AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I forgot, with how sweet she had been recently, just how sharp her tongue can be when she’s on the offensive.
“I’m sorry, Astrid. I didn’t know.” I head to the stairs and carry her up. I don’t bother asking which room is hers, not expecting her to tell me anyway. Instead, I choose the first room I come across, kicking the door open lightly with my foot.
Taking a breath, I instantly know this is Astrid’s room. I can smell her unique scent of oranges and something subtly floral. Spotting the open door to the bathroom, I carry her inside and gently lower her to the ground.
As soon as she’s on her feet, she tries to shove past me, freezing when she sees Slade, who I can sense standing behind me.
“Really?” she snarls before yanking a towel off the rail and tossing it at him.
“Aw, don’t be like that, princess. I know you missed my cock as much as I missed your hot, slick pussy,” Slade answers.
I roll my eyes to the ceiling, just about managing to stop myself from swinging around and punching him in the face. “You are not helping, jackass,” I snap at him. He grins unrepentantly when I look over my shoulder to glare at him.
“Is this some kind of joke to you? Do you think it’s funny? Newsflash, assholes, this is my fucking life,” she yells before her shoulders drop.
“Go home, both of you. Leave me to my joke of a life.”
Slade’s eyes flash when he realizes he pushed too far. He shoves past me and pulls her to his chest, holding her tightly. She keeps her arms at her sides. She might not be pushing him away, but she’s definitely not a willing participant.
“I’m a dick. Ignore me.” He pulls back and cups her jaw, tipping her head back and staring down into her eyes. “How about you take a shower and put something on, and then we can talk?” he urges gently.
“I, honest to God, don’t want to hear what you have to say. You’re sorry. Great, super. But honestly, so fucking what? I trusted you. I trusted you both, and you stomped all over it. And what? Now that you’re standing here—two weeks too fucking late, might I add—throwing out innuendos and sorrys like confetti, I’m supposed to just smile and spread my legs. I’m supposed to just pretend you didn’t hurt me, that you didn’t break my heart?” She ends in a whisper as I walk up behind her and slide her hair over her shoulder before placing a kiss on the skin I expose.
The pain in her voice lets me know it will take more than an apology to fix what we broke.
“We don’t expect you to just pretend nothing happened. We fucked up. We own that. All we’re asking is for a chance to prove ourselves to you. Let us earn your trust back,” I murmur as my lips skate along the skin of her shoulder to the spot where it meets her neck.
“No. I’m sorry, I can’t.” She pulls away from us both and walks from the bathroom to her bed, wrapping her arms around herself protectively.
I look at Slade, who stares at Astrid with a fierce expression on his face.
“You won’t even give us a chance to explain?”
“You mean like you did me?”
Slade licks his lips and smirks. “I deserved that. Want to know the biggest difference between me and you, though, sweetheart?”
He steps closer, and with the bed behind her, Astrid has nowhere to go.
“You’re a giant asshole?” she asks with a sweet smile.
“That and I never quit. I never give up. And when something is mine, I’ll fight to the death to keep it.”
Tears spring to her eyes, but she shakes her head. “Good thing I was never really yours then.”
Slade motions for me to move. We spoke about this, preparing for every possible outcome, so we came prepared. As I step aside, Slade rushes her and tosses her on the bed. She lets out a surprised scream, but by the time she has her head together enough to fight back, Slade already has her positioned where he wants her. Grabbing her arms, he shoves them up the bed, leaving enough space for me to maneuver around him as I grab the cuffs out of my back pocket and clip one of the bracelets around her wrist.
“What the hell? Guys, stop,” she yells. She’s no match for Slade, who doesn’t give her an inch.
Threading the chain of the cuffs through the bars, I snap the other bracelet around her other wrist. Slade climbs off her once he sees that she’s been restrained.
“Guys, this isn’t fucking funny. Let me go.” She thrashes on the bed. It might make me a dick knowing she’s freaking out, but my body can’t help but react to her writhing around half-naked as the sheets get tangled up beneath her.
“I don’t know, this kind of feels like old times,” Slade jokes, his eyes moving to mine. The tightening of his jaw is the only outward sign that he’s not as unaffected by everything as he’s pretending to be.
“I’m going to go take a shower and let Jagger talk to you for a minute. We both fucked up, and we both want to make it right. I know you don’t trust us, but we’re willing to put in the work so that one day you’ll forgive us.”
She starts cursing us out again, but Slade just looks at me. Though no words are spoken between us, I know this is him telling me to stop holding back, to man up and take what I want, or to back off for good this time. He must find what he’s looking for in my eyes because he nods and heads to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
