Dick.
And why did Rowan lie? He could have simply said he was tired or didn’t feel like it or whatever. I probably would have been disappointed either way, but oh well. The lie was pointless, which ticks me off. As far as I knew, we didn’t lie to each other. We never had a reason to.
“All right.” Alec pulls his phone out, frowns at the screen, and then looks to the clock. “Go. Eat your lunch.”
I’m the first one out the door, but lo and behold, Alec is hot on my heels.
I walk faster.
“Why couldn’t you admit that he didn’t show up last night?”
“Mind your business, Alec.”
“What, you embarrassed your boyfriend doesn’t want you enough to make the late-night trip to your place, like any other fuckin’ man would?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I slap my clipboard on my desk and continue through to the employee hallway.
He follows.
Of course he does.
“Isn’t it humiliating? Wishing for someone who will never really be yours?”
“Go away,” I sing-song and walk into the restroom to wash my hands, taking a second to catch my breath over the sink.
He hit the nail on the head. It’s humiliating all right.
Here Alec is, assuming Rowan and I are together when we’re not. Letting him believe so only makes me look like the fool with a fool, but the thought of him knowing the truth makes me uneasy. But I have no idea why.
“It’s never gonna happen, Oakley!” he shouts through the door. “He’ll never want you right!”
With a grunt, I shove the door open, tossing my wet towel at him. “What does that even mean, want me right?”
“Exactly what I said. He’ll never want you the right way. Not enough.”
“Enough for what?” I shout, annoyed.
“Enough to erase everyone else.”
My brows jump, and I slightly shake my head. “I don’t even know what you’re saying.”
He steps close, and my spine straightens.
“He might be your little boyfriend for the sake of the fucking word, Oakley, but just like you don’t belong to him, he doesn’t belong to you. Does he?” he growls. “You don’t feel it, do you? Feel like you have him?”
“Fuck off, Alec.”
“When you have a man, when he’s yours”—he inches forward, placing his hands on each side of me, locking me in place—“you’ll feel it everywhere. You’ll heat up at the thought of him, melt from his words, and you’ll fucking burn when he touches you. When he’s yours, he’ll fuck you ‘til you’re spent, and still … you’ll beg for more. Crave more. Always more.”
My chest heaves against his. I’m pissed, irritated, and ready to flip my shit, but goddamn if I’m not aching in areas I shouldn’t.
“He’ll fuck you ‘til you’re spent, and still, you’ll beg for more.”
I’m hot, turned on.
And this is Alec standing in front of me.
He stands tall and steps back, taking in my heated skin and glazed eyes. He looks to my neck, reading my pulse, like he’s trained to do, no doubt picking up on the rapid beat of my treacherous heart. “Look at you, worked up over what it would feel like. What you’re feeling right now is nothing. Child’s play.”
Child’s play?
Child’s play.
Of course.
He thinks he can mock me. Come in here and prove some sort of point? No.
Let’s play, asshole.
I push off the wall and into him. “I’m not above begging,” I whisper, aligning my body with his. “But I don’t have to …”
Alec tries hard not to look curious, but his forehead creases just a tad.
“See,” I tip my head to the side and lie, “he already knows what I like.”
An instant deep frown forms. He pushes into me, not a fraction of space between us, and my back hits the wall.
My eyes widen, but still, I push. “He’s had years to learn, to explore …”
Alec’s hands wrap around my upper arms, his grip tight. “If he fucks—”
“When he fucks.”
He growls, low and deep, and suddenly, it’s hard for me to breathe.
My head drops against the wall when he brings his lips to my ear. “You have no fucking clue—”
“What the fuck?”
Both our heads jerk toward the door, the Employees Only door, which Rowan apparently entered.
I jump to the side, like I was caught with my hands in Alec’s pants, while he stays in place, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You’re not allowed back here,” he tells Rowan, and my gaze flies to his.
That’s what he’s going with right now?
“Fuck off.” Rowan looks to me, accusation in his eyes. “I need to talk to you.”
“Not right now, Rowan,” I refuse, fighting not to sound breathless.
“Yes, right now, Oakley.” His eyes narrow, and he takes a few steps closer.
“Maybe you could, I don’t know”—I pin him with a glare—“come over later?”
Right after I say it, I want to take it back. Yes, he lied, and that was shitty of him, but my lashing out here in front of Alec definitely doesn’t help the situation any.