed over her chest and a blank expression on her face. They weren’t close, but he'd come to respect her. The girl had a head for business and eased some of the financial strain plaguing Felony. She didn't take any shit from Jack either, which amused Randy.

  He stopped long enough to open another case of schnapps and raised an eyebrow at her. "What's up?"

  "You know what’s up." The tone of her voice suggested she was pissed but her expression remained calm and matter-of-fact.

  "Um, none of your business?" He tried to keep his tone light but bristled internally.

  "Damn, you’re grumpy this morning. What’s wrong? Need a cigarette?"

  "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" As a matter of fact, he needed a cigarette in the worst way. Almost a week had passed since he’d quit, and even the smallest things rubbed his fraught nerves raw.

  “Nothing." She moved the case of liquor out of the way and stepped between him and the bar, forcing him to look at her. “I talked to Karly a minute ago. She’s really upset. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

  "Once again, not your business." The cadence in his head picked up speed. He knew he was in the wrong but couldn’t stop himself.

  "You’re right. What you do is not my business. But I care about Karly. She’s a good person, and she never catches a break. I’m only asking you…"

  He drew in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled loudly before he spoke. "First of all, you don't know shit about what happened with Karly. And second, we don't need your interfering ass in the middle of our personal issues." When he spoke, he took a step forward. She didn't back down, even though he towered over her by a good twelve inches.

  Ally drew herself up straight, looked him in the eye, and pointed a finger in his face with surprising spunk. "If you really cared about her, you wouldn’t be making her feel like crap."

  That hurt. His temper, strained beyond its limits, snapped. "Just because Jack lets you run all over him doesn't mean you can run over me." This point had nothing to do with the conversation, but common sense had abandoned him. He slammed a hand down on the counter. "Like I said. You don't know shit about what happened. So stay the fuck out of it."

  "It's my business when she's up half the night crying because you're an asshole."

  "What the hell is going on in here?" Jack came in the back door, letting it close with a bang loud enough to make them both jump. "I can hear you guys yelling all the way outside the building."

  Ally retreated to the opposite side of the bar, lips pressed into a tight white line and arms folded over her chest again.

  Still shaken, Randy pointed a finger at Jack. "You need to keep your goddam girlfriend out of my face, Jack. She's about to piss me off."

  "Randy, back the fuck up." Jack put a hand on his chest, his voice low in warning. If any other man had touched him, he would've gone medieval on his ass. And no matter how pissed off he was, he would never, ever hit a woman. "Ally, go to the office."

  "But…" She jerked her chin stubbornly at Randy.

  His eyes met hers with perfect understanding. Ally cared about Karly, and if he fucked up, he would answer to her. He was fucking up now, and she was calling him out on it.

  "Now, baby doll." Jack's words were gentle but stern.

  "It's alright," Randy said, the flame gone from his anger. "She's made her point. I'm good with it."

  Ally nodded and left, letting the hall door snick shut behind her.

  "You want to tell me what that was all about?" Jack asked.

  "Nope," Randy replied.

  “Well, tough. You’re going to talk anyway.” Jack pulled a barstool up to the counter and took a seat. “Something is eating at you.”

  “I’m an asshole. It’s nothing you didn’t already know,” Randy said, already beginning to feel bad about yelling at Ally. He went back to stocking the shelves, needing the distraction.

  “Well, no argument there,” Jack replied with a smirk. “It’s part of your charm. So what gives with Karly? Did you fuck around on her?”

  “Hell, no. You know I’m not like that.” He shot a glare at Jack. “We’re not even together anyway.”

  “Well, why not?” In practical Jack fashion, he cut straight to the heart of the matter. “You’re in love with her. Might as well quit stalling around and make it official.”

  Randy’s head boomed with each beat of his heart. He grimaced and put a hand to his forehead. “I kind of fucked things up with her.”

  “I figured that. The only time you ever yell is when you’re torn up over a woman.” Jack tapped a hand on the counter, eyes narrowed in contemplation. “My advice is to get your ass into the shower, clean yourself up, and go find her. Do whatever it takes to make things right.”

  With a heavy sigh, Randy sank onto the nearest barstool and stared at his reflection in the bar mirror. He looked like hell, and he felt even worse.

  Jack raised an eyebrow. “I get it. I really do. You’re talking to the world’s biggest fuck-up right here. So take it from someone who’s been through it. Sort your shit out. Stop being a dickhead, and stake your claim on the girl before someone else does.”

  Chapter 52

  In the familiar setting of Joe’s Java Junction, Karly sat down in a booth with Ally and breathed a sigh of relief. A week had passed since her encounter with Randy, and although the anger had receded, the sting remained fresh and unhealed. He avoided her at class, taking a seat on the opposite side of the lecture hall, while she took great pains to sit near the exit so she could split the minute class ended.

  "So how's it going?" The burgeoning curiosity in Ally's voice set Karly instantly on guard.

  "Fine," Karly replied cautiously. "How are you?"

  "I'm good," Ally replied with a secretive smile.

  "I know what that smile means," Karly said. "Somebody got some last night."

  Ally rolled her eyes but the smile continued to play around her lips. "Maybe."

  "So you guys are getting along?"

  "Mmmm-hmmm." Ally blushed. "Well, we've had a few fights, but mostly over silly things."

  "Like what?"

  "Well, he can't ever seem to button up his shirts. And it's starting to piss me off." Karly raised an eyebrow. Ally scowled. "I mean, seriously, what is so freaking difficult about buttoning up your shirt? It's not like it's summertime or anything. It's forty-five degrees outside."

  Karly laughed. "Seriously? That's the kind of problems you have? Your boyfriend is exposing his gorgeous body?" It was true that every time she’d ever seen Jack, he had his shirt open, and she had to admit that his abs were a sight to behold. "At least he's not addicted to internet porn or something like that."

  Ally huffed. "Yesterday, he had an insurance lady stop by the apartment to give us some quotes on insuring everything, since he's remodeled the apartment. She was attractive—a little old, but pretty. I met her at the door, and Jack comes out of the bedroom in these really sexy faded jeans and his shirt is completely unbuttoned. You know what I mean. Jeans hanging low, all his abs showing. I could practically see the drool coming from the lady's mouth.

  "When she went to check out the bathroom, I pulled him to the side and suggested he should
button up." Ally rolled her eyes and shook her head. "So he looks at me like I'm insane, and all I could think of was my cousin's little girl who always tore off her diaper every time we went to the grocery store. Do you think he did that when he was a kid?"

  "Uh, well, I can't really imagine Jack ever being a kid. Did you ask him?"

  “If he was ever a kid or about the diaper?”

  Karly rolled her eyes and snorted. “You know what I mean.”

  "No. I didn't get a chance. By that time, the lady was back in the kitchen with us."

  "Did he button up?"

  "Yes, after I threatened him. He said I was being uptight and to pull the stick out of my ass. I told him I was going to walk around the apartment with my shirt unbuttoned the next time he invited someone over." She smiled as she dipped a French fry into the tiny paper cup of ketchup.

  "Did that help?"

  "Well, no, but I got the point across when Randy and Tinker came over after the lady left.” Karly’s heart stuttered at the mention of Randy’s name. “I went to the kitchen to grab a few beers for them and when I came back out, I had the front of my shirt unbuttoned. Just to prove a point, you know?" She smirked. "The guys all had their backs to me except Jack. He could see me, but they couldn't. You should've seen the look on his face. I thought he was going to freak out."

  "Was he pissed or did he laugh?"

  "Oh, when he realized what I was doing, he laughed. And he put on a T-shirt after that. I told him he's welcome to be naked when it's just the two of us around the house, but he needs to stop doing it in public."

  “You guys are funny,” Karly said with a sigh. “I’m glad you found someone who makes you happy.”

  Ally must have caught the sadness in her eyes because she covered Karly’s hand with her own and gave it a squeeze. “Oh, Karls. That bad, is it?” The sympathy in Ally’s voice brought the sting of tears to Karly’s eyes.