Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Creed
I shouldn’t be jealous, but I am in a blind fucking rage.
It’s the most sickening thing.
I am jealous over her and my son.
And do you want to know why? Because he was now her last kiss. That was me up until five minutes ago.
Fuck.
Scrubbing my face, irritation swirls inside of me. I have no idea what to do. I want to see her but at the same time, I don’t. If I see Royce, I’ll end up saying something and that’s not fair.
Pacing the room, the rage is storming in the depths of me, and I don’t know how to calm myself down.
She’s got me twisted.
So fucking twisted.
Slipping my phone out, I type a message to her.
I am sick with jealousy.
I follow it up with:
I shouldn’t be. But I am.
I wait a moment.
This is so fucking wrong.
The messages are delivering, but she hasn’t read them. Royce has probably taken her home.
I tug the roots of my hair.
Don’t go home with him.
What the fuck was I doing?
Please.
Oh my God. I have officially lost it. Begging my son’s ex-girlfriend not to go home with him, secretly hoping that she never said yes if he in fact asked her back.
I’m going to hell.
The fuck is wrong with me?
Tossing my phone on the bed, I pace for the door and tug it open. That’s when I see her. Standing there in front of me, wide eyed, hair a little wild, lipstick smudged, and I am fucking sick to my stomach.
“Do you know how fucking jealous I am?” I whisper, stepping forward so we’re toe to toe. Her head tips back as I look down at her.
“Clearly not jealous enough,” she whispers back and I growl.
Tugging her into my room, I close the door behind her.
“You have no right to be jealous though, do you?” Her chest rises and falls and her being here, like this, and that fucking dress. It’s killing me. It clung to her every curve, her full tits spilling over the neckline and I am feral for her.
“No.” I hover my hands over her hips, desperate to feel her under my fingertips.
“I’m not yours and you’re not mine.” I edge closer to her as the words spill from her mouth.
“That’s right.” My voice is more of a groan as our lips hover millimetres from each other.
Her breaths grow heavier, her eyes falling to my mouth, silently begging me.
“Royce asked for me back… kissed me… begged for me to be back in his life…” Her words are staggered and that’s when her eyes flick to mine.
Her lips purse and I see the small gap between her two front teeth, and my jealousy hits its peak, but she’s not done yet.
She’s not done getting me in a blind rage.
“Pleaded for one. last. night.”
I lose it.
My hands are clasping her face, tilting her face upwards to mine as I push her back against the door and a moan slips past her full lips.
“Love making me jealous, Ace?” I murmur against her mouth, and she smiles.
“It’s my favourite thing to do,” she whispers as I drag my mouth to her neck.
One hand curls around the base of her throat as I feel the way her pulse races beneath my fingertips.
“You’re a brat.” I nip across her collar bone, my hand wrapping around her hip, pinning her against the door.
“I am.” She grabs my head and drags my lips to hers, her body moulding against mine as she kisses me.
Tongues entwined, our teeth clash as I uncurl my fingers from her throat and grab her cheeks, squeezing them ever so slightly and pursing those full fucking lips.
Teasing my tongue across them, before I am dipping between them, and I know I am seeing this through.
There is no fucking way I am letting her walk out this door again without claiming her.
I want her all to myself.
There’s no way I am letting anyone else having her.
Especially not my son.
Ana?s
He lifts me effortlessly and drops me to the bed, a stupid smirk on my face as he leans over me.
“Tell me you didn’t say yes. Tell me you didn’t take him back.” He lowers his lips to mine but not close enough for me to kiss him.
“Would it matter?” I whisper, my breath catching at the back of my throat.
He thinks over my question for a moment, his eyes alight with me.
“Not one fucking bit.” He growls, kissing me.
It’s raw, erotic, passionate. I grab around the back of his neck and hold him against my lips, letting his tongue invade my mouth. Large hands are either side of my head and I’m desperate to have them on my body, trailing my skin, exploring every inch of me.
He breaks away and I can see him fighting with his thoughts.
“Don’t,” I whisper, fear clawing at my throat.
His green eyes are on mine, and all doubt slips away as his hand skims down the side of my body, hitching under the hem of my dress. Slowly, ever so slowly, he drags it up my body. His greedy eyes watch the journey of his hand, watching as my skin is exposed under his fingers.
“Fuck.” He drags in a breath, his sights between my legs and I burn under his touch.
His mouth is on mine, fingers digging into my skin and I know he is going to leave a mark. At this moment in time, I don’t care.
He moves slightly forward, knocking my legs wider as he settles between them. His lips drag down my neck, barely gliding his tongue along my pulse line and the little tremors tease my lower stomach.
I writhe beneath him, needy and desperate. My fingers lock in his hair as he presses his kisses over my breast, biting the hem of my dress and exposing me.
The guttural moan that vibrates in his throat drives me crazy and it’s all I want to hear.
A knock on the door has him pausing for a moment, his lips hovering over my skin. My dress is bunched around my waist, the top of it sitting at my ribs. His lips are so close to the hem of my bra.
“Ignore it,” I beg him.
His eyes flick to mine, a slow smirk drags onto his face. The knock is louder now, and Creed drops his head into my chest, sighing heavily.
“Dad.”
We both freeze.
“Shit.” He pushes up, his eyes dropping to his evident erection and my eyes widen at the sight in front of me as he readjusts himself.
“You in, Dad? Open up, please.” Royce’s voice is loud as he begs through the door.
“You need to hide,” Creed whispers, pulling me from the bed.
I rush around his large room. The only logical place is the wardrobe or the bathroom. I fix my dress and run towards the sliding doors.
“Yeah, one minute,” Creed calls out just as I slip inside and drag the door across, but his foot stops the door from closing.
“This isn’t over,” he whispers, his hand cupping the back of my head as he kisses me.
He goes to step back but I grab his shirt, pulling him forward. I rub my lipstick from his lips, my eyes falling as I make sure it’s all gone.
Closing the door, I inhale heavily. My whole body is trembling with anticipation, and I fear the longer I am here—and the fact Royce is about to step foot in here—will remind me how bad of an idea this is.
I hear the toilet flush before he opens the door. Smart.
“Hey. Sorry, I was in the bathroom.” I hear the faint voice of Creed. “Everything okay?” he asks.
“Not really.” The sadness in Royce’s tone is loud. My heart throbs. “Can I come in?”
Creed falls silent for a moment, and I know he is hesitant.
“Of course.” Relief swarms me. I would hate the idea of him turning Royce away for me.
He would always choose Royce over me. That was the harsh reality.
I’m grateful I am tucked away in the bedroom. The living room is off the hallway of the hotel room so I couldn’t quite hear what was being said, but I didn’t have to. I know Royce will be talking about dinner and how I turned him down.
I don’t want to eavesdrop. I need out.
Sliding the door slightly, I tiptoe to the bedroom door and peek around the frame. The hallway is clear. Their voices were loud as they floated down towards me.
“I tried, Dad.” Royce sighs and I hear the sound of glasses clashing with the worktop.
“You have to remember you broke up with her, Royce… You broke her heart.”
I swallow down the lump that forms in my throat.
Tiptoeing towards the main door, I slowly push down the handle and wince when it clicks.
Panic sets in and I slip out the door, closing it gently behind me as I move quickly down to mine and Nora’s room.
Banging on the door, I root around in my bag at the same time to get my room card but luckily, she opens it before I need to use it.
“Let me in.” I push past her and once I am behind the door, I let out an exasperated breath.
“What happened?” Nora glares at me and I sweep my eyes over her. She’s in her pyjamas, shorts and tee with a croissant on the top, and I smile.
“I went to Creed’s.” I shake my head, kicking my sandals off. It feels so good to not wear heels.
“Why?”
“Because he saw Royce kiss me.”
“Oh.” Her lips form an O.
“Yes, oh.” I slap my hand down on my thigh as I toss my bag on the work top and move to the large lounge area to pour a drink.
“Is that why your lipstick is smudged?” She raises a brow, and I turn quickly to look at her, eyes darting to the floor.
“Partly,” I admit.
“You kissed Creed again.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I admit, pressing my hand to my head as I grab a glass.
“I do,” she chimes, grabbing the scotch and pouring it out for me.
“You do?” I raise a brow
“You have a crush on your ex-boyfriends dad.”
“I do not,” I protest and sulk as I slump on the sofa.
“You do.” She smirks, getting her own glass. “You just don’t want to admit it.”
I cross one leg over the other.
“Because if I admit it, I feel like a terrible person. Royce asked me back out, pleaded with me, and I shut him down because all I could think about was his dad,” I wail, letting my head fall back, eyes pinned to the ceiling.
“You’re not a terrible person.” She sits next to me, one leg tucked under her, the other foot resting on the floor.
I turn my head to face her.
“Royce broke your heart, you’re single… and well, for some weird and wonderful reason, you and his dad clearly have a connection.”
I blink at her a couple of times.
“I am a horrible person.” I sigh, letting my eyes find the ceiling again.
Her hand slips onto my thigh.
“No, babe, you’re not.”
I wake up, groggy and a little sour. I’ve probably drank more than I should have last night, which is not ideal when I have a busy day creating content with the drivers before they go into briefing.
Creed blew my phone up last night, but I ignored every single one and truly, I don’t think he was brave enough to knock on the door knowing I was sharing with Nora.
Dressed in our uniform, we go downstairs for breakfast, and I am grateful that I didn’t see him or Royce this morning. We walk to the paddock, and I duck straight into my office and Nora goes about her day.
Grabbing my camera, I walk to where Royce and Kai should be and smile when I see them both sitting there in their race gear. The green screen is behind them and a couple of my colleagues, Maura and Dave, are sitting in the corner getting the last of the equipment set up.
“Morning,” I say quietly as I enter the room. Royce glares at me coldly, Kai salutes me off his temple.
“Great,” I mutter under my breath.
“How long will this take?” Royce asks me and I look up at him.
“An hour… maybe? I’ll edit it all down. Batch record then I won’t need to pester you for a while.” I give him a sweet smile, and I see the sadness in his eyes.
He needs to remember he dumped me.
Tightening my ponytail, I set up my tripod and brief them on the trend. It’s silly things like guess the driver, guess the track, recognise this wall and trying to be funny because one of them have put their car into it. The fans love it.
“I think that’s everything.” I smile, shutting the camera off the phone and Kai grunts something incoherent to my response and wanders off.
“Can we talk?” Royce asks, looking over his shoulder at Dave and Maura and I nod.
“Maura, Dave, can we have the room for a moment?” They duck out and it’s just me and him.
He steps closer to me, head tilting, eyes all desperate. “We could work.”
“I know,” I agree because it’s the truth, “but—”
“Don’t say but.” He shakes his head.
“Royce, you’re going to ruin everything.
I’ve left us in the past. I spent weeks picking myself up off the floor, trying to piece myself back together again…
You left me. You broke up with me. I’m not some toy you can pick up when you’re bored.
I’m not that kind of girl. You made a choice.
You chose your career, and do you know what, I am super proud of you because not many people would do that.
They would settle. But you didn’t. You wanted more.
You wanted to aim for the fucking stars, and I promise you, Royce”—I place my hand on his upper arm—“you will get there… but not with me.”
He drops his head and then there is that boyish grin he won me over with two years ago.
“I had to try, right?”
“God loves a trier.” I wink, and he pulls me in for a cuddle.
“You’re the one that got away, Ana?s.”
I squeeze him. “No, darling.” I smile. “I just cleared the path for your forever girl.”
He kisses me on the forehead then turns his back and walks away. Suddenly, all feels right in the world.
For now, anyway.