Taunting Lips (A Teasing Hands Accompaniment) (3 page)

She needed to be in my arms. I’d make everything better.

“One so beautiful should never wear such a sad expression.”

3

“What a mess,” I mumbled low. Traffic was starting to become congested, the rush hour crowd making its appearance as I drove through South Beach.

I couldn't go home.

Just the thought of sitting in my living room, looking at my phone and praying that it miraculously rang, wasn’t interesting to say the least. It filled me with dread. The silence and my thoughts colliding—producing mass chaos—wasn’t something needed. I had to keep my wits about me if I was to get Amanda back.

For the first time in a long time, I felt alone. Like the odd man out amongst my friends and family.

Unhappy.

Fuck her for turning me into this sappy motherfucker. Because of her, a man that was once comfortable with his solitary existence now hid from what he coveted the most.

“Fuck!” My hoarse scream of anger inside the car did nothing to quell my mounting frustration. Each moment that passed erased a bit of her essence that I still wore. The smell of her arousal diluted with each swipe of my tongue over my upper lip.

Her taste—that fucking sweetness so uniquely hers—was something I now needed.

I couldn’t go home. Impossible.

With my mind made up, I made an illegal U-turn at the next light and turned back into the most popular areas of the Miami coastline.

Playwright Irish Pub was located a few miles away from work. This place was a favorite of mine, with its dark woods, relaxed atmosphere, and excellent bar to whet one’s appetite. I came here a lot in my youth when in the need to get fucked up. Now, though, I came to enjoy—savor the seasonal Ales on tap and its growing female clientele.

I've had enough European pussy—I had to stop right there
.
Past tense. No longer an option. The mere thought of touching any woman other than my
gatita
felt wrong. Bothered me.

I was embarrassed by my past. A past where she didn’t exist…didn't matter.

She does now
. And fuck, did she ever.

Pulling into the adjacent lot, I put my car in park and pulled out my phone. No missed calls or texts. Opening up my last message from Amanda, I hit reply and sent her a simple request. A first for me. I’ve never asked or said please to any woman from my past, but for her I’d beg.

Call me. ~Camden

I waited.

Sat inside my car and hung back in hopes that she’d tell me anything. Even her telling me to “fuck off” would be better than this…nothing. Her cursing me out would give me hope; she’d have to give some kind of a fuck to answer back.

The silence hurt.

After another ten minutes of nothing, I turned off the ignition and took my pathetic ass inside the pub. It wasn’t packed yet, and the few booths across the bar were empty. There were two girls seated inside one, but I barely spared them a glance as I sat down in the one behind theirs. It was the furthest back, and right against the wall.

As I slid in, I looked up and caught the eye of a pretty girl. She smiled, but I couldn’t return it. The small greeting vanished from her face, and she pulled her attention back to the girl across from her. It was better that way. Last thing I needed at the moment was some random chick on my dick all night.

“What can I get for you, sweetheart?” a voice called out, bringing my attention into focus. A brunette—Hispanic from what I could tell—stared me down with a flirty smile on her lips. She wore the bar’s standard all-too-tight shirt and jeans. In the past, she would’ve caught my attention.

I’d compliment her and flirt.

Today it was all wrong. She wasn’t a blonde. She didn’t have blue eyes. She wasn’t my
gatita
.

“Whiskey on the rocks,” I stated, my eyes locked on the TV screen across from us. From my peripheral vision, I noticed her fidget and open her mouth; I cut her off before she could utter a single word. “Nothing else at the moment.”

If she was hoping to make small talk or offer me some daily special, she was out of luck.

“I’ll be right back with your drink, sir.” Still, I didn’t look at her, just nodded my head in agreement, and waited for her to leave.  She came back a few minutes later, my drink in hand and a menu to leave with me in case I changed my mind.

The waitress smiled at the two girls sitting in the booth before mine on her way back toward the bar. She shook her head; her facial expression had morphed into one of pity. This caught my attention. Was it the universal break-a-fucker’s-heart day and I missed the memo?

“Amanda, I need you to start from the beginning,” I heard the one that smiled at me say, and I paused mid drink. Amanda? It couldn’t be. “What did Hunter do this time?”

That solidified it for me. There aren’t that many people named Amanda, or Hunter, within this area for it to be a coincidence. Impossible.

“It wasn’t Hunter.”

“
Gatita,
” I whispered low. My heart lurched inside my chest. It was her—in pain and crying because of my stupidity. Need so strong I could barely sit still overtook my body.

“I’m done.” Amanda sniffed loudly. “Camden and I are done.”

Those few simple words passing through her lips gutted me. Was the world so cruel? How could the universe put her in my path to change my views…make me want her, and then take her away. What the fuck?

You did this.

“I thought you were going to talk to him first? Find out what happened before making up your mind,” her friend asked, and I leaned forward in my seat. The table’s edge dug into my midsection the way I draped myself over it. Let that bitch cut me in half as long as I was closer to her. If I could breathe her in.

There was a small partition between the booths that separated us. It was thin, and if I inclined at just the right angle, I could see the top of her head. Just knowing she was there, close enough to touch, made things better.

A group of businessmen came into the pub then, and they all congregated by a group of tables a few feet away from theirs. Her friend looked over, and this was my cue to move. I took the seat directly behind Amanda, our backs facing each other as she spoke.

“What was there to understand? He fucked me one day, and the next, had her all over his dick.” The sadness was still there in her tone, but it was now mixed with animosity. Amanda’s anger gave me hope. I’d take that any day over indifference.

Is that what she thinks happened? Yes, I’ll admit to being stupid and using Cynthia’s drunkenness to my advantage, but I never moved past the flirting stage with her. We never kissed. Didn’t touch her unless it was to keep her hands where everyone around us could see them.

“Is that what he told you?” My ears perked up at her question. Amanda had never given me a chance to answer—to explain a thing.

“No.” A hand slammed down on the tabletop. The resounding sound its force created made the men across from us pause mid-conversation and look their way. “There isn’t a damn thing he could say to explain what I saw. He was with
Cynthia
after claiming to have an emergency and needing to leave. He canceled on me to spend the night with her.”

I banged my head against the back of my booth and muttered low. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Maybe it was a coincidence that they were there.” Even I snorted at that reply. No matter how I painted the picture—even if I was saying the truth—it’s a hard story to swallow.

It’d been Stacy’s idea to head over to Rage after work—to have some fun and let loose after the busy week the spa had been having. Oliver and Stacy were sitting with me at the table my
gatita
found me at when Cynthia approached, drunk and horny.

Grabby would be putting it mildly. It took me pulling her in close to keep her subdued, and even then, she fought me for a kiss. One that never happened no matter how hard she tried.

“Bullshit, and you know it, Court.” Amanda took in a shuddering breath before continuing, her emotions palpable. Everything she felt, I did too. “He played the game well and I fell…I fucking fell for him. Love him.”

“Shit!” The one I assume to be Court hissed. “I thought this was just a summer fling? Did you tell him this?”

“Fuck, no. I’ve embarrassed myself enough to last a lifetime.”
But I love you, too.

My hand shook as I grabbed ahold of my drink. I couldn’t even begin to describe how the cold spirit tasted. Nothing registered for me at the moment but those two words she’d cried out.

Love him. As in still does.

“Hey, what is it?”

“Is it strange that I feel as if he were close,” my girl whispered, and I stiffened. She moved behind me, and my eyes snapped up to look through the mirror above and off to the side of where I sat. You couldn’t see me, but I saw her. At least, her profile was visible in my direct line of site. “Camden has this intense presence about him. His persona calls to the most intimate and hidden parts of me. He’s here…”

“Do you want to leave?” Court’s eyes widened and began to look around. She’d never seen me before, but I was sure that if she’d caught me looking, I’d be busted. “We can call the girls and meet up at Jen’s for a night of booze and tacky movies.”

“No,” Amanda answered, and I let out the relieved breath I’d been holding in. “I’m being silly and emotional. Camden’s not here…it’d be too much of a sick joke if he were.”

“You sure, Mandi?” Her friend squeezed her hand from across the table. I yearned for it to be me that she found her comfort in.

Amanda waved her off with a sad smile. “What time is—”

“Hey, babe,” a male voice interrupted, and every muscle in my body coiled. Who the fuck was this? I watched as he leaned down and kissed her friend’s cheek and then my girl’s. My hand tightened around the glass in my hands. Seeing his lips touch her skin burned me. “What’s wrong, Mandi?”

How would my
gatita
react to me bashing his face in? Would she approve of my psychotic jealousy after I’d broken her heart? She’s done this to me. Turned me into the young and in love fool I never was with my ex.

“Nothing for you to worry about, Devin.” Court let out a small giggle and moved over to welcome the guy. He pulled her in close after sitting down and laid a tiny kiss on her lips. It was that small move that kept me seated.

“Excuse me.” Amanda stood up then. She shot out of the booth and toward the front door before anyone could stop her.

“The hell…” I heard him start, but was out of earshot before he could finish. My legs carried me outside in search of her. Amanda was across the lot and by her car before I could reach her.

As if sensing my presence, she stiffened and turned to look my way. “No,” she whispered and shook her head from side to side. Her body trembled, and they keys in her hands fell to the ground.

“Amanda, let me—”

“Fuck!” she screamed out, interrupting me before I could finish what I had to say. I took a step toward her, one measly step, and she sprang into action. She scrambled to grab her keys off the pavement, her hands shaking as she managed to open her car and throw herself inside before I could reach her.

Her eyes locked with mine from within the confines of her vehicle. I was a few feet away from her, frozen in place, saddened by her reaction to seeing me.

“Goodbye,” she mouthed, while wiping away the stray tear that had fallen. Begging my feet to move didn’t work. My body wouldn’t react; I was stuck inside a bubble surrounded by her parting word.

Amanda pulled out of her spot before me, and my chest ached. The taillights of her car faded the further she was from me, and for the first time since I was young, I let my emotions show.

I did something in that parking lot I promised myself I’d never do for another woman.

I let a few tears fall.