Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19157 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 96(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19157 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 96(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
"I've never had a conversation with her beyond saying no when she asks for things. I didn't even know her name before this morning." His arm comes around me, solid and warm. "And I saw your face. You looked destroyed. I knew something was wrong."
"So you really didn't say any of that stuff? About it just being physical?"
Alex hooks a finger under my chin to tilt my face up to his. "No. I don't know what this is yet, but it's not just physical. I don't do ‘just physical’."
The words settle something in my chest, a worry I didn't even know was there.
"Good. Because I don't either. Thank you for coming over. For telling me the truth."
"Always."
We sit in comfortable silence for a while. Croissant eventually jumps on my lap, purring loudly as he settles in.
I stroke Croissant's fur. "I can't believe I let her make me feel so small for so long."
"You didn't let her," Alex says. "She worked hard to make you doubt yourself. But you saw through it in the end."
"Only because you showed me what it feels like when someone actually cares about me." I look up at him. "When someone sees me, really sees me, as enough."
His expression softens in a way I'm still getting used to, like he's allowing himself to be vulnerable only with me.
"You are enough," he says. "Always were. Always will be."
I smile, feeling lighter despite everything. "So, what now?"
"Now you block her number," he says. "And we figure out what this is between us."
"In that order?"
"In that order."
I pull out my phone and navigate to my contacts, finding Selena's name. My thumb hovers over the block button for just a second before pressing it decisively.
It feels final. I'm closing a door on a chapter of my life where I accepted less than I deserved.
"Done," I say, setting my phone aside.
For the first time in a long while, I believe I deserve good things and good people, just like Alex.
Funny how so much can change in so little time.
6
ALEX
I've spent the last fifteen minutes watching Emily stroke Croissant while we sit on her couch, her thigh pressed against mine. The shock of confronting Selena is fading, but the adrenaline hasn't left my system. It's crackling through me like live wire, making my skin too tight, my senses too sharp.
When she blocked Selena's number, something in my chest loosened and tightened at the same time. Pride in her strength. Relief that the manipulation was over. And something darker, more possessive—satisfaction at watching her cut ties with someone who tried to come between us.
Now Emily's quiet, tracing the outline of the tattoo on my forearm with one finger. Her touch is light, almost absentminded, but it's lighting up every nerve ending in my body.
I haven't moved since we sat down. The restraint is physical—a tightness in my jaw, tension in my shoulders, the deliberate way I'm keeping my hands on my own thighs instead of on her.
My cock has been hard since this morning when I watched her walk around my apartment in nothing but my t-shirt. The sight of her in my clothes hit something primal in me. Then Selena showed up, and I had to push it all down, be what Emily needed.
Now I'm acutely aware of every breath she takes, how it makes her breasts rise and fall beneath her shirt. Her skin still has the flush of anger, or something else. The marks I left on her neck this morning are visible—faint shadows that will fade by tomorrow.
Croissant stretches, disturbed by Emily's movements, then jumps off her lap with an indignant meow. The buffer between us is gone.
Emily shifts and turns toward me. Her eyes aren't soft anymore. They're clear, fierce—the same look she had when she told Selena to get out.
"Make me forget," she says. "Make me forget anyone ever made me feel like I wasn't enough."
Just like that, my restraint disintegrates into dust.
"You want me to make you forget? I can do that. But I won't be gentle, Em."
She doesn't answer with words. Instead, she moves, one smooth motion into my lap, knees on either side of my thighs. Her hands come up to my face.
"I don't want gentle." She rolls her hips, grinding against my cock. "I want you."
I grab her ass, fingers digging in as I stand, lifting her with me. She makes a sound and wraps her legs around my waist. Her back hits the door with a solid thump, and she gasps, eyes widening.
I cage her with my body, not letting her feet touch the ground. She's trapped between me and the door, exactly where I want her. Her chest rises and falls rapidly; each breath presses her breasts against me.
She smells like vanilla soap, but underneath is the scent of my shower gel from this morning. Still marked by me in that small way.