Page 24 of Parting Shot

“I don’t want you to pick someone else,” I said bluntly.

He stilled, and his eyes met mine.

“Do you get that?”

“Yes,” he assured me.

“Then act like it,” I said, rolling over on top of him, crushing him with my bigger body, pressing him down until I felt the fight run out of him.

He wrapped me up, arms and legs holding tight. “I don’t want you to sleep with anyone else but me.”

“I already promised,” I reminded him.

“I know,” he sighed. “I just wanted to hear it again.”

I lifted off him, only to shove his shirt up and kiss down his flat stomach. His breath caught, his hand fisted in my hair, and he shuddered as my mouth closed over the crown of his shaft, which strained to reach me through two layers of cloth.

“Please.”

The request was unnecessary.

FIVE

Aaron left on Monday morning, which was good because I had to get my game face on and get back to work with Joaquin and the others. It was really difficult to walk out of the suite, knowing I wouldn’t see him at the end of the day. In that short time, I had gotten used to him and the hotel.

Benny came to pick me up at my new apartment in Joaquin’s tricked-out Escalade, and quickly got out and ordered me in behind the wheel.

“Why am I driving?” I asked him.

“Because I can barely see,” he replied, sounding like he was in pain.

We made the usual rounds, but I was waking up both he and Andre at every stop.

“What the hell’s with you guys?”

Andre had his sunglasses on, head back, and Benny, who was leaning against the window, had his on as well. But it had rained, was still cloudy as hell, with no bright light coming from anywhere.

“Party at the Mayan last night,” Andre muttered in explanation. “It went late.”

“And did you stay hydrated the whole time?” I teased him.

“Fuck off,” he groaned, “and stop at Starbucks. I need water and coffee.”

“My mother wanted me to eat eggs this morning,” Benny grumbled. “Fuck me.”

They were supposed to be scary. They were drug dealers for crissakes. But right now, they were both simply hungover.

“So, what did you do?” Benny questioned me ten minutes later as we rolled up to Starbucks.

“When?”

“This weekend,” he clarified. “Me and T rolled by your place, but you were gone. You hole up with some bitch all weekend?”

It was Aaron’s fault. The separation was a fresh wound, and I wasn’t ready to lie. “No.”

“No?” Benny pressed.

“I don’t sleep with girls.”