Page 60 of Exrated
I press my palms flat against his bare chest. “Tyler, stop,” I whisper, backing away again.
“Brandi,” he says with an edge to his voice, “go the fuck away.” He reaches for me again, but I jerk away.
That one second without him touching me is all it takes to clear the sex-fog that’s clouding my mind. I can’t do this with him. I won’t do this to myself.
His eyes narrow and he frowns “Don’t do this,” he whispers.
“I…I can’t.” The back of my calves hit the steps, and I spin around, clutching my dress to my chest as I climb out of the pool. Brandi glares at me as I make my way toward the house.
“Titch!”
I don’t turn around. I grab the door and hurry inside, dripping wet. Hudson’s eyes land on me, his brow wrinkling in confusion. “Uh, you fall into the pool, chicken?”
“I just…I need a towel.”
“Bathroom’s down the hall. Help yourself.” The backdoor slams shut and Tyler calls my name again. “Oh, I see what happened here,” Hudson laughs.
I’m almost to the bathroom when someone grabs onto my elbow and spins me around.
“Jemma,” Tyler says.
“Stop,” I say as I push into the bathroom and flip on the lights.
“No.” The door closes and the lock clicks. “You stop.”
I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My hair’s matted to my head, my mascara’s all over the place, and my face is flushed. There is no coming back from this. And you want to know why? Because I fucking lied to myself. I told myself I could handle this. That it didn’t matter to me that he did porn because there would never be an “us” again when the truth is, when someone has meant as much to you as Tyler has, that idea of “us” never goes away.
Tyler grabs a towel from the linen closet and wraps it around my shoulders. “You can’t run away from this, Jemma. You can’t.”
And, right now, I want to punch him. Fuck him for not letting me.
We’re in the middle of the bathroom, dripping wet and staring at each other. For a second, I think she may hit me, but instead, she drops her chin to her chest. A piece of wet hair falls in her face, and I sweep it behind her ear. I can’t leave it at just that simple touch. I trail my fingers down her jaw, gripping her chin and forcing it up, but she refuses to look at me.I skim my fingertip over her plump bottom lip. “Look at me,” I say.
Her eyes lock with mine and she sighs, her warm breath blowing over my hand. I keep my gaze trained on her as I slowly inch my face toward hers. “I never forgot this…” I whisper against her mouth before I kiss her. “Letting you go was a mistake. Everything since that day has been a mistake,” I whisper against her ear.
“Don’t tell me that,” she says in a desperate tone. “Don’t…”
“It was.”
There’s a knock on the door. The handle jiggles. “Jemma,” Heather’s voice comes from the other side, “you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Let me in then,” Heather says.
“No,” I say.
“Oh, fuck you, dude. Let me in.”
“I said no. Go the fuck away.”
“Tyler, I can’t do this with you. I can’t.”
“You can’tnotdo it.” I shake my head, grazing my mouth over hers. “We belong together, and you know that.”
“Maybe in another life we did, Tyler.” She pulls away from me, staring at me with hurt for a brief moment before she closes her eyes. “But not now.”
“What the fuck? Really?” I drag my hands through my damp hair.
