When he was walking out the door, I realized that he was the first person to actually try to help get me out of this funk.
“Krit,” I called out, and he stopped and turned around.
“Yeah, love?”
“Thanks,” I said.
His expression became serious, and that was a rare thing. He usually either had a naughty gleam in his eyes or a wicked smile. “That dickhead is a fool,” he said, then turned and walked out of the room.
I fought back the urge to defend Jason. He wasn’t the bad guy. He had been honest the whole time. I had known it was a short fling. My being a girl and caring too much was what had screwed things up.
Chapter Fifteen
Three months later . . .
JESS
It was finally Friday night. I needed a break. Between my classes and working every day, I liked to remember I was young and could have a good time. I loved my new job and my classes weren’t bad, but they took up my entire day Monday through Friday. If the shop was busy, I had to bring things home to work on them in the evenings.
I still couldn’t get over the fact that Mrs. Dillard had hired me to work as a seamstress in her store. Not that I wasn’t good enough, because I was, but because Mrs. Dillard’s husband was a Baptist minister and I was a stripper’s daughter. She didn’t seem to care, though.
I was making more money working for her than I would waiting tables or at a bar. She had sent the dance studio to me when they needed help with costumes, and I had been hired to design them after they saw some of my ideas. After they hired me, I got a call from the dance studio in the next town over, asking me to design for them, too. I kept pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I knew that after this year at school it was very unlikely I could go to a four-year college. Junior college was all I could afford. All my momma could afford. But I was beginning to wonder if I could make a career out of this.
I parked my truck outside the back entrance to Live Bay. Jackdown was playing tonight, and it would be crawling with the college crowd soon. I stepped out of the truck just as the back door swung open and Krit came out, headed straight for me. I hadn’t seen him in two days. Not from his lack of trying, though.
“About f**king time,” he said before he grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. I laughed against his mouth and felt him smile in return. The cool metal from his tongue ring slid past my lips and entered my mouth. The mix of cigarettes and tequila hit my tongue. It was Krit’s signature taste on nights he played.
Before he could get too carried away, I pulled away and pressed one more kiss to his lips so he wouldn’t pout. “I had a test,” I reminded him. He hadn’t been very patient with my studies so far this semester.
“And all I could think about was your pu**y,” he said, slipping his hand into the front of my jeans. I reached for it and pulled it out before he got too far and I let him. Krit had many talents, and knowing how to make a woman come fast was one of them.
“Let me play,” he begged, backing me against the side of the truck.
He wasn’t normally this frantic with me. Maybe the monogamous thing was getting to him. It had been a month since I’d agreed to have sex with him only if it was just me and only me.
When he had promised me it was just me he wanted, I thought he was high. I also thought it would be short-lived. I needed someone to make me forget Jason. It had been two months then, and he had stayed in all my dreams and fantasies. So I had agreed to a friends-with-benefits thing with Krit if it was just me he was sleeping with.
For the most part it had helped. There were times I was guilty of closing my eyes and pretending he was Jason. Those were weak moments. Most of the time I was completely with Krit.
“You have to do sound check, don’t you?” I asked as he slid his hands under my shirt and squeezed my boobs.
“Love, all I can think about is how f**king hot you are,” he said as he started kissing my neck. He was horny. And it was because he was used to having sex a lot more often than I was giving it to him.
“Krit, stop,” I said, putting my hands on his chest and moving him back.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“This. You. I’m busy with school and work, and you’re used to more action. You’ve been good for a month, and I’ll admit I’m impressed, but you’re off the hook. Go sleep with the masses throwing themselves at you. It’s what you need. I’m not enough for you. We both knew this was a short-term thing.”
Krit started shaking his head. “Hell no. You’re not doing this to me, love.” He started pacing in front of me. “I waited f**king years to get you under me. Years. I panted after you. Beat off thinking about you, and then I get you and this? Fuck no.” He got in my face and his eyes dropped to my lips, then back up to my eyes. “Just you, Jess. Just want you. Wanted you since we were kids. But you were f**king Hank’s. Now he’s gone and married Carrie and is playing house. He’s out of your life. I got you. Don’t you throw me out, because I want you so damn bad. Don’t mistake that for something else.”
I didn’t have any words. I was speechless. This was not something I had ever expected to come out of Krit’s mouth. Ever. About anyone.
“You’ve always teased me,” I said, shaking my head, trying to understand this.
Krit ran a finger down the side of my face. His fingernails were painted black tonight. It always made me smile when he did that. “I had to do something. I couldn’t have you. But not telling you how much I wanted you was impossible. So I let you think I was kidding.”
How did I handle this? I liked Krit. He made me laugh. He was my friend, but I didn’t think I was capable of more. I had given in and admitted to myself even before I’d started sleeping with Krit that I was in love with Jason. I didn’t like thinking I could fall in love with someone so fast, so I wanted to pretend it wasn’t true, but it was.