30. Veronica
Chapter thirty
Veronica
Baboons and horny hippos.
~ Two Days Later ~
I wish I could say that things are getting better, but they aren’t.
Although there hasn’t been any sign of Victor since, thank the heavens, Noah is still spiraling.
He spends most of his time either drinking at home or going out to God knows where to get drunk, then stumbles in smelling like cheap beer and women, and I hate it.
I don’t think he’d cheat on me, but I can’t stop my mind from wondering where he goes and what he does when he leaves the house.
Gabe tells me not to worry, that Noah would never do something like that. That wherever he goes women probably cling to him, but that he remains faithful to me. I hope he’s right…
Outside of the whole Noah and Victor situations, Gabe and I have been spending a lot of time together.
He does everything to keep my mind occupied, whether it’s staying home or going out to wander around New York.
He always finds us something fun to do, every hour of the day, and I’m so grateful to him for it.
He’s the best boyfriend I could have asked for.
Gabe had a meeting with his agent this afternoon, something about a new sponsor. I swear he has something new every other day. The public really can’t get enough of him, although I am starting to get a little jealous. I thought hockey players had the summer off?
And then there’s Noah, who has once again been MIA since this morning and hasn’t been answering his phone… again. So I’ve been alone for the past three hours, busying myself with cleaning and trying to get the alcohol smell out of the rug in Noah’s room, from where he spilled his drink last night.
After spending forty-five minutes scrubbing the rug clean, I move on to the laundry basket in the bathroom. I carry it back into the room and sort through the clothes over the bed before bringing them down to the washing machine.
I fall on one of Noah’s white shirts that he wore out two days ago, and a red spot by the collar catches my attention.
I lay it on my lap and glide my fingertips over the smudged lipstick, thoughts racing through my head as my eyes well up.
I wipe away the tear that slips out furiously and throw the shirt back into the basket.
“I didn’t cheat on you.” I look up to find Noah standing by the door, watching me. “I know where your mind is going. I didn’t do any of that.”
“Then where have you been, Noah? Where do you go every time you leave the house? Why don’t you ever answer your phone when you’re gone for hours and come home at odd hours of the night?” I’m trying to keep it together, but the pain resonates in my voice.
“I just wander around, find a bar along the way, and have a few drinks. That’s all. It’s no big deal.” He shrugs.
I stand from the bed, angry that he doesn’t see how much he’s hurting me.
“But it is a big deal, Noah! You shouldn’t be driving if you’re drinking.
You shouldn’t be going hours without answering your phone and not telling anyone where you are.
” My eyes well once more. “What if something happened to you? Do you know how worried I am every time you leave? How I can’t fucking fall asleep until you get home, because I’m terrified something may have happened to you? !” My voice wobbles with emotions.
I know I could probably beg Julian to tell me where Noah is, or even ask Jessie, but it shouldn’t have to come to that. He’s my boyfriend, he should be the one communicating with me because that’s what we do in relationships.
“Fuck.” He scrubs his face with his palms then walks over to me, taking me in his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
A sob breaks out despite how hard I’m trying to keep it in.
“I know you’re hurting, Noah, I get it. But please, you can’t keep going like this.
This behavior is destructive… It’s not only hurting you, but also me and Gabe as well.
Please just try to answer your phone sometimes and no more taking your car if you’re going to drink… I can’t lose you.”
“I can’t lose you either, Veronica… I can’t… I don’t think I’d survive it…” His voice cracks as my heart breaks for this beautiful man who’s suffering.
I reach up, my hand coming into his hair as I seal my lips to his, promising to never leave him with my mouth, to love him forever.
Within seconds, our kiss turns heated, and we’re ripping at each other’s clothes, sending them flying around the room until we’re naked.
I push him down on the bed and climb above him while he lies in the middle of it.
He’s already hard beneath me as I rub my aching clit against him, my wetness spreading along the length of his cock.
We haven’t had sex in two weeks, and I’m dying for it.
I lift onto my knees, grabbing hold of his shaft and positioning myself over it, then cry out as I slide all the way down.
He grabs my breasts, twisting and pulling my nipples as I ride his dick.
Everything is frantic, rough, desperate. We don’t give each other time to settle on a perfect rhythm, we just fuck like animals, panting and groaning as we near our point of ecstasy. I lean in, claiming his lips as he thrusts his hips up, fucking me with all the strength he can muster.
“You’ll never lose me, Noah. I’m yours forever,” I breathe against his lips.
“Forever.” He fists my hair and devours my mouth.
Barely thirty seconds later, I’m crying out against his lips, moaning through my orgasm as my hips buck uncontrollably against him. He pumps in a few more times, then tightens his hold on me as he spills his seed deep inside my pussy with a deep, long grunt.
Noah turns us to our side, pulling the sheet over our bodies. I rest my head on his arm, my forehead against his lips as he passes his fingers through my hair. We don’t say anything, simply breathing in each other’s presence. I’ve missed him these last couple of days.
“Hey, I’m…” Gabe appears at the entrance to Noah’s room.
The smile he was just wearing vanishes from his face as he takes us in, a sad, rejected look filling its place instead. I see his Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he takes a step back.
“I’ll just get dinner ready.” He turns quickly and bolts down the steps, his retreating footsteps echoing loudly in my ears.
Guilt begins to build in the pit of my stomach as I realize what has dimmed the light in his eyes with our current situation.
Last night, Gabe tried to touch me, and I stopped him, telling him it didn’t feel right doing anything without Noah.
And now here I am, having just had sex with Noah while Gabe was gone.
God, I’m such an idiot!
I sit up in bed and bury my face into my hands, unsure how to fix this.
“Hey.” Noah runs his knuckles against my spine. “He’ll be fine.”
“I feel guilty… We’ve never had sex just one-on-one, and yesterday I told him we couldn’t, but now I’m doing just the opposite. I feel like I’m betraying him…”
“But you’re not, Kitten. Yes, we’re all in this relationship, but it doesn’t mean we have to always do everything together.
It’s okay for you and me to do things alone, like it’s okay for you and him to have moments together too.
” He sits up and kisses my back. “Why don’t you go see him while I grab a shower? ”
“Yeah, okay.” I scoot out of bed and grab one of Noah’s baggy shirts from the walk-in. Passing it over my head, I hurry down the steps in search of Gabe. Noah’s sticky cum makes my thighs slippery, but I don’t care, seeing Gabe is more important right now.
I find him standing in the kitchen, staring down at the stovetop with a pan resting on one of the burners, but there’s nothing inside it. His hands are fisted against the edge of the counter on either side of the stove, head bowed.
“Gabriel?”
He doesn’t respond immediately, but the strained muscles in his back tell me he heard me. “You know, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around why you’d tell me no but say yes to him.”
“It wasn’t like that, Gabe.” I step around the island, getting closer to him.
He turns just as I’m about to reach for him.
“Really? Because it sure as shit seems like it. You think I haven’t noticed the connection you two have?
You think I don’t hear you guys talking and laughing every morning together in bed?
I get it. You like him more.” He swallows, his jaw working back and forth.
“But I thought that after these last couple of days, things had changed between us, that maybe you liked me as much as I do you. But I guess I was wrong.” There’s so much pain in his voice, and it kills me that I’m the reason he feels that way.
I grab onto his forearm, pleading with him. “That’s not true, Gabe. Don’t say that. I don’t like one of you more than the other, because if that were the case, I wouldn’t be in this relationship. What I feel inside my heart, I feel it for the both of you.”
He rips his arm away from me. “Bullshit, Ronnie. Because if that were true, you wouldn’t have rejected me last night, claiming you didn’t want to leave Noah out.
You wouldn’t have slept with him while I was out.
Who’s to say that was even the first time it happened?
For all I know you two have been hooking up behind my back since the start. ”
“Stop it, Gabe! We haven’t, okay? That was the first time, and I’m sorry I pushed you away last night. I didn’t intend on having sex with Noah today, I just fucking missed him, and I was angry at him when he got home. One thing led to the other and we had sex.”