Chapter 111 The Hard Way

Chapter 111 The Hard Way
Chapter 111: The Hard Way 

Leo

Ivy was caught off guard by the question.

And honestly, I loved watching every second of her scrambling for an answer as to why there was glaring evidence that my mouth had been on her skin.

She slowly reached up and touched it, her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. Her cheeks turned bright pink.

“It’s… I—uh, a mosquito bite!” She nodded proudly to herself like she’d just solved a crime.

“A mosquito bite?” Callum repeated, frowning at her shoulder. “But it’s huge.”

She nodded harder. “Yeah. It’s a really big mosquito. With a really big bite.” Sweat beaded her forehead. “Nasty mosquito.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

“A mosquito bite. Seriously?” I looked at the mark I’d left when I bit and sucked on her neck from the overwhelming pleasure of being allowed inside her again. And also, because I was a territorial, jealous bastard. 

“That’s one big, hard mosquito then—”

“Leo!” she hissed, eyes wide. Then she glanced at Callum, panic snapping into something more formal. “Mr. Teague, please. Be careful.”

I grinned and leaned closer, close enough that my chest brushed her arm. Close enough to smell my soap on her skin.

“But you’re the one who’s not wearing panties,” I murmured, low enough that only she could hear. My eyes dropped to her legs—specifically the one where a faint, slick trail still threatened to give her away if she moved wrong. “You’re still dripping with me, Miss Lennon.”

Her ears went red. She shrunk back from me like I’d burned her. Her eyes flicked down, saw the mess, and horror bloomed across her face.

“Oh God. I need to use the bathroom—”

Her phone started ringing again in her hand. The way she looked at the screen, then at me, was enough. Alvin. It was him again. 

Her scumbag boyfriend who didn't get the memo. The one she’d just cheated on with me. 

It was honestly surprising. I hadn’t thought she’d be that type. I’d assumed the hickey on her yesterday was from a one-night stand or some forgettable fling. Not a whole boyfriend waiting somewhere.

Well. He was the jackass.

I’d fucked his girlfriend in three positions in less than thirty minutes and she hadn’t mentioned him once. Hadn’t remembered him until I asked who he was. That made me laugh under my breath.

How the tables had turned.

Cheating didn’t feel that bad now. Not when I wasn’t the one getting cheated on. Plus, Ivy and I had history. I didn’t know what she had with this guy, but I was sure it didn’t come close to what we’d had. What we’d just done. 

What her body had done around mine like it still knew me better than she wanted to admit.

She let the call ring out. Then it started again. What an idiot. 

“Excuse me. I need to take this,” she said, already walking out of the kitchen.

Callum stared after her, then up at me, confusion written all over his face. “Is Miss Ivy okay?” 

I touched his hair. “Don’t worry, buddy. Miss Ivy isn’t going anywhere.” The words left my mouth before I finished thinking them.

I’m not losing her again.

I decided it right there, with my son on the counter and her bite mark still stinging on my shoulder.

I didn’t need to meet Alvin to hate him. He was Ivy’s boyfriend. That was enough. How dare he touch her. How dare he leave marks on her like she was his to brand. The audacity.

Didn't he know who she belonged to? Didn’t she tell him who had her first? 

I stalked toward the doorway and listened.

This was out of character for me. I didn’t lurk. I didn’t eavesdrop. I didn’t give a shit who other people dated. 

But Ivy had always had a way of making me do things I never thought I’d do. 

“I’m sorry, Alvin. I’ll make it up to you Saturday night.”

Her voice was gentle and soft and soothing. Too soft. Too sweet to the ear. I hated hearing her talk to another man like that. 

That voice was supposed to be for me alone.

“I can’t leave Callum like that. He needs me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and checked her watch. “I’m still going to be here for at least three more hours. So I don’t think you should wait for me at home. Plus, I’m actually really exhausted. I don’t want to fall asleep on you.”

I almost laughed.

A mountain of excuses. All of them designed to keep him from putting his hands on her tonight. If only he knew the real reason she was exhausted. If only he knew she’d been split open against a wall an hour ago, shaking, biting my shoulder, taking me raw until she couldn’t stand.

“Yeah… I’m so sorry,” she said. “So, Saturday night at eight? I’m free on weekends. I might even let you sleep over. You can bring a bottle of wine. I might just have a pack of ramen or two casually sitting in my kitchen.” She joked.

He said something.

She laughed. “In that case, I can’t wait.”

She smiled, glancing at her feet on the floor.

I balled my hands into fists.

Was she seriously planning to go back to him after what we’d done? Pretend we hadn’t been raw and stupid and starving for each other? Pretend she hadn’t let herself be vulnerable around me again? Pretend it didn’t change anything? That it didn’t mean anything?

Not if I allowed it.

Fuck the past. Fuck everything I thought I wanted when I pushed her away. The only thing worth wanting now was her.

Ivy.

“Okay. Got you.” She laughed again. “I need to go. I don’t wanna be gone for too long. Might be seen as unprofessional. So… it’s a date then. Eight p.m. Don’t be late. Else I might change my mind.”

Another laugh.

I frowned so hard my jaw ached. Why was she that comfortable with him? Discussing it so casually, like she hadn’t been moaning another man’s name. Like she hadn’t cheated on him. Like her body hadn’t clenched around me so tight I saw white.

I went back to Callum and pulled out my phone. Texted Maddie. Asked what time she’d be back Saturday. I needed her here. I needed someone to watch Callum while I was away.

If Ivy was making Netflix-and-chill plans with another man, I was going to crash them. The only person she is going to be fucking is me. 

Maddie’s reply was almost instant. Friday. I’ll be back by Friday morning. Can't wait.

That was sooner than I expected. Out of concern—and curiosity—I asked what was wrong. She’d been excited about this guy. Excited for the trip. She’d been talking about him for months.

Her next message made me stop stirring the pot.

He’s not what I thought he was. All we’ve done since we got here is have sex. Literally every time, Leo. I absolutely hate stuff like that. I was hoping to build a connection and get to know him better. I think he has a weird fantasy of having sex with a single mom. Unfortunately, I just fulfilled that for him. And did I mention that he's a little rough? He does coke too. Total turn off. I can’t wait till Friday. I need to get to a hospital and get checked out when I return. I’m literally disgusted right now.

I read it three times.

It didn’t make sense. She’d been sure of him. He’d seemed decent. At least, that was what she’d thought. Now everything was a lie. 

I typed back fast.

I’m worried for you, Maddie. Can you send me the address? I’ll alert the police to come get you. I don’t like what you’ve described. You sure you’ll be okay to spend another day with him? I can even come get you myself.

Her reply came immediately. 

I don’t know. He has a gig on Friday. I’d rather slip out when he’s not around. Involving the police might be blowing things out of proportion. I don’t want trouble. I’ll try to keep him away from me tonight. Wish me luck.

Not good enough.

Are you sure, Maddie? I have a bad feeling about this.

Relax. I’ll be fine. It’s just one extra day. No biggie.

I stared at the screen, unsettled. Maddie was tough. Maddie downplayed things. Maddie had survived Anderson and single motherhood and years of pain that came with her decision to not terminate her pregnancy. 

That didn’t mean I liked the sound of a man who used her, coerced her, did coke and made her feel like she needed a hospital the second she got home.

Still, I tried to keep my cool when I replied. Okay. Let me know what time you’ll be getting back and I’ll pick you up.

11 in the morning. And thanks! You’re an angel, Leo.

I smiled at that last line before I noticed Callum straining to see the phone. “Is it Mommy?” he asked. “Why are you smiling, daddy?” 

“Yeah,” I said. “She’s coming back on Friday. You’re excited, aren’t you?”

“Yay!” He clapped, little heels kicking the cabinet.

“Maddie’s coming back on Friday?”

Ivy stood in the doorway. Phone still in her hand. Face carefully blank in that way that meant she was anything but.

“Does she know I’m Cal’s tutor?”

“No,” I answered. “She knows I found a tutor for him. I don’t think it’s important for her to know who.”

I studied her. The nervousness sat right under her skin. Not just about Alvin now. About her sister. 

“She wouldn’t be okay with this,” Ivy said quietly. “We didn't get along before. Now she hates me.”

There it was. The past, trying to crawl onto the counter next to the macaroni. I should have been gentler with my words. But I wasn’t. 

“You’re here to teach, Miss Lennon. Let’s not overcomplicate things with the past. Maddie wouldn’t have a problem if things remained professional.” 

Hurt quickly flashed across her face. “Yes, Mr. Teague.”

The formality landed like a door closing. Like she slammed the door in my face and shut me out. I hated it. I know I’d used it first. But that didn’t make it feel better when she threw it back.

She came farther into the kitchen anyway. Sat down carefully. I watched the way she moved—the tiny flinch when the chair took her weight, the way she kept her knees locked together, the way she wouldn’t let her skirt ride up even an inch. 

Callum started talking about cheese again. I let him. I needed the noise. I guess we both did.

I dumped pasta into the water. “So,” I said, not looking at her. “Saturday.”

Her spine went stiff. “You were listening.”

“You weren’t exactly whispering.”

Callum looked between us. “Are you fighting again?”

“No,” Ivy said too fast.

“Yes,” I said at the same time.

She shot me a look. I plated nothing yet. Just stirred. Let the silence work.

“You sounded sweet,” I said eventually. “On the phone.”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what? Point out that you were planning a date a few minutes after you came on my cock?”

She glanced at Callum so hard I thought her neck might snap. He was busy peeling the label off a juice box I’d given him, half-listening at best.

“He is four,” she hissed.

“And he already heard you moan,” I said. “We’re past delicate.”

Her face burned. Good. I wanted her burning. I wanted her remembering. I wanted Alvin’s name to taste wrong in her mouth every time she tried to use it.

I leaned my hip against the counter, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to glare at me.

“You’re not seeing him on Saturday.” I said. 

She stared. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“I just did.”

She laughed. “You called it a mistake. You called me Miss Lennon. You told me it would never happen again. And now you think you can cancel my weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Because I heard her laugh for him. Because I saw the hickey that wasn’t mine. Because she’d taken me like she was starving and then tried to file it under itch. Because five years had already stolen enough.

I didn’t say all of that.

I said, “Because you’re still walking like I live in you. Because you bit me so you wouldn’t alert my son. Because you let me come in you and then promised another man wine. Because I know you still want me. Just like I want you.” 

Her mouth trembled. Not quite tears. Not quite rage. Something in between that made my hands itch to put her back on a wall.

“That is not your business,” she whispered.

“You made it my business when you walked into my room and saw me like that.”

Callum held up the juice box. “Daddy, can I have more?”

I took it, refilled it, and handed it back. Then I plated the mac and cheese. Set Callum’s bowl in front of him. Set Ivy’s down last, closer to me than she probably wanted.

“Eat,” I said. “You burned energy.”

She didn’t pick up the fork. “Leo.”

“Mr. Teague,” I corrected, just to watch her eyes flash. Then I dropped it, because I was done pretending the title meant anything. “Eat, Ivy.”

She ate in small bites. Kept a careful posture. Every so often her thighs pressed together under the island and I knew exactly why.

Callum talked about everything. I answered him. I smiled at him. I was present. And the whole time I was counting days.

Saturday: eight o’clock. A bottle of wine. A man who thought Ivy was his. He was going to learn otherwise. The hard way. 

I touched the mark on my shoulder without thinking. Ivy’s eyes followed the movement. She swallowed. Then looked away. 

“Mosquito,” I said quietly. “It must have been one.”

She closed her eyes.

“Nasty one,” I added.

Callum nodded solemnly, mouth full. “Really big mosquito.”

“Yeah, buddy,” I said, watching her. “The kind that doesn’t let go.”