Page 8 of The Boy I Loved
“Fuck,” he growled, his arms trembling on either side of me. He found my mouth, drawing me into a needy kiss. His tongue slipped through my lips, wedging them apart and forcefully slid against mine with domination.
My arms wound around his neck, arousal fluttering through my veins. Hesitantly, he slid in deeper, a soft cry falling from my lips from another pinch of pain.
“That’s it, baby. After this, it’ll start feeling really good.” He kissed me again, more desperately this time. I didn’t miss how his eyes glistened with unshed tears, like something was weighing on him heavily.
Why did this already feel like the end? Why did this feel permanent? My heart sank at the prospect. I knew he was going away, but the way he was acting…
Something was off.
Before I could question him about it, he inched in even deeper, seating himself fully this time. My breath caught in my throat from the fullness of him inside me. He slid his tongue against mine one last time before withdrawing his hips and thrusting back in slowly. The pain started ebbing away, just like he said, causing heat to pool there instead. There was a slight ache there now, too, but it wasn’t painful.
“Did you save yourself for me?” he grunted, picking up his pace just a smidge.
I nervously bit my lower lip. “Yes.” My face burned with embarrassment. I knew he didn’t save himself like I had, and at first, it wasn’t for him. It had been because I wasn’t ready. But eventually, I knew it had to be him.
“Jesus Christ.” He groaned, slamming into me. My body jostled beneath his, a coat of sweat already forming along his tan skin. His dark eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes hooded as he chased his pleasure. Seeing him like this—well, there was nothing sexier.
The memory had hit me out of nowhere, causing me to stumble on the way to my car. Heat built behind my eyes, and I had to suck in a sharp breath just to keep the tears at bay. Apparently, it hadn’t meant as much to him as it had me. He was my first kiss, the first boy to touch me, the first one to slide inside of me, and the only boy I’d allowed myself the chance to love.
I was halfway to my car, when I heard his voice call out to me. My knees buckled instantly from the harshness of his tone.
“Hazel,” he snapped. His footsteps were heavy against the cement as he circled around me, blocking the path to my car. He looked … angry. “I thought I told you to go eat. What are you doing?”
My throat bobbed with nervousness. “Leaving.” I raised my head to meet his piercing gaze and was surprised to find his eyes so cold and lifeless. What the hell happened to him?
His jaw tightened in frustration, his patience dwindling. Thenagain, he’d never been very good at being patient to begin with. It took every ounce of strength he could muster not to slam into me during sex that first time. That was proven the second time we’d done it, and the third. We hooked up several times that night, unable to get enough of one another, because we both knew that when morning came, he’d be leaving. The pain had been a nice reminder the couple weeks after his departure. It reminded me that it hadn’t just been a figment of my imagination.
“Leaving?” he repeated. “Alone? Where anyone could fucking follow you home?”
I flinched from his tone, torn between being confused and angry at the same time. He didn’t get to treat me with so much hostility and then act like he controlled me.
“This is Greenbriar. Nothing bad ever happens here.” I propped my hands on my hips. “And I was under the impression that you didn’t give a shit either way.”
He stared at me for a long moment, his molars grinding against one another. I watched as his muscles constricted beneath his white shirt, my gaze snagging on a piece of artwork over his right pec. My stomach twisted in knots, dread slamming into me. I didn’t need to see it directly to know that it was the same tattoo his friends had—that it was the same one his uncle did.
“Idon’t give a shit,” he snarled, curling his upper lip in a show of disgust. “But if a girl goes missing after being atmyhouse, the cops will come sniffing. I don’t need your potential disappearance drawing too much attention to me or my family.”
His words shouldn’t have cut me as deeply as they did, but it felt like he was tearing my heart out of my chest piece by piece. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe he’d be the same guy who left all those months ago, butthiswas the last thing I expected.
“What if I don’t want to be here?” I asked after a few seconds, trying to remain calm and grounded.
“Too fucking bad. I won’t tell you again. Get the hell inside the house before I carry you inside my damn self.”
I hesitated, wondering if he’d actually do something like that. But the look in his eyes told me he would, and that was even more terrifying than the threat itself. For reasons I couldn’t even begin to fathom, he hated me. It was written into his features. He was my best friend, the one person who always had my back, the one person I trusted enough to give my virginity to. Maybe that was it. Maybe he got what he wanted from me and didn’t want me anymore.
Either way, he wasn’t the boy I’d fallen in love with. Not anymore.
CHAPTER TWO
DOMINIC
Why the fuckwas she being so stubborn? Couldn’t she see that I was just trying to protect her? There were things happening in this town that she didn’t have the first clue about—things that would turn her entire world upside down if she were roped into it. That was precisely why she needed to stay the hell away from me and my family before she caught the wrong asshole’s eye, assuming it wasn’t already too late for that. I told my momspecificallythat Hazel wasn’t invited to their little welcome home party they just had to throw for me.
No one ever fucking listened.
Hazel glared up at me, a storm swirling within those dark green eyes of hers. She could be pissed all she wanted to. Whatever we used to have was long fucking gone, and the sooner she got that, the better.
“Clock’s ticking.” I pointed to my watch for emphasis.
