“Surprise.”
Both of their heads whipped around to my voice.
At first, their expressions were shocked, or maybe it was just surprise that they’d had an audience, because Caryn bit her lip and glanced at Dean. She didn’t look like she felt guilty for betraying me but instead was expecting Dean to explain what was going on.
My attention shifted to him. He stood, grabbing his jeans and pulling them on over his deflated yet coated-with-cum dick. The thought that I had sucked that dick, a dick that clearly was spending time inside my best friend, made me want to vomit.
“Reyna. What are you doing here?” he asked.
For a moment, I wondered whether I was dreaming. Maybe my nerves about eloping were causing me to have a dream that put into question what I was doing. It was the only thing that could explain how unapologetic he seemed. Like I was the one at fault.
“I don’t know why I’m here, Dean. All of a sudden, the reason has slipped my mind.”
“Don’t be like that, sweetheart—”
“I’m not your sweetheart. I think that’s pretty well-established at this point.”
He glanced back at Caryn and then at me, setting his hands on his hips. “Caryn and I were just having a little fun. She got here early, and well—”
I held up my hand to stop him. “I see what happened.” I wondered how long it had been happening. “I apologize for interrupting. You two have fun.”
I prided myself on sounding calm, even disinterested, because on the inside I was hysterical. I wanted to rip Caryn’s blonde hair out by the roots and use the strands to strangle Dean’s dick until it fell off. Instead, I gripped the handle of my suitcase and turned to exit the suite.
“We have an appointment tomorrow to get the marriage certificate,” Dean said.
I was stunned at the words coming out of his mouth. How could he think we were going to get married now? I might’ve let my parents push me around, but I wasn’t going to marry someone who was cheating on me.
I looked over my shoulder. “Why don’t you take Caryn?”
Caryn’s eyes widened, apparently surprised by my reaction. She turned her attention to Dean, and I saw hope in her eyes that he would elope with her instead. I knew that wouldn’t happen. Caryn didn’t come from a family that offered any benefit to Dean’s family. My friendship with her had always bothered my parents because they didn’t feel she was good enough for me. It always upset me because I knew that their attitude had to do with the fact that her family didn’t have as much money as ours, let alone Dean’s, who only accepted our marriage because my father had something they wanted. As it turns out, my parents were right. Caryn wasn’t a good friend.
I headed toward the door again, reaching for the latch when Dean caught up to me. His hand slapped against the door so I couldn’t open it. He looked down at me, his eyes fierce in a scary way. It wasn’t something I’d ever seen from him before.
“If we don’t get married tomorrow, we’ll get married the way our parents are setting it up.”
I shook my head despite the unsettled feeling around his ominous glare. “I’m not marrying you at all, Dean. You don’t love or respect me.”
His features softened, and his hand reached up to tug on a strand of my dark hair. I jerked away. It was interesting how quickly I could go from craving his touch to being repulsed by it.
“Of course, I love you and respect you.” He waved his hand over his shoulder toward Caryn. “It’s just sex. It doesn’t mean anything.”
I suppose it was petty of me that I liked the stab of pain I saw in Caryn’s face at his words.
I looked up at him, wondering about the man I thought I’d loved. I would have never expected this from him. He had been perfect in every way. Had that all been an act? I knew my parents were eager for Dean and me to be together, but I didn’t change the person I was to make that happen. Had he?
I shook my head at him. “In marriage, you don’t just give your heart, you give all of you. You don’t share your dick with other people. And if you think that’s okay, then there’s something wrong with you.”
His eyes flashed with darkness again. “It’s the way of the world, baby,” he said with an edge to his tone. “You think your dad’s faithful to your mom? You think my dad is? What’s the big deal, anyway? Sex doesn’t mean love. It’s just something that’s fun.”
Did all men think like that? Was that one of the stereotypical differences between men and women? For women, sex and intimacy were expressions of love, whereas for men it was just to get their rocks off?
“I guess it’s a good thing I came early and we could learn this about each other. Because I’m not willing to share any part of the man I marry.”
“Oh, come on, Reyna. Stop being such a prude. If you wanted to fuck someone else, I wouldn’t care.”
I gaped at him, remembering one time when we were at a party and one man who worked for my father cornered me and tried to make a pass. Dean practically ripped his head off.
“If that’s true, then why were you so mad when Jake Torren decided he wanted a piece of me?”