Aligned: Volume 2 (4 page)

She hits me on the shoulder for the last comment but then frowns slumping back into her seat. “I don’t know how long I’ve had this car. I don’t even know if I picked it out or if Ethan did. Although, it feels like a car I would pick out.”
Dammit!
I have to work on filtering myself before I ask her questions about her past that she obviously doesn’t know the answers to.
 
She opens the glove compartment searching through the papers until she finds what she’s looking for.
 

“Last year. It’s just in my name so I would assume I picked it out.” She thinks for a moment. “This is the only car I found. We lived in downtown NYC before the accident, and if Ethan were anything like his mother, he would have preferred to hire a driver to drive us around.”
 

“But not you?”
 

“I don’t know what I was like back then. I’ve been told that after a brain injury like what I experienced, personalities can change. I might not be the same person I was before, but the now me likes driving my own car.”
 

I smile at her, the excitement in her eyes as she talks about the car. If I had to make any bets, I would guess she liked cars before, too, if she spent the money to buy this one.
 

I look over at her a minute later to see her fidgeting nervously in her seat.
 

“What’s wrong?”
 

“Nothing. Just thinking.”
 

“What are you thinking about?”
 

“These last couple of weeks. I saw the pictures. It looks like you and Caroline had a good time in Seattle.” She tries to hide it, the jealousy behind her sad eyes and too bright smile, but she doesn’t fool me. She’s jealous, or she wouldn’t have brought it up.
 

I can’t help it; it makes me happy to know she’s jealous of Caroline. “We were just celebrating her movie premier as friends.”
 

“It looked like more to me.”
 

“Caroline is a friend who used to be more.”

“How did Caroline break your heart?” she asks. My hands tense on the steering wheel.
 

“I don’t want to talk about her.”
 

“That’s not really fair. I told you all of my secrets,” she pleads sticking out her pouting lip.
 

“I’m not talking any more about her.” If I told her the truth about Caroline and me, I’d never see her again. She doesn’t need to know.
 

“Fine, then I want to go home.” She looks out the window not looking at me as we drive for several minutes. My heart races as I try to decide what to do. I don’t want to take her back to the condo yet. I want more time, but I don’t want to share my past, and I don’t want to lie. I reluctantly go for the lie I’ve told the media many times before.
 

 
“I met Caroline my senior year of college. She was a sweet Southern girl. Smart. She was a finance major. I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I needed to finish college, needed to keep writing music, but I didn’t have a chance. I fell in love with her hard and fast. We were inseparable. We moved in together the next semester. She loved my music, which made me love her even more.”
 

I glance over at her, and she nods for me to continue.
 

“When I got signed to a music label three years later, she wanted me to pay her for the work she did. I paid her. I would have done anything for her. I loved her. A couple of months later, she wanted more. She wanted to get married, so I proposed.”

I watch as she gasps. She hadn’t realized that I had been engaged or possibly even married. Her chest stops moving before she asks, “Did you want to propose?”
 

“Yes, at the time. I loved her. It was her idea, but I would have eventually come to the same conclusion myself and asked her anyway.”
 

She frowns in her adorable way. I want to laugh at how cute she is, but I try to hold back. A small chuckle escapes making her frown deeper, her face growing red with jealousy.
 

“Did you get married?”
 

I raise an eyebrow at her jealousy before continuing. “Caroline started planning a big, fancy wedding. Drew convinced me to have a prenup, but Caroline didn’t want the prenup. When she realized Drew wasn’t going to let me budge on the prenup, she blackmailed me to keep a negative story out of the tabloids. When I wouldn’t pay her, she went public with this story about how I was abusive. How I had cheated on her.”
 

“That lying fucking bit-” She looks up at me with embarrassment covering her burning cheeks. “How awful, I mean.”
 

I smirk. “But what she didn’t count on is that Drew had hired a private investigator to follow her. He had pictures of her cheating on me. She retracted her story, but the damage to my heart was already done. It completely shattered me. It took me a while to realize she was in it for the money. That’s all she wanted.”
 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that with me. I have more money than I need,” she says, covering her mouth with her hands in horror as she insinuates that we could have more.
 

Desires spring to life inside me at her words, at even the possibility. “I’m not sure how I feel about the girl I’m seeing making as much money as me in a hypothetical way.”
 

“I think technically I’m worth more than you,” she teases.
 

I growl. “You’re worth a lot more than how much is in your bank account.”
 

Her legs start bouncing nervously as I continue driving. “All right, turn back. It’s my turn.”

I turn back.
 

He stands up; I think he’s going to leave me alone, but he kicks me hard in the side.
 
I let out a gasp as I try to catch my breath. He kicks me over and over, continuously knocking the breath out of me. All I can feel is the pain.

He pulls my car into my parking spot, and I jump out needing some air, some space.
What in the hell am I doing?
I’m supposed to be keeping my distance and getting over him, not getting closer to him. But I can’t help myself.
 

I watch as he reluctantly climbs out of my car. “My turn!” I say.
 

His lips curl downward. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You had your car modified so you could drive it. My car has no such modifications.”
 

“Nope, a deal is a deal. I let you drive mine, and now, it’s my turn to drive yours.”
 

He chuckles. “Man, you are dirty when you want to be.”
 

I laugh too. “Keys.”
 

He reaches into his pocket pulling out the keys to his Porsche. I grin, ready to feel the adrenaline and excitement of driving a fast car. The freedom it brings is like nothing else. We walk through the parking lot until we find his car. I climb in and watch Landon as he settles in the passenger seat next to me; I swear he’s sweating more, and if I look closely, his hands are trembling. I begin to remove my prosthetic leg so it won’t get in the way of the pedals. I try not to let Landon’s stares bother me as I take off my prosthetic leg and hand it to him, but I’m still not comfortable with my deformed body. He doesn’t seem bothered, though, as he places it next to his feet.
 

I adjust the seat and mirrors so I can see, feeling small in the large car. I test the foot pedals with my left leg; it will do. I look over at Landon. “You ready for this?”
 

He closes his eyes, gripping the armrests tightly and bracing himself. “Yes.”
 

I put the car in drive and zip out of the parking garage, making the tires squeal as I do. I glance over at Landon and see the panic rising in his eyes; it brings me joy to see the cool, confident bad boy in such a panicked state.
 

“Slow down,” he says. Instead, I speed up as we zoom down the highway. I roll my window down to let the wind blow on my face, feeling the fresh, salty air and feeling alive.
 

“Silvia drives really well.” I look over at Landon still stuck to his seat, his eyes only peeking open slightly.
 

“Silvia is about to have a heart attack. Keep your eyes on the road.”
 

I laugh and turn my attention back to the road. I love driving this car, but as I drive, my thoughts go back to Landon. After I drop him back off, what are we going to do? Are we going to go back to ignoring each other? Are we going to try being friends? I can’t handle more … can I? Maybe if it was just sex. Landon is the kind of guy who is used to just sex, but would my panic attacks get in the way of even trying that?

“What are we going to do when we get back? What is this between us?” I blurt out before I realize I’m speaking.
 

“No talking,” Landon barks. “Just focus on driving.”
 

I sigh and return my attention to driving the car back in silence.
 

When I pull the car back into the garage parking spot, I hear Landon take a deep, relaxing breath. He barely breathed the whole time I was driving, but I don’t give him time to breathe for long before I start my questioning.
 

“What are we doing?” I stare down at the floor not wanting to meet his eyes; I know my eyes would give away too much — deeper feelings for him that I can’t have.
 

“I think we are friends with more. Whether we stay away from each other or hang out every day, I don’t think anything will change that.”
 

“Friends with more what? Like friends with benefits?”
 

“Friends with more possibilities. You need help getting over your panic attacks. I need inspiration to write more music. We could help each other. It wouldn’t just be about the sex. It would be about helping each other. After we do, we can go back to just being friends who have a deeper understanding of each other.” I stare at him still confused, but the confusion doesn’t stop me. All I could do while he was talking was stare at his moist, inviting lips. And remember how amazing it felt when they touched mine. My lips meet his almost of their own accord.
 
Almost in unison, his hand grabs the back of my neck to pull me toward him as my hands go to his thick messy hair. I pull him against me, showing him that I want him just as much as he wants me.
 

His tongue explores every inch of my mouth as I moan in ecstasy, but his hands don’t stay on my neck, they travel down my body feeling my breasts. I moan loudly as he pinches my nipple so hard I’m afraid he’s going to leave a mark, but I don’t care as I feel warm liquid escape me. I can’t believe how fast he is turning me on.
 

When his hands drift between my panties, I scream. He moves his lips to my neck nibbling his way up and down trying to quiet me.
 

“Baby, you’re going to have to be quiet. I don’t feel like getting arrested today.”

“Mmm,” I moan quieter this time as he touches my hot slit. He rubs slowly at first, getting me used to the sensation before he starts moving his finger faster against my bud. I groan louder, and his hand goes to cover my mouth, muffling my scream. I take his fingers into my mouth, sucking roughly, as his other hand builds me faster and faster. I bite down on his fingers when he slips one inside me unable to hold back my scream. He slides another finger in, moving faster and building me until I’m almost there when suddenly his fingers stop.
 

“Don’t stop. I want more,” I say.
 

Landon smiles and kisses me sweetly on the lips. “Not today, baby. I need you to get so heavy with heat and need that when I do take you, there is no way any image or thought will cross your mind except how much you need me.” He removes his hand from my dripping pussy, and I pout because I need more of him. I need to come, but I understand he doesn’t want me to have another panic attack. I melt a little as he licks his fingers tasting my mixture of salty and sweet.
 

 
“Are you available Friday?” he asks, although he says it more like a command. I frown even more. Friday is three days away. Three days until I can feel his hands on me again. I’m going to spend the next few days with a vibrator in my hand.
 

“Yes, as friends with the possibility for …” I let my sentence trail off, not wanting to say a possibility for sex, but Landon is on the same page as me.
 

“More,” Landon says winking at me. He hands me my prosthetic leg. I put it on quickly, and we both get out. He walks me back to my condo. My leg’s a little shaky from my almost earth-shattering orgasm a few minutes earlier. He never takes my hand in his, though, as we walk back; he only occasionally touches the small of my back when I seem to be off balance. He doesn’t do anything to make it seem like we are more than friends. Friends who would like to bang each other. I open my door and walk in; he pauses at the door as I take a seat on my couch.

“Oh, and Alex, don’t touch yourself before Friday.” Then he leaves grinning like the bastard he is and leaves me aching for more.
 

Could be your emerald eyes

“So are we just going to head up to your condo?” Alexa asks as soon as she walks off the elevator and over to where I’m waiting for her on the couch. I chuckle at her yearning, flushed look. I guess I would be excited too if I hadn’t had sex in almost five months, and if I didn’t have my last sexual experience to replay in my head over and over again when needed. In no way am I going to rush this. I only get one night of everything with her, and I’m going to make sure that one night is memorable, not full of the demons obviously still haunting her.
 

“No, we are going to go have dinner first.”
 

Her face falls into a pout, her appreciative gaze turning to a brutal one filled with disappointment.