No Choice (7 page)

“Come here, Natalie.”

“Why?”

“Why? I just told you to come here. Come here, woman. Don’t make me come get you. If I do, I’m going to make you pay for the pain it’s going to cause me.” She meekly came to me. I grabbed her by her arm and pulled her close to me, our faces inches from each other.

“I love you, my little Natalie, but know that shit you played earlier won’t always work.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Baby, come now. You tried to play me. Admit it.” I struck like a viper and nipped at her lips, only biting gently, I didn’t want to hurt my woman.

“I just didn’t want you to fight with them. I was worried.”

“I know, babe. I didn’t want to fight either. All I wanted was to be alone with you. Fuck. I didn’t get to tell you how fucking sexy you looked last night. Damn, the next-day look is still as good as last night. You’re too fucking pretty. Put my jacket over that poor excuse for a dress.”

“But it won’t match.”

“I don’t give a shit. I don’t want to choke a motherfucker for looking at you. These tits belong to me now, and they’re damn near popping out. Now, I’m not going to tell you again—put the fucking coat on.”

She huffed, but she did what she was told. I would worship her, but there was just some shit I wouldn’t tolerate. I tossed on a Seahawks tee shirt and then my socks and shoes, not an easy task these days, but hell if I was going to beg for assistance.

“After we eat, we’ll go to your dorm and get some clothes. You’ll be staying with me here until your graduation. Before you start your argument, stop. I’m not going to let you win this one.”

“I wasn’t going to argue. I liked lying in your arms,” she said with a blush.

“Good, babe, because that’s where you’re going to stay.” I gave her a quick kiss and a nice smack on the ass.

“Let’s go before my sister comes to get us and yells at me for not feeding my woman. I can’t have you passing out on me. That wouldn’t look good.”

“Whatever.”

We met them down in the lobby. Vanessa picked a chain breakfast place, and it was good because my ass really wanted some pancakes.

Tim was still acting like he always did. He searched around as we got in the car and the moment we got out of it. I introduced Natalie to our security team. There were four of them with us. I wanted more, but it would’ve made us a bigger target.

We had just placed our order when I mentioned that we had to go to Nat’s place to pick up some clothes and to pack up her shit. Vanessa agreed to help Natalie pack today.

“Thanks, Vanessa, but we don’t need to pack everything right away. I have time.”

“Yes, we do.”

“Emmy and I are going to get an apartment in Chicago when we graduate.”

“The fuck you are. You’re going to be moving to Seattle with me. Don’t start with me. We’ve talked about this.”

“No, we didn’t talk about it. You told me, and I disagreed.”

“So you want to continue this long distance relationship?”

“No.”

“Do you want us to end this?”

“No.”

“Then your ass is moving to Seattle. My company is there, and so is my family. You weren’t even from Chicago, and you don’t have any family there either. There is no reason you can’t move to Seattle. Enough. Our food is coming.” I think she just wanted to pick a fight. She knew damn well where I wanted this relationship to go. Now she was going to act like she wanted to get a fucking spanking.

“So how many tickets do you have for the graduation?” Vanessa asked.

“They’re giving me six,” Nat said shyly.

“Good. So that’s one for Cameron and two for your parents. Who else?” Vanessa’s nosy ass asked.

I saw the look on Natalie’s face, and I knew something was up with her and her parents. Last time we talked about them, she told me they’d called her to tell her that it was their last payment for school and she was going to have to make due or come back home. I wasn’t worried about it. She was coming with me, so I’d be buying anything she needed and wanted.

I whispered in her ear. “Babe, we’re going to talk about your parents later. I can tell you’re upset. Let’s not ruin our breakfast. You need to eat. I can hear your belly monster going insane.”

“Hahaha. I’m going to bite you if I don’t get my food soon.” She tried to take a bite of my hand, but I was too quick for her ass.

My sister and her fiancé were laughing at our asses, but fuck if I cared. I loved this woman. I missed the fuck out of her over the last six weeks. The waitress brought us our food, and we all ate like we’d been starving for weeks. We bullshitted a little while before we got up to go. Tim wanted to pay for the meal, but hell if I was going to let him.

“Hey, you just got engaged. I got this.” He didn’t put up too much of an argument, but after this morning he was playing nice to keep my sister happy.

We got to her dorm, and I was fucking grateful that there was an elevator. My leg was feeling the extra movement. I was able to hide it from Natalie, or so I thought.

We had just got off the elevator when she said, “Us girls will pack up, and you can sit on the bed and take another pill if you need it. If you think I’m blind, I’m not.” Damn woman.

She opened the door, and Emmy was sitting on the bed studying. “Hey, Nat, you made it back in one piece.” She gave Nat a big hug and then turned to me, shook her head, and added, “You’re a fucking meathead.”

She turned back to Natalie, and in a loud whisper added, “Give the word, Nat, and I’ll junk punch him. Hell, I should do it for him being so stupid.”

“Em, it’s okay.”

“I’ve packed most of my stuff. My brother will be here to pick up most of my things. I’m going to be staying with him. You know you’re welcome to come with me.”

“No, thank you. She isn’t going to Chicago. She’s going home with me, but if you’re nice, I’ll let you visit.”

“Ass, you’re asking for it.”

“Be nice, you two.” Natalie shook her head at us.

“I’m going to start packing, I already got rid of a lot of my stuff.”

The girls were packing but got distracted by some photos. They were looking at them for over half an hour. Every once in a while my baby would show me a picture. The last one I snatched. It looked like the day I saw her. She had a beautiful smile, and this photo captured it.

“This is going in my office,” I stated.

“No, you can’t!” Natalie said, upset, shocked, and completely embarrassed.

“I love this picture. It reminds me of the first time I saw you, so deal with it. It’s going in my office where I can see it daily.”

“Pussy,” Tim coughed out.

“I think it’s sweet. Are you saying that you wouldn’t keep my picture where you could see it all the time?” Vanessa said as she narrowed her eyes at Tim. Ha. Being with Vanessa was enough punishment to satisfy my anger at Tim. He didn’t realize what he was getting himself into. She may not be the most school-smart person, but her personality wasn’t lacking.

“Look, babe, I got your picture right here.” He showed her his home screen on his phone. She blushed and got all girly. Fucking asshole. He turned at me and smirked.

“Prick,” I grunted. “Just help them pack.”

When we finally got out of there, we only had her clothes and her book bag to take with us. The rest of the shit would be sent to the house in Seattle; I called for a pickup and they’d be there tomorrow.

Packing up my room last week with Cam had been a good day. Even though he didn’t feel well, he’d been supportive and helpful. I wasn’t happy about the photo he took and wondered if he did like he said he would and put it in his office. It was an okay photo of me, but his clients and employees were going to see that picture. It didn’t scream the girlfriend of a billionaire, but he was adamant that he was keeping it. I tried to steal it from him in the truck, but all that got me was mind-blowingly kissed. I wanted to stay on his lap, but I knew he was hurting.

This past week in Seattle had been perfect until the day my parents called.

“Mother, I’m not going to marry him, so you can forget it. I’ve got a boyfriend already.”

“I don’t care which college boy you’re dating. George comes from a great family. It’s the least you could do after being so much trouble. If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve gotten more in the divorce.” I tried not to let her lack of love get to me. It was crazy that I even still cared. I wasn’t anything special to her anyway. I was her flesh and blood, but I was nothing but a burden to her and to my father.

“I’m not going to, and that’s it.”

“If you don’t at least meet up with him, we’ll not be coming to the graduation.”

“Good. Then don’t!” I shouted and hung up the phone.

I was grateful that Vanessa and Tim had taken Cam to the doctor’s office. If he’d heard the call, I’d be in trouble.

I got in the shower and was going to rush out, but the hot spray felt so good. When I got out of the shower, I was met by my angry boyfriend. Even in his cast, he was on me in a flash. His hand was around my throat, and his eyes were burning in anger.

“Who the fuck is George?” he roared.

“George who?” I’d completely forgotten about the call from my mother. Did he have the room bugged or some shit? No, he couldn’t, or he’d already know that I wasn’t interested in my ex.

“Seriously, you’re going to fucking play that shit with me.”

“I don’t know where you heard about him, but he’s the past.”

“The past? Then why did I just have a lovely conversation with your mother about your engagement.” He let go of me with a shove. His look of disgust was worse than his anger.

“I’m not engaged to anyone.”

“Well, that’s not what your mother just told me. If her shit was a lie, then who the fuck sent you the flowers last week at your apartment that I asked you about before we left?”

“I…you’ve got to listen…It’s not what you think…”

“If you don’t tell me right now, so help me God,” he murmured as he roughly ran his hands through his hair.

“When I changed my number, I called my mother to give it to her. She must’ve given it to George. He called me and asked me when I was coming home and when we were getting married. I just told him that I didn’t want to talk. I’d been crying and my head was pounding.” I started pacing the floor.

“He sent the flowers the next day when I was out getting ready, so I couldn’t reject them when they came. I ignored the card and put it in the drawer. They were pretty, so I left them. I called him back and thanked him, but told him I wasn’t coming home and there was no way I was going to marry him. I didn’t know him anymore. I hadn’t seen him since I was sixteen. He was angry and I guess called my mom about it. She called me several times to tell me that I needed to marry him. I kept saying no, but she refused to listen.” I stopped and looked at him and said, “She told me she wasn’t going to come to my graduation if I didn’t agree to marry George.” I couldn’t hide the hurt, so I turned away from him and looked out the window.

“I don’t know what she said to you, but whatever it was, it must’ve been good enough for you to be willing to believe her over me. I told you I loved you, and I meant it. I’m sorry that I’ve given you doubt. I was going to tell you the truth when you asked about the flowers, but you’d already snapped at me about Jeff. I didn’t want us to fight over nothing.”

I walked past him after grabbing my clothes and walked into the bathroom. I quickly changed, came out, but I didn’t look at him. I could feel him staring at me from his perch on the bed, but I just grabbed my purse and walked out. 

Fuck. I knew that her mother was lying to me, but I acted like an ass anyway. In the matter of a week, I’d been confronted with her and other men in her personal space. When I thought about the flowers sitting there for days from a supposed fiancé, it made her lie believable. I flew into a jealous rage. I didn’t grab her hard or anything, but I still felt like a fucking prick.

I didn’t quite cool down because her ass still lied to me. Karma was a fucking bitch, and although it wasn’t instant, I did get it back. I didn’t know where she was going, but I already texted Clint to keep tabs on her and to let me know where she was going. I didn’t think she was going out to meet some guy, but I wanted to make sure she was safe.

I had come back to the hotel feeling great because I’d be able to get this cast off before graduation, but then I had my bubble fucking burst by her bitch of a mother. I hated the way Natalie had been treated by her parents, and yet my jealous fucking ass believed the bitch. She was on my shit list too. There was already a long list growing since I’d met her.

I got a text from Clint.
She’s at the student union.

I had a plan. I got dressed in one of my suits as fast as I could, and then got to the student union, praying she was still there. She and Emmy were sitting at the table they always sat at. I took my seat and did what I’d always done when I saw her here. I stared. It didn’t take long for her to look up at me. Despite her anger and hurt, she smiled and shook her head.

I didn’t look away no matter how many times she put her head back down or Emmy gave a shrug. I thought she’d be on her way over here to junk punch me, but she didn’t. She gave Natalie a hug, then walked my way.

She reached my table and said calmly, “You both fucked up. Her mother is a manipulative bitch, and it’s made Natalie avoid confrontation unless pushed into it. Forgive her, love her like you want to, and keep her toxic family away from her, and I won’t belt you.” She winked, patted my shoulder, and walked away.

I walked to her table, and she looked up at me and laughed.

“I hope you’re not laughing at me.”

“No, I’m laughing at us.”

“Are you saying we’re fools?”

“Yes, big ones. I think this has been one test after another, and we’ve failed miserably.”

“Well, I’ve learned my lesson. Have you?”

“Yes, I’d rather have you mad at me than have you look at me with disgust.”

“I’m sorry, baby. It wasn’t a look of disgust at you, but at me because I wasn’t going to let you go, fiancé or not. But I’ve got a really good way to fix my insane jealousy.”

“Yes, and how is that?”

“Forgive me, I cannot kneel,” I said as I took a seat next to he
r
,
turning it to face her.

“I love you and felt like I’d lost you. Now that I know what it’s like to spend every day with you, I can’t imagine my life without you. Will you marry me, Natalie Grace Cromwell?”

“Yes,” she cried as I slipped the ring on her finger.

I stood up and kissed her like the first time, and just like the first time, we’d been caught.

“I know, I know, you’re kissing your fiancée,” the hall-monitor ass advisor said with a grin.