Page 16

CHAPTER 16

ROSALIE

“Rosalie,” AJ said, his voice deeper than usual.

His adrenaline highs after a fight always turned into desire. It had back when we were together. I was betting it was still like that now.

“Shh.”

I shoved his hat off his head, and then I grabbed his mask and pulled it over his head, too, letting it drop onto the back seat. I looked at his face. Nothing seemed bruised from the fight. Then, I yanked up his hoodie, which he helped throw off, and I checked his torso. I could see a couple of ugly bruises forming on his sides and chest, but the ones I hated to see the most were the ones on the sides of his neck.

“Gosh darn it, AJ. You’re hurt,” I whispered as I traced my fingers lightly over the marks.

His hand grabbed mine and brought it up to his lips, where he kissed the palm. “Nothing hurts right now—well, except for the set of blue balls I have from your sexy ass straddling my lap.”

“I could fix that.” I didn’t know what had made me say that, but at this moment, nothing else outside of AJ and this car mattered to me.

If only for a few minutes, please just let time stand still.

“Do it then, baby girl. I’ve been waiting for you.”

I didn’t say anything because words couldn’t describe what I felt right now. So, I let my body do the talking, and I leaned in and kissed him—hard. I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and sat up off his thighs, pouring my moan into his lips with so many pent-up feelings.

I want you. I need you. Touch me, AJ. Please.

It was like we were sharing one mind because no sooner had the thoughts passed through my mind than his hands rubbed up my body, tugging me into him more. Our bodies pressed together as we made out. Passion and longing had built up within both of us, and it was all spilling out right here, right now. I ground my hips down onto his lap and felt his hard cock pressing against his joggers, begging for release. How I wanted to give it to him so damn bad.

He brought his hands down to my ass and gripped my hips, rolling them back and forth over the top of him.

“Fuck, baby girl,” he groaned against my lips.

I panted as I sucked his lower lip. I didn’t know how to stop this. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.

Maybe if resisting AJ was so hard, then it was the wrong thing to do. Had I been staying away from him because I didn’t want to be with him anymore, or was I trying to prove a point after all the hurt he had caused in the past? I didn’t really know the answer to that—yet. But maybe, just maybe, kissing him more tonight would help me answer it.

Let’s find out.

“Just kiss me,” I demanded.

He chuckled as his lips wandered around the side of my neck, kissing and biting along the way. I knew I was about done for. His lips were making me so dang horny. My mind was blank. All I could focus on was the tingling sensations flooding my body with every touch.

“When did you get so demanding, baby girl? It looks good on you.”

His words soaked into my soul with each kiss, and my body was thriving from it. I weaved my hands into his hair, and I could feel my heart racing, each beat making my lungs work faster.

I missed you.

He called me demanding, but the words were still getting stuck in my mind. How could I feel so bold one second and not the next? Suddenly, I felt vulnerable, like the walls I had built up around him were gone, but I wasn’t afraid of them being gone. I felt relieved.

AJ ran a hand along the side of my face, and he pulled back from our kiss. I almost pouted, but he cut me off.

“I love you.”

My heart stopped. I sat there, wide-eyed, on top of my half-naked ex-boyfriend who had just confessed that he still loved me.

He loves me. He never stopped loving me. But I’m… I’m just so confused. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to worry about what to do right now. I just want to be here with him.

I just wanted this moment to go on forever, to escape from everything else right now and enjoy every single second. I was acutely aware of his hand hovering at the hemline of my shorts. And I glanced down at it and back up at him before nodding. Giving him the green light.

AJ slipped his hand down my shorts and rubbed my clit.

My moans filled the car. He remembered exactly how I loved to be touched, like we hadn’t spent so much time apart.

Maybe I should stop him. Maybe I shouldn’t. All I knew was, this felt right, being here with him. It felt like coming home from a long trip and finally sleeping in my own bed.

I kissed him as I ground my pussy against his hand, slipping my own hands lower down his chest, teasing my fingers at his waistband, just starting to slip them under it.

“Come back with me to my place tonight, baby girl.”

I whimpered into his ear, “I… I…”

I wanted to say yes. I was about to say yes. Then, my phone went off. I was going to ignore it, but then it kept going off, message after message.

What the heck?

“AJ, wait… my phone. It might be something serious.”

He sighed but stopped rubbing, pulled his hand out of my shorts, and let me lean over to get it. I pulled it out of my jacket pocket on the seat next to me and froze as I scrolled through the messages.

Kordell

Mama, what the fuck?

I knew you were lying to me.

I’m gonna kill him.

You think you can make a fool out of me?

Get home right fucking now, before I have my guy rip your little cheating ass off that piece of shit and shoot him right in front of you.

It was the last message that had my throat feeling like it was closing, and I scrambled to get off AJ.

“Whoa, baby girl. What’s wrong? Is someone hurt?” His voice was concerned.

“N-no! Everyone is fine. I… I just have to go! Kordell woke up, and… and he knows I’m not home. He’s freaking out. Take me back to my car, please!”

AJ stared at me and smacked his steering wheel. “Fuck! Are you serious? Rosalie, it’s obvious you don’t want to be with him. Why are you continuing to push me away and run back to him?”

I quickly punched out a message back to Kordell, trying to tone AJ out as much as possible.

Rosalie

I have to have him drive me back to my car at Dad’s shop. I’m so sorry! Please don’t let anyone hurt him!

Kordell

If you aren’t in your car in twenty, your little boy toy is gonna be on the news as another shooting statistic in the hood.

“AJ! Please, just drive me to my car! I can’t do this anymore tonight. I’m sorry. Please! I need to make sure you are okay, and this is the only way I can. Please!”

“Baby girl, I’m gonna be just fine. Who was on the phone? What’s wrong?” AJ asked as he tried to place his arm around my shoulders.

I lurched away from him, tears pricking my eyes. “AJ, please. Just trust me. Take me back to my car.” My voice was strained.

He looked upset, and I got it. This probably felt like I had gotten him going, only to stop again when things had gotten heated. But I couldn’t risk it. I knew Kordell was being dead serious. And AJ wouldn’t be safe around me as long as I was with Kordell, and Kordell wouldn’t let me be around AJ. So, as AJ begrudgingly drove me back to my car, I settled on what I needed to do when I got home.

“I’ll text you,” I told AJ as I opened the passenger door.

He grabbed my wrist as I went to leave.

“You don’t have to go. I know it had to be your boyfriend who texted you. Come with me. You can dump him tomorrow morning.”

I shook my head and gently unlaced his fingers from my wrist.

“I can’t. That’s not who I am—you know that. Bye.”

I closed his passenger door, walked over to my car, and without a second glance back, I sped out of the alleyway and toward home.

He was standing outside the front door, smoking, when I pulled up. I parked my car and took a deep breath. He was going to be pissed when I walked in. I’d thought I had been so careful tonight. Never thought he had people still following me. I’d thought that had ended a couple of weeks ago.

I got out of my car and cautiously approached him. He slipped the cigarette from his lips and exhaled the smoke. He seemed weirdly calm. I stood in front of him in awkward silence as he took his time finishing the cigarette, not saying a word, just staring at me. I fidgeted in place. Finally, the silence became too much, and I started to talk.

“Kordell, let me explain?—”

He grabbed me by my throat, and I instinctively reached up and gripped his arm and started to resist.

“P-please! I’m sorry!” I cried out, and he pushed the front door open and shoved me inside.

I stumbled into the house, almost tripping against the table in the entryway.

He slammed the door behind us before storming into the kitchen. I rubbed my throat as I followed him.

“Kordell, if you just let me explain what happened. I promise it’s not what it looked like.” I stood on one side of the kitchen island as he stood on the other.

“I forbid you to go to another meet or anything related to your stupid little car group without me being there because, apparently, you can’t tell a stupid fucking cocksucker to get lost. So, until he gets the fucking hint, I’m going to follow you to work and back home, and you aren’t going anywhere else without me or my permission.”

He was glaring at me with a stone-cold, dead-serious look on his face. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

“You can’t be serious. That’s not going to happen, Kordell. I’m not going to have you follow me around. I don’t need you to babysit me. I’m a grown woman. I’ll do what I want. I know tonight wasn’t what you wanted to see, but I think… I think maybe we should take a break.” I groaned in exasperation as I ran my fingers through my hair.

We just needed some distance. I just needed space to figure out what I wanted, and Kordell was smothering me.

“A break?” he growled out.

I glanced back over at him standing by the counter. He grabbed a mug off the counter and threw it at the wall as he shouted, “Over my dead fucking body! Like hell we’re gonna take a fucking break!”

Almost all of my bravery shattered into pieces as the mug broke against the wall. He grabbed another cup to throw, and I smacked the counter hard, making a loud bang resonate through the house.

“Get out of my house.” My voice was shaking, along with my body.

That’s it. I know I fucked up. I know that being caught like I had gave him every right to be mad. But he has no right to be violent and destroy things. Not in my house.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Kordell’s voice went to a dangerously deep level as his eyes narrowed at me.

I closed my eyes and shouted at him at the top of my lungs, “GET THE HECK OUT OF MY HOUSE! NOW!” I was over this conversation. I just needed him to leave. To have peace and quiet to think.

“Your house?” Kordell laughed, and my stomach dropped and flip-flopped. It was a cruel sound.

He stopped laughing abruptly, and his eyes locked on mine as he began to advance on me.

I took a few steps backward, away from the counter and I almost fell over when I bumped into the back of the couch. I gripped the side, and my eyes darted to the ground as I steadied myself.

“Nah. I’m not going anywhere. Matter of fact, I’m not going to leave you alone again. It’s obvious I can’t trust you right now, but I put too much into this relationship for you to go and fuck it all up, mama.”

That does it! I’m not going to put up with this for another minute. It’s obvious he’s mad, but he’s way overstepping the line tonight.

“If you don’t leave, I’ll call the cops?—”

SMACK!

As soon as his hand landed across my face, my vision went white, and my ears started ringing. If I had been leaning against the couch, I have zero doubt that I wouldn’t have fallen to the floor. I tasted blood in my mouth. I must have bitten my cheek when he hit me.

“You’re such a stupid bitch! Fucking try to call the cops. See what’ll happen. Think they’ll be able to get here fast enough to help you? Stop being a dumb little puta and get your head on straight.”

I choked back a sob as the pain flared up in my head. It was pounding, and the lights were so bright. There was still a little ringing. I needed to get away.

“I-I’m sorry. Please, don’t hit me again,” I cried out as I held the side of my face.

“Fuck, just get out of my sight. But your phone? That’s staying with me. And if you try to leave the house, my guys will stop you.” He reached into my pocket and ripped my phone out of it.

I didn’t wait around. I dashed down the hallway to my old room and shut the door. Flicking the lock, I slid down to the floor. Tucking my knees to my chest, I cried. I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid to even try to leave the room. I just sat there on the cold tiled floor until the pain in my head went from a sharp pounding to a dull, throbbing sensation. I’d had a concussion before, and this felt really close to the same feeling.

As I sat there, sobbing, I could hear Kordell yelling to himself and some more things breaking. Shortly after that, I heard his footsteps go up the stairs, and then it all became quiet.

I pulled myself together enough to go lie on the bed, curling into a ball under the blankets.

I fought sleep as long as I could, but eventually, I fell out of consciousness and succumbed to my body’s exhaustion.