Page 11 of Forced to Share
I swallowed thickly around the lump in my throat because I had an idea about what she was going to say.
“What’s that?”
“I’ve always wanted to have someone take me apart under my parents’ roof... in my childhood bed. What do you think? Wouldn’t it be poetic? Our first time? We’re engaged, you’ve met my family, and we finally did the deed in my childhood bed?”
I tensed in her hold. Somehow I knew there was a chance of this coming up again while we were here. There hadbeen a small part of me that hoped that she would be too weirded out to try anything under her parent’s roof, but some people were into that. Go figure she was one of them.
“Leah—”
“No? Come on, Jer. What are we waiting for? The whole waiting for the wedding day thing is so old-fashioned, don’t you think?”
My eyes slammed closed as insects crawled under my skin. If only she knew that wasn’t the problem I was having. I’d always claimed to be bisexual, but maybe that wasn’t the case. Bi-romantic maybe? I loved Leah. She was an amazing friend, and we shared a deep bond that I hadn’t shared with anyone since my brief fling with Austin. I just didn’t have the desire to sleep with her. Or any woman for that matter.
“It’s not that—” My voice cracked as Leah let go of me, throwing her arms into the air.
“What is it, Jeremy? We’ve been doing this for years. Am I doing something wrong?”
My eyes widened because the last thing I’d wanted to do was make her think that I’d been leading her on, but it looked like I’d done that, anyway.
Things escalated from there. If I thought I’d get off the hook with a simple ‘no’ this time, I waswrong. Leah was a woman on a mission. She lifted her sweater up and over her head to reveal a lacy red bra over her perky breasts. The lingerie was pretty, but it did nothing for me, and it sucked that I had to be in this position. Though I’d put myself in it by getting down on one knee and asking her to marry me.
This was a disaster.
Her hands cupped her breasts, massaging the soft mounds, and any other man would probably fall all over themselves to see it. All I could do was sit there like a damn idiot and stare at her.
“This. No. I’m so sorry.” The words tumbled out of me as I backed across the room, my ass hitting the wall as I stared at the woman whose face fell as she watched me retreat.
“What do you mean?”
I choked on the words because I hated doing it to her. She deserved so much more. We were at her parents’ house for fucking Christmas, and here I was acting like a psycho turning down sex with his fiancée.
“I mean, I don’t...” God. I could say it. Be a man. Own up to it and tell her I didn’t want to. That was the responsible thing. A good person respected their partner’s wishes. My eyes burned, and a wave of humiliation washedthrough me as I realized I was about to cry trying to explain this to her. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“What do you mean?”
When my eyes closed again, I lost the battle against that burn. A tear blazed down my cheek as I pressed myself harder into the wall. Maybe if I tried hard enough, it would open up and swallow me whole before I had to finish speaking.
“I mean, I don’t think I can sleep with you. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Chapter 7
Austin
There was a lot of yelling. And I mean a lot of yelling. Leah was upset about something, and I’d never heard her so mad before.
I was down the hall and standing in front of her door before I even realized that my legs had moved. The shrill sound of my sister’s yelling came through the door, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. Against my better judgment, I grabbed the door handle and opened it, immediately regretting it since my sister was only half dressed. That was the last thing I’d wanted to see.
“I wasted years. Fucking years, Jeremy. Moved in with you, bought an expensive-ass dress, and agreed to marry you. And for what? You can’t even get it up for me?”
My eyes widened as I stood there in the doorway, eyes pinging between my sister and the man pressing himself into the wall like he wanted to disappear.
He noticed me. He slumped against the wall before peeling himself away from it and running toward me. It was the last thing I’d expected. He crashed into me, sending both of us to the floor in a tangle of limbs.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the commotion. Dad came rushing up the stairs only to find me and Jeremy on the ground in the hallway.
“What the hell is going on up here?”
Leah shrieked from within the room, no doubt catching onto her state of undress before reaching for the throw blanket that was draped across the bottom of the bed and wrapping it around her shoulders.
