Page 17 of The Lies Of Omission (Without Limits #3)

He worked me fast, rough, like he needed to make me come before he shattered.

My forehead pressed against the shelving unit, breath fogging the cold metal.

I could feel how hard he was against me.

The thick imprint of his cock wedged between my ass cheeks.

I could feel the tension vibrating through his body, the way he gritted his teeth and refused to let himself go.

He took me to the edge again and again. But didn’t let himself fall.

I let out a strangled moan, the coil inside me snapping hard and sudden. Heat flushed down my spine and surged through my limbs like a live wire. I came into his hand with a gasp, hips twitching, body shaking.

Theo held me through it, jaw clenched, breathing uneven—like he was forcing himself to memorize the moment and then forget it at the same time.

When I finally turned, heart still thudding, he was already wiping his hand on a rag he pulled from a nearby shelf. Avoiding my eyes as he cleaned my cum from his fingers.

“Theo—”

“Don’t,” he breathed. A soft, brutal blow.

He stepped back, ran a shaky hand through his hair, flattening it down and righting his shirt, then pulled open the door like it was just another shift. Just another goddamn Tuesday and I wasn’t still standing there with my pants hanging around my knees, panting in the wreckage of what we just did.

What we always did.

He left without a word and I didn’t stop him. Didn’t call his name. Didn’t beg him to stay, even if my chest ached with the weight of what I didn’t say.

Instead, I leaned against the shelves and stared at the space where he’d stood. I tried to breathe around the emptiness he left behind and wondered why I kept doing this. After every time he touched me, I felt like I’d lost another piece of myself.

My shift dragged on like a slow bleed. I did what I always did—smirked, flirted, laughed too loudly.

Played the part of the guy no one could get under.

But it was all numb. My skin buzzed with phantom touches.

My stomach churned every time I caught a glimpse of Theo leaving the room I’d just entered.

He didn’t look at me once. Not even when I had to ask him about an anniversary celebration Mr Cleary wanted to book for his wife, because Timothy had suddenly vanished from the building. I swear that prick was trying to do everything he could to get me fired.

By the end of the night, my fuse was a breath away from blowing. So I did what I knew best. Slipped out the back, lit a cigarette, and stared out at the lot like it held the answers to questions I didn’t want to ask.

The night was cool, quiet, and cruel. The smoke curled from my lips like a prayer I didn’t believe in.

“You’re gonna give yourself cancer,” Thalia chuckled behind me.

“Everyone’s gotta go somehow,” I muttered.

She walked over and plucked the cig from my fingers, took a drag herself, and exhaled like she’d been holding it in all day. “You looked like you were about to combust during closing.”

“I’m fine.”

“Right.” She flicked ash into the wind. “That why you spent half the night staring into space?”

I didn’t answer. Just stared ahead, jaw tight.

After a beat, she nudged my side. “Come on.”

“What?”

“Get in the car.”

“I’m not in the mood to party, Thalia.”

“Not a party. Just… drive with me.” Her voice was softer now. Less best-friend-who’d-throw-a-punch-for-you and more someone who knew how far you were slipping without having to see the edge.

I hesitated. Then followed, squishing myself in her busted-up Fiat.

No questions. Just the hum of the engine and the wind whipping through the open windows.

Fifteen minutes later, we were parked at the top of the old lookout point—this hill on the edge of town where kids used to make out, drink cheap beer.

Neither of us said anything for a long time.

The town looked tiny from up here. The stars didn’t give a fuck what you were going through. I kind of admired that. I leaned back on my elbows in the grass, cigarette forgotten behind my ear.

“You know,” Thalia said, lying down beside me, “I used to come up here when my mom would drink too much. I’d just lie here and look up until it felt like the sky could swallow me whole.”

I turned my head. “You okay now?”

She shrugged. “As okay as anyone with an alcoholic mom and a father who’s threatened to disinherit me unless I marry one of his work buddies son’s. What about you?”

“I’m always okay.” I shrugged.

“Bullshit.”

I gave her a look.

She rolled to her side, propping herself up. “You act like nothing touches you, Sin. Like you’re invincible or some shit. But I see it. You feel everything . You just don’t let anyone see the real you.”

I stared at the sky, bright stars twinkling like my life was some cosmic joke, jaw clenched so hard it ached. “What’s the point? You let someone in, they leave.”

“What happened today?”

Silence.

“You’re not the only one with Mommy and Daddy issues.”

“I know I’m not. But this—” she gestured toward me. “Isn’t that.”

A frustrated huff left my lips. “I can’t talk about it.”

Thalia scoffed. “I’m not blind Sin.”

Time seemed to stand still as I weighed my words, only the cool breeze ghosting over my skin and the soft cadence of our breaths marked the passage of time.

“No one has ever gotten under my skin like him.” I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth. “Normally I’m a one and done kinda guy. Never go back for seconds.”

Thalia’s chuckle forced a smirk to lift my lips. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Indeed.”

“You know,” she said softly. “There is more to life than just fucking around.”

I scoffed. “You take that back this instant!”

“No.”

“That’s blasphemous, T.”

“I know. I know.” She sighed and shuffled around until she was facing me and drew her knee up to her chest. “But it’s true. There’s connection and…love.”

“Eww. Don’t get your feeling cooties near me.”

She threw her head back and cackled into the wind. Then this dopey-eyed look took over her face.

“This isn’t like that.” My words were soft, barely above a whisper. Thalia shook her head. “I’m not… it’s not like you and Claire.”

Her inhale was sharp but not judgmental. Just... empathetic.

“He always walks away…” I sighed. “He touches me like he’s starving and then walks away like I don’t exist.” I picked a blade of grass and rolled it between my fingers. “And every time I tell myself I don’t care. But fuck, Thalia, I think do? Maybe I just feel sorry for him.”

She reached out and took my hand, grounding me. “You care about him. There’s nothing wrong with caring.”

I shook my head. “No. I just—I want him. That’s all. It’s a challenge.”

“Not judging by the way you look when you talk about him.”

I closed my eyes. “It’s not supposed to be this. Whatever this is. We don’t talk. We don’t do feelings. Just closets and silence and guilt. And I let it happen. Over and over.”

“Why?”

“Because,” I whispered, throat tight. “Because when he touches me, it feels like I’m not broken. Even if it’s a lie.”

Thalia’s voice was steady. “You deserve more than scraps, Sin.”

“I know.” A bitter laugh escaped me. “I just... don’t know how to stop craving him.”

She squeezed my hand. “One day, he’s gonna have to choose. But until then, stop losing yourself trying to hold space for someone who won’t claim you in the light.”

I didn’t answer. Didn’t trust myself to. So I just lay there, hand in hers, the stars endless above us, and let myself feel the cracks in the armor I’d worn for too long.