“I’m fine! You’re over-reacting.”
Shaking my head, I reached for the medicine cabinet that was conveniently located on the sidewall and took out the First Aid kit. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” I asked as I ripped the ointment foil, squeezing the little tube out on my middle finger before applying the gel on her red, swollen, scratched elbow, before covering it up.
When she didn’t reply, I searched her face. She was wearing a weird expression, eyes dilated as she looked at me silently. I was a man, so when I saw these signs, my eyes dropped to her bikini-covered breasts, finding the outline of her nipples aroused.
My mouth watered. Literally, I felt saliva gather in my mouth at the thought of sucking one of those rosebuds. I wanted to pounce on her, but I was adamant that she make the first move. She already rejected me enough; any more would blow my gasket.
“Grey… about earlier…” She licked her lips, making me zero in on their cherry color. “The whole bastard thing… it wasn’t like that. I never meant it like that,” she whispered, while I was mesmerized at her heaving chest, something about her voice made me look into her eyes… and I simply felt lost… in her. “You have to understand that I would never call you that literally. It was more of your attitude towards me that made me call you that word.”
Olivia,I’ve wanted you for so long…
“I’m sorry,” she finished.
While she was saying her piece, I was conflicted because I wanted to devour her, but she would scream murder if I did. Even if I knew she felt this connection with me, she wouldn’t act on it. She was sorry for calling me a bastard… What about what happened before? The one that mattered most? I knew I was young, but I knew I meant everything I said to her then.
Pulling away from her gaze, my eyes dropped, burning into her lips. My cravings were hell, however when my addiction was right in front of me, the high of thinking that I could get a taste of it was too much. That was the saddest thing… I never really kissed her. No. Not really. Third grade Spin the Bottle kiss didn’t count.
It was idiotic, but I couldn’t help it. I had to lean forward—a fraction—somewhat aiming for her lips, but not. It was a test to see if she would let me be this close… and when she tensed and then turned her face to the side, I got my answer. Same as always.
Holding myself with every ounce of restraint, I pulled away and went straight to the shower area, turning the dial to hot temperature. Without looking directly at her—more like staring at her neck—I started to speak. “Have a hot shower in case you got hurt anywhere else. Your muscles won’t be as sore tomorrow.” I started walking out of the bathroom door.
“Grey?”
I paused with my back to her, hands in my pocket. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
I nodded. It was bittersweet. She was starting to become less bitchy, but we both remained in the same position.
Wanting her would always bemyproblem. Hating was much safer than craving her to distraction. It was true what they say… we always want what we couldn’t have.
While she was showering, I made sure she had two tablets of pain relievers on her side table and a bottle of water next to it. Even if the only thing I wanted was to stay in her room and watch her sleep, I knew better. Best to get my life moving the way it had always gone—with no Olivia in it.
Tonight, neither Tiffany nor Edith would share my bed. I needed a new person. A woman I had no connection to. Someone I could easily forget after one night.
Someone nameless.
Someone I could call whatever I liked.
CHAPTER9
Liv
Last night...left me wanting. Deprived of what I could have tasted had I not twisted my head to the side and avoided whatever Grey wanted from me.
He was aiming for a kiss… but with Grey, I knew the guy didn’t end with kisses. I’d heard enough gossip to know how he ended it, with your mind left into mush.
And as much as I was attracted to him physically, it didn’t change the fact that he was Edith’s. Sort of.
What he did last night, making sure that I was okay, was a side of him that I hadn’t seen. It melted my heart... and my resolve. No matter how much I wished I could cement everything back to how they were, it was obvious that things were changing… fast. I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. This charged feeling I got whenever he was around left me confused, wanting and angry because my body was reacting to him. And I didn’t want to want him. It would wound my pride. Reasonable women shouldn’t want men like him. I wasn’t going to be one of his starry-eyed, bubbling from over excitement to the point of overkill, moronic throng of women.
Before, it was easier to ignore it because he was always in a distance, but now, interacting with him on a daily basis was too much to handle. The temperature was boiling and it was only in a matter of time until we would give in and let loose of all the heated, scalding need that’d been simmering on the surface. At times, I let myself think where it could lead to—what it would feel like to be in his arms—but at the same time, I think of Edith and how she’s owned him for so long. I felt like an intruder. Then again, I was also considering the fact that maybe I was just sexually frustrated from not having Liam here with me that I was even fancying illicit thoughts towards Greyson Edwards. This never happened before.
When I thought of him, it was always of hate, loath and disgust. Want and yearning were never associated with him. Never.
The lists of reasons were vast, yet my body had its own agenda and I hoped to God that this wouldn’t lead me astray from my pride and beliefs.
So yes, it was understandable that I was pissed off with the situation I was given. Who could blame mom, though? She wanted her Darcy. And as for me… mine was waiting in Australia; sexy accent and all.