Page 141 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“I’m listening.” But William knew I was seconds away from coming apart in his hand, and he didn’t stop until I did.
Panting and almost delirious, I reached for his cock and palmed his erection. He groaned and laid on his back next to me.
“I don’t want to tear down the wall until we know for sure we won’t ever have to put it back up,” I said, finally hopping back into my previous train of thought, my fingers curled around his shaft, sliding up and down at a steady rhythm.
“Your hand feels so good, baby.” He cupped the back of my neck and brought my face closer to his. I parted my lips to speak, but he shut me up with a long, unhurried, cinnamon-tasting kiss. And without breaking it, he moved on top of me and thrust himself inside me, slow and deep, making me feel so perfectly full as he allowed me to adjust to him. “We can keep the wall, do whatever you want, and move at whatever pace you see fit.” He moved faster, harder. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you.”
Forcing my eyes to stop burning, I willed myself to focus on the here and now. But it was hard not to acknowledge the sadness I’d been covering up for the past six months.
I was going to miss him so damn much.
September 2, 2011
Aaron was drivingme home from school, and it was already dark out. The first week of my last semester at Parsons was over, and I couldn’t believe I’d be graduating in less than four months. My classes this semester were held in the afternoon, so the magazine switched me to the morning schedule from 9 to 1. It was tight since I had my first class at 1:45 p.m. every day, and traffic was a constant pain in the ass. But I would grab something to go from Haute’s cafeteria and have lunch in the car as Aaron rushed to Parsons.
William had left for good a few days ago, having been in and out between L.A. and New York all summer. But it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The leading up to it was worse, for sure. This wasn’t the first time William had left for work, so even if it would be for a more extended period, we were feeling confident in the routine we had established in the past for when he did.
News of William being cast for the role of Haldor Stormbreaker and his involvement in the MC Comic franchise not only as an actor but as a producer as well had been finally fed to the media. His fans were blownaway by the news and flooded him with support on social media.
With Labor Day weekend upon us, Naomi promised to take the rest of the day off and attend a boxing lesson with me. I’d resumed my sessions with Grant since he was helping William prepare for the role, and I’d forgotten how much I liked it.
Before William left, he paid Grant to train me twice a week for the entire semester. This time, he told me before he did it. And I was thankful for his support because I wouldn’t have been able to continue my boxing lessons if William hadn’t offered to pay for them. As uncomfortable as it made me feel to accept, I knew I needed to swallow down my pride.It makes me happy to be able to do these things for you,he insisted. And in turn, I wanted to makehimhappy, so here we were.
Naomi was stressed about her mother’s health and financial struggles. I had told her how I’d found boxing to be an incredible outlet for dealing with emotional and work stress.Sign me up, she had said immediately.
When we got home, I rushed to get changed and texted Naomi to let her know I’d meet her at the gym in a few minutes. But as I tied my shoelaces, a text from Cecile dropped in.
Cecile:Want to hang out tonight? We can order Chinese from that place you like.
Me:Of course! I’m at the gym now, but how about we meet
at my apartment in an hour?
Cecile:Parfait!:)
I was still wrapping my head around Cecile being permanently based in New York. It felt like the universe had sent me one of my best friends to compensate for moving my boyfriend to the opposite coast. And I was glad I could be there for her, too, because her attempt to reactivate things with Tobiashadn’t gone as planned. She had the opportunity to talk to him a few days after Joel and Lily’s wedding, but he was reluctant to jump back into a relationship with her, afraid that something would go wrong between them again.
Tobias insisted he didn’t want to put himself in a vulnerable position when he was finally starting to feel better about everything. Instead, he proposed a friendship, but Cecile felt humiliated and refused. She couldn’t accept that. She loved him, and she was sure that he loved her back but wanted her to suffer like he had. But she had suffered her fair share, too, maybe as much as he had. He just didn’t know. She didn’t think it would matter if he did.
Tobias filming a mini-series in Toronto only made matters more complicated. Even if he came to New York often, their busy schedules prevented them from truly considering the friendship Tobias had proposed—assuming she would’ve accepted it in the first place, of course.
Cecile accepted her fate and instead tried to enjoy New York, make new friends at school, and focus on her studies. There was no going back to Paris. Tobias wasn’t the only reason she wanted to be here, and she was convinced of it before deciding to come.
The elevator stopped at the second floor, the door sliding soundlessly open, and the first thing I saw was Aaron standing next to the gym’s glass door. His eyes had looked weary since this morning, but he rarely looked tired, not even when it was warranted.
“Hey,” I said, closing the distance between us and checking the time on my phone. I was seven minutes late. “You don’t have to keep watch. Go rest.” My last two words sounded more like an order, as intended.
Naomi’s laughter filtered out from the gym. I peered inside, and Grant was bandaging her hands with a big smile on hisface. “I’ll be right there!” I shouted, slinging my attention back to Aaron.
His brows pulled down. “I’m good.”
“You don’t seemgood,” I pointed out. “You look like you need to go to bed early and take the weekend off. Is everything okay?” I didn’t have much planned for this weekend, but I’d be willing to cancel everything to have Aaron stay home and rest.
He turned away with a snort, not a trace of humor in the gesture.
Naomi opened the glass door and peeked out. “All done,” she said, lifting a gloved hand. “Grant’s ready for you.”
“I’ll be right in.” I smiled.
