serious.”
“As a fucking heart attack.”
“I can feed myself.”
“Recent evidence suggests otherwise.”
“Vaughn, don’t be ridiculous. I’m not letting you—”
He managed to shove the spoon between my parted lips before I could finish my sentence. Not all of it made it inside and spilled onto my shirt. I had no choice but to swallow it down, glaring at Vaughn as I did so.
“I can make airplane noises if it will help?”
My lips pressed even tighter together. I was not letting him win a second time.
“Train then?”
Silence.
Tsking, his hand shot out, quick as a rattlesnake, and he pinched my nose, cutting off my only airway until I had no choice but to part my lips to take a huge gulping breath. “Resistance is futile,” he said, mimicking the Borg from Star Trek. I remembered the day he made me watch the movie with him. It was the day I realized that the hot jock was a closet Sci-Fi nerd.
I was fed a second bite of chicken noodle, and when he offered a third, I didn’t fight him, not even when he made airplane noises on the fourth and yelled “Choo Choo” on the fifth.
God, I hated him.
I might have even loved him.
Only time would tell.
Before either of us knew it, the soup was gone, and the butterflies in my full tummy were fluttering out of control. Wisely, Vaughn let me eat the cookie he’d brought me on my own, but I noticed he kept a watchful eye, making sure I ate the entire thing. By the time I was finished, I was bursting, but I downed the entire bottle of apple juice anyway to avoid another argument.
The moment I took the final sip, he leaned over and kissed the lingering drops of juice from my lips. “Fuck, I missed you,” he said with a groan even though it had been less than a day.
“You weren’t acting like it,” I retorted with a pout.
Vaughn didn’t respond as his fingers unbuttoned my shorts and started pulling them over my hips and down my thighs.
“What are you doing?” My heart was racing because I already knew the answer though it baffled me. We were just fighting moments ago.
“Relieving some of your stress.”
I bit my bottom lip, not knowing if I should let him despite really wanting him to do just that. Bringing me soup and then feeding it to me didn’t change the fact that he’d been an asshole. Not to mention all the lies and secrets he was keeping. Suddenly, I understood Lou’s anger and frustration toward Wren.
It was the ego of the alpha male. They couldn’t fit it inside of Jupiter.
I shook off my thoughts just as my shorts cleared my ankles. Rising to his feet, Vaughn moved across the room and flipped the lock. He obviously wasn’t expecting much argument from me.
“Maybe we should go back to my place? I’m sure Wren and Lou are eager for privacy after what happened.”
On cue, our phones pinged with a text from Lou in the group chat Jamie had made.
Lou: Everyone took off. It’s late, so feel free to stay in the guest room.
My phone pinged again, but this time, it was a private message.
Lou: Sorry you had to see Wren’s butt.
Lou: It’s okay if you liked it. It’s pretty fucking cute. ;-)
I snorted, making Vaughn’s eyes narrow. “What did she say?”
“Nothing,” I quickly lied. Blacking the screen, I placed it face down on the nightstand just in case Lou felt the need to discuss Wren’s butt some more.
Contrary to my fainting, it had been a pretty fantastic view.
“Looks like we’re staying the night,” Vaughn said with a smirk before tossing tossed his phone on the bed. I lost my train of thought when he gripped the collar at his nape and pulled his shirt over his head.
Fuck me.
The look in Vaughn’s eyes promised he’d do just that, and he’d take all night if I’d only ask. I wasn’t a saint, which meant I told the occasional white lie, usually to spare someone’s feelings. However, promising Vaughn that I was okay with never having all of him in exchange for one night? That was one lie I couldn’t tell because despite what Vaughn claimed, we were already in deep.
They say sex is what complicates a relationship, but what if you’ve already given the other person something much more valuable? Like your bleeding, beating heart?
Walking over to the bed, he pulled me from it until I was standing and relieved me of my shirt. It was now