Maybe it was the deep gravel in my voice that had her eyes blinking her into the here and now, then her head whipped over to me. As fast as she was going, this was when I finally saw she was out of breath—like I was at this point from running down the stairs like a bat out of fucking hell. Sweat layered my skin all over, too.
“I—I…” she tried, then swallowed. “I woke up and couldn’t sleep. I had—have—all this energy and it made me fucking…crazy.”
“Turn off the machine and let’s go.” I swear, I tried fucking controlling my temper.
She had me going so fucking bad, thinking the worst. Nervously, she turned back to the elliptical and tapped to stop the clock. Her strides slowed, and eventually, she was able to get off. I stayed on her ass, too, not moving to give her much room. After giving her the hardest glare that likely resembled a damn parent, I took off with the expectation of her being behind me. By the time I made it to the elevator, I could tell she was. We rode all the way up to the sixteenth floor in silence, trying to calm our breathing.
Once we were back inside the suite, I turned to her. “You could have awakened me.”
“I didn’t want to. It was a weird feeling,” she tried to explain.
“What was weird?”
“Waking up like that, and you being right there. And what we did…”
Panic struck my chest again. “Did you not want to do what we did?”
She nodded. “You know I did.”
“Then why in the hell would it be weird to wake up and find me in the same bed as you?”
Brows lifting, Tori shrugged. “I dunno.”
“Well, what the fuck do you know, KaToria?” Damn, I sounded just like Wanda Lee—a male version, that is. “It was you last night demanding, ‘Just do it. I’m not fragile, girlie. I’m not going to break. Just get all the way in.’ You telling me you feel different now?”
She bit her lips, shaking her head. “I don’t. It’s just…weird.” Tori grabbed her face and shook her head again. “I don’t know where we are now…what this is. You…Aivery…me naked in bed with…you.”
My face balled. “Aivery and I are broken up! You know that. I came right to you when the shit went down.”
Tori looked at me sideways. “You were planning to propose to her within the next year. You really think you’re over?”
“The hell? I’m a grown-ass man, Tori, not some sucka ass teenager who had his dick sucked for the first time and fell in love. If I say I’m done, I’m done.”
“Then give me time to get used to it. Since I’ve met you, your entire existence has been connected to being with her. Shit, Ashton! Most of this time I’ve known you, I’ve been your damn jumpoff.”
“Jumpoff?” My expression was incredulous.
“Don’t!” she warned, finger in the air. “You know I’ve got home-wrecker issues. Don’t try to say it’s something else!”
Her mother. Tori didn’t want to be the homewrecker she believed her mother to be. The prospect of that was fucking ridiculous. We were young, no one was married, and there were no kids involved. See. No homewrecking happening here! But I doubted if I could convince her of it.
She rolled her eyes, eyebrows meeting as though she was in pain. “Hey… I’m sorry for ruining your birthday,” her voice soft, repentant. “I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t go there. My birthday was better than I deserved—that’s only if you’re okay with last night. If you don’t have any regrets.” My heart began to race again.
Fuck!
Tori shook her head fast and hard. “No. I don’t! Do you?”
I shook my head and murmured, “Hell no.”
Her eyes dropped down to my feet, then rose to my head. “You’re sweaty.”
Because you scared the shit out of me, making me think I hurt you!
I scoffed dryly, “So are you.”
“I got some cardio in.”
“So did I, thanks to you…being a weird human.” Her words were most fitting in this moment.
Tori recoiled. “I know. I am a weird human. Especially now…with this sex thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I liked it.”
My eyes popped out of my head. “With all that pain? I saw your forehead misting, felt your thighs doing the same damn thing.”
She lifted a shoulder. “It hurt, but…”
I blinked deeply. Tori’s response was another single shoulder shrug. I took a deep breath and checked my phone for the time.
“Look. It’s almost seven-thirty. Let’s shower and I’ll make us breakfast. Is