34. Blake
BLAKE
I’m in my office at the back of the hotel, but instead of sitting at my desk, I’m pacing the floor like I’m trying to create a groove in it. Anger and jealousy pound through me like it’s got its own heartbeat.
Have I left it too late? Should I have claimed her already?
I should have let her know I was awake the other night, and rolled her over in bed, and climbed between her thighs.
I’d been worried about freaking her out, and her leaving before the bad weather closed in, but now I’m worried she’ll decide to leave with this little prick instead.
Levi appears in the open doorway, and I meet his glowering stare.
I hold up a hand. “You don’t have to say it.”
“Kick him the fuck off our property,” Levi spits.
“How do you think that’s going to go down with Aspen? It’ll make us the enemy.” I narrow my eyes at my son. “Not that you’re helping any with that.”
Levi lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “I do what I can.”
“I assume telling you to be nice will fall on deaf ears.”
“Nice? I want to cut that son of a bitch’s hands off for touching her, and then lips for ever kissing her, and his co—”
“I get the point,” I interject.
“Don’t act like you don’t feel exactly the same way. She’s ours.”
I do my best to contain my smile at Levi’s words. “So, you admit that she’s ours now?
That could be one good thing to come out of the arrival of Aspen’s asshole boyfriend. It’s made Levi look deeper into how he feels about her. It had come as a surprise to me that he’d helped her bake. I’ve never known Levi to help anyone with anything, never mind something so… domesticated.
“Yeah, she’s fucking ours,” he growls, “and tonight she’s going to have another man in her bed.”
My stomach knots at the truth of his words. “I don’t like it either, but we have to trust her.”
He cocks an eyebrow. “Trust her?”
“To make the right choices.”
Levi scoffs at me. “What are you going to do when he fucks her tonight? Are you going to stand outside her bedroom door and listen to her cries as she comes around another man’s cock? Maybe you’d get a kick out of it and jerk yourself off, but I want to kill the fucking shit stain.”
I clench my jaw so tight I’m surprised I don’t break a tooth. “I won’t get a kick out of it, but she’s an adult, and she gets to make her own decisions about who she does and doesn’t sleep with.”
I can barely believe I’m saying this. The thought of Aspen with someone other than us is killing me.
“And when this guy leaves, what then? Will she expect to go visit him? Will he be back next weekend for another taste of her pussy?”
“He won’t be back,” I say resolutely.
“You so sure about that? What if she says she wants to see him again? What if she even goes with him now?”
“If you behave yourself, she’ll make the right decision herself, and then he’ll leave, and hopefully he’ll have gotten her out of his system and he’ll never think about her again.”
Levi presses his lips into a thin line. “You know I’m not the only person you have to worry about behaving themselves...”
I press my lips together. Yeah, he’s right about that. But there are some things I can’t control, no matter how much I want to.
“This is your fucking fault.” Levi jabs a finger in my direction. “You told her he could come here. You’ve lost your goddamned mind.”
“It was the day of her father’s funeral.
She was upset and vulnerable. I was saying whatever I needed to get her to agree to come with me.
I didn’t think he’d actually come. I thought us putting the signal jammer on her phone would be enough to stop him contacting her.
I figured if they weren’t even exchanging messages, then he wouldn’t just show up here. ”
Levi sweeps his arm around. “And yet here he is. Her pussy really must be too sweet to keep him away.”
I grind my molars. I know what her pussy tastes like, at least indirectly, and yeah, it is sweet.
Levi doesn’t know that, though. I’ve been warning Levi to keep his distance from her so he doesn’t scare her off, and I don’t think he’d be overly pleased to know she played with herself while she thought I was asleep beside her.
Or that I’d put her fingers in my mouth after she’d passed out.
“So, what are we going to do about it?” Levi presses.
“Nothing. Not yet, anyway.”
My son shakes his head at me. “You’re fucking weak, do you know that? Have you ever considered that she wants you to take control? She could be lying in bed, with that asshole rutting into her, wishing you’d storm in there and drag him off?”
I draw in a shaky breath. Is Levi right? Is that what she would want from me?
I want her to want to be here. I want her to be sure about it, and not just because of me. Because when the snow starts to fall—which will be soon—she’s going to need to be strong enough to get through the weeks and months and handle everything that’s thrown at her.
I clear my throat. “She needs to be able to make her own choices while she still can.”
He shakes his head again. “You’re fucking deluded. Do you think you’re some kind of good guy? Is that what’s happening here? Because you’re not. You know that, right? Even if you’ve somehow tricked Aspen into believing that’s the truth.”
Levi spins away from me and storms back out of the office. I watch him go, emotions churning inside me. He’s right when he said I’m not a good guy.
I’m keeping so many secrets from Aspen, I barely know where to begin.