He came with a shout, gasping into my hair as a shiver passed through him.
I drew mindless circles into his back with the tip of my finger, hooking my ankles together to lock him against me. I didn’t want him to go. I wanted to hold onto him forever. This strong, brave, powerful man was mine to protect, mine to keep. I wouldn’t have minded if the rest of the world melted away if it meant I could spend the rest of my life like this.
The world, unfortunately, didn’t work that way.
The sound of the elevator doors in the main living room reached my ears, followed by the shuffling of feet. Jesse and I looked at each other, alarmed. Someone was here, and they had literally caught us with our pants down.
“Dad?” Wally called from the entrance. “I’m here. You said you wanted to talk.”
“Shit,” Jesse hissed.
We immediately sprang into action, clumsily gathering our clothes and putting them on as quickly as we could. Wally appeared at the doorway, which Jesse and I mistakenly left open because we thought no one else would be making an appearance.
Wally looked to his father, then at me, then to the messy bed and tangled sheets.
“What—” He gawked at me, staring at my neck. “Is that a hickey?”
I clasped a hand over the spot in question. “N-no. Of course not.”
“What are you doing in Viv’s room?” Wally asked his father. “Why are you so out of breath?” Why—” Confusion twisted at his expression, followed by realization and rage. “Holy shit.”
Jesse put his hands up, as if taming a rabid animal. “Just let me explain, son—”
“Have you been fucking my ex-girlfriend?”
Chapter 26
Jesse
There was no escaping his fury. Wally’s cheeks were red, the vein in his temple threatening to burst out of his skull. Fists clenched, jaw tight, nostrils flared. My son was normally a well-tempered young man, but right now, he was understandably anything but.
“How could you do this?” he hissed.
“Wally, just calm down.”
“Calm down? Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! This is so messed up, I don’t even know where to begin.” Wally gestured in Vivian’s general direction, unable to look her in the eye. “She’s half your fucking age, Dad! What the hell are you thinking?”
I swallowed but found no reprieve for my dry throat. Our age difference had definitely crossed my mind on several occasions. It made me feel weird at first, but it quickly became obvious that Vivian was so much more than her age.
“We’re both consenting adults,” I argued. “It’s what we both wanted.”
“What about the fact that she’s my ex-girlfriend? That she’s myfriend.Did it ever occur to you how uncomfortable that would make me feel? How… Howsickthat is?”
Vivian took a step forward, her brow knitted into a frown. “Wally, we never meant to hurt you. It just sort of happened.”
“Just sort of happened,” he echoed in disbelief. “What the hell, Viv? Did you not respect me enough to at least talk to me first?”
“How was I supposed to bring something like that up?”
Wally shook his head. “How long has this been going on? How long have you two been doing shit behind my back?”
I glanced at Vivian. I had a feeling that any answer I gave would still piss my son off to no end. Our silence must have been answer enough because Wally threw his hands into the air and huffed.
“Fuck. This is my fault.”
Vivian took another step forward. “Please don’t say that, Wally.”
“But it is. I was the one who brought you here. I thought you’d be safe, but you wound up being preyed upon.”