Chapter 10 He Called Me Baby and I Liked It #2
“I have no idea why she did that. I also don’t know exactly what I said, but she was pretty sure of my feelings for you, even though I told her I wouldn’t talk about it. And, yes, my dad was there, but he was too drunk to remember anything.”
He lets out a long exhale. “I feel so much better. That was really weighing in the back of my mind. I wonder what you said. Probably would have been better if your dad heard everything.”
“Yeah probably. I had the same thought initially.”
“Got wasted on your birthday, huh? I did the same.” Vincent shakes his head. “I tried to text you. Still don’t understand what happened.”
“Oh, I have news on that. Well, I think I have it figured out, but if I’m wrong, I’ll sound crazy.”
“I do like when you get a little crazy. What did you figure out?”
I pull my phone out of my pocket. “Check your phone. Did you miss any calls or texts in the past two hours? From me specifically.”
Vincent is checking his phone. He turns the screen toward me. “Nope. Nothing. Why?”
I turn my phone toward him, showing the four texts I sent when Harlow was in his room earlier.
I think she screwed with your phone.
Maybe she restricted my number.
But that doesn’t answer why I wouldn’t have gotten your texts.
You look really sexy, and I want her to leave.
“Let me see if your number is restricted. Wait, how would I know?”
He passes me his phone, and I search the blocked numbers. “Ahhh. Yep. You blocked me and some other numbers. How could you?” I chuckle, showing him the phone.
His mouth is wide open. “No, how could she have done that? When would she have done that? I really wasn’t around her at all while we were apart.”
I stand up from the bench and exhale. I’m so pissed off about this. “I don’t know, but wait, don’t you have me saved in your phone?”
“Of course I do.” He taps the contact and shows me my name, with the favorite star beside it.
“There’s one part I don’t understand. Try to call me. She couldn’t have blocked me from receiving your texts or calls.”
Vincent presses the call button, and we listen as the phone rings on speaker. We’re both looking at my phone, seeing that no call is coming through. “How do we explain this?” he asks.
“Wait. I think I know. What’s the phone number you have for me?”
“This one,” he says pulling up the phone number and showing it to me. “I assume it’s the same one I’ve always had. I didn’t change it.”
“Well, you may not have, but someone did. That’s not my phone number.”
He stands up from the bench and rakes his hand through his hair.
“Are you fucking serious, right now?! This is why? This is why you didn’t answer me?
Because she made sure I couldn’t reach you.
I am so pissed off right now, Sivan. I fucking cried for months.
I was so upset, thinking that you were ignoring me. Damn it. What do I do now?”
“I have no idea. That level of deceit is insane, though. She not only blocked my number from reaching you, but she changed my number in your phone to make sure that you couldn’t reach me, too.
I didn’t realize how smart she was. It almost seems too smart for her to have come up with.
I knew she was a manipulator, but this is next level. ”
Vincent is pacing in front of the bench.
“And what about Matteo? How come he didn’t realize this?
He’s always five steps ahead of me figuring shit out.
He never even considered this. Just said you were ignoring me because you were using me.
He’s gonna be my first mate—shouldn’t he have seen this as a possibility?
Shouldn’t I have? Damn it, when did I stop thinking for myself? Am I really this stupid?”
I’ve never seen him like this; he looks like a frightened puppy. I can’t tell if he’s going to cry or punch something. Luckily, we’re on a dock, and there isn’t anything to punch, aside from me, or the bench. I’m not at all surprised that Matteo didn’t figure it out.
“Hey,” I say, sitting on the bench. “Sit down with me. It’s okay.”
He sits beside me, leaning forward on his elbows.
“Give me your phone, I’ll fix it.” He passes it to me, and I remove the block from my number, and update the number he had saved for me, then pass it back to him.
“Look at me, Vincent. You are not stupid.” I kiss the side of his head.
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. You only rely on him because that’s what you’ve been taught to do.
This is why I haven’t chosen a first mate.
Do you realize that? I have two people I trust, well, really one, but I guess two.
Neither of those people can be my first mate.
You have to trust this person even more than you trust yourself… that’s what we’ve been taught, right?”
He nods. “Yeah, and that’s…wait, two? Who?”
“You and my dad, but that’s not important right now.
You don’t need Matteo to figure things out.
You can do this. Why wouldn’t he have considered that Harlow messed with your phone?
There are four reasons I can think of right off the bat, probably more.
I want you to really think. What is the most obvious reason? ”
“I don’t know. Probably because he hates you and doesn’t want us to be together.”
“Yeah, well, that’s true. Still haven’t figured out why he hates me, but I have a few theories.
That’s exactly right, though. He didn’t bother thinking about it, because he already had the answer he wanted.
If you’re trying to help someone figure something out, and your first possible solution is the one that favors your line of thinking, you’re not gonna dive deeper unless you’re willing to consider something that could potentially be less favorable for you. You get it?”
“Yeah, he’s a little prick.”
“Well, a little bit, but I still really don’t want to talk shit about him because he’s gonna be around for a long time, and he’s part of your family.”
He’s laughing at me. I think he’s finally cracked.
“Sivan, if we’re together, you have to back me up. If I say he’s a prick, he’s a prick. Those are relationship rules.”
“He’s a prick. The biggest prick I’ve ever seen.”
He kisses me on my cheek and smiles. “That’s better. What are the other reasons he wouldn’t have figured it out?”
His dimples are so deep when he smiles at me. I can’t help but kiss each one before I answer. “Sorry. It’s your fault for having such a kissable face. Your dimples are so distracting.”
“Your face is distracting. I can’t even remember what we were talking about.”
“I was telling you that you don’t need Matteo or anyone else to think for you, and you proved my point. You’re more than capable of determining motive. I’ve seen you do it. Might not be something that comes naturally to you, but you can do it.”
“Maybe. I’m starting to not feel really good about having him as my first mate, because of my relationship with you. If he can’t accept us, I can’t have him as my first mate, Sivan. I really can’t have him as anything. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“It’s up to you. No one can force you to do anything that you don’t want to do.
I’m not selecting a first mate. It’s never happened before, but I don’t care.
My dad doesn’t even bring it up anymore.
Who even knows what will happen—Slicer says he’s gonna come see our dads on that day, so I’m ready for anything. ”
“Yeah…I guess we need to be.” Beside my leg is one of the many spots Vincent carved his initials when we were younger; my initials are just a few inches away from his.
The whole bench is covered in carvings. My initials, his initials, even Matteo’s initials, it’s just one of those things we did when we were younger.
I never carved any girls initials into this bench, though.
Even at that age, I didn’t like the idea of being with just one person forever.
I run my finger over the letter V remembering the time that we carved this particular set.
“Something is missing,” he says, tapping the S beside his leg.
“What’s that?”
He pulls his small pocket blade out and smiles at me.
He’s carving something. Our initials are spaced pretty close to one another, but they’re separate, because, well, it’s not like we wrote them with the intention of being together.
But still, among the many on the bench these two were carved deeper than the others.
“There,” he says, after he’s added a plus sign. “SC plus VR. Now it shows everyone that we’re together.” He slides the blade back into his pocket and gives me a cheesy grin.
I chuckle and pull him in for a quick kiss. “Now that you’ve done that, you realize that you officially belong to me. No one else can ever have you, Vincent Rodrigo.”
Hovering his lips in front of mine, he whispers, “No one else ever will.” He captures my lips with his, kissing me, and I gladly let him take control.
He’s such a good kisser, there’s something about his tongue that drives me absolutely feral.
I want to swallow this man. His warm slippery tongue is gliding all around mine.
Our mouths are twisting and turning, faster than our tongues can even follow.
Vincent’s hands are all over me, and I may just fuck him right here on his bench if I don’t get ahold of myself.
Anyone could come by. Anyone could see us.
He stands from the bench and removes his sword from his side, placing it on the bench beside me, then reaches inside his coat pocket.
He’s putting his hair up in a tight knot and giving me the dirtiest look I’ve ever seen.
He can definitely see my dick pressed against my pants.
I’m achingly hard right now. I rub my palm down it and make eye contact with him.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I can’t be rational here. ”
He reaches forward, sliding my coat off my shoulders, then kisses the side of my neck and whispers in my ear, “Move your pistol. I’m gonna suck your dick.”