Chapter Thirteen
Anna
“Are you okay?” Kayla asks sympathetically.
She sits down on my bed. I smile up at her and shrug.
“I’m okay,” I mutter.
“No, you’re not. Scoot over,” she orders me. I shuffle over on the bed so she can join me. We both lie back and stare at the ceiling. “Want to talk about it?” she says. I groan.
“I don't know. This whole trip is an absolute nightmare. I only agreed to it because I thought I’d get to spend time with him, but it feels like my own father is getting in the way.”
Kayla giggles. “He’s cockblocking you,” she sniggers. I roll my eyes, but that's exactly what it feels like.
“One minute I think he knows something, but then I realize that’s stupid because if he did know something, he would lose his shit.”
“Okay, you’re right,” she says slowly. “Your dad wouldn't hold back if he thought that you and Nick were together. So, you can be pretty sure that he doesn't know anything, right? I mean, even if your dad had the slightest inkling that something was going on, he would lose it at Nick.”
I nod because she's right. I glance at her as she answers the fourth text message she’s received since we got to my room. I narrow my eyes. Since I'm the only girl she texts, there must be a guy in the picture.
“Who is it?” I say. She blushes, and I laugh. “Oh, my god, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush.”
“I can’t tell you,” she says, cringing. “You’ll die laughing.”
“No, I won't,” I assure her. “To be honest, I’m just glad you've moved on from my dad.” My eyes widen. “Oh, god, please tell me it's not my father.”
She shoves me. “Of course, it's not,” she huffs.
“So, who is it, then?”
She sighs. “Okay, you know Stephen.”
“Yes, I know your brother,” I grin. Kayla has one brother, who is three years younger than her. He’s away at college at the moment.
“Okay, so, it's his roommate,” she confesses. “He came home with Stephen last month and we kind of hit it off.”
“You're dating a baby,” I say with a big grin.
She rolls her eyes. “This is why I didn't want to tell you.”
“Hey, you gave me shit for my relationship. I'm entitled to give it back.”
I giggle, realizing something. “We’re kind of opposites, huh? I've gone for someone much older, where you’ve gone for someone younger. Both are probably as equally awkward because they’re friends with a family member.”
She grins. “I never thought I could be so into a guy so much younger than me. Like, he's nineteen, Anna.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “But he's also amazing, sweet, kind, funny and ridiculously good-looking.” Her eyes shine when she speaks about him. “Do you want to see a picture?”
“Hell yeah,” I say.
If anything, this is taking my mind off my own problems. She hands me her phone, and I smile at the screen. It's a picture of her and him, with their arms draped around one another. Honestly, I've never seen her looking so happy.
“What's his name?” I say.
“Jason,” she says with a dreamy smile.
“That's awesome, Kales. I'm so happy for you.”
My own phone vibrates, and I look down. My heart races when I see a text from Nick. I'm still angry, but I can't resist opening it to see what he has to say. He’s only been gone an hour, and I already miss him. God, I’ve got it so bad.
Nick: Your dad told me I needed to back off. He thinks you’ve got a crush on me and he didn't want me to encourage it. If I acted weird around you, that is the only reason why. You still drive me crazy.
I don't know whether to laugh, smile, or cry. My dad thinks I have a crush on Nick? Okay, so it's pretty accurate, but still, I'm freaking out. He's going to be watching my every move. That's why he was going on about me getting too attached last week.
I shake my head and reply.
Me: Thanks for telling me. I was worried that you were losing interest.
Nick: I could never lose interest. You fucking amaze me in every single way.
I shiver and bite down on my lip.
Me: Come see me when you get back?
Nick: I was planning on it.
After Kayla goes to bed, I try to occupy myself by reading a book, but it’s hopeless. All I can think about is Nick. I wait up until after one, but then I must have drifted off to sleep. The next thing I know, I can feel someone gently prying my legs apart. I groan and shift positions, sure that I’m dreaming. Then I feel it. His tongue sliding along my entrance. I gasp as he sucks my clit, and pushes his tongue inside me. My toes curl under as I arch my back off the bed. Holy fuck, I was not expecting this.
I grab hold of his hair and bury his face between my legs. I moan, still half asleep but completely aroused. He takes my hand and entwines his fingers in mine. I cry out, using my other hand to rub my nipples. I open my eyes and glance down. He smiles up at me, and I chuckle.
“Forgive me?” he asks, lifting his mouth away from my pussy just long enough to utter those words.
“I will if you finish what you've started,” I say with a grin. He laughs and gets back to work, flicking at my clit. I close my eyes, losing myself in the moment and loving the feel of his tongue exploring me.
“Oh, god,” I whisper. He takes my other hand and holds me down. My back lifts off the mattress, and my thighs clench as I near climax. I twist, trying to get my hands free so I can force him deeper inside me, but he won't let me.
Growling, I pull against his hands as a feeling of ecstasy races through me. Holy hell, it's the orgasm of a lifetime. I groan, my body jerking one way and then the other as he relentlessly sucks my clit.
“Oh, fuck, please stop,” I cry.
He still doesn't stop, his tongue still circling my clit. My body spasms as I come again. I can barely cope as his tongue licks the full length of my throbbing pussy. I gasp, finally prying my hands free. I hold his head and bury it against me while I groan, barely able to string a sentence together. Finally, the orgasm eases, and I push him away.
He moves back up the bed, kissing me everywhere along the way until he reaches my mouth. All I can taste is myself as he holds me in his arms and presses his mouth against mine.
“I'm so sorry,” he murmurs. “I never wanted you to feel the way I made you feel tonight.”
“Well, you certainly made up for it,” I mutter. “That was one hell of a goodnight kiss.” He stands up for long enough to peel off his clothes, before climbing back into my bed.
“I won't stay long, for obvious reasons,” he murmurs.
I nod, half listening as my eyes grow heavy. The feel of him up against me, the sound of his breathing and just the sensation of his warm body being so close is enough to send me drifting off to sleep.
“Anna, have you seen my—” The door swings open. “Fuck,” Dad growls.
Panicked, I sit upright and glare at him, my eyes wide. “Dad, you can’t just walk in here like that,” I gasped, rushing to cover myself up. “What if I was doing something you weren’t supposed to see?”
“You mean like fucking my best friend?” he roars. Oh, shit. I glance next to me and glare at Nick, who is just waking up. He sees Dan, and his eyes widen. He jumps up.
“Jesus fucking Christ, put some pants on before you injure someone with that thing,” Dad growls, looking away. He mutters something under his breath while Nick and I stare at each other in shock, not sure what to do. I flush.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Nick says. He reaches for his jeans and pulls them on and buttons them up. I've never seen him look so nervous. He walks around to face my father, who turns back to glare at me.
“Don't you fucking lie to me,” he roars, his eyes flashing with anger. “You were in my daughter’s bed, naked, and you’re trying to tell me this was innocent?”
Nick flushes, which only fuels Dad’s anger.
“You've obviously been doing this for a while, too. All those times I said I trusted you with Anna, you were doing this behind my back? What kind of friend are you?” He laughs. “Wait a minute. You're not my friend. You’re a useless, lying piece of shit who I want out of my face.”
He turns around and stares at me. My blood goes cold because I’ve never seen such disappointment in his eyes.
“I’ll deal with you later,” he mutters. He stalks out of the room.
Nick walks over and shuts the door. He rests his hands on the back of his head as he turns around to look at me. I'm in tears. They’re rolling freely down my cheeks, and I can't stop them. I grab the sheet and wrap it around me, standing up.
I walk over to Nick, who throws his arms around me. “Shh, it's okay. It’s going to be okay,” he soothes me. I can't see how. “I’m going to go out there and talk to him, okay? It’s going to be fine. Trust me.” I nod, almost starting to believe him. I watch him throw a shirt on, and then he walks out, leaving me alone.
He’s never going to understand.
I pace the small room back and forth, texting Kayla to come down when she wakes up. She's at my door minutes later.
“Hey, it's okay,” she says, wrapping her arms around me when I tell her what’s happened. “It might be a good that it's all out in the open now, right?”
“No, he’s never going to get this,” I say.
“He's angry, but he'll be okay. You're an adult, remember? You’re not a kid. You can do and see who you like.”
I take a deep breath and nod. She's right. I am an adult. Nothing about what we are doing is wrong. I sit down on the bed, focusing on my breathing and determined not to cry anymore.
“So, what do I do?” I ask with a frown. “Just own this?”
“Exactly,” Kayla nods. “You go out there and talk to your dad. You answer some hard questions, like when did this start, and do you love him. Be honest and just take it and move on. Things will settle down.”
I give her another hug and ask her to leave so I can get dressed. Once I’m dressed, I summon up the courage to walk upstairs to the kitchen. Everyone is there having breakfast, except, thank God, for Milly and Max. I sit down next to Nick. It's quiet and awkward, the opposite of how it usually is at breakfast.
“Where are the kids?” I whisper.
“Upstairs,” Nick mutters back. “I wasn’t sure how this was going to go, so I wanted to keep them as far away from it as I could.”
Under the safety of the table, he puts his hand on my thigh. I smile down at my plate and stroke his fingers. Dad mutters something under his breath as he glares at me.
“I can't fucking deal with this bullshit. You sit there like this is a goddammed joke when you should at least have the decency to wipe that fucking smirk off your face.” He shakes his head, while I sit there, horrified that he’s reacting like this. All I did was smile because Nick touched my hand. “I raised you better than this, Anna.” He tosses his napkin on his plate and stalks off. We all watch, shocked as he disappears upstairs and out of sight.
After a moment, Nick pushes his chair back, the noise making me jump. I glance at him, surprised to see him standing.
“I’m going to talk to him,” Nick mutters.
“No,” I beg him. “Just leave it. Let him cool off, and this will all blow over. He’s angry now. He needs space.”
“No, what he needs is to hear our side of this,” Nick growls. “He can't just talk to you like that, Anna. I get that he's angry, and that’s fine, but I won’t let him say shit like that to you.”
He kisses me on the lips in front of everyone and then storms out. Kayla turns to me, wide-eyed. I shake my head helplessly because I have no idea what to do.
Fuck, this is not good.