Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Shannon
My eyes are tricking me. There’s no way Jamie would do this to me. I stare down at my cell phone, confused where I went wrong. Where we went wrong.
“Maybe it’s a misunderstanding,” Jordan says, rubbing my arm. “Jamie’s one of the good ones.”
I glance up from the screen, my mouth still open wide in shock. “I thought so, too.” Holding the phone in front of Jordan’s face, I say, “Who’s this? Do you know her? I’ve never seen her before.”
“Her name is Cecelia Carmichael.” Jordan shrugs against the headboard we’re leaning against. “Never heard of her.”
This morning Jamie stopped by the house, and I pushed him away for no reason.
He’s been acting differently since we got back from the Christmas break.
There’s awkwardness between us I didn’t understand until now.
Jamie has been standoffish, and the feeling of closeness we had before the holidays is no longer there. At least now I know why.
Cecelia Carmichael is to blame.
I screen capture the picture of Jamie kissing her and send it to him as a text. We go back and forth, my anger seething through me until I agree to meet him this afternoon at Broad Street Beans. I don’t even want to give him the five minutes I agree to. But I might as well hear him out.
A single tear falls from my eye, and I swat it away. Jordan notices and pulls me into her arms, running her fingernails down my back to soothe me.
“It’ll be okay,” she assures me. “For your sake, I want to believe Jamie is a good guy. I’ve always liked him.”
“Me, too,” I confess. “You want to know the worst part? I think I’m in love with him. Or at least, I thought I was falling for him. Now, I don’t know how I feel. My heart feels like it’s split in two.”
“My sister just went through this drama with the Kane twins. Everything turned out okay for her once she heard Trent out. Hear Jamie out. It might not be what you think.”
Jordan’s never been the understanding type. In fact, I had expected her to say I should tell Jamie to fuck off. Instead, she’s on his side. She might be right. The picture of Jamie kissing that girl could be a misunderstanding. But I have a hard time believing he fell onto her lips.
Slipping out of her arms, I slide off the mattress and fix the cranberry sweater dress I borrowed from Jordan along with a pair of UGG boots. At least I could afford the black tights I have on underneath.
I’m sure the girl in the picture with Jamie doesn’t have to borrow clothes from her friends.
She looks like a million bucks with enormous diamonds dangling from her ears.
How can I possibly compete with her? She’s part of his world.
Why else would she have attended the conference with him?
Were they together? It sure looks like it from the pictures The Queen posted on her website.
What The Queen said about me hurts most. She called me a sorostitute, a derogatory term for a sorority girl who sleeps around. This bitch thinks she knows me. At one point, Jamie said he was looking for her. I might be angry with him, but maybe he has a lead on her identity.
I want to destroy her.
* * *
Two hours later, I find Jamie in the back of Broad Street Beans alone with his elbows propped up on the table. A sad expression crosses his adorable face as he stares out the window to his left. He looks so handsome, so peaceful all by himself.
I pull out the chair across from him.
He turns to face me. “You’re here.” Jamie sighs. “Thanks for coming.”
I cross one leg over the other, keeping my hand on my knee to calm my nerves. “How could you, Jamie? I trusted you.”
“I know how it looks, but I didn’t kiss her.”
“Don’t lie,” I shout without meaning to, now lowering my voice to a normal volume. “I saw dozens of pictures of you and her. Did you accidentally kiss her?”
“No, she kissed me. But it’s not like that, I pulled away from her. You didn’t get to see that part. She used a moment of weakness for my family to take advantage of me.”
I tilt my head back and laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Jamie. She took advantage of you? Really? C’mon, do you hear yourself right now?”
He leans forward, his elbows on the small wooden table. “It’s the truth, Shan.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” I snap, so mad I could spit. “I know what I saw. You know what you did. And The Queen knows the truth. Why else would she make fun of me and call you out at the same time?”
“She’s a troublemaker. So is Cece.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Cece? So you’re close to her.”
“I’ve known her for most of my life,” he hisses. “Her dad and my dad are friends. There’s nothing between us. Just give me a chance to show you how much you mean to me. You’re the one I want. I choose you, Shannon. Don’t let that picture come between us. Nothing happened.”
“I want to believe you, Jamie. But it’ll take a lot more than a few words for me to trust you again.”
He stretches his hand across the table, holding his palm up for me to place my hand in his. Hesitant, I do what he wants. Heat skates along my skin, his warmth rushing up my arm. I feel safe when I’m with Jamie. No matter how mad I am at him, I want this to work.
“Just give me a chance,” he says, his voice low and pleading. “Don’t give up on me yet.”
I squeeze his hand, forcing a smile. “I like you a lot, so you get one pass. But don’t make a fool of me, Jamie.”
His eyes burn a hole through mine. “I promise. You have my word. Nothing happened and nothing ever will.”
* * *
Jamie undresses me and then lowers me to his bed, rolling me onto my side. He stands above me, staring down at me with hunger in his eyes as he slides his hand up my inner thigh. Even the slightest touch produces tiny bumps along my skin. Jamie drives me wild.
He climbs into bed behind me, inching his fingers further up my leg until they’re inside me. Testing my slickness, he drags his fingers in and out before he pulls them back. The sudden lack of his heat causes me to yearn for more.
Jamie rolls a condom on and then grips my ass, slamming into me in one quick thrust. I don’t have time to adjust to his size.
He fills me, his cock so hard and thick, pushing further inside me.
I can feel him everywhere. I didn’t realize how much I missed him, missed this closeness to him, until now.
His hand creates a blaze of heat as he runs his fingers down my thigh, digging into my skin.
The pressure builds within, my insides so tight and ready to burst. “Jamie,” I whisper.
I tighten my hold on his cock, and he groans. “That’s it, baby.”
He knows how close I am and has me right where he wants. Jamie moves his hand under my chin, tilting my head back until our lips meet. He kisses me so intensely and with so much passion I can’t breathe.
I moan into his mouth, my orgasm building until it reaches its peak. After I come, Jamie flips me over and onto my stomach. Positioning himself behind me, he slams into me once more. This time, he’s rougher, more aggressive. From this angle, he hits the spot, and boy does he know how to work me.
I rest my forehead on the mattress and close my eyes. My insides clench around him, another orgasm commanding control over my body. Jamie clutches my hips tighter and goes deeper and deeper, grunting with each thrust. The sounds he makes set my body on fire.
Once again, I find my release, about to come undone, and Jamie’s right behind me. His cock pulses inside me, a series of curses and sexy noises escaping his lips.
Jamie rubs his hand over my ass before he pulls out, my juices running down my thigh. I sink to the mattress and roll over, leaving room for Jamie to lie in the space next to me.
He pats the mattress. “C’mere.”
I crawl over to him and into his arms. His thick muscles flex around me, cocooning me in his warmth.
“I missed you, Shan.” Jamie kisses my forehead, his sweat mixing with mine.
I slide my hand up his stomach, feeling the defined ridges of his abs. “I missed you, too.”
“I need a shower,” he says. “You want to get in with me?”
“Not right now. I’ll take one when I get home.”
He frowns. “You’re leaving already?”
“No, not for a while. But I need to go home tonight. I can’t stay over.”
He tries to hide his disappointment and fails. “Do you mind if I hop in the shower real quick? I won’t take long.”
“Go ahead.” I move over, giving him enough room to get out of the bed. “I can wait here.”
He slides off the bed, and when I look up at him, I can’t stop staring at his muscular body. My man might be a nerd, but he has the body of an athlete. I lick my lips, practically drooling over him.
He notices and acknowledges my dirty thoughts with a wink. “I’ll be right back.” His eyes roam over my naked body, and I open my legs to give him a better look. “Don’t move. I want you just like that.”
I smile. “You got it.”
He gives me a delightful view of his ass as he lifts a towel from the hook on his door and wraps it around his waist. I sigh at the little show he puts on for me, and then he disappears into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
Five minutes pass and still no Jamie. He’s taking much longer than I expected.
Most of the time, he’s in and out of the shower.
Bored, I climb out of bed and walk over to his desk.
I glance at the oversized pushpin board on the wall, wondering if he has any more leads on The Queen.
The last time I looked through his things, I found his searches for her IP address.
As far as I know, he still hasn’t found her.
The last time we spoke of her, he was having trouble narrowing her location.
I open drawer at the center of his desk, not sure what I’m looking for. My trust in him is dwindling. I want to give it back, but there’s a small part of me that’s unable to. Inside his drawer I find handwritten notes. None of them are of any value. Until I find something that matters… to Jamie.
He lied about the girl he kissed. Cecelia Carmichael is more important than Jamie had let on. The pictures and letters in his drawer serve as proof. He’s cupping the side of her face in this picture, staring at her with a loving expression in his eyes.
She’s not just his childhood friend.
No, she’s his girlfriend.
And what does that make me?
The other woman.