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I didn't feel like dealing with him after the day I'd had. "Yes. I don't know why you went to all thetrouble."
"I was hoping we could have dinner and talk?" he suggested, holding up a bottle of wine and sometakeout.
"No, Dean, I don't think so." I didn't have the patience forhim.
"Please, Tatum. It has been a week. We owe it to one another to talk this through. Give us anothertry."
He must have lost his mind, or I had for what I was about to do. I stepped out of the way and waved him into the kitchen. Shutting the door, I followedhim.
"While I get the food out, why don't you put your flowers in a vase, sweetheart. I have to heat some of this anyway." He busied himself, grabbing plates and a couple wine glasses from thecupboard.
"Please, Dean, don't call me sweetheart. You don't mean it anyways," I mumbled under my breath as I grabbed a vase from under the counter. I would rather shred the flowers, but I filled the vase with water then cut and arranged theflowers.
One thing about Dean: he always bought gorgeous flowers, always red roses. He never spared the expense. It was probably a good thing, considering how often during the past year he had bought them for me. Who was I kidding? He was probably on some frequent-buyer program. I buried my nose in one of the roses when I felt Dean come up behindme.
Wrapping his arms around my waist, he whispered, "People make mistakes, Tatum. I want you, always have. I made a stupid mistake. I ended things with her before I left, and I came back early so I could be with you. I wanted to call you all week, but after what went on, I thought we needed some timeapart."
I shrugged out of his embrace and kept reorganizing the flowers and baby's breath. He went back to plating some of the food and poured the wine. I wanted his words to be true, that he had ended it and everything including the hit was a mistake. I didn't want this night to end up being amistake.
I jumped at the sound of Dean’s cell phone ringing. "Aren't you going to answer it?" I looked over my shoulder athim.
He shook his head as he locked eyes with me. He removed his phone from his jacket pocket and turned the power off. He walked toward me and wrapped me in his embrace from behind. His cologne intoxicating; he always smelled sogood.
"No distractions tonight. It's you and me." He kissed me below the ear, and then took the skin between his teeth and bitdown.
I flinched. I hated when he did that. I tried to let myself relax against him as he kissed and bit the side of my neck again, and then trailed a few small, light kisses along my neck. His hands traveled down to cup my ass, and he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back into him. I could feel his arousal pressing into me while he kissed down the back of myneck.
"Do you see what you do to me?" he whispered. "I’m so sorry I hurt you, baby," A soft moan escaped my lips when his hand cupped my breast. Dean turned me around and picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me to thebedroom.
I awoke to the smellof coffee brewing. Stretching, I climbed out of bed and headed to the living room. Dean sat on the couch, feet up on the coffee table, his phone in one hand and coffee in theother.
"Morning."
"Morning. Let me grab you a coffee." He threw his phone onto the table, and as he walked into the kitchen, his phone lit up with a text. I glanced down at the screen and saw a string of messages between Dean and someone named Tasha. I looked up, making sure he wasn't watching me before picking up the phone. I read through the last few messages on thescreen.
DEAN:I'LL BE HOME SHORTLY, JUSTLANDED
TASHA:GOOD, CANNOT WAIT, YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'LL FINDME;)
DEAN:BEST BE IN BED, NAKED WITH YOUR LEGS OPEN FOR MEBABY
My stomach started turning, and saliva built up in my mouth. I couldn't read any farther, but at the same time, I couldn't stop. I read those words over and over. I could hear my pulse loud in my ears. The smell of coffee in the room had become nauseating. Dean came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the expression on myface.
"What isit?"
"I can't believe I was thisstupid."
"What? What are you talkingabout?"
Standing up, I walked over to him and held up his phone. Looking him directly in the face I spat, "Tasha is waiting for you with her legs open! You bastard! Get the fuckout.”
I opened the door to my apartment and threw his phone out into the hallway. Grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair, I pushed him out the door. "Don't bother coming back here either!" I screamed as I slammed and locked the door. I couldn't believe I was so stupid. I was so angry at myself that I could barely stand to be nearmyself.
I checked through the peephole to make sure he had left, and then went and had a long, hot shower. I wanted nothing of him left on me. When my skin couldn't take any more scrubbing, I shut the water off and driedmyself.
I grabbed the mug he had used and took it into the kitchen. Spying the roses on the counter, I walked over to the vase and dumped them all into the garbage. It was always fucking roses, and I hated them. If I never saw another red rose in my entire life, it would be toosoon.
The tears started falling as I looked around the apartment. It was that moment I realized I needed a change. Nothing was holding me here anymore. Elliott was always bugging me to visit, so I'd do the next best thing andmove.
