Chapter 26 #2
“Of course.” I grabbed another mug. He was texting her. He was in my bedroom after fucking me senseless, and he was texting her. My stomach twisted. The sense of calm and safety I’d found in his arms last night turned to tiny bites, tearing at my insides.
What if he didn’t mean it…
Men said things to get women into bed all the time.
Look at Jeremy.
“Oh, I’m glad.” Cady-Jo seemed pleased by the explanation.
The coffee was ready in minutes. Grabbing the cream and sugar, I slid them in front of them.
“So what’s going on with you guys today?
” While they explained, I went through the motions of making my coffee.
I couldn’t drink it. My stomach pitched at the smell of the brew that usually kept me functional.
I wrapped my hands around the mug, not really registering the way it burned.
Cady-Jo explained about having to run the café, taking over from Louise soon. Not soon enough for me.
“I was going to see if Ty wanted to help me choose a dress for the party and maybe have dinner together. It looks like that’s out.” She put her phone away with a pout.
“That’s nice.” This time, I did mean it in the not-so-nice, Mrs. Brown’s Boys way.
“It is.” She smiled wistfully. “He’s been so incredible since I moved back…”
She then regaled us with all of the ways Ty had “helped” her.
Each word out of her mouth made those vicious teeth tearing my insides to shreds bite me harder.
And all of this had happened in a week. A week when, to hear it, he’d followed her around like a lovesick puppy.
At least I knew that wasn’t true with his work schedule.
It just didn’t help this was also the week he’d ignored me, even if I did understand the whys. At least I thought I did.
Cady-Jo’s phone buzzed and she pulled it from her back pocket. “Phoebe,” she broke into Olivia’s drivel. “Jesse’s asking if he can have you look at his creative writing project tomorrow after church?”
“Absolutely!” The first sliver of anything other than anxiety and doubt sliced through me.
Jesse had been hanging around more and more when he wasn’t at college, coming by in the afternoons that he had off to “help” Ty.
Really, he ended up talking to me about writing, plot development, and all the things that went into writing a book.
I’d initially wondered if Cady-Jo would have a problem with it.
After all, she’d made her feelings on Ty being here more than clear.
Okay, yes, I was being a bit catty. To my delight, she was actually thrilled Jesse was coming here.
He’d transformed in the last couple of weeks, and she was genuinely grateful for my unintended role in it.
I hadn’t really done anything. I just knew what it was like to feel different and have voices in your head.
Not the kind that required medication, thank the Lord.
I smiled, happy Jesse was finding himself again.
“I think it’s helpful Lock’s going through his parents’ divorce.
” It hurt me to think of the pain Lock went through because I needed to leave his father.
Even I had to admit spending time with Jesse had been good for my son.
“Jesse’s an incredible kid, and I’m so grateful for how he’s helped Lock. ”
They stayed only a few minutes, not even finishing their coffee. Grabbing the extra extra cookie dough I’d made, I helped Cady-Jo load it all into her car, just to be sure she didn’t need to come back.
Back inside, I closed my door and rested against it.
They’d been here less than twenty minutes, and it’d felt like it was hours of me walking on a tightrope.
The telltale sound of heavy footsteps sounded behind me, and I summoned the energy to face Ty.
He was dressed in his jeans and a T-shirt I recognized as one of the ones I’d secretly stolen from him. His feet were bare, and any excitement at the picture he presented was doused by the fact his phone was in his hand, his screen illuminated.
Olivia hadn’t really gotten off her phone while she was here, and now I figured I knew why.
The anger I’d barely contained along with a healthy dose of self-disgust mixed with jealousy had me snipping, “Texting your girlfriend?”
That wasn’t fair. Ask me if I cared?
Ty locked his phone, shoving it into his jean pocket. “Should I have told them I was upstairs?”
Intellectually, I knew I was being ridiculous. But you ask anyone who had jealousy making their decisions for them if they could think rationally?
“Of course not,” I said patronizingly. “We wouldn’t want to upset Olivia.”
Ty came the rest of the way down the stairs. “Is there a particular reason you’re upset?” he goaded me.
Shoving away from the door, away from him, I strode down the hall. “What is there to be upset about?” Other than everything?
He followed me, and when the phone in his pocket buzzed, too little sleep combined with a week of emotional upset and just…everything. I exploded.
“Why don’t you just go?” I waved my hand dismissively. “Go find the little girlfriend you’ve spent the week making feel oh so special. Go now, and we can pretend like you didn’t spend the night screwing another woman.”
Tears stung my eyes, the emotions filling me more than I could handle.
Was I being illogical? Yes. I was angry, jealous, hurt, and exhausted.
It was a recipe for an outburst. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t able to control it.
I couldn’t bury the feelings until I could put them on the page or find a closet to cry in.
Ty moved so fast I didn’t even see him until he was in front of me, his grip on my shoulders firm.
He grabbed my chin forcefully when I tried to look away.
His face was mere inches from mine, his expression furious.
“Never, and I mean never, disparage what’s between us like that again.
You aren’t some fuck I picked up for the night in a bar.
What’s between us is more than that, and you know it.
Don’t you dare pretend otherwise, or so help me, I’ll paddle your ass until you can’t sit for a week. ”
He yanked me forward, slamming his lips over mine.
This kiss was meant to punish, to force out all those thoughts that ran rampant in my head.
To let me know he was serious. Kissing him back was the outlet I needed for all the feelings rioting inside me.
I’d never had an angry kiss, but I rather liked it.
Neither of us was particularly gentle. He forced my head to the angle he wanted; I pulled him tighter against me, sucking at his tongue and biting his lips hard enough to sting.
His hand wrapped around my neck, his fingers tightening slightly to control how I ate at his mouth.
He pressed down hard enough for me to feel the thrill of being at his mercy, but not hard enough that I couldn’t breathe.
I reached for the zipper on his jeans, and he shoved at the waist of my yoga pants.
“You’re so fucking wet for me,” he growled against my lips, his fingers testing me, teasing me.
The arousal I’d felt from earlier came rushing to the surface, jealousy and anger making my clit pound in need.
Ty teased my opening, and I shoved my hand into the space made by his fly. Wrapping my hand around his cock, I was too angry to admire how the soft skin stretched over him. I could feel his veins pulse with each beat of his heart.
“You think you’re going to get this hard for her?” I taunted, squeezing his cock, pumping my hand up and down. His jeans fell further down his hips, giving me ample room to play.
“That’s it. Squeeze my cock, baby.” Sweat popped on his forehead. He thrust his cock into my hand. “Feel that?” He rubbed the head of his cock against my palm. “My cum is so desperate to fill your cunt—it’s leaking out of me.”
I could feel the hot trail of liquid rubbing against my palm. I was no expert in such things, but to me, it felt like a lot more than just pre-cum.