“Fuck me.” She gripped my dick with her walls again, and I closed my eyes to fight against the orgasm. I never wanted it to end. She was a fucking machine and put all my other lovers to shame.

I straightened up on my knees and gripped her ass as I pounded into her. I wasn’t going to last much longer. She was strangling my dick each time she clenched her pussy. I think she wanted me to come. I wanted her to remember me as the best fuck she’d ever had. She’d already had several orgasms, but I wanted her to have one more. I leaned forward again and rubbed her clit as I pounded her from behind.

“Yes, don’t stop.” Sweat was pouring off both of us, and her bed was getting soaked. She had to be just as tired as I was, but neither of us wanted to stop. It felt so good. If fucking others felt as good as it did to fuck her, I’d never get anything done. I knew it was going to start another addiction, but I had a little time before I had to give it up. I’d have her again. I just had to survive that round first.

Her legs shook, so I moved my fingers faster. I needed her to come before me. The grip she would give me when she pulsed through her orgasm would be enough to carry me over.

“Oh, God,” she screamed as her orgasm started. “Fuck me. Fuck me.”

I rubbed her a few more times to make sure it satisfied her, and I gripped her hips as I plowed through her tight pussy. I moaned as she clenched around me. “That’s it. Fuck.” I plunged twice more, going deeper and staying in until she stopped pulsating around me.

I pulled out and collapsed next to her, trying to catch my breath, and turned my head toward her. Her eyes were closed as she fought to catch her breath. I rolled over and kissed her on the lips.

“I know something that will help to cool us down. I’ll be right back.”

She nodded but kept her eyes closed. I’d let her sleep while I got the ice cream. I grabbed my pants and struggled with my jelly legs to put them on. It was the only time boxers would’ve come in handy.

After I managed to get the jeans on, I kissed her cheek and headed downstairs. I started to go toward the kitchen but decided to check the monitor instead. I turned the corner and hit the monitor button as soon as I sat down. I tapped my hands on the arms of the chair, waiting for the monitor to come to life.

I smiled when I saw her sitting on the bed, but my smile faded fast. She was bunching the blanket around her, trying to cover herself up, and she was crying. I leaned forward as she spoke. “I’m so sorry.” She let out more sobs. “Please forgive me, Bryce. Please.”

I sat back and looked at her. She regretted it. It was the single most amazing experience that I’d ever had. She put the drugs to shame that I used to put into my body, and she regretted it. I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and placed my face in my hands.

I stood up and swung when I felt the hand on my shoulder. Tim backed up in time and placed his hands out in front of himself. “Hey, I’d been trying to reach you all day.”

“I’ve been busy.” I reached to shut the monitor off, but he blocked the button with his hand and stopped me.

“What happened? Why is she crying?” He got closer. “Is she saying she’s sorry? Is she wearing any clothes? What happened?”

I stormed out of the room and went to the kitchen. I told her I’d be right back, and I was going to keep my promise. I wanted to see if she’d continue to cry in front of me or if she’d put the smile back on and feed me more lies.

Tim pulled me around. “What the fuck happened?”

“I fucked her!” I crossed my arms over my head and made fists. I had a pain I had to get rid of, but pressing down on my head with my forearms wasn’t doing anything to squash the pain. “It was the best fuck I’ve ever had. She enjoyed it, too.”

I threw my arms down to my sides and paced the kitchen. “No matter what she says right now, she fucking enjoyed it, too.”

I shook my head and turned toward the cabinet to get a couple of bowls. I opened the drawer to take out two spoons, but I took a handful of silverware and threw it against the wall.

“She still loves him, doesn’t she? That’s who she’s apologizing to up there.” He placed his hand on my shoulder again when I turned and gripped the counter. “I think my big bro just got his heart broken for the first time in his life.”

“Fuck you.” I shrugged him off and went to the freezer to grab the ice cream.

“It’s okay, man. It hurts like hell now, but I’m happy to know you’re capable of love. There’s a girl out there for you, and we’ll find her.”

I slammed the ice cream back into the freezer and knocked him back with my shoulder as I walked past him. “I know the girl for me.”

He didn’t follow me when I ran two steps at a time back upstairs. I reached the door and gripped the doorknob, but stopped. I needed to calm down. I was making good progress and didn’t want to frighten her. I took a couple of deep breaths before I turned and walked to the hall closet.

She needed new sheets and blankets. I’d wash her other set in the morning, but right then she needed clean and dry. I grabbed what I needed and turned back to her room. We just needed more time. I’d show her we could be great together.

I walked in and smiled when she was sitting with my shirt on in the middle of the bed. She’d stopped crying. “I thought you were bringing us something to cool down.”

“I was, but we don’t have any ice cream. I’m sorry.” I watched to see if the last two words brought on more tears since she repeated them over and over just moments before, but she smiled and got up.

“Okay, then come back to bed.”

I tossed the sheets and blankets to the floor and pulled her close. I held her face and looked into her eyes. I wanted her to love me. I wanted her to want to be with me. It wasn’t ever going to happen. I was the man who broke up her perfect world. Even if she never got back with Bryce, she could never be with me.

I kissed her, and even though her lips moved, she didn’t kiss me back. I backed up and smiled. “I think we both need sleep. And, maybe a shower.”

She put her hand on the side of my face. “You’re probably right.” She looked down at the new bedding. “Thanks for bringing that. I’ll take a shower and put it on when I’m finished.”

I took her wrist and looked at the handcuff I’d forgotten to take off. I shook my head as I removed it. “I’ll take care of the bed while you’re showering.”

“I can do it.”

“I know. So can I. I told you I’d clean up, and I mean what I say.” I turned her toward the bathroom and smacked her ass. “Now get.”

She turned and looked at me and the bed before she shut the door. I narrowed my eyes. Was she worried I’d be in the bed waiting for her when she got out? I wouldn’t be. I walked over and stripped her bed.

I couldn’t believe that I’d read her so wrong. It was my job to read people. It was my job to make sure they were telling me the truth and detect any kind of lie to get what they wanted. I wasn’t sure which way was up anymore.

I sighed when I put the last corner on and the opposite side flipped off. I probably didn’t secure it enough the first time. It was time to get my head back into the game and stop floating in the clouds. I never belonged there.

I grabbed a pillowcase off the floor and walked over to refasten the corner and exchange the pillowcase on that side of the bed. I worked the corner and watched to make sure the other corners stayed put. I leaned down and grabbed for the pillowcase, but my hand hit something else.

I pulled it up and was dumbfounded. I turned, sat on the bed, and looked at the soda can I had crushed weeks before. It wasn’t perfect, but it was as close to perfect as it could’ve been given the condition I last saw it in. How did she manage this?

I heard the water shut off in the shower and turned to the door. The most honest thing I’d ever said in my life was when I told her I’d never wanted to make someone happy before. I still wanted to make her happy, but I realized the man who could make her happy was the man I’d spent time destroying.

I placed the can back on the floor where she had it, grabbed the pillowcase, and ran to the other side of the bed as if I hadn’t been on the side with the can. I tossed the pillow after sliding the pillowcase on and grabbed the blanket just as she walked out.

“You’re still here.”

“Corners. They’re a bitch.”

I received a genuine smile for that joke. “Thank you for making the bed.”

“You’re welcome. Now, in you go.” I lifted the blanket for her. She slipped in and snuggled up to the pillow. I bent down and kissed her forehead. “Sweet dreams. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

It was time for her to sleep, but I had too much to do. I walked out and went to the den. The game just changed, and Joshua Mosley was about to see my wrath.

* * *

“That’s a very interesting story, Brody.” The district attorney was all too eager to hear what I had to say. Halfway through, he seemed more bored than interested.

Ryan Wilcox was only an assistant district attorney when he prosecuted and sent me to prison. He was the first to congratulate me on my sobriety and was genuinely interested in the rehab center Tim and I started. He believed the system worked if people gave it a chance, but he didn’t have too many “success stories,” as he called them, like me.

He was the only one I could trust with the truth. I knew I was putting myself back behind bars by admitting it. I knew it was a different crime with a harsher punishment than some kid who was strung out, drunk, and disorderly. I had to fix the problem I helped create and get rid of Laney’s father once and for all.

“It isn’t a story, Ryan.”

He sat up, leaned on his desk, and looked directly at me. “You do know what you’re admitting to. You do understand I will have no choice but to prosecute you if I can verify these facts. Why would you come to me and admit this?”

“Because Joshua Mosley needs to go down.”

“He’s needed to go down for quite some time. What makes you think you can take him down when the police and feds can’t touch him?”

I reached into my pocket and tossed a flash drive onto his desk. “I have every conversation I’ve ever had with that man on tape, including video of the meeting in my office. I didn’t think it would go this far. I figured I’d have to babysit for a week tops before he said to take her back home, but he didn’t.”

“Even a week is too long to kidnap someone.” He picked up the flash drive. “How does Bryce play into this? I’ve heard from the bar owner that you walked back into those doors and struck up a friendship with Bryce. You even took home a couple of women.”

“Bryce has nothing to do with it. I got him drunk and snapped a few photos of the brunette on his lap before he tossed her off. I was still trying to break them up at that point.”

“And now?”

“They belong together, and her father belongs in prison.”

“What did you think would happen to you when she was let go? Did you think she wouldn’t press charges?” He was quite a bit older than me, and I always felt as if it were my father scolding me when he asked me questions like that. I made sure not to give him the opportunity too often. I didn’t like feeling I disappointed him.

“I wasn’t thinking about me.”

“Were you thinking about the money?”

I looked up and met his eyes. “No, the money is still in the safe at the office. You can have it.”

“What were you thinking about then?”

“Mosley’s right hand, Marco, came with him to our meeting. You’ll see him masturbate at just the conversation of taking her. I didn’t want Marco to take her. I’d never met her and thought she’d be a spoiled brat with her father being like he is, but I couldn’t bear the thought of her being held by anyone else. Do you have any idea what would’ve happened to her?”

He leaned back into the chair and placed his hands on the arms. “You should’ve come to me before you picked her up.”

“I know.” I looked down. “I know. I didn’t think it would turn out like it has.”

“Like what, Brody? How has it turned out?”

All I could do was shake my head. I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t speak.

“You fell in love with her.” He leaned forward when I didn’t answer and picked up the flash drive again. “I’m going to review this and see what I can do, but I’m making no promises, Brody. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” I looked up again. “Yes, I understand.”

“Where are you keeping her?”

“At my mom’s.”

He nodded. “Let’s see what you’ve got on this asshole.”