Page 34 of Forget Me Not

“Sorry about Theo and Demi and all the small talk. These events can be really tedious.” He looks at me, contemplating before he speaks.

“Do you do that a lot?” he asks and my brows furrow in confusion. “Apologize for things that are out of your control,” he clarifies. The question surprises me. I don’t think it’s one I’ve ever gotten.

“I don’t know.” I pause, thinking about it. “I guess,” I say, realizing that I do. But if I don’t apologize when things go wrong, who will? It seems like the natural thing to do.

“You don’t have to do that. Constantly apologize. Things will fall out of your control, life happens, but that doesn’t make it your responsibility to fix everything.” His words make me feel seen. His recognition of my need to right all the wrongs around me, my need for control. They make me feel vulnerable.

“Well, this looks cozy.” I look up to see Ryan leaning over the opposite side of the table. His words come out slurred, making it clear that he’s drunk. I mentally prepare myself for the shit show that’s about to ensue. “So, this is the fuckface you chose over me, huh?”

“Ryan, this is Kade.” The two men stare at each other, neither saying a word. Except where Kade looks relaxed, unaffected, Ryan looks outright pissed.

“Really, Lo? You decided to start fuckingthisover me?” He laughs darkly, referring to the tattoos peeking out from Kade’s sleeves. “I hope you know that she may be using you as a good fuck for now, but you’re not the type of guy she’ll end up with. When she’s ready to get married and have kids, it wo—”

“It won’t be with you, Ryan,” I cut him off. “So, you really need to stop thinking that it will be.” He looks at me with spitefulness I’ve never seen from him before.

“Whatever, Lo. You may be all high and mighty now, but just wait until he leaves you. Sluts like you are only good for one thing anyway. You’ll come to me begging just like the good-for-nothing whore that you are.” His words themselves don’t sting because I know just how untrue they are. The attention he’s drawing to me as his voice gets louder with every word does.

“That’s fucking enough,” Kade speaks, his voice low, filled with venom. “You can say whatever the fuck you want about me, but if another disrespectful word comes out of your mouth in reference to Lo, I swear to you it will be the last.”

“Is he fucking threatening me? Seriously, Lo?” Ryan looks at me as if I would dare defend him ever again after what he just said to me.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Theo swoops in, grabbing Ryan by the shoulder and pulling him away from the table. He looks back at me apologetically. I turn to Kade, ready to apologize, but he speaks before I can even open my mouth.

“Don’t you dare apologize for that shit.”

I can’t help the high-pitched laugh that bursts out of me. It doesn’t stop there though. The laughter keeps flowing until it feels like it may just turn into tears. I hold them back, clearing my throat to get a hold of myself. I don’t realize my leg is anxiously shaking under the table until I feel the gentle squeeze on my thigh stopping it.

“Come with me.” Kade stands from his chair and pulls out my own. He guides me out of the large hotel ballroom, through the hallway and through a door on the opposite end.

It’s an empty ballroom about half the size of the one we were just in. There are only two emergency lights lit up on either side of the room, making the entire space barely bright enough to seeeach other. I hear the door close gently behind me and my nerves heighten at the realization that I’m alone with him.

“You’re anxious,” he says, pulling my attention toward him. He’s right, I am, and his closeness doesn’t help with that.

“That tends to happen when half of the people you work with hear your coworker call you a good-for-nothing whore.”

He steps closer, his hand coming up to cup the side of my face.

“That the only reason?” he asks as his other hand trails up my bare leg through the slit in my dress. His touch is featherlight, yet it feels like it’s searing through my skin. “Do I make you nervous, Lo?”

“No, you don’t.” I shake my head.

“You’re a bad liar, baby girl.” He smirks down at me.

“Apparently only when it comes to you.” His hand trails higher until I feel it lifting the dress itself. “What are you doing?”

“Do you trust me?” he asks, his hand pausing on my midthigh. I look into his eyes, and I don’t know when it happened or why, but the single word falls breathily from my lips.

“Yes.”

Before I can even comprehend what’s happening, his lips are pressed against mine in a brutal kiss. There’s no gentleness to be found, only firmness, power, passion, possession. His tongue presses against the seam of my lips and I don’t hesitate to allow him deeper. He kisses me like he’ll never have the chance to do so again.

His mouth leaves mine only to lick and suck a pathway down my neck. He somehow finds the perfect mixture of rough and gentle as he devours every inch of me. Each spot his lips kiss burns from his touch, then cools from the cold ballroom air with the loss of it. The sensation is overwhelming. I can’t hold back the breathy moan that falls from my lips.

“Kade, please.” I feel the words leave my lips, but I’m so caught up in the heat of the moment that I don’t even know what exactly I’m begging for.

“Hold on to me, baby girl.” He whispers against my ear before his lips find mine again. I do as he says, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. His hand continues its journey up my thigh until he reaches the place that has been desperate for his touch since the first time I laid eyes on him.

His hand wraps around the side of my lace panties and I think he’s going to remove them until I hear a snap and feel them fall to the floor. I pull away from his kiss, looking up at him, shocked at the fact this man just ripped my underwear clear off my body.

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