Deon’s lips left mine as he leaned back to shrug the jacket off, but he ducked against me again in no time at all, sliding along my neck and down my chest. His hot breath brushed over my excited breaths and had me letting out moans against my will. His hands smoothed along the bend in my waist and up my stomach, and I couldn’t stop myself from bringing my hands to the button of his jeans to undo them.
With a deep, husky chuckle, Deon brought his head back up and set his forehead on mine. “You’re impatient.”
“I’ve waited a long time,” I responded.
“Me too.” He kissed me again. “I didn’t know when we did this via text this morning that I’d be getting the real thing this afternoon.”
“Funny how life works, huh?”
I craned my neck to kiss Deon, which I got with some added tongue before he pulled himself away again. “What happened? How’d you end it?”
“What?” I asked, half in a daze.
“With Nathan, how’d you end it? I was beginning to think it was never going to happen.”
I groaned. “Let’s not talk about Nathan right now.”
He snickered, his voice tickling my neck as he pressed his lips against it. “You’re right. You finally fucking did it. Let’s just take that victory for now.”
Fuck.
I pressed my hands against Deon’s chest and pushed him back a little. “Deon.”
“What?” he asked, and it was only then that I saw the total elation in his eyes that I realized I’d made a terrible mistake. “Is something wrong?”
“I…” Half my brain was telling me to shut the hell up, but I didn’t want the beginning of my relationship with Deon to be plagued with deceit. “I haven’t broken up with Nathan yet.”
“What!” He backed off of me and all the way off the bed. It was a way harsher reaction than I was expecting, but not one I didn’t deserve. “What do you mean? You said you were ready!”
“I am!” I replied. “I’m ready to end it with him.”
“Then why haven’t you?” he barked.
Well, that was a great question. One that I had no good answer too. “I just didn’t yet. I saw him cheating on me, and I just got so angry—”
“What?” Deon’s eyes were wide with rage. “Were you about to revenge fuck me?”
“No! You mean the world to me, and—”
“Not enough to break up with Nathan.”
“I’m gonna do it!”
He scoffed. “I’ve been listening to that for weeks, Cherri! I’ve told you a thousand times. I don’t like when people fucking use me.”
“I’m not using you!”
“Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. You are a part of The Royal Court. People are just resources to them.” He ran a hand through his hair, and with his tattoos sprawling out all over his torso and his arms bulging from his anger, I was battling a confusing mix of aroused and upset. “I said I wouldn’t share. I fucking meant that shit.”
“I know,” I said weakly. “I’m sorry. I’m gonna break up with him.”
“It’s not just about him anymore, Cherri. The court changed you. The woman I knew never would have done this shit to me.” He buttoned his pants and picked his jacket up off the floor. “As long as you’re associated with them, you can forget I exist.” He took one last disappointed and hurt look at me, then turned and stormed out.
Tears were in my eyes before I could stop them. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and quickly dialed Avery’s number.
“Jesus, fuck, Cherri. I’ve been worried sick. Where the hell have you been?”
“Can you come over?” I whimpered out through tears.
“Yeah. What’s wrong?”
“Nathan’s cheating on me again,” I said, “and I fucked things up with Deon too.”
16
Cherri
After closing my locker, I pulled a pencil out of my pocket and held it out to Avery. “Here. Stab me with this.”
Avery took the pencil and slid it into one of the pockets on my backpack. “I will not.” I frowned and groaned as Avery linked her arm through mine. “Aw, honey. How long has it been, a month? Deon has to have calmed down some. You really should reach out and apologize. Explain things to him clearly and maybe you guys can start over.”
“You haven’t seen how he looks at me now,” I replied. “Maybe it has been a month since the great Cherri fuck-up of the year, but he still seems just as disappointed and angry as he was when it first happened.”
“But…” She sighed. “You guys are obviously meant to be together. Just finally end things with Nathan and then approach Deon with an honest, heartfelt apology. Tell him how you feel and that it’ll never happen again.”
I whined. “I sound like Nathan when you describe me like that.”
Avery bobbled her head. “Well, there’s not much I can do about that.” I whacked her arm. “Ow! There isn’t! You didn’t necessarily cheat on Deon, but he made it really clear that he didn’t want to do anything with you until you’d broken up with Nathan.”
I stopped moving where I was and looked at her through a half-lidded gaze. “No, please, keep going. I forgot how fucking dumb I was. Remind me.”
“Sorry,” Avery grumbled, pulling me to walk again. “It’s kind of where you’re at now, though.”
“No, I can make a different decision than Nathan,” I said. “I can be self-sacrificing enough to say that Deon deserves someone better than me. When you describe me in that way, I kind of get the feeling that with Nathan is exactly where I should be.”
“No,” Avery whined. “That’s not true. You made one little mistake. Nathan is an awful, terrible person. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel that
