Chapter 71 No panty ripping today?
He yanks my pajama bottoms and panties down in one go, and I kick them off my legs.
“What, no panty ripping today?” I tease. “What is it with you and panties anyway? What’s your beef with them?”
He lifts his head, grinning at me. “It’s a love/hate relationship, baby. I love how they look on you. Hate that they’re blocking my access every time I'm with you.”
I giggle.
“Do you like it when I do it?” He trails his finger down my stomach.
“I love it,” I murmur, kissing his lips.
“I’ve never ripped anyone’s panties off before, you know,” he says under my still-moving mouth.
I stop kissing him. “You haven’t?” I just figured this was a Natte thing.
He shakes his head.
“So why do you tear mine off?”
He stares down at me with his beautiful blue eyes. “Because that’s how crazy you make me feel. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you, Shia. I just can’t wait to be inside you.”
His words are so intense, so fixed with meaning that the muscles in my tummy clench, leaving me feeling doubly delicious.
It amazes me how easily his words can unravel me.
“I love that it’s our thing… so do you want me to put them back on so you can rip them off?” I bite down on my lip.
“Fuck no! I’m not covering you back up now, and anyway, I’ve got my whole life to spend ripping your panties off.”
His whole life. I love the sound of that.
He slides his finger inside me.
My hips buck, grinding myself into his hand, and all thoughts of ripped underwear slip from my mind, and I start to work his still-growing erection quickly in my hand.
He moans, and kissing my shoulder, he bites gently on my skin.
“I want to make love to you,” he groans, rubbing his thumb over my hot spot.
“Ahh,” I moan. “Yes, and now, because if you keep doing that then I’m going to come any second.”
Natte pushes his boxer shorts off, then lays between my legs, framing me.
“Are you on birth control?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because I don’t want to use a condom today. I want our first proper time together as a couple to be special. I want to feel you, Shia.”
“But…” I trail off. I know I shouldn’t think it, but all those women he’s had sex with…
And as if reading my thoughts, he says, “I’ve never had sex without a condom before in my life.”
“Never?”
“Never,” he reaffirms. “STDs and unwanted pregnancies are not something I ever aspired to have, Shia. And I get regular check-ups—my last was a week before we met back up—and I haven’t had sex with anyone since then but you.”
After our pass, I try to doze off, but sleep is far from me. I start thinking about the previous night at the club.
Flashback…
Oh God. I’m so hungover. I actually think I’m dying.
After I found out Natte had left with Vanessa, the redhead, I set out on a mission to erase the knowledge from my mind with the obvious help of alcohol. Basically, I wanted to get slaughtered, and I achieved just that.
By the time Pine got back from the toilets, I was three shots in and back on the dance floor with Steve.
I know he knew something was wrong with me. Honestly, I think he probably thinks I’m overworked or have developed a drinking problem from spending too much time with the guys.
Pine finally brought me back to the hotel around 1 a.m. as I was wasted. I remember him carrying me back to the suite. I think I was singing at the top of my lungs, and then I spent a long time in the toilet, throwing up.
Poor Pine. He doesn’t deserve any of this. He’s kind and sweet. And I’m the devil.
I stretch my stiff body out, groaning. I blink my eyes open.
Pine’s sitting in a chair by the bed, his eyes fixed on me.
“I got you a coffee.” He hands me over a cup as I sit up in bed.
“Thank you,” I say gratefully. I lean up against the headboard and take a welcome drink.
“You went out?”
“Just to the Starbucks by the hotel. I needed the air.”
“Oh. Sorry I got so drunk. Terry? Did she get back okay? Is she on the sofa?”
“She stayed in Denis’s room.”
“What?” I say. “What about Will?”
Pine shrugs, and I know something is off.
Back to current…
I spoke to Terry, and she promised to talk to Will now that we’re at their shared apartment.
Terry wanted me to join her in, but I refused. I have caused a mess, but I have to let them handle it first.
When she got in, at first it was so silent for about ten minutes before I heard Will’s voice.
“Look, Terry.” Will rubs his head, pushing his fingers into his hair. “Is there something going on with you? You just haven’t seemed yourself at all since we arrived yesterday. I still don’t want to believe anything.”
This is it. I know Terry can either tell him the truth or coward out.
I don’t think Terry wants to lose Will over Denis. Not now.
The thought causes me actual physical pain for being such a bad person.
And then I just know what I have to do, I have my answer. Even if she’s slept with Dennis, I can’t just let her stay in the mess I led her into because it’s easier.
Yes, she loves him. But obviously not enough, or she would never have slept with Denis.
I hear Terry sigh before she finally speaks.
“I have to tell you something.” Her body starts to shake. She takes the deepest breath I’ve ever seen her take, trying to control her fear over what she’s about to do something I had no clue about.
“I’ve slept with Denis.”
I see the shock slowly changing into horror and absolute pain across his features.
It is a look that will haunt me and Terry for a very long time.
“What?” he says slowly.
“I’m so sorry, Will.”
He stares blankly at her, his face now washed of any emotion.
“What? Are you being fucking serious?” His tone is low and heart-breaking.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
He puts his head into his hands. “You didn’t mean for it to happen! Your friend has been having sex with Natte Johnson, and she didn’t mean for it to happen, so you did it too!”
“I never meant to hurt you.”
She’s trying to keep it together and not break. It’s not fair on him if she cries.
“Do you love him?”
The air seems to freeze all around them.
“Yes,” Terry answers.
He puts his fist to his mouth, stifling a sob. He’s still in denial about everything.
“Do you still love me?” His words are all broken.
She looks up at him. Will lovely Will whom she’s just broken into pieces. She can’t help the tear that runs from her eye. She brushes it away.
“Yes,” she answers.
His face hardens. She barely recognizes him for a moment. He’s out of the chair now, pacing around.
“So you love me and him! How is that even possible?! We’re polar fucking opposites!”
“I don’t know. I’m so sorry,” Terry sobs.
Pausing, he grabs the back of the chair. “When did it start?”
“A few hours after we agreed to help Shiv with her fake boyfriend thing.”
“So it was the fucking truth! You sat on the phone and lied to me that day about Shiv, and I felt sorry for her.”
“I’m so sorry, Will. I’m so, so sorry,” she cries.
“It just all makes so much fucking sense now! The way you’ve been acting since we agreed on the fake boyfriend thing, and the way Denis has been with you, and how you reacted to him when Shiv introduced us! I’m so fucking stupid!” he roars.
Then he turns from her, covering his face with his hands.
He starts to cry.
Oh fuck.
Terry climbs off the chair, standing behind him. She puts her hand tentatively on his back, tears streaming from her own eyes, but he moves away.
“Don’t touch me,” he says low and gruff. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me again.”
Leaving him, she sits on the edge of the bed, trapped in the mess she’s made.
“Do you want to be with him?” he says suddenly, his voice rough. He turns to face her.
She binds her hands in her lap. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I want.” And Terry puts her head into her hands.
“How could you have been with someone like him? He’s a friend to a fucking whore! All he does is sleep with women! Jesus Christ, Terry! That friend of his was all over another woman last night! That’s how highly he thinks of you he was off screwing someone else the moment you couldn’t give him what he wanted!”
I don’t know if it’s the look on her face that makes him ask it, but whatever it is, I just feel sick, knowing Terry is going to have to tell him the truth.
“Please tell me you haven’t had sex with him while we’ve been here?”
Looking closely, I see Terry closing her eyes briefly. She presses her lips together and nods her head slowly. “I’m sorry.” Tears start to run freely from her eyes.
“I don’t fucking believe this!” he yells. Holding himself steady on the back of the chair, he fixes his eyes on her face. “When?”
Oh God.
She rubs the tears from her face. “Last night.”
I hear his sharp intake of breath. “When last night?” I can see his jaw working angrily under his skin.
She wets her dry lips and gulps. “At the club.”
He looks puzzled momentarily.
“When I went to the bar.”
“You fucked him in a public club?!” he yells like I’ve never heard before. I actually physically shake from the force of it.
“I just… I can’t fucking believe this!”
He pauses for a moment. Then slowly, he lifts his eyes to her face.
“How could you do this to me? To us?”
Terry rubs the fresh tears from her face. “I’m so sorry. It just happened. I didn’t mean for this to happen, but it’s…” Terry says this like it will fix everything I have destroyed.