7. Tru
CHAPTER 7
TRU
H is words haunted me.
Down to the way he said them and the way he proved them over and over again, yet never to my face and always to my back.
The past needed to stay there, but he wielded it like a weapon every damn time, making me so angry I wanted to scream.
I stayed there for a few minutes. His body heat dissipated, the smell of his cologne faded into the air, and I was left staring at a wall, wondering why I was always on the losing end of our fights.
“You okay?” Brady asked, handing me a red Solo cup full of beer.
I nodded my head even though my heart swelled up my throat.
“Yeah, I’m good. I just hate him so much.”
“I’m sure there’s a very detailed story there.” Brady leaned in. “Care to share?”
“Care to leave?” I taunted.
He held a free hand up. “Fine, fine, I have to find my girlfriend anyway. She’ll be sad she missed the drama. Van rarely loses his cool like that. See, brick shitting. Told you so.”
He was gone before I could respond, leaving me alone with my Solo cup full of beer, wondering if I should go back inside.
The decision was made for me when Logan, the guy I’d seen just mauling that girl with his mouth, came up beside me.
“Need a refill?”
I watched Vaughan suck down another drink. He’d never really been that angry sort of guy when I first met him. Then again, pressure has a way of doing that to you.
Family.
Riches.
The other side wasn’t always greener.
“No.” I tipped my cup to his. “Mine’s clearly still full.”
“Maybe chug it.” He crowded my space and backed me up against the same wall I had just been pinned to. “And we can go someplace and talk.”
I burst out laughing; I couldn’t help it. “And by talk, you mean screw? Wow, same old tricks for the dumb jocks. No, I don’t want to go talk, and it’s still quiet out here, so if you have words to say, feel free to say them.”
His blond hair fell across his blue eyes. He was pretty to look at but still didn’t get the point.
“I’d rather”—he took the cup from my fingers—“go someplace private.”
“I’m not interested.”
I reached for my beer only to have him move his hand out of the way. His glassy and unfocused eyes told me he was drunk, so I didn’t want to totally blame him for being an ass. I tried as nicely as possible to move from underneath his massive body.
“Everyone’s interested.” He laughed. “You should be happy I picked you. Plus that dress, damn.” His hand reached out, fingertips out to grab my breast. I was ready to knee him in the balls when someone jerked him back so hard he did a backward somersault onto the lawn. Beer scattered all over the grass while he cursed, and then Vaughan was right in front of me, chest heaving and fists at his sides.
He grabbed my right hand I didn’t even realize had been shaking and gripped it tight.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I frowned, squeezing his hand back. “Yeah, I think so. Sorry, I just, I think I’ll go change now.”
He swallowed slowly. I could see the entire movement and memorize that swallow my entire life, then he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “Do you want me to beat the shit out of him for you?”
I laughed. It felt good. “No. I think the lawn gymnastics were embarrassing enough.”
He didn’t laugh. “You swear you’re good? He didn’t touch you?”
What was happening?
Tears flooded my line of vision. It reminded me of so many things, and he knew that. Vaughan knew everything.
Especially when it came to me.
I nodded. “I’m just tired.”
They weren’t real tears, right?
“Good.” He pushed away from me and stomped toward Logan.
He had at least three inches on him and an extra twenty pounds of muscle, so he picked the guy off the ground and rolled him toward the pool. “Go cool off, and I’ll have Brady grab you so you don’t drown. Remember our rule. We don’t sexually harass anyone, never. Ever. Or you’re off the team. No means no, so don’t be an asshole.”
Logan nodded and looked ready to piss himself, then took a deep dive into the pool. Brady fished him out, and I went back to my room, wondering what the hell just happened. It took me an hour to process in my room alone before I returned to the party, wearing jeans and a crop top instead.
I begrudgingly walked a few steps to his room and was about to knock on his door when I noticed it was cracked open. Unable to help myself, I slowly opened it and came face-to-face with Vaughan and some chick. She was pressed up against his wall, the same way he had cornered me only an hour earlier.
Almost knocking me on my ass.
Vaughan
I kept my distance, fighting away any sentiment to actually do something about what just happened between us. When the fucker touched her, I bit my tongue until I couldn’t any longer.
The urge to be possessive over her circulated all around me. I was drowning in it. I had become one of those clichés, the guys who I made fun of. I grew a goddamn pussy overnight, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She consumed me, and she didn't even know it.
Or maybe she did?
She was fucking gorgeous, and she didn't even have to try. She never truly realized the effect she had on me, which stayed true throughout the years we hadn’t seen one another.
Or again, maybe she did?
As much as I tried to forget about her for the rest of the night…
I couldn’t.
So I did the next best thing. I grabbed the girl I’d been talking to at the beginning of the party and escorted her into my bedroom. This time, I was going to do the right thing. I wouldn't hurt another girl, at least not one who mattered.
I’d rather make her hate me since I couldn’t stay away from her. It was better this way. I wouldn’t think about her while I fucked someone else, and she’d hear us through the very thin walls. We’d draw our lines in the sand again. I was her enemy, and she was mine. Sex didn’t just make things better; it could also reset the past. That was all I was trying to do—reset the past so I could survive the present with that girl sleeping next door.
“Is that right?” I taunted close to whatever the hell this chick’s ear was, caging her in with my built frame.
All I knew was that having her body pressed up against mine didn’t do one thing for me. Not one twitch from my dick; the fucker wasn’t cooperating, and that pissed me off more than anything. Son of a bitch, of all the times not to get hard!
I tried harder, deliberately pushing my cock against her pussy with her legs pretty much wrapped around mine. I sensed Tru the second she slightly opened my door, feeling the hole she burned in my back, searing into the space where my heart should be.
I continued my little show, taking it a step further. My hands started to roam from this chick’s hip up her side, grazing her tit, causing a moan to escape her mouth. I could physically feel Tru’s stare now and again while this girl melted into everything I had to offer, which was no surprise there.
I played the games.
I set the match.
I made the rules.
I wasn’t used to feeling out of control. I wasn’t used to feeling anything other than my body rubbing up against some random chick and my cock sinking into her welcoming heat. I didn’t do emotions. I had them under lock and key, but True always seemed to own the key, causing me havoc.
The girl giggled, dragging me away from my thoughts to look at her. She rocked her hips, pressing her pussy further against my dick that still refused to react.
All I felt was…
Remorseful.
The entire time I spent with the chick in my arms, I pictured Tru’s hurt expression, and for some fucked-up reason, it made me feel better.
“Hey, where did you go?” she purred in my ear, nudging my neck with her nose.
My reactions to seeing True were unfamiliar territory. Uncharted emotions took over, and I wasn’t sure I wanted them to stop. I didn’t fight too hard to control it, that was for damn sure. This energy took over my entire body when I was around her, and I wanted it to.
There was no argument to be made.
The choice was never mine.
I did what I had to do.
I kissed the girl before backing away and locking eyes with Tru for a moment.
She looked so sad.
So confused.
So hurt.
By my words.
And especially my actions.
I stepped toward the door, never breaking our intense eye contact.
With a predatory regard toward the puck bunny, I snapped my gaze back to True before I viciously bit out, “Want to join us? Two is always better than one.”
Gauntlet dropped.
She swallowed hard, narrowing her eyes at me with an expression I recognized all too well.
“You know what?” I mocked. “On second thought, I don’t fuck the hired help.”
Where the hell did that even come from?
She jerked back, and I didn’t waver before I slammed my bedroom door…
In her face.