Chapter Thirty
MIA
On a satisfied sigh, I curled tighter into Zack’s side.
Our naked bodies were still damp with sweat.
Never in my wildest imagination did I think I’d enjoy cuddling, but something about Zack made it so deliciously satisfying.
Our clothes were strewn around my living room, where we’d ended up on the couch.
His hand trailed down my back and brushed over my tender ass. “How’s it feel?”
“Like you spanked me.” I smirked, knowing my tone was heavy with sass.
He swatted my left cheek, and I hissed through my teeth.
“You and that sassy mouth.”
I traced a figure eight on his pec and leaned up to look at him. “You weren’t complaining earlier when I had your cock in my sassy mouth.”
“I’ll never complain about that.”
My stomach grumbled loudly, and I giggled, remembering how we’d gotten sidetracked earlier.
“We never finished making dinner.”
He’d come over straight from his shift, and after the third time I’d tried to provoke him, he’d thrown me over his shoulder and strode into the living room.
Dropping to the couch, he’d bent me over his knee, giving me what I’d wanted.
We were both desperate for each other, only getting to see each other twice in the last week.
Our schedules since the wedding just hadn’t lined up well.
“Nope.” He sighed. “Five more minutes and then we will.”
I traced my finger across his pec again, loving the way his muscles twitched under my touch.
He picked my hand up and brought my wrist to his lips, pressing a kiss there. “It’s funny. The apartment has struck again.”
“Huh?” I raised up, looking at him with furrowed brows. What was he talking about?
“You know. The silly love curse thing,” he said with a huge smile on his face, like he didn’t just drop a huge bomb.
I stared at him with wide eyes. Love curse? Wait, no. Did he mean he thought we had fallen victim to it? I stiffened, running his words through my head again. Reliving the past two weeks. The Jeep show trip. The wedding.
No. He couldn’t. We’d agreed. He promised he wouldn’t fall in love with me. I couldn’t give him that.
I got up off the sofa and threw my underwear and T-shirt back on before turning back to him. He stared back at me with hurt and confusion in his eyes.
“No. Zack.” I shook my head. “It didn’t.” I’d warned him, over and over again. And he didn’t listen. “I told you, no love.”
His jaw locked as he stared at me, and the fact that he wasn’t correcting me meant I was right in my assumption. He had done the one thing I’d told him he couldn’t do.
Pain tore through my chest as I watched his expression go from disbelief to devastation.
I hated that I was hurting him. This was what I’d wanted to avoid.
This moment. And yet, I’d been selfish. Because I knew this was where he was headed, and I’d allowed it to continue.
All the while knowing I would never be able to give him that.
“I should go,” he whispered, getting up and hastily putting his clothes back on.
My stomach revolted at the words even though I knew that was for the best. Because I knew how this would end. Just like it always did.
But this time… This time, I didn’t want it to. I wanted him to stay. Turn back time and go back to the way we were, stopping him from uttering the words that destroyed everything.
These last five weeks with him had been so perfect, so amazing. Why did he have to go mess it up?
I stood frozen in place. Part of me wanted to run to him and beg him not to leave, while the other half of me wanted to fall to the floor and cry because I knew I had to let him go.
He paused at the front door, looking over at me one last time, and then he was gone.
The sound of the apartment door slamming shut finally broke me. I collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Why didn’t he listen?” I sobbed.
My chest felt tight, and I wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like. I couldn’t breathe, and the thought of not being with him made me sick to my stomach.
But ultimately, this was for the best. Because I could never give him what he wanted. What he deserved.