Page 36 of B-ry
I floated higher and higher. There was a tightening in my core and I felt like it was going to snap at any second.
“Come for me,” he demanded.
And I did because I was already there.
His name tore up my throat and spilled from my lips over and over.
“Mine,” he growled as his teeth came down and sunk into the back of my shoulder.
With one last hard, deep thrust, he grunted out his release, breathing hard onto my skin.
We collapsed in a pile of sweaty, loose limbs, both of us panting so hard it made the room start to feel hot and sticky.
His fingers drifted lazily along my body until they were on my jaw. With a light pull, he brought my lips to his and kissed me slowly. It was such a contradiction to what he had just given me that I didn’t know what to do with it. My head was all confused and for some reason, I felt like I wanted to cry. I held the tears back, just barely.
His lips slid away from mine almost hesitantly. And because I felt too open and raw, I quickly turned my head away from him. I swallowed down the lump in my throat hoping that he wouldn’t notice.
With a small sigh, one that I wasn’t sure that I had really heard, he slipped off the bed. I didn’t turn to look at him but I could hear him tossing the condom in the trash then redressing. He was leaving, though it didn’t really come as a shock. I mean, he got what he came here for, there was no reason to stick around.
The room was so silent that my skin began to crawl. When he was done, he leaned over and placed a light kiss on the side of my head. I didn’t move. In fact, I held my breath the moment I felt him close to me.
Then I heard his boots retreating across the room. The door opened and closed quietly, and I was alone.
I willed myself not to cry. Nearly naked, I curled up in a ball and closed my eyes. What did I expect, really? For him to confess some kind of love for me. Those had all been words anyway. Owning my pussy didn’t mean he wanted to own me. He just wanted that part of me. He wanted to beat his stupid Neanderthal man chest while he banged me. The sad thing was, that I helped him do that without any protest. I gave him what he wanted so easily. I hadn’t even stopped to think about how it would chip away at me after it was over. Or how I would be left so cold and feeling completely stupid for every second of it.
The next day, I got out of bed with my head held high. I didn’t let it get me down. I headed to work determined to have a great day.
There was a line to the door when I walked in. It was right in the middle of that mid-morning rush. I stashed my stuff and tossed on my apron with lightning speed. Then I took over the extra register after clocking in. Busy was good. Not only did it make the time go by faster but it also kept my mind from drifting off to the stupid, obsessive thoughts that were all about Bryan.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Dale said right after I got somewhat settled. “I was about ready to pull my hair out.”
I giggled then sent him a smile before turning to the next customer.
It was an odd morning. People seemed more grumpy than they usually were. I wondered what was up with that.
Three hours later, I was right there with Dale, I wanted to pull my hair out and scream. People had turned from grumpy to straight up mean. One girl even turned her nose up at me and said that my roots were way past due for a touch-up.
“Uh, that’s like way past trendy,” she had said to me.
I willed myself not to cry. It took everything in me to plaster a smile on my face and hand her the change. When I really wanted to just throw it in her face.
Okay, so yes, my hair was a disaster. Like, embarrassingly so. Actually, it had passed disaster like three months ago. But there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn’t afford to go to my salon and get it fixed. I wasn’t even sure they would let me step foot in there now. That was, if I had the money to. I debated on getting one of those store-bought kits just to make it look like some kind of even tone but I truly feared that I would mess it up. I knew nothing about dying hair. I had always heard that those box kits were so bad for your hair and the last thing I needed to do was draw more attention to my split ends and broken chunks because I put it up in a messy bun so often. I would have sworn that I was losing hair every day because of those elastic tie things. But it was the easiest way to tame my hair now that I didn’t have all those fancy shampoos and products. Also, it sort of helped to hide the root thing I had going on.
I kept telling myself that one bad day was alright. It made me appreciate the good ones, that was for sure.
“What can I get for you today?” I asked automatically as I sorted the money in the cash drawer that the last customer had pretty much thrown at me. I guessed the leftover twelve cents was meant for the tip jar seeing as they had moved along already.
My eyes looked up when there was no response.
I gasped. Actually gasped. I wasn’t used to seeing him in the day. I had to say he was still magnificent. Massive and a little charming, you know, in that cocky way.
“Oh, I got it, Laurel,” Dale called out from the side. “Just ring it up as a large coffee.”
There was something odd that happened then. A wink. Yes, I was pretty sure I had seen it. Only Dale wasn’t giving it to me. It was one of those winks that wasn’t meant to be sexy. Not that I thought that Dale would flirt with Bryan. No, this was one of thosewe have a secretwinks. Like he knew something I didn’t and maybe even wasn’t supposed to.
“Why did you just wink at him?” I asked before I could think better of it.
“Uhhhh,” Dale said like he was at a loss for words. “I’m sworn to secrecy. By Gwen. I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to know. Which I don’t.” He looked over at Bryan. “I know nothing.”
