Page 30 of Dirty Love

I prowl towards her, and her eyes widen. Pleading…for what? To tell her it’s going to be okay? That I’ll keep her secret?

I will.

But I’m not letting her go.

Because I know the truth. I stop a foot from her—close enough to pull her into my arms.

I don’t.

Close enough to share her breath and see the pain in her eyes. I look at her long and hard, letting her see that I see her. “Whyare you married?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Your pussy wrapped around my cock says otherwise.”

“You have a very old-fashioned way of looking at fucking, then.”

“Never did until last night.”

“That’s too bad.”

“For your husband. Not for you, and not for me.” I flick my gaze to the door and the asshole on the other side. I need to remember that whatever fucked up situation Tabitha is in, she was in it before I stormed into her world. And she’s a grown-up. Sort of. “Are you safe with him?”

She laughs. “Yes.”

“I can’t leave you with him.”

She shakes her head. “You need to. I’m going to call a doctor for him. And I’m never truly alone with him. You need to go home. This isn’t a fairy tale, Wilson.”

“You think that’s what I want?”

“I think…neither of us expected this. Right?” She shifts closer and presses her hand against my cheek. I’m seething, and her touch doesn’t cool my rage. She’s fearless in the face of it, though. “So we need to pretend last night was a dream.”

How she locks everything up. A dream. A song. Words on the page, scratched over and over again until the letters turn to music notes. Am I going to recognize myself in a song on her next album?

I shake my head. “This isn’t over. I’ll see you again soon, Tabitha.”

She gives me the longest, saddest look, then looks away. And when she looks back, she’s armed with razor blades instead of words. “Think I’ll be fucking someone else when you do?”

My nostrils flare. That’s not going to work. “Think you’ll fuck anyone else alone between now and then?” I lean in and ghost my lips against hers. “If you do, you let me know. Then we can be done.”

I want to imagine I see a tear in her eye as I step back. That it’s not glossy fierceness, but actual feelings that I’ve stirred inside her.

I want to know she’s half as affected by me as I am by her.

I’ll be left hanging on that point forever, because she turns her back on me, not waiting to see me out.

I stand in the empty living room of a suite in the Bel-Air. Less than a day has passed since I first stormed into this room, not knowing what I’d find.

Now I’ve lost my shirt, my heart, and my sanity, all in one fell swoop.

Because my only thought as I stare at the closed door, on the other side of which is my lover and herhusband, is…

Mine.

DIRTY LOVE

part three

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