AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fantasizing about Lizzie was more erotic than any chick I could find and bang on the Vegas strip tonight. Besides, hanging out with a bunch of drunk idiots when all I wanted to do was touch and hold Lizzie would only be a recipe for disaster. With my anger issues and need growing for Lizzie, alcohol would only add more fuel to the ever-growing fire inside me.
When Lizzie told me she was a virgin the first night she had agreed to go out with me, I was strangely turned on by the statement. To say I was taken aback was an understatement. But I saw through her game. She was trying to push me away. I understood why she would want to build a wall and keep me out. Hell, I had done the same thing my entire life, but we both knew it wouldn’t happen. I wasn’t going anywhere. From the moment that girl walked into my life, I was hers.
With her hot little body and magnetic smile, I would have assumed some jackass from her life had found a way to claim her. I know I would have if I had met her first. Instead, she was pure. She was good. She was available for me to claim as my own. And I wanted nothing more than to make Lizzie mine in every way imaginable.
Years ago, a girl telling me she was a virgin would have made me kick her out of my bed. I wouldn’t have even given someonelike that a second glance or thought. With Lizzie, it was different. I could tell I was different with her in my life now.
Lizzie may not believe or know it yet, but she was mine now. I would right all of the wrongs that were done to her. I would find a way to erase the bad memories and make her smile every second of the day. It was now my life’s mission.
CHAPTER 14
To say Avery was speechless would be the understatement of the century. When I arrived back at our room hours later, a smile on my face, and weak in the knees, Avery couldn’t help but ask me a million questions about my date with Chase.
“You did what?” she screamed again, after I had repeated myself for the fifth time again.
I had confessed to Avery how I just spilled my secret to Chase. I began though, by apologizing to her for getting so upset when she recommended I do the very thing I ended up doing that night. More importantly, I told her about our hot night and how much I craved Chase more than ever.
Squealing, I gave Avery every dirty detail of our night.
Falling onto my bed, my dress flew up all around me. “I told him everything, Avery. I’ve never felt so comfortable and safe with anyone before. Well, anyone other than you,” I added. “Then, he did things to my body I could never have imagined but were so pleasurable, I felt like I was dying and being reborn again.”
Nodding, Avery waved her hands in the air. “I get that. I want to hear more about the kiss and naughty stuff and what this all means,” she cried out.
I couldn’t help but laugh at how silly Avery was acting. I guess it had been a long time since either of us had felt this way about another guy. That thought alone sent a pang of guilt through me.
“Chase is intense. He’s had a rough life, too, and gets what it’s like to just never feel accepted or loved. He wants to protect me. He wants to be my safe place.” I sighed, as I lay on the bed with my arms outstretched above my head.
I knew I was smiling like an idiot, but I didn’t care.
“I talked to a few people today, mainly staff and a few of the regular customers, and they told me that for as long as they’ve known Chase, he’s never gone out with a girl before. A few years ago, he had a few hookups but never anything serious. He must really like you,” Avery beamed.
Bouncing on the bed beside me, Avery tickled my side. “Plus, this means no more hiding. You can be you again,” she chimed.
Sitting up, I turned to face her. “I still want to keep my identity hidden for a while longer. But I don’t have to hide who I am from Chase. He makes me feel alive again. For once, I’m not ashamed of who I am. I guess if people find out who I am, it’s okay, but I don’t want to advertise it,” I finished.
I felt like my brain was a yo-yo ball. I was constantly going back and forth with my heart and my brain about what I should do with my identity. I understood where both Avery and Chase were coming from; I was a legal adult who could do whatever I chose with my life. However, for me, it just wasn’t that black and white. My parents were manipulative. They were evil and could somehow make me feel like I was being sliced into a million pieces with only their words and glares. No one understood what that felt like, and I hoped they never would.
“I understand,” Avery said, as she nodded. “I’m just glad that you’re smiling and coming into the Lizzie I always knew was hiding somewhere deep down inside you. I still think Chase is a little too intense, and you may want to be careful, but I’ll support you,” Avery finished, with an encouraging smile.
“Thanks, I just hope that I’m not being misled. I mean, I really like Chase, and I believe he cares for me too, even though we haven’t known one another that long. But I think we could be good for each other. All I know is that I don’t want to get hurt again.”
“You have to stop thinking so negatively, Lizzie,” Avery said, as she exhaled a loud breath. Bouncing off the bed, she stood in front of me. “You’ve been through more than most people could ever imagine, and I really do see why you’ve been so guarded and afraid to let other people in. But you don’t have to be like that anymore. I wish you could see this,” Avery shouted, as she threw her hands into the air.
I was taken aback by her outburst, and I couldn’t help but just sit and watch her. Continuing, Avery paced the room with animated features. “Come on, Lizzie, you have to see what’s right in front of you. We both have an opportunity to be who we want to be. Do what we want. Live our dreams. You need to stop living like the thirteen-year-old girl who hates her parents. Forget them and that old life. Give in to happiness. Allow all of the bad in your life to just fade away.”
Just fade away. That phrase hit home with me. Even after three years of being away from my parents and creating a new persona for Lizzie, I was still allowing anger and hurt to define who I was and what I would become. At what point would I stop being a victim? Lizzie and Chase were so right. I needed to just let everything from my past fade away and embrace the life I was in control of.
Stopping Avery as she opened her mouth to shout at me again, I stood and placed my hands on her shoulders. I watched as Avery’s eyes grew wide. I almost laughed to myself. She probably thought I would hit her for yelling at me, but I wasn’t angry. At least not anymore.
“Stop, Avery. You’re right. Chase is right. I’m done feeling sorry for myself and being a victim of my parents’ hate. I’m going to be the Lizzie I should have become three years ago.”
“Seriously? Just like that?” Avery asked slowly. Each word spoken was dripping with confusion and a touch of disbelief.
“Yes. Everything you and Chase have said has finally settled in my heart and mind. I want to be happy. I want to live, not just exist,” I said, as happy tears danced down my cheeks.
Pulling me in close, Avery hugged me. I needed her comfort and love since she was all I had ever had in my life. Now, I had Chase, too. Or at least, I may have Chase. I wasn’t sure the direction of where my relationship with him was going, but I knew that for once in my life, I was excited to put my heart in someone else's hands and just be Lizzie.
CHAPTER 15
