Page 52 of Crave
He was blocking the door. I glanced at his cock—it was swollen. In the past, that would be the moment I would give in. He wanted me. Someone wanted me. I would let him have me. But as I stood there, I felt stronger than ever. My brokenness had been fixed.
“No,” I said, shaking my head adamantly. “I’m over you. And you probably should get some help or something. I see you’re still eye fucking other women while sitting across from your current girlfriend. And now you’re in here trying to do me.” I folded my arms, raising my chest high. “Can you see that you have a big problem, Dale? Huge, glaring issues.”
That glossed-over look hadn’t left his eyes. “What do you want from me, Bryn? Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just… I miss you. And I don’t like that guy for you.”
He was moving toward me.
I shot an arm out. “Do not come closer.”
Dale stopped in his tracks. I knew he would. Suddenly, I was struck by déjà vu. We’d been in the same situation on many occasions.
I snapped my fingers. “Earth to Dale. Come out of it.”
He blinked hard until his eyes had softened. We were staring at each other. He inhaled audibly.
“I’m not going to make you feel ashamed, Dale. But it’s time you got help.”
His nostrils flared, and his face tightened. “Fuck you.”
I remained motionless as he turned his back on me and slithered out of the bathroom just as inconspicuously as he’d slipped in.
When I madeit back downstairs, I learned that my suspicions were true—Alex and Alana had carried all the textiles, including the modules, back to the SUV. Eden had hired a personal chef for the remainder of her stay, a hot, young guy with a winning smile, and was in the kitchen with him, going over menu ideas. She paid very little attention to me when I waved goodbye. For certain, she was upset that I’d set boundaries with her. But I didn’t care.
I made it to the stairwell leading to the garage, finally alone, and stopped and checked my messages. When we’d arrived at Eden’s house that morning, I’d sent Jamison a cuteI love you and can’t wait to see you latermessage. At a certain point, I stopped listening for his reply, and as I saw, he hadn’t answered.
His lack of a response wasn’t a cause for concern, though. Jamison hadn’t used his cell phone a lot in recent days. I suspected he was avoiding Boomer. I would see him soon, and I debated telling him what had happened between Dale and me. His protectiveness reminded me a lot of my brothers. Jamison would probably have zero tolerance for Dale from that point on. He would insist on accompanying me to the jobsite in the morning so that he could officially set a line that Dale would not dare cross.
“Why so quiet, Bryn?” Alana asked as we rode back to the resort.
Alana and Alex had been going back and forth about whether we should go out to a restaurant, eat at the grill on the premises, or just go back to our rooms, relax, and order room service. She was also overprotective and always ready for a fight with someone like Dale. After a moment of contemplation, I decided to keep what had happened in the bathroom from Alex and Alana too.
“Nothing. Just tired. The day was long, and so was last night.”
“Oh, right. Too much great sex.”
I smiled, happy that she’d opened the door to that discussion. “And what about you? Remember what you said last night about good-looking men and orgasms?”
“What?”
“We were on our way to the toilets and…”
“Oh yeah.” She chuckled. “I remember.”
“Good-looking guys and orgasms?” Alex said, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Were you proven wrong last night?” I asked.
Alana looked at Alex, who stole a glance at her.
“Mm-hmm,” she said. “Most definitely.”
I nudged Alex in the shoulder. “Good for you.”
“What’s good for me?” He seemed annoyed to be so lost about what we were talking about.
“I’m sure Alana will explain it to you when we each”—I cleared my throat—“go back to our own rooms and order room service, and you two go to sleep in your own beds. Right?”
“Oh…” Alex finally said and then smirked as he grunted. I caught him winking at Alana through the rearview mirror.
