The bastard hadliterally shelved Becky and then abandoned her. “Damn, Becky,”Kelley said, seething with incomprehensible rage. Feeling her fallapart in his arms, he forcibly quelled his anger. Pity and empathyfor the heartbroken girl won out. He relaxed his shoulders and putaside his selfish feelings of outrage and jealousy.
“He said he was sorry. He asked for another chance,” sheconfessed into his ear. “I’m such a fool. I said yes.”
“Then he just put you on this shelf?” he whispered back,feeling her nod her head into his chest. “He left you here? On afucking counter, littered with nails and shit.”
“He must have changed his mind when I told him… when I told himthat I wasn’t sleeping with him tonight.”
“Tonight?” Kelley’s hands fisted where he held them on eitherside of her bottom. “The bastard expected sex tonight? After allthat bullshit he put you through? Aw, love…” he crooned when shesobbed into his collar. “Love, forget him. He doesn’t deserveyou.”
“I’m such a fool,” she lamented.
“No, you’re not. If anyone’s a fool, it’s me,” he said, gentlytucking his fingers under her bottom, carefully lifting her awayfrom the prickly surface of the counter.
“You?” she asked, holding onto his shoulders.
“Yes,” he said, placing her safely on her feet.
“Why?”
“For letting the bastard get near you in the firstplace.”
***
“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the party?” Kelleyasked, having walked her across the backyard and into the house.“I’ll wait here if you want to go upstairs and get yourselftogether.”
“No thanks,” Becky said, brushing a hand across her ruinedtights. The last thing she wanted was to be around other people. Ifanything she wanted a nice hot bath and to get into pyjamas. “Ithink I’m all partied out.”
“I’ll stay with you then. Keep you company.” She already spentso much time on her own and he wanted very much to tell her thatshe needn’t cry over that bastard, Jax. In fact, there was so muchhe wanted to say to her. Of course, now would not be the righttime. He needed to be sure that she was over that despicable prickbefore he confessed his true feeling for her.
As much as shewould like to say yes to his tempting offer, she didn’t want tokeep him from his friends. Besides, she didn’t want his pity. Shedidn’t want him to feel sorry for her all the time. It seemed it’sall he ever felt for her. Right from the time she got sick with theflu, then when Granny passed away, when she fell in the tub, andthen the whole Jax fiasco. He probably wished he had never bumpedinto her in the first place.
“Go back to your party, Kelley,” she said, placing her hand onhis forearm, loving the strength she felt there. “I’m not very goodcompany right now. I think I’ll go upstairs and take abath.”
Kell watchedher walk away before pounding his fist into the wall. This was allhis fault. Too stubborn to admit that he wanted Becky for himself,he literally handed her over to that opportunistic prick. Whycouldn’t he just tell her the truth? That he wanted her so badly ithurt to look at her?
Before he couldeven dwell on the question, he knew the answer all too well.Because he didn’t deserve her that’s why. He would only let herdown in the end. Just like he had let his family down. Why couldn’the have just died along with his parents, his brother, andsister?
His dad hadbeen right about him. He’d never amount to anything. He was tooself-absorbed and only cared about himself.
Becky deservedbetter. She needed someone she could depend on. Not someone likehim, who’d only let her down over and over again.
Chapter 26
Lying in bed,Becky promised herself never to dwell on Jax again. As far as shewas concerned, he was history. He was an awful person and he didn’tdeserve any more of her time.
Dozing in andout of consciousness, she could still hear the music vibrating infrom the party. Every once in a while, she would hear someone comein to use the bathroom downstairs. At one point, it sounded asthough the party had drifted into the kitchen with the sound ofvoices and laughter. Self-consciously, she tugged her blankethigher, to just below her chin.
She must havedrifted off to sleep eventually. Hours later, she was awoken by theunmistakable sounds of sex coming from a room nearby. She frownedat the thought of who it could be causing the lucky girl to giggleand moan with such abandon. It wasn’t any of her business, really.Yet she couldn’t help but be upset at the thought that it might beKelley. It didn’t bother her so much to imagine it being Dorian oreven Crispin. But the image of Kelley in the arms of another woman…well, that upset her so much that she couldn’t get the idea out ofher head.
Becky tossedand turned, unable to tune out the sounds of the seemingly neverending romp. Frustrated, she even pulled her pillow over her headin an effort to stifle the erotic cries of pleasure that stolethrough the dark house. What in the world could he be doing to herthat would cause her to scream like that? Becky could only imagine.Worse yet, she was starting to get all hot and botheredherself.
Lying on her belly, she couldn’t help but feel the familiartingles of arousal stirring from between her legs. This was sowrong, getting excited at the sounds of one of her housemateshaving sex! Or was it? No one would everknow…
Unable toresist, she slid her hand between her thighs and started to strokeherself. It wasn't long before her heart started to race, herbreath coming out in short gasps. She was so close. In fact, shewas so distracted by her manipulations that she didn’t hear someonecome into her room. It was only when she felt the mattress dip anda heavy masculine body collapse on top
