Chapter 40
On Monday afternoon, I sigh in relief when I see Ari come through the door toward the office. Her hair is up in a messy bun; she looks tired but, at the same time, beautiful.
She closes the door when she sees me approach, and I open it and close it behind me, locking us both inside.
“We need to talk, Ari. It wasn’t what?—”
“I had sex with someone else,” she signs, and she looks back down at her desk.
My chest rises and falls, and I begin to sweat. I feel like crumpling to the floor.
I shake my head because I must have misunderstood. “Ari.”
She looks up, tears stream down her cheeks, and I’m crumbling. I’m breaking.
“I had sex with someone else. I’m just good enough to string along and fuck with on occasion. I get it. So save it. There is nothing to explain. I showed up to your house and, like Jimmy, you were in the shower fucking someone else. So, I fucked someone else. We’re even. You can go now,” she signs and then shoos me out of the office like I’m a dog.
She thought I was screwing Julia while being with her, and in her mind, I was no better than Jimmy, so she did something to wipe the hurt that she was feeling.
Picturing her with someone else feels like agony .
Another man kissing her, moving inside her while he heard her moans and cries of pleasure.
I sniff.
She looks up, and I can swear I see her frown, but then her lips form a thin line, and her eyes grow cold and lifeless. She is done with me. But I’m not going without a fight. I know Ari loves me, and deep down, I don’t believe she did it. I don’t believe she let someone else touch her.
I slam my hand on the desk in frustration, and she jumps. Her eyes grow wide. She throws a pen at me, and I duck. She grabs an eraser and aims it at my head. It misses me by an inch, and my eyes tell her what my words don’t.
Run.
She gets up, lifts her chin defiantly, and walks over to me, full of anger and hurt in her eyes. She pushes me with her finger and then opens her palms flat and shoves against my chest. She says she hates me.
I can read her lips as she repeats the words over and over.
I move to grab her, but she steps back out of my reach, runs to the door, opens it, and runs out.
I don’t care if we cause a scene. I don’t care if everyone in the gym sees me run out after her.
I follow her until she reaches the locker room shower. I’m relieved that no one was inside changing, but she’s not thinking right now.
I text Javier quickly, telling him to make sure no one comes into the locker room until I give him the okay.
I walk in and notice the lights are on the corner by the showers. I remove my shirt and place my phone on the bench to keep it from getting wet.
I walk over to the corner shower and see the water running. I walk past each divider until I reach Ari under the spray, crying.
Sobs wrack her body as her chest heaves, and I hate myself. I hate that she doesn’t trust me. I hate that Julia lied to her, and it broke her. She saw Julia kiss me at the club. Ari thinks there is a possibility I want Julia when there is only her.
I move forward, trying not to get my sneakers wet. She is getting soaked under the spray, and I don’t think she cares right now. I remove my shoes and socks, so I’m left in only my shorts.
Fuck it, I walk under the spray of warm water. I tilt her head by placing my finger under her chin, and she turns her face away. I grab her more forcefully against me by her arms.
She looks up, squinting against the spray.
I’m not gripping her hard enough to hurt her.
I would never hurt her.
“I didn’t... sleep with her... after... you,” I say, struggling to get the next words out. “Who was... it, Ari? Who?”
She shakes her head, and I look up, praying for a miracle. I don’t want her to leave me, but I need to know who it was.
I release her and sign, “I didn’t sleep with her. She lied.”
I would never cheat on her. We’re together.
She shakes her head, looks up, and signs, “I lied. I didn’t sleep with anyone. I was hurt. It was my birthday, and I went to my parents for the weekend. I said that to hurt you the way you hurt me. I didn’t think you even cared.”
I kiss her forehead, relieved that she didn’t sleep with anyone. It was her birthday, and I didn’t think to check. I didn't plan something special for her.
I step back and remove her shirt.
I push her leggings down and peel them off her legs, dropping them on the floor. She is left in only her bra and thong. I turn her around and place her hands on the tiles with her palms facing flat.
I slide her hair to the side to access her ear. I lean close. “Hold on, Ari. I need to have you right now. So you never question…” I take a deep breath. “How much I love you, baby.” I press my lips on her neck and rasp, “ Eres mia .”
I slip her panties to the side, and I slide the head of my cock at her entrance and shove into her so hard her feet almost lift off the floor. She braces herself for the onslaught of me thrusting deep inside her by holding herself steady with her hands on the tile.
I pull out and groan when I slide in again. I can feel the vibrations coming out of my throat.
Her head tilts back, and I kiss her shoulder.
“Mine,” I growl.
I grip her hips and begin thrusting into her as deep as I can go, over and over. I take her hard.
Ari is it for me. Right now, this is me loving her. This is me showing her there is no way there will ever be anyone else except her.
I wrap my arm around her hips while I’m thrusting inside her and slide my fingers over her lower, holding her still.
I push up into her, faster and faster.
She falls against my chest as I’m going at it, pumping into her. Her tits bop up and down.
Whatever she wants, I’ll give it to her.
I can feel her tense when she is about to come. I plunge into her deep as her orgasm rips through her.
The familiar tingle is at the base of my spine, and my balls draw up. I pump into her one last time, spilling my cum inside her.
Her chest heaves like she ran a marathon. The only marathon she ran was riding my cock.
When I slide out of her, she is tired, and her eyes are heavy. I pick her up and carry her so I can get a warm towel to wrap her body in. Her panties and bra are still on, but I will remove them once I can find her some warm clothes to change into .
I know I can get one of the gym T-shirts from the office, but I have to find a pair of my pants in my gym bag. I set her down on the bench and get another towel to wrap her hair in.
When I’m about to leave, she pulls me close so that my eyes are level with her lips. She knows I can’t hear her, so she mouths what she wants to say to me so I can read her lips. “Next time, fuck me harder.”
My mouth curls into a smile. Baby, I’m going to fuck you so hard every chance I get.