Broken Course (25 page)

Tuesday…

"YOU’RE OUT of man shampoo," Sarah says, pouring some of the shampoo she keeps at my house into her hand.

"I’ve been too busy to shop," I respond as she reaches up with both hands, scrubbing my hair into a lather.

"It’s okay. Mine smells better anyway."

"WHEN I first met you, I remember thinking how gorgeous your eyelashes were. They are seriously wasted on a man. I’d kill to have them," Sarah says while lying in bed, tracing a finger across my eyebrows.

I don’t even bother responding. I simply snake out an arm and pull her against my chest.

I WAKE up with my cock throbbing and my hips moving of their own volition against Sarah’s ass. I’m desperate to get inside her. She’s still sound asleep, spooned in front of me. Her hair is in a ponytail, but the ends tickle my nose as I greedily breathe her in. Sarah’s beautiful, and that’s not a superficial observation. On every level, both inside and out, she’s…well,
it.

Sarah hasn’t left my side in…fuck. I have no idea how long it’s been. The numbers on the calendar have most definitely changed, but if it’s been a week or a day, I couldn’t even venture a guess. All I know is that Sarah was there. Every minute of the day, and especially in the minutes when I needed her the most, which coincidentally were also the minutes when I’ve never wanted her less.

She begins to stir, so I know I must have woken her. She pushes her panty-covered ass back against my erection and we both moan. Desperate to feel her, I roll her to her stomach and drag her panties down her legs. She pulls her shirt over her head as I rise to my knees behind her, looping an arm under her stomach to tilt her ass into the air.

"Still just as beautiful as the first night you did this for me." I push a finger inside her tight pussy only to find her not nearly wet enough to slam inside her the way I’d like to. I guess I haven’t exactly been the sexiest company the last few days. "You know what else I wanted to do that night?" I slide a hand up her back, giving her ponytail a slight tug.

"What?" she gasps.

"Back up." I step off the bed and lead her down until her feet are on the edge. I drop to my knees and roughly seal my mouth over her pussy.

"Ahhh, fuck, Leo," she cusses, pushing harder against my mouth.

I dart my tongue inside her while gripping both her ass cheeks in my palms. I begin the circles I’ve learned Sarah loves so much over her clit, and within seconds, an orgasm quakes through her body. I press a finger inside to find her more than primed for me now. She’s barely coming down as I drag my tongue up and over the puckered flesh of her ass.

"Oh God!" she cries out as I smile to myself. Chills spread over her body as she pulses around my finger, which is still moving inside her.

I position myself behind her and trail kisses up her spine. "We’ll talk about that ‘oh God’ later."

I suddenly stand all the way up and bury myself inside her with one quick thrust. She lets out a blessed curse, but nothing escapes my throat. It’s not surprising. I’m not sure anything could pass the huge lump of emotions I’m desperately trying to keep under wraps. I’ve barely even begun pumping inside her when I reach a hand down between her legs. The moment I touch her clit, she comes hard on my cock. I begin a chaotic rhythm, wanting nothing more than to join her, but with every thrust, something else escapes me.

"You didn’t leave." I slam inside her.

"Never," she moans.

"I just wanted to be alone." I fold over her, finding her breast and rolling a nipple between my fingers.

"I just wanted to be with you." She presses her hips against me.

"Promise me you’ll always stay. No matter what," I plead as I speed up my pace inside her.

"There’s nowhere else I’d rather be."

With her words lingering on my heart and conscience, an orgasm builds to an all-time high before tearing through my body.

"Fuck, that was a lot faster than I planned," I pant while trying to catch my breath. "But thankfully, you were faster."

"It’s been a week, and I’m not allowed to get myself off, remember?" She reaches back and scratches the back of my head.

I silently pull out and collapse onto the bed. She follows suit and crashes on top of me, snuggling in tight.

"Mmm. Morning sex is quickly becoming my favorite," she mumbles.

"So I think we should talk about that ‘oh God’ now."

She laughs before nuzzling her face against my beard. "You need to trim that. It’s getting soft. I miss the stubble."

When I chuckle, she stills in my arms. She peeks up with a small smile.

"Welcome back."

They are two simple words, but they hit me harder than thirty-three years of vowels and consonants combined. I have absolutely no way to stop the words before they tumble from my mouth.

I gently cup her face in my hands and bring my lips to hers. "I love you."

Her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t immediately respond. "Stop," she whispers as the tears pool in her eyes. "You don’t owe me that."

"No, I do owe you something, but that’s not it. I’m telling you because it physically aches to try to keep it in any longer. I love you, Sarah."

"Leo, please don’t. You don’t know all of me, and I want to be able to say it back, but I need to tell you some things first." She nervously sits up and pats around the bed until she finds her T-shirt.

"See, this is the other part that physically hurts to contain." I run a hand though my hair and let out a loud sigh. "I know about your past."

"What?" she questions, clearly confused.

"I know about the wreck, your head injury, Brett, your suicide attempts, and the reason for your stay at Building Foundations," I rush out as she throws a hand up to cover her mouth. "I know about it all, but I don’t care. I love you anyway," I finish, and she stumbles.

I snag a pair of shorts off the floor and pull them on. She backs away as I round the bed, but I don’t stop advancing. Cornering her against the closet door, I gently brush the hair off her neck and whisper in her ear.

"I don’t care,
ángel
. You aren’t that woman anymore. So please believe me when I say I am absolutely and unquestionably in love with
you
."

When her shoulders relax, hope springs to my chest.

Until she explodes.

"Oh my God!" She pushes me, catching me off guard and causing me to rock back a step. "Oh my God. That’s how you do it. You… You…" she stutters and begins snatching up her clothes off the floor. "You don’t say the right things to calm me. Fuck, you manipulate my past to make them the right things! It’s all lies!"

"Sarah. I’m not lying about anything."

"I have to get out of here."

"You’re overreacting. Listen to me. I’m not perfect either," I call after her as she rushes from the room.

She begins shoving her clothes in her oversized purse. "How long have you known? Did you already know on my birthday when I went through Manda’s box?"

I nod and she chokes out a sob.

"Of course you did. You know you could have told me then. If there had ever been a fucking moment to tell me that you knew my life story, that would have been it. Before I shared one of the most special moments of my life with a fucking liar."

"I was worried you were going to react like…well, like this. I wasn’t ready to lose you." I toss my arms out to my sides in frustration.

"And what about now? You ready now?" she asks, snatching her keys off the table.

I step in front of the door to prevent from her leaving. "No! I’m not ready. And truth be told, I don’t think you’re ready either."

"Fuck you, Leo. You can stop pretending you know what I need."

"So what exactly are you mad about? The fact that I knew or the fact that I didn’t tell you."

"All of the above!" she shrieks, stopping in front of me.

"Please just talk to me. You aren’t being rational here."

"Bullshit. This might just be the most rational I’ve been since I fell under your spell." She pushes past me and storms down the stairs.

"Can I please have a goddamn minute to explain?"

"Sure. Build a time machine, because I’ve given you all the minutes you’re ever going to get from me."

She swings open the garage door and Johnson steps out of the guard station.

"Everything okay?" he asks.

Sarah starts to breeze past him but freezes just a few steps away. With a humorless laugh, she spins to face him and levels him with a glare.

"You son of a bitch. That was confidential! You had no right to tell him!" she yells.

Johnson shakes his head and turns to me. "I’m not getting involved in this. I highly suggest you start fucking explaining things to her."

"He didn’t—" I start, but I’m immediately interrupted.

"You know what? I’m done. Fuck you both. Aiden, you’re an asshole. I never would have told him you were gay. Oops. I guess it just slipped." She spins on a heel and walks to her car.

She doesn’t spare another word for me. I watch helplessly as she drives from the garage. I want to chase her down the street, force her to listen to me, but I have a feeling none of that would help my case. I can’t fight with her until she cools off and is ready to listen. I’ll give her some time. I don’t believe for one second that Sarah’s really done, but more than that,
I’m
not done. She just needs to organize her thoughts. It’s going to hurt like a motherfucker to sit back and let her figure this out. She doesn’t even have all the facts. But if it ultimately ends with her in my arms, I’m more than willing to endure.

"Well, that went well," I say to Johnson, who is suddenly enthralled with the cracks on the concrete.

"Yeah. Awesome," he growls.

"Hey. You want me to go back to pretending I don’t know or you want to bring Chris out to dinner when I iron this shit out with Sarah?" I ask and his head snaps to mine. "You might want to be more discreet on the work cell." I smirk uncomfortably and his eyes grow wide. "Oh, don’t give me that look. I learned a long time ago not to look at the pictures you guys exchange."

He closes his eyes, but a tiny smile tilts his lips. He doesn’t utter a word as he walks back into the guard station.

I head back up to my apartment and snatch my phone off the nightstand. When I turn it on for the first time in a week, messages from Sarah, Erica, and some clients flood my screen. I clear them all and type out a text.

Me: You don’t have to believe me, but that doesn’t change the way I feel. I love you. Take all the time you need. I’m ready to explain whenever you’re ready to listen.