Chapter 33 #2
Another screech sounds across the room, and for some reason, my heart hammers in my chest as Cameron’s intense blue eyes crinkle at the corners, and he lifts my hand to his lips.
“What are you doing?” He’s acting so weird, and I’m suddenly highly aware that I don’t really know this man. I just blindly trusted him because he’s Lawson’s friend.
“That took longer than I expected,” he murmurs against my knuckles.
“What did?”
“Three… Two… One.”
A wall of black infiltrates my peripheral as the familiar, yet angry, timbre of the man I love fills my ears. “What the fuck is going on here?”
Cameron’s thumb sweeps along the top of my hand as I stare up at Lawson, who is angrier than I’ve ever seen him. He looks like he’s about to murder his friend, not bothering to grace me with his darkened storm cloud gaze.
“Hey, Law. We’re just having dinner. Same as you and Jules.” The words are innocent, like us being together shouldn’t be a big deal. “I’m trying to talk her into coming to work for me in New York.” He flashes a smile that one would give an adversary, not a friend.
Lawson finally turns his gaze to me. “Care to explain, Lucy?”
The anger in his tone sparks my annoyance. “I mean, Cameron just did, Lawson. We’re having dinner. Just like you and Jules. I’m not sure why you care. You haven’t said a word to me all week, and then I find out you're out to dinner with someone else.”
His composure softens, eyes lightening a shade as he stares down at me. “It’s just Jules, Lucy.”
“And it’s just Cameron.” I’m hyper-aware that numerous pairs of eyes are on us as Lawson’s chest heaves. He looks torn between clocking Cameron across the face and pulling me out of the restaurant.
The latter wins.
He grabs my bicep, pulling me from my chair. “Let’s go.”
“Lawson! What are you doing?” I scramble to get my feet beneath me, my face growing warm with embarrassment.
Cameron does nothing to stop him—just watches as I get dragged further away from the table. “Have fun, you two!” he calls out after us.
I glare at him over my shoulder just in time to see an amused-looking Jules approaching his table.
It’s pretty freaking clear that we’ve been set up.
“What the hell?” I demand when we get outside, and Lawson lets me go to stalk toward the parking lot. “Are you seriously upset with me right now?”
“Is that a fucking rhetorical question?” I swear steam is coming from his ears as he unlocks his car and holds the passenger door open. “Get in.”
“You don’t get to be mad at me!” I wave my finger in the air toward him. “You haven’t said a fucking word to me all week, and then Cameron shows up to tell me that you’re out with Jules. What the fuck was I supposed to think, Lawson?”
“I was giving you the space you said you needed.” His words are low and growly. “Jules was helping me with a deal. But evidently, she and Cameron set this up.” He grabs my hand mid-air and manhandles me into the car, slamming the door in my face.
“When did I ever say I needed space?” I yell as he rounds the car.
“At the lake house!” he screams back as he climbs in, and the engine roars to life. “And after your mother threatened jail time, and then I didn’t hear from you, what was I supposed to think?”
“No. No, we are not a poorly written miscommunication trope, Lawson! I told you I needed space when you refused to tell Rhys. You should have known better after everything else happened.”
“What, so that just gives you the excuse to go out with my best friend looking like that?” He gestures to my body as he whips out of the parking lot, wheels screeching as gravel goes flying. “Wanna tell me why you allowed him to have his hands all over you?”
“Oh, Jesus. He was obviously doing it to get a rise out of you!” I cross my arms with a huff and stare out the window as we fly by the familiar buildings that lead back to my apartment.
“Did you know I would be there?”
“No.”
“So, you got all dolled up for him, then?” When I turn my head, Lawson looks like he’s about ready to murder someone, and since I’m the only one in his general proximity…
I remain silent. He doesn’t say a word for the rest of the drive, and when we get back to my building, I’m surprised when he turns his car off and follows me in. We barely make it into my apartment before he slams the door and crowds me against the wall.
“Tell me, Lucy. Is all this for him?” His large palm runs over the swell of my breast and along the curve of my waist before settling on my hip. “Does it turn you on knowing that he wants you?”
“Stop it.” I brace my hands on his forearms, peering up at him through my lashes. “You don’t get to be angry.”
“Is this your way of getting back at me?” He runs his nose along the column of my neck as his knee pushes between my legs, pressing against me to create a familiar ache I’ve longed for all week.
His fingers dig into my sides. “Did you really think another man could satisfy you? Make you feel the way I do?”
He bunches my skirt up as I pull his suit jacket off. Giving him a saucy smirk, I whisper, “Cameron felt amazing when we were together. Maybe you shouldn’t abandon your toys after you loan them out if you don’t want other men playing with them.”
A strangled gasp flies from my lips as he snarls and spins me until my cheek is pressed against the wall. Lawson isn’t rough, but he’s also not gentle as he brings his hand down against my ass. The slap reverberates in the air as I moan and push my hips toward him, begging for another spanking.
This is what I’ve been craving all week—what I’ve been missing—what we could have been doing every day if one of us had just picked up the damn phone.
“Apparently, a week apart has turned you back into a mouthy little brat.” The sound of his zipper reaches my ears before he slaps my ass again.
Bracing my arms on the wall, I arch my back as he rips my thong to the side and positions himself at my entrance.
“Such a little slut for my cock, aren’t you, rainbow? ”
“Lawson!” I cry out as he slams into me, pitching my body forward until my forehead presses against the wall so hard it might leave a bruise.
“Is this what you were thinking of when you got dressed up for him?” He grips my hips tightly as he pistons into me. “Were you hoping I’d see you? Tell me, Lucy. Would you have brought him back here?”
I snake a hand between my legs, desperate to relieve the tension building in my clit. Lawson twists my arm behind my back, pinning it with his chest as he takes over and begins to rub me furiously.
I’m always wet for him, but this time it’s as if my pussy is angry with him, too, gripping his cock to keep him lodged inside me. There’s so much friction, and I feel so full as he punishes me, reminding me of who I belong to.
“You ignored me for an entire week. I was feeling petty.” He slaps my clit in response, latching onto my neck to suck at the spot beneath my ear.
My orgasm is a flood of molten heat spilling between my legs and around his cock. He lets out a hoarse groan as my walls milk him, and I can feel his length twitch as he comes, filling me with more liquid warmth.
We stay like that for a long while, his body hunched over me as I grasp the wall for balance. When he pulls out, I turn to see him tucking himself back in his pants, so I right my dress, too.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers.
Concern floods his darkened irises as he reaches up to smooth his thumb across a sore patch on my forehead. His apology doesn’t seem like it’s just for the rough sex but for so much more, and I feel the telltale sign of tears pricking my eyes.
“I know.”
I want to reach for him. I want him to pull me into his arms and kiss away the pain. I want to tell him I would never betray him and make sure he knows how sorry I am that I even agreed to go to dinner with Cameron. I want Lawson to tell me he’s sorry for not calling all week.
But neither of us speaks… we only stare at each other as our heavy breathing calms.
“It’s so unfair.” Unashamed, I let my tears fall. “ Everything . I’ve been thinking about it all week. I know he’s your son, and he should always come first, but I don’t want to be second,” I sob.
Tears shine in Lawson’s eyes as he surges forward to cup my neck and press a kiss against my forehead. “I’m so sorry, Lucy.”
It sounds more like a goodbye than an apology, and I break.
Another sob tears from my throat, my tears blurring my vision as he lets me go. Selfishly, I wait for him to say it will always be me. For him to tell me how sorry he is that he hasn’t communicated all week.
To say we’re going to weather this storm together.
But Lawson looks as though he’s at a loss for words, scrubbing the back of his neck while turmoil and despair battle across his handsome features. “I should get going.”
My heart breaks, and an iron wall slams down around the organ to protect it from shattering further. With a more even voice than I thought myself capable, I say, “Yeah. I guess so.”
Suddenly, my back hits the wall, and his lips crash down on mine.
It's a kiss full of passion and desperate longing, but it's bittersweet.
We're right back where we started. His words and his actions are a contradiction to everything we've been through, splitting open a chasm between us.
He's always pushed me away. I don't know why I expected this time to be any different.
My tears fall between our lips, the salt seasoning the saddest farewell I've ever tasted.
Then he’s gone.
And I fall apart, sliding against the wall as my broken cries fill the air.
Because even though I know it’s such an unfair choice, part of me really thought he’d choose me.