Page 60 of Charger

“Jules, what are you doing?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t sleep in this.” I smirk, and his throat bobs up and down. I finish unzipping my dress, and shimmy as I tug it down over my hips. Hips that are slightly wider after being pregnant. I step out of the pooled material and toss it away. Zach’s eyes widen with lust. I know that look because I’ve seen it before. The unsteadiness of his chest, the way it rises and falls… I know he wants this. The burning desire written all over him is telling me as much.

“Jules, I-I don’t think…”

“Shh.” I place a finger to his lips. “Don’t think, Zach. Let’s just be in this moment together.” I close the distance between us and climb onto his lap, straddling him in my lace panties and strapless bra, which might as well be nothing.

“Fuck, Jules.” I can feel his thickness growing harder underneath me. He moans in pleasure when I start to rub myself on him. He lays his head back, closing his eyes. “Jesus Christ.” I trace my fingers around his pierced nipple, then run them along his chest and down his steel abs. His hands close around my hips and I kiss his neck. “Fuck,” he drags out breathlessly. He wants this, and so do I. At least I believe he does. But he stops me by holding onto my waist. “Jules, stop, you’re drunk.”

“So? It doesn’t matter. I want this, Zach. I’ve never been more sure.” I nibble at his ear, feeling his calloused hands trail down my back before stopping at the latch of my bra. “Take it off, please.” He searches my eyes while fumbling with the clasp; he starts to unhook it but hesitates.

“Jules, I think we should stop.”

Pain and disappointment hit me hard. I lean back to really look at him. He’s serious. “You don’t want me?”

He huffs out a breath. “You think I don’t want you, are you kidding me? You’re sitting on my hard dick, practically naked, fucking beautiful, and you think it’s because I don’t want you?”

“Then what is it? You really only want to be friends and nothing else?” He doesn’t say anything. Nothing, he just looks at me. Oh my God. The tears start to burn in my eyes. Blinking, I try to stop them but one falls. I push off his chest and climb down, reaching for my dress and violently putting it back on. After redressing, I stomp to leave but he grabs my wrist, jerking me back to his body.

“I want you. Just not like this.” He takes my face in both of his hands. “Get back in bed, Jules.” I tilt my head forward, wanting to bury myself in his chest, but I give up.

“Fine.” Climbing back into his sheets, I hope he’ll change his mind and nestle in with me, hold me close, but he doesn’t.

TWENTY-FOUR

Jules

I wake up to the smell of bacon and coffee. The sun is shining through Zach’s blinds. I move just a little, but it’s enough to remind me of the heavy amount of alcohol I drank last night. The massive pounding going on inside my head feels like someone hit me with a sledge hammer.

I look to the chair where Zach had slept last night, but he’s not there. Slowly swinging my legs over to the side of the bed, I take the Aspirin he left out last night. There’s also a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants neatly folded beside me. Assuming his clothes are for me, I do my thing in the bathroom and get dressed.

I hear a lot of commotion downstairs. As I enter the kitchen area, people are grabbing plates and scooping up the breakfast food that surrounds the tables. Zach spots me and meets me at the door.

“Did you sleep okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. Although my head feels like it’s going to explode. I should probably get going.” I try to avoid Zach’s eyes, and the humiliation of what went down last night. God, could I have thrown myself at him any more? I’m such an idiot.

“Eat first, then I’ll take you home.”

“Good morning, grab yourself a plate before it’s all gone, honey.” Maggie walks over to me, taking my shoulders in her hands and guiding me to the plates. “Eat, and then later Charger will take you and that daughter of yours to the street carnival.”

“Street carnival?”

“Yes, we have a booth there every year. Kind of like a bake sale.” Maggie smiles.

“She’s got the best fucking muffins on this planet,” Tank shouts from the table, his mouth full.

“Manners, young man,” Mags scolds him.

“Oh, but it’s so true.” Angel walks over, snatching an apple from Tank’s plate.

I look at Angel questioningly. “Are you even human? You drank just as much as I did. How are you so functional?”

“Oh, I’m just used to it.” She shrugs.

Functional and still beautiful hungover… Must be nice. “You guys sure do a lot of charity events.”

“Well, we want to let people know we aren’t as scary as they think we are. Plus, we like doing them.” Maggie smiles, swiping a piece of her brown hair back behind her ear. Her cute pixie bob makes her stellar cheek bones pop. Her skin is equally as amazing. I hope when I’m older I look that good.

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