Chapter 14
Gemma
All night, I slept against Talon’s strong body. I fell asleep with his fingers running through my hair and his heart beating against my chest. I slinked my arms around him and pulled him close, not wanting to let him go and not wanting to focus on tomorrow. I knew I’d have to field Jace with something to keep him occupied when I got home, but for now, I simply wanted to fall asleep satiated and happy.
I’d given up and Talon and I after I left for college. I talked with him all throughout my high school years, even though I knew Jace was threatening him. Our lives were in such upheaval as children, though, that Jace’s threats did nothing to deter me from talking with Talon. He had always been a silent person, but even his silence spoke volumes. He’d stand in the corner and watch the people around him, but when I was sitting with him, all of his focus was on me. His gaze was unwavering, and he never fidgeted, and for the first time in my life, it felt like I was being heard.
But when I went off to college, things changed. We grew apart because I never had the money to come home, and since Talon wasn’t much of a talker, there wasn’t really a point in having his number. I talked to Jace every once in a while and would ask how he was doing, but then all I would get was some lecture on how I could do better. How Jace wanted me to stay away from the lifestyle he’d thrown himself into and how he wanted me to live a normal life.
I got sick and tired of the lecture, so I stopped asking.
School took over my life, and the bit of time I had to myself I worked. I managed to graduate without any debt, and throughout those four years of college Talon only crossed my mind a few times. I partied and drank. I had my own experiences while staying away from long-term dating scenarios. The last thing I needed was for my brother to catch wind that I was dating someone because then he’d come riding into town on his bike just to intimidate the ‘little fuck that dared touch his sister.’
He wouldn’t ride into town just to see me, but he’d ride into town just to fuck up my life.
I loved my brother. Jace was a wonderful man. But sometimes his priorities were really screwed up. It was annoying, always having to field them and tiptoe around them, but I felt better equipped to handle them now. In the eyes of the world, I was a full-grown adult. With responsibilities and a degree and job prospects. This time, if Jace threw the argument that I was nothing but a little girl, I could throw shit right back in his face.
It’s what you needed to do with my brother whenever he got to high up on his horse. You had to jostle his podium until he came tumbling down.
I slept all through the night with dreams of Talon swirling around in my head. It was the most comfortable I’d ever slept in my life, and I was looking forward to waking up next to him. I couldn’t wait to lift my head and look into his eyes before I planted a sleepy kiss on his lips. And maybe if I woke up before him, I could wrap my lips around his cock and pull him from his dreams with the tantalizing beauty of his reality.
But instead, I woke up to an empty couch, a blanket that had been tucked around me, and Talon nowhere in sight.
I sat up on the couch and rubbed my eyes. I sighed with heavy shoulders, thinking something from the club probably pulled him from his sleep. I stretched my arms and cracked my back, reveling in how relaxed my body felt after spending an evening on the couch tucked underneath Talon’s protective arms. I could still feel his muscles pressed against me as the blanket slid from my naked body, and I worked my way off the couch and into the kitchen to make some coffee.
But not before I heard voices coming from outside.
I recognized the curt tone of Talon’s voice, but if there was someone talking to him, I couldn’t hear them. Was he on the phone? Was something wrong with the club? I walked back over to my clothes and searched for my phone, pulling it out to see if Jace had tried to contact me.
I had a missed phone call and one text message asking me if I would be back tonight, but other than that there was nothing.
I opened up the message and shot one back to him. I simply apologized for not making it home last night but didn’t give any inclination as to why. I told him I was okay and asked him if he wanted me to bring anything home, then I tossed the phone back onto the couch.
And that’s when I heard it.
Another voice outside with him.
It was a lighter voice. One I didn’t recognize. I knew it was female, and while I felt jealousy rising up in my gut I tried to settle my mind. Maybe someone from the club stopped by to tell him something or to inquire as to where I was. Maybe Jace had already sent out a search party and Talon was trying to keep them from coming inside.
But the moment I heard Talon ask the woman what the hell she was doing here, I got curious.
I slowly walked down the small hallway and stood right at the door. I peeked through the window while I listened to their conversation, and in an instant, I bristled. Some woman was talking about why Talon wouldn’t let her in, and that’s when I saw his cut draped around her shoulders.
But it was obvious who she was with how she was dressed.
The woman had legs for days and was wearing blood red high heels. Her lipstick matched her shoes while her dress clung tightly to her body. She was standing close to Talon, fluttering her eyes up at him while he stood between her and the door, and it made me absolutely sick.
One of his little fucks was standing at the door.
I couldn’t believe it. Talon had lied to me. He convinced me I was the only woman in his life. That no other woman could amount to what I was to him, yet here he was… talking with her like I wasn’t even here. His cut was wrapped around her body like he was trying to keep her warm. Comfortable for the taking until he could get me to slip out. I bet that jackass had plans to fuck her the moment I left this morning, and in an instant, my heart shattered and fell to my feet.
I watched the woman’s hand come up and rest on Talon’s chest, and I knew I’d seen enough.
Talon’s head whipped around just in time to catch me peering out the window. I could see the look of regret and shock waft over his face. He’d been caught. That disgusting little douchebag had been caught in the act. I had no idea how I could’ve let this happen. How I could’ve convinced myself that Talon could’ve ever cared about me. His words were empty, probably tools he used just to get into women’s pants. I backtracked down the hallway and gathered my clothes just as the front door opened, but I knew what was coming.
Talon would try to defend himself, and I wasn’t about to hear it.
I’d done enough of that defending in college. Guys who got hooked on me and came knocking on my door while I was enjoying the company of someone else. I had explained away so many of those scenarios myself that I could write a script for other people to use. I blocked Talon’s voice from my mind as I pulled my clothes on, then I grabbed my phone and purse and headed for the door.
If Talon wanted to reach out to me, I didn’t feel his arm, and at that moment my worst fears were confirmed.
He didn’t actually want me to stay.
He just wanted to fuck me while convincing me that’s what he wanted.
I shoved myself out the door and blasted by the woman standing on the porch. I saw the sly little smirk on her face, her red lipstick pouring over her lips as I made my way to the car. She called out some little comment about the hickies on my neck, but I didn’t care. Not in that moment. The only thing I cared about was the anger flaring in my chest.
Anger I hadn’t felt in years.
I got to my car and looked up at Talon one last time. Even though I knew I needed to get in my car and drive away, I wanted to give him one more shot. One more chance to toss that woman out into the cold and bring me back inside. One more chance to be the man I wanted him to be.
The man I had dreamt him up to be.
But instead, he simply stood and looked at me, so I climbed into my car and cranked it up. I peeled out of his parking lot and watched him in my rearview mirror, his body not budging until I got to the stoplight.
Then, I watched him escort the long-legged woman into his apartment.
In that very moment, my heart shattered. I watched them walk into his apartment before the door shut, and a car had to lay their horn on me to get me to go. I turned the corner to head home with tears in my eyes, but I knew I couldn’t walk in like this.
If I walked in with tears flowing down my cheeks, Jace would kill every single person in this town just to make sure I’d never be fucked with again.
I pulled over onto the side of the road and cried. I cried for the dreams that got me through college. I cried for the man I wished Talon could’ve been. I tried for the wasted energy I spent pining for him, and I cried for the moments I spent defending him to Jace. He knew. My brother knew something was off about Talon. He knew Talon’s history with women, but I chose to trust a man I hardly knew over my own flesh and blood.
But I’d learned my lesson, and I’d only have to learn it once.
I dried my tears and got back onto the road before I ran through Jace’s favorite breakfast place. I got us both some coffee and something to eat before I traveled home, then I parked my car and simply sat. There was one lonely light on in the house, which told me Jace was already up. I didn’t have any messages or phone calls from him, but I knew he was waiting.
And when he stepped out onto the porch, I knew I was going to have to tell him. I could feel the redness of my tears permeating my cheeks. I could feel my eyes puffing up with sorrow and guilt. He approached my car with his eyes connected with mine, and when he saw the silent tears still flowing down my cheeks, he burst into a dead sprint for my car.
He ripped the door open and ignored the smell of food while he pulled me out, cradling me in his arms before he pressed a kiss to my head.
The screws in my head that reminded me of the night that fractured my relationship with the man currently comforting me.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, crying. “Please don’t be angry at me.”
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I-... brought breakfast,” I said.
“Never mind that. Come inside. Talk to me about what’s happened.”
And in that instant, I knew. I knew I would tell him where I was and I knew he would be upset. I knew he would go after Talon and I knew things would blow up.
But right now, I wasn’t in protection mode.
Right now, I was hurt… and all I wanted was to cry for the idiotic dreams I had as a girl that I thought could actually come true.