Page 26
Story: Shameless Expectations
“All right, then. Where am I sleeping?”
Athena stood up, finally. She walked in her socks toward the door to her bedroom and waited as Monti stumbled after her. Damn, this woman really was tired. Not wanting to parade her through the entire house, Athena walked straight to the closest guest room, which was a few doors down from her own. She opened the door and allowed Monti to walk inside.
“Stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you.” Monti ducked her chin, her cheeks suddenly red.
Athena wanted to reach up and touch her. Actual fingers-to-cheek contact. The feeling scared the ever-living shit out of her, so she clenched her fingers hard into a fist to prevent herself from doing anything stupid. She needed to get out of there. She needed to clear her head and think straight.
Without another word, Athena turned on her toes and walked out of the room and back to her bedroom. She shut the door—and locked it—leaning against the cold wood to catch her breath. Her heart raced. Her body was still so damn hot that it was hard to focus. She closed her eyes, and all she could feel was Monti’s fingers on her skin, pushing into her muscles, teasing out the knots. Monti’s hands in her hair as she massaged her scalp, the way Monti’s breathing changed to match hers.
What the hell was she thinking?
Shaking her head wildly, Athena gathered herself. She pushed off the door and walked straight to her en suite. She needed to get ready for the day, which meant she had about an hour to figure out just what was going on with her. She stripped off her clothes after turning the water on to let it warm up.
As soon as she stepped under the hot spray of water, Athena sighed and relaxed. The water pounded onto her shoulders, wetting her hair and her body. She ran her fingers over her body, the oil still making the skin slick on her arms and neck where Monti had touched her.
What was it with Monti that Athena couldn’t resist?
Maybe Monti was right.
Maybe she really did just need a safe place for once in her life.
Athena’s fingers hit the ripples of scars along her back and her stomach as she ran soap over herself. She’d gotten so used to those, but to think of Monti touching them, to see the look of horror on her face when she finally saw them? Athena couldn’t imagine it. She’d seen it before, and she couldn’t imagine witnessing that again.
Holding back her tears, Athena found the longest scar on her body. It ran from the center of her chest down to her belly button, and it was raised and stark white. She sucked in a sharp breath and dropped her hand, turning into the spray of the shower to wash her feelings away.
No.
She wouldn’t allow that to happen again.
Monti deserved to live in the world without Athena’s pain.
If there was one thing Athena had learned in the last twenty-two years, it was that she was way too damaged for anyone. Not friends, not family, not lovers. Leave all of that to Kevin—he at least deserved it. She was just a burden and too dirty for any type of relationship, romantic or otherwise. Her darkness would instantly taint whatever came near her.
And Monti?
She was too young and innocent to deserve that. She had her whole life ahead of her.
Shivering even though the water was hot, Athena pushed away all thoughts of allowing Monti to give her that safe space again. She just wouldn’t do it. She started to wash her hair, and along with it, she washed any glimmers of hope from her chest.
nine
The bed Monti woke in was heaven. The mattress cocooned her in a warm hug that she hadn’t felt in ages, sleeping in her van. Athena hadn’t lied when she said this bed would be more comfortable than the van. If this was the same one Athena had on her bed, Monti could understand why she fell asleep so hard.
She checked her watch and her phone, finding a message from a long-time friend she hadn’t seen since they were in school together. She smiled and sent a swift message back to see if they could get together that evening.
Monti left the room after refreshing herself in the en suite and went in search of Fallon. She should probably tell at least one person that she was leaving the property so that they didn’t think she was still sleeping.
Fallon was sitting at her desk, the bright light from her computer reflected on her reading glasses as she still squinted at the screen. Monti shook her head to herself and stepped inside, crossing her arms in the process.
“You really should get your prescription checked again.”
Fallon jerked with a start, her lips parting, before she realized it was Monti standing there. “Jesus, I didn’t think you were still here.”
Furrowing her brow, Monti stepped inside farther. “Ms. Pruitt pretty much ordered me to sleep in a guest room. I crashed hard.”
Fallon smirked. “Whatever you did, it worked.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26 (Reading here)
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117