I left my bedroom, a little extra pep in my step at how spotless my apartment was. Apparently heartbreak was good motivation for cleaning. At least for me.
I unlocked the deadbolt and pulled the door open, choking on air as soon I saw who was on the other side: Ethan.
He was far more casual than I’d ever seen him, jeans low on his hips with a snug olive green t-shirt clinging to his chest, dark stubble dancing across his cheeks while his hair did its own thing. Despite it all, he was devastatingly handsome.
And also, a bastard.
“You have a lot of nerve!” I hissed, fully prepared to slam the door in his face. I would’ve too, if it wasn’t for his damn foot in the way.
“I do,” he agreed, not a bit of humor in his voice or eyes. Everything about him was different, more rigid than I was used to. Something was off.
“What do you want?” As much as I wanted him to leave, I also wanted answers. No, needed answers. I couldn’t keep crying myself to sleep over a man that didn’t want me.
“To talk.”
“Spill it,” I spat, using his own quick-talk tactics against him.
“In private.” His eyes drifted to the street above, a few passersby dilly-dallying at the scene unfolding.
I stepped aside to let him in, shutting and locking the door behind him loudly. He didn’t wait for me, heading straight for the couch where he sat down, eyes drifting around the apartment.
“Go on, talk!” I leaned against the door with crossed arms, refusing to make nice. If he wanted to talk, we were doing it on my terms.
“I’m sorry.” The apology was delivered softly, his hands steepled on his knees as he focused on them.
“For?” I pushed, dreading the inevitable as my heart somehow managed to plummet further. He regretted sleeping with me. I knew it.
“Ignoring you,” he replied, still refusing to look at me. “It was disrespectful and cruel, just as I’d intended. But I can’t do that to you anymore.”
He meant to hurt me? That was worse than regretting sex. I rubbed my hands along my upper arms, the sting of fresh tears threatening my eyes.
“Come here, please.” He patted the seat next to him, but I didn’t budge. I wasn’t sure I could walk without falling even if my life depended on it.
“Why would you do that to me?” I whispered, losing the battle against the waterworks, a single tear escaping down my cheek. I closed my eyes, willing them to stop, only to pop them wide when I felt his fingers brushing across my cheek to wipe it away.
His eyes held mine, the sea of blue promising adventure yet his expression wasn’t that of Ethan. He wasn’t the happy-go-lucky guy I adored. He was a statue, the sharp angles tightly in place. “I have to.”
I shook my head as more tears escaped, mind swimming with questions, too many to put into words. What was he talking about? “You don’t hurt people you care about, Ethan.”
“You’re right. I hurt people I love, Plum.” He was so close that his breath was hot on my ear, lips peppering kisses across my cheek as he moved painfully slow toward my mouth.
He loved me? My eyes popped wide, now nose to nose with the man that left me in ruins for over a week. “What?”
“I’ve loved you from the moment we met,” he admitted, a smile touching his voice at last. “You’re always the most beautiful woman in the room. Always the one with the biggest heart. Always the one I wanted.”
I swallowed hard, sure I was about to crumble to the floor. If it wasn’t for his hands suddenly on my hips, I’m sure I would’ve, too. “Always?”
He nodded, lips brushing against mine before he pulled away looking stricken. “Always, Kee.”
“Then why did you leave me?” You don’t leave the ones you love. I knew that better than anyone.
Another soft kiss chased away the pain, the venom I’d once had for him replaced with uncertainty. “To save you.”
“From what?” I asked, fear cutting through the fog of desire. He’d always been my savior, swooping in to pick me up when life wore me down. If anything, staying with me would have saved me from plummeting into the depression that was my last week.
His lips feathered across mine, his fingers biting into my hips where they had a week earlier. “Me.”
He was out of his mind. “You don’t scare me.” He never would either, regardless of whatever flimsy warning flag he was waving. He might have broken me, but he swooped back in to pick up the pieces. He cared. He loved.
A nip on my bottom lip caught me off guard before a quick peck soothed the pain away. “I should.”
I gripped his shirt, taking what I’d wanted for ages as I kissed him hungrily, a groan pouring into my mouth in response. Of all people, he should know how I reacted to a challenge.
He had my jeans and panties off before I even pulled my top over my head, and in quick order his shirt and pants were gone, boxers the only thing covering his massive bulge.
Last time I’d been the only one exposed, so every muscle of his body was new to me, a long, lean frame I couldn’t get enough of. I slid my hands across his wide chest, his skin on fire. Burning for me. I watched them as I trailed him, not daring to peek as he pulled his boxers down, cock jutting out to strike my stomach, hard and ready for me.
Tongues and lips collided as he pulled me into the living room toward the couch, falling with me on it in a menagerie of limbs. My legs spread wide, and he was inside in a single thrust, my body more than ready for him. It had been ready since he left, muscles remembering the hums
