Chapter 20 #2
I can feel my face heating, but I cover it with a wry smile and a nod. Though you and I need to have words. Why the fuck didn’t you warn me how amazing oral sex is?
He bursts out laughing. “Giving or receiving? Nah, don’t answer that, they’re both bloody wonderful.” He claps his hand on my back. “Pleased for ya, fella.” His grin returns to the nosy bastard one I was expecting. “So - ”
The front door bursts open, and Sadie storms in looking like all the magnificent fury of a tornado, and just as damaged as the towns they sweep through.
Her hair is pulled back in a haphazard knot, uneven strands sticking up all around her, and her eyelids are red and puffy, flashing with furious pain.
I’ve never seen her this angry and miserable in all the time I’ve known her.
“Hey, what’s - ”
She cuts Leo off.
“ Nobody piss me off today,” she warns us in a dangerously quiet voice, “and it’s probably better for everyone if you all stay away and leave me the fuck alone.
” She dashes down the corridor and kicks her studio door open.
It hits the wall before the slow close mechanism kicks in as it swings back.
Leo and I stare at each other in alarm, and I wince when Thieves by Ministry suddenly blasts full volume through the building.
“Shit,” Leo bites out. Sadie only ever plays Ministry albums when she’s feeling truly murderous. He rushes through to her room, and I follow uneasily, wanting to help but not sure if I can.
She’s gripping her table and taking deep breaths, looking like she’s fighting not to cry.
Or fighting not to throw stuff around the room while the music screams as it bounces against the walls.
Some choking noises, like smothered sobs, force their way out of her chest, making her shudder. This is not the Sadie I know.
“What happened?” Leo asks. No teasing, no kidding around. The woman he loves is hurting, and nothing else matters or even exists to him. My gut twists as I imagine how I’d feel if Liaden was upset like this. I couldn’t bear it. I’d go berserk.
“I said leave me alone,” she snaps, her voice starting to crack.
“What happened?” he asks again in a softer voice.
“Leave. Me. ALONE . Get out of my fucking face . What part of that don’t you understand, Leo?
!” Her voice is fierce, but still broken, and her lips are pressed together hard enough to make them go white in the middle.
For all she’s snarling at us, it’s like she’s a wounded animal, desperate for the same care that she’s trying to frighten away from her.
I feel helpless in a way I really don’t like.
Leo walks slowly forwards and takes both of Sadie’s hands. She tries to pull them away, but he holds on. “What happened, sweetheart?” he asks gently. “You know I’ll listen.”
Her face crumples a little, and she puts up a good fight against it, but eventually lets him pull her into his arms. “Peter dumped me,” she whispers brokenly, and starts to silently cry.
Immediately, Leo holds her tighter, murmuring something I can’t quite hear, stroking her hair and letting her cry it out on his shirt.
“He’s been having an affair with some bitch for the last eighteen months .
She’s the Vice-Chancellor’s daughter, which means she’s more ‘suitable’ than me, whatever the fuck that means.
” She makes a sad growl, leaning harder against him like her legs might give out.
“ All this time I’ve been wondering what changed and what I’ve done wrong to irritate him so much that he can’t even bring himself to…
to even show me the most …basic politeness anymore, and all the while he’s been diddling the boss’s daughter to get ahead, and, oh, it gets better, they’re engaged .
The engagement rings he was looking at that time a few months back?
They weren’t for me. They’d never have been for me, because I’m not suitable . They were for her .”
“Oh, babe.” Leo sounds remarkably pained, for someone whose wildest dream just became possible.
“And then I went to my parents, right, for a little comfort, ” she sobs, “for some support and love , and…and my father asked me…what I’d done to drive such a good man away…
because obviously it’s got to be all my fault.
” The last word is wailed more than said, and she gives in and breaks her heart on his shoulder, letting him support her entire weight as she ugly cries it all out.
“And it is , that’s the funny part. It is my fault.
I put up with his shitty moods and his disrespect for far too long, so I might as well have just given in and bent over for him.
Honestly, I deserve everything that’s happened…
” She’s rambling at this point, and her voice is so disjointed that the rest of what she mumbles isn’t clear.
Leo’s eyes flash with rage, and he kisses the top of her head again and again.
“No. Absolutely not,” he says firmly. “You did nothing to deserve this. You’re the best thing that could happen to anybody…
that stupid prick …” I wonder if he means Peter or her father as I sneak out.
The best thing I can possibly do for both of them right now is leave them alone together, just let him hold her and love her through this moment.
I’ll let Eli and Em know not to disturb them, either.
There’s been a whole lot leading up to this point in time, and they don’t need any witnesses for it.
Dean: I can’t stop thinking about you.
I’m wandering around my apartment like a lost soul, listless and wishing Liaden was here so I could taste her again.
I’m exhausted, but also, I can smell her on my pillow, and it makes me want to beg her to cancel whatever plans she has right now and come over, or let me go to hers, sleep be damned.
All I want is to have her in my arms after a long day of work.
It’s like she’s invaded me somehow, preoccupying me and making it impossible to think of anything else.
Fuck it. I’m not gonna be chill about this, or cool, or aloof. I’m not going to pretend to be above it all. What would be the fucking point? I’ve been blessed with the unimaginable good luck of her , and I’m not going to piss that away with misguided ideas of playing hard to get, or whatever.
I keep checking for her response, annoyed with myself for being so fixated. The three dots showing that she’s responding are like a hit of adrenaline.
Liaden: Hey
I wait for more. Surely there’s more from my favorite motormouth than just ‘hey’.
The three dots appear again.
Liaden: Same. I’m stuck in faculty meetings and all I can think about is the sheer excellence of your penis.
I love this woman.
Dean: Good to know, Beb. I can’t stop thinking about how you taste [ wink emoji]
I really can’t. I’m fairly sure licking Liaden’s pussy is my ‘thing’, or fetish, or whatever. Even the memory is enough to make my pulse race and my dick start straining.
Liaden: Beb?
Dean: It means darling in NOLA-ese.
Liaden: Rooted in ‘bebe’. You just called me baby [heart emoji]
Liaden: PS if you ever meet my boss and it comes up, right now you are a student in distress, affirmative?
I smirk. Not gonna resist the urge…
Dean: I could definitely get on board with pretending to be your student [fire emoji]
Liaden: Oh, god, I obviously woke the beast when I deflowered you. You’re insatiable [laugh emoji]
I can’t help but laugh at the use of ‘deflowered’, but I’m suddenly concerned that I’ve been a bit…much. I’m about to text back to ask, when another message pops up:
Liaden: Lucky me [smiling devil emoji]
So I guess it’s all good.
Dean: I can’t wait until tomorrow evening
I’m just killing time until then, and every second is passing ten times slower than normal. It’s driving me crazy. I’ll probably pounce on her like a wild cat the moment she steps through the studio door, ripping through her clothes to get to the bare skin I’m desperate to kiss..
Liaden: Me too, because I have questions.
I sit up straighter.
Dean: About what?
Liaden: The whole meeting the parents thing this week.
Oh.
God, have I trapped her into doing something she’s not ready for? Like a goddamn rookie? I slap my hand over my eyes and rub them hard, cursing my inexperience for the millionth time.
Dean: Do you still want to?
Liaden: Absolutely, don’t get me wrong. It’s simply out of my area of expertise. What do I wear? And there’s no point in buying your mother a bunch of flowers because she can’t take them home to Louisiana with her.
I breathe a sigh of relief, warmed through by how thoughtful she is.
Dean: Don’t worry, she’s going to love you. You don’t have to dress a certain way or give her anything. Just be your adorable self, and it’ll be a cakewalk for you. You’ve got this.
Liaden: “My adorable self”? [smile emoji]
Dean: I said what I said.
Liaden: You’re lovely, you know that, right?
Do I dare?
If I say this next part, she might not like it…but do I have any real evidence that she’d dump me over it? Maybe she’d even be happy. And I want her to know where I stand .
With slightly shaky fingers, I type.
Dean: Just honest about how awesome my girlfriend is.
I press send before I can punk out.
Please don’t freak out, please don’t freak out…
Liaden: Girlfriend… I like it [big toothy grin emoji]
Oh, thank god.
Dean: Good [wink emoji] now tell me what underwear you have on [fire emoji]
Liaden: Underwear? Never heard of it [tongue out emoji]
Holy fuck.
My arousal levels have been on a hair trigger like never before since losing my virginity, hard and ready in a split second any time, and my dick demands attention now. It wants Liaden, in her meeting, without any panties on like a naughty girl. My naughty girl.