Page 13 of Inevitable

Look, it had been a while since I had fucked anyone and it’s hard not to react when you have a girl throw themselves at you, no matter if you really like them or not. In my plastered state, I gave into it andstarted ripping off her clothes as she undid mine.

Five minutes later, I was slipping on a rubber and pounding into her, frantic in a way that spoke to the level of my intoxication. I remember it feeling strange to have her small frame beneath me, her delicate hands clawing at my shoulders, and her voice whining in my ear. I wasn’t a playboy by any stretch, but I was no stranger to sex or random hookups, and I had never had this reaction to one of my sexual partners before. I was usually way more into it, even if I had no real interest in the girl beyond what she could offer me that night. Ainsley was different.

After the world’s fastest, most unsatisfying orgasm, I laid there next to her catching my breath with the sinking feeling settling into my gut that I had just fucked around and sealed my fate.

After that, it was near impossible to get rid of Ainsley. To her, my dad, her parents, and whomever she felt inclined to tell, we were dating. It wasn’t that she was a horrible person or anything truly bad, but I just felt…wrong when I was with her. Every once in a while she’d do her best to seduce me into bed with her again, and a few times I gave in. Each time though was unfulfilling and left me with a twisting, queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t shake. I didn’t know where it came from, but every time it happened, Micah’s face would pop up unbidden in my mind.

I chalked it up to feeling bad that I wasn’t telling him about Ainsley. Deep down I knew it was more than that, but I hadn’t been ready to inspect that idea any closer. To me, my relationship with Ainsley was purely for image sake to get my dad off my back, and even the romps in the sack with her were like ticking off check-boxes on the boyfriend requirements. At least, that’s how they felt.

I told Micah that I couldn’t help him move in today because I was busy, but I neglected to tell him that my dad had more or less commanded me to bring Ainsley with me to attend a luncheon he was hosting for some of his major donors. Even begging him to let me out of the commitment to help Micah fell on deaf ears, and I once again folded under the pressure. When we got back to my apartment, Ainsley decided now was the perfect time to bring up how distant and uninterested I had been lately.

That was the understatement of the fucking century.

I didn’t want to fight with her, mainly because I had no desire to explain to her how I had really been feeling about our so-called relationship, but also I had a desperate need to see Micah knowing he was now just a few blocks away.

This last week with minimal communication between us hadbeen the fucking worst. I missed him more each day, and I wanted nothing more than to make things normal between us again. He had been texting me on and off all day as he was driving to Austin, then again when he and his parents were unloading at his apartment, and then a final text asking if I wanted to get lunch. I read the message, but then Ainsley didn’t allow me a second to answer it before her unavoidable questions and whining had prevented me from texting him back. I also didn’t know how to respond to him. Fuck, of course I wanted to go eat with him and see him again, but I was barely able to fend off Ainsley right now, let alone get her out of my apartment.

When I heard the knock on the door, I had been locked in my room to escape Ainsley’s interrogation and undress in peace without her trying to grope me and get us heated. It took me all of five seconds to figure out who was there. I knew it in my bones. There was never a time when I wasn’t acutely aware of his presence near me.

“Shit! Oh shit shit shit shit!” I hissed as I started trying to get dressed at warp speed before Ainsley could open the door and ruin fucking everything.

Of course, that was a delusional wish because there was no way in hell I could come out of this unscathed.

All my fears were realized in a single heartbeat as I heard Micah say he was looking for me. I heard Ainsley mumble something unintelligible, and then Micah told her he was my best friend and asked her who she was.

FUCKING FUCKSTICKS!

I raced out of my room to prevent the inevitable as Ainsley let out the words I was dreading more than death for Micah to hear without context.

The minute I heard her say the word “girlfriend”, I knew I was utterly and totally screwed. That was confirmed a second later when I flung the door open wider to see Micah’s face…and He. Was. Pissed.

Goddammit.

CHAPTER 8

Bastian

I’m not sure how long I stood there with my eyes riveted to Micah’s, afraid to breathe or move for fear that if I did, he would make a break for it and I would never see him again.When I was able to inspect him for more than two seconds, I realized that there was more than simply anger coming off him in waves; there was also betrayal that was coloring his stare.His warm, chocolate eyes sparked with it and I felt like it would soon ignite and burn our friendship to the ground.

Mother of God, how the fuck am I going to explain this shit now?

I implored him with my eyes to let me explain, and knew I had to say something before I lost my chance. “M…” I started to say, but as I paused to gather my thoughts, Micah turned around and took off down the hall.

Shit, I knew he was going to bolt!

“M, WAIT!” I shouted as I shoved past Ainsley and shot off after him.I jogged to catch up and grabbed him by the upper arm, only to have him rip away from me without a glance back and fuck me, that hurt more than it should.

“M&M, please just give me two fucking seconds to explain,” I begged him. He whipped around to face me then, outrage and indignation hitting me as he looked me dead on.

“What the fuck is there to explain, Bash?That you’ve been lying to me and hiding shit?That you’ve for some reason chosen not to trust me with the fact that you have a fucking girlfriend? How long has thatbeen going on exactly, and don’t you fucking lie to me anymore,” Micah raged at me, the force of it damn near knocking me over.

I was frozen in place, shock and terror rooting me to the spot because I felt like my best friend was slipping through my fingers with each passing breath, and I never thought that would be possible.

But what could I do but be upfront with him now?

“Since…” I cleared my throat. “Since December.”

Micah’s eyes grew wide and I thought I saw a wet sheen spring up, but he turned away from me before I could be sure.Jesus fuck, this is eating me alive.

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