Chapter Ten #3
This wasn’t Addison’s first experience with embarrassment.
There was the time in the second grade when she got on the wrong bus and took a trip through the whole town until she was left as the last kid sitting.
Then, in the eighth grade, she asked Ian Smith to the Sadie Hawkins dance, and he said yes only for him to not show up.
There were a few tears in the middle school bathroom.
The time she fainted in biology during a dissecting assignment wasn’t one of her finer moments.
Under heavy anesthesia she professed her love, and even worse lust, for her student doctor.
Those were a few she could remember, though she had a much longer list. But this?
It was in a different category. She hadn’t even planned on sleeping with him. He hates me. But less than ten minutes ago, he was inside her. His dismissal was embarrassing enough, but adding this insult to injury teetered on the line of humiliating.
The woman grabbed her drink and walked down the hall, stopping at Cross’s door. She knocked and stepped back adjusting her top, propping up her breasts. Addison should’ve looked away, but she was invested.
You may be the first he fucked tonight, but you won’t be the last.
The other woman’s smile brightened, and she glanced over at Addison, winking before she opened the door and walked inside of Cross’s room.
Addison’s stomach rolled and heat spread through her body.
She’d vomited enough times to recognize the warning signs.
Fresh air, that’s what she needed. She rushed toward the front door and onto the porch.
It was cooler, and she closed her eyes, taking deep, even breaths.
Her stomach settled slightly, but beads of sweat formed on her upper lip. She wasn’t out of the woods yet.
There were a few people on the porch, one in particular paying close attention to her.
Gent smirked and cocked his brow. He’d totally set her up.
Asshole. It was on the tip of her tongue to lash out, but the last thing she wanted was more attention on her.
It was best to slither away quietly with her tail between her legs.
She grasped the banister and stumbled a bit.
“You alright, darlin’?”
Addison straightened her back and walked to her car.
I hope your dick rots off, Gent.
****
Cross sat on the edge of his bed, elbows resting on his knees and his head bowed.
“Fuck!” he muttered.
Inviting her to the clubhouse was an olive branch.
He’d had no plans of fucking her. So why the fuck did you?
He glanced over at the door. She’d left ten minutes ago, and he was still holed up in his room.
Usually, when he brought a woman back to his room, he dismissed them as soon as it was over.
Exactly what he’d done with her. Except this time, he secretly wanted her to stay.
But he didn’t ask or allude to it. Of course, she fucking left.
The knock on the door had him straightening. He ignored the skip in his heartbeat. She’d come back looking for him.
“Yeah, c’mon in.”
He stood, and his mood instantly shifted when he saw the club whore walk in and close the door.
“Hi.”
“You get the keg money?”
She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “Ace said he’d send one of the prospects.”
He stared back at her, waiting for some explanation why she was in his room. When she didn’t offer anything up, his patience thinned.
“You need something?”
She smiled, shifting her eyes to the couch. Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me. He shot out his arm, pointing to the door.
“Get the fuck out.”
She winced and seemed genuinely stunned. Why? He’d kicked her out earlier when he had Addison in here. Wasn’t that enough to put two and two together? Apparently not.
He held up his fingers. “Two choices. You get out of my room and go back to the party. Or? You get the fuck out of my room and the clubhouse, and your ass isn’t welcome here anymore.”
She spun so quickly, she stumbled before ripping the door open and running out.
Smart choice.
Cross drove his fingers through his hair, locking his hands behind his head.
By now, Addison would’ve gotten a drink, possibly a second.
She wouldn’t be coming back to his room unless he invited her.
Once with her was definitely not enough.
She had a draw that he was incapable of resisting.
But it would complicate things. Cross had no idea what was happening between them, and until he figured it out, it was best to keep it a secret.
But they could hang out with the club without raising any suspicions.
Cross had been careful to be discreet by sending her out first. It was done with purpose.
If Gent or Oak saw them walk out together, she’d be subjected to a relentless amount of taunting.
Addison could probably hold her own with Oak, but not many could take on Gent.
Psychotic fuck! He left his room, stopping at the end of the hall, subtly looking for her.
In the sea of people with a party this big, she was hard to find.
He checked the bar, the back area with the cage, and the yard.
As he was coming around the front, he looked for her car but didn’t see it.
Cross walked up the front steps, heading into the house.
“You looking for someone, brother?” Gent asked.
Cross ignored him, knowing he’d purposely sent Addison to his room.
Gent would get nothing from him. He made his way inside, grabbed a drink, and settled at the table with a few brothers.
He didn’t have her number, so reaching out was impossible unless he got it from Cleo or Cypher.
Speaking of her. Cleo was following Wraith as they passed the table, but Addison was nowhere to be found.
Cue, who was sitting next to him, bumped his arm as he reached out, grabbing Cleo’s wrist.
“Hey, Cue.” She said.
“You just get here?”
Cleo smiled, nodding. Cue glanced over at Cross then back to Cleo. “Thought I saw Addison here before?”
Cleo’s smile faltered. “Yeah, I must have just missed her. We were running late, and she got here before I did but left.”
His muscles tightened. She left?
“Why’d she leave?” Cue asked.
Cross looked over at Cleo, waiting on her answer.
“She sent me a message saying that she wasn’t feeling well.”
Cross grabbed his glass, and chugged the remnants. Addison’s sudden departure sounded like regret to him.
Fuck!