was going, I hooked a hesitant left through sliding doors. My jaw dropped when I saw the length of the indoor pool. It had to be maybe seventy or eighty feet long, and though narrow compared to the length, it was still a whopping twenty feet wide. It resembled the lap pools athletes used and even had a small jacuzzi at the end. Maybe this was how Vaughn’s shoulders became so impressive. It seemed as if he literally had the world at his fingertips.
Remembering that I was on a mission and not a house tour, I crossed the enormous pool room to the other side and followed the sound of “Power Trip” by J. Cole featuring Miguel through an open door into yet another hallway.
At this point, I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to find my way back alone.
There was an elevator and another set of stairs leading down, but to where?
Maybe it’s an underground graveyard where his father hides dead bodies because he’s a serial killer.
I snorted at my ludicrous thoughts and stepped through the door across from the stairs. There, I found a room, the walls and floors made of cement and the low ceiling revealing wooden beams. Taking up the area was every single type of gym equipment known to man, and it was all state of the art. There was even a punching bag hanging from one of the wooden beans. I had no doubt Vaughn put it to good use.
Speaking of the devil…
A shirtless Vaughn was seated at one of the machines, his expression full of intent and his tanned skin glistening with sweat as he used the leather pad to curl his muscular legs.
I wasn’t sure how long I watched transfixed until I remembered the reason I was there. He’d hung on me, and then he sent me to voicemail when I called him back.
“Vaughn.” I waited for him to stop and turn, to face me despite his unwillingness to.
I got nothing, not even a twinge.
I could barely hear myself think and realized the music was too loud. Vaughn had turned the volume up as if he were trying to drown me out. Spotting his phone sitting near a set of Bluetooth speakers behind me, I crossed over to it with the intent of cutting the music. Remembering how he’d ignored me, my lips tightened as I set his phone on the cement floor instead. I made sure he was still unaware of my presence before lifting one of the weights on the rack next to me. Letting my anger roll through me, I released my fingers one by one until the weight slipped from my hand.
Oops.
The music cut immediately when the entire phone splintered into tiny pieces.
Vaughn was up in no time, and the moment he turned to find me standing there, his eyes widened. I took a step back when his shock cleared, and anger filled his eyes. He was across the room in five long strides and gripping my arms so tight I was sure he’d leave bruises. I didn’t care. This pain would never equate to the bruises he constantly left on my heart. Words uttered by my great aunt and long forgotten came to mind.
You think you’ve stolen his heart, but if all you feel is pain when you carry it around, then, honey, that’s not what you have in your pocket.
“What are you doing here?” Vaughn demanded, his words sounding like a growl. “Are you insane? If my father catches you here—for fuck’s sake. If he had been here…”
“So what?” I wiggled, trying to free myself from his hold. “I’m not afraid of your father.”
Vaughn’s fingers tightened around my arm, making me wince and keeping me still. “You should be.” He then let me go, but he didn’t allow me any space to breathe and being the silly thing that I am, I was having a hard time not becoming intoxicated by his scent. He was soaked in sweat, but he might as well have been wrapped in flowers the way my body was reacting to him. I couldn’t get enough.
Why was I mad at him again?
Oh…right.
“I’m not ashamed of who I am, Vaughn.” The vulnerability and fear in my tone couldn’t be helped when I spoke again. “Are you?”
Vaughn looked confused for a moment before remembering the lie he’d told me about his father being racist. “Never,” he said so fiercely that I believed him.
“Then what’s the problem? So I won’t get invited to any Rees