Page 12 of A Man of Prestige

I ponder for a moment if I should tell him, but I’m not ready for that. Not yet.

“I…was overwhelmed by everything. It was a fight-or-flight moment and I guess flight won out.”

He looks at me, seeing through me. He turns the car back on and drives us home. A heavy air settles over us, neither of us speaking, both lost in the past.

When he parks the car in his garage, he looks over at me. “Why do you know so much about the fraternity?”

“I’m not stupid,” I retort. “I was your girlfriend. I heard things, saw things. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there was more going on there than your typical frat. I mean, hell, you were still so invested, and we were in med school, not undergrad.”

“But you were never there. I just told you I was hanging out with frat brothers. It’s not like you were around us. I mean, other than my pledge brothers.”

“And do you still hang out with them?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

I see his eyes darken. “I’m taking you home.”

What. The. Fuck?

He gets out of the car, and I follow him to the other garage. He pulls a fob out of his pocket and the car unlocks. Why does he keep his car locked inside his own garage in a neighborhood that is gated? What’s with the crazy security?

He drives me home. I watch him, curious if he’ll ever answer my question. When he pulls up to my apartment, he stops the car and turns it off as he puts the hazard lights on while double-parked.

“Yes. I still hang out with them. In fact, they all live on my street. Well, most of them do. But I think there’s more that you aren’t telling me. If you can’t be truthful with me, then we’re done. You ruined me once before, but I won’t let you do it again.”

I’m surprised by his words. I’m not sure why, but I am. I guess we aren’t beating around the bush anymore. Fine, let’s do this. I open the car door.

“Aiden, it’s rich that you think I ruined you. Did it ever once dawn on you that maybe you ruined me? Maybe you’re the reason that I haven’t had one single relationship since we broke up. I’ll probably die old and alone…because of you. So don’t pull that ‘woe is me’ shit. Let’s be honest. It’s more about the fact that for once in your spoiled-ass rich life, you didn’t get what you wanted. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I had to be the person to show you that life doesn’t always end up how you wanted it to be. But fuck, maybe you needed to learn that lesson. So, you know what? You’re fucking welcome. Do what you want with the information that I shared with you. I’m done here. I hope you have a great life.”

I slam the car door and walk into my apartment building, proud of myself for taking a stand and not falling for his next-level charms. I give myself a proverbial high five as I take the elevator up to my penthouse. I will not be that woman. I will not go back to my ex. Jesus, what the hell was I thinking? I was over there totally falling for his boyish joy over his toys and his good looks that have only gotten better with age. I’m above that shit. I’m smarter than that.

He played me. Bringing me to his house. I’m not going to be enticed by money, power, or prestige. He should know me better than that by now. I will not be broken again, especially not by him.

The door opens with a ping. And I step out of it and straight into a wall of human. I stumble backward, but giant hands grab my arms, steadying me. I look up and am in complete shock to find myself staring into Aiden’s eyes.

Chapter7

Aiden

If she thinksshe can talk to me like that and then just leave, she has another thing coming. I will not be discarded like a forgotten toy.

“You are not going to walk out on me again. Not like that,” I growl as I slowly let go of her and step back.

She straightens her shoulders and walks past me, unlocking her door and opening it. “Who says I’m walking out on you. That implies I had to walk into you. To be clear, we aren’t an item, Aid. We aren’t anything. Not anymore. And you sure as shit don’t get to come barging into my life and demand things of me. Those days are over. I don’t take orders in my personal life from you or anyone else.”

“Funny, because I don’t remember ever ordering you around,” I retort as I follow her inside the apartment.

She groans and turns around to find me too close. She steps back away from me. “Listen, this”—she motions between us—“was a bad idea. OK? We can’t be friends. We certainly can’t be anything else. We’re over.”

“Woman, you are so fucking infuriating!” I scream as I charge toward her and take her arms in my hands again. Walking to the nearest wall, I pin her arms above her head as I lean down and kiss her. It’s rough and hard and I thrust my tongue between her surprised lips. She doesn’t stop me. She’s completely frozen at the moment. But this doesn’t seem to stop me. I keep coaxing her. The slide of my tongue goes deeper, running along hers.

I don’t know when she breaks free of her shock, but it happens in an instant. One second, she’s seemingly unresponsive to my kiss, and the next she’s responding with such fervor that I groan into her mouth. Fuck, this woman can kiss. I’d forgotten how good of a kisser she is. Our tongues war with each other, both of us trying to control the kiss. Both of us want to be in charge. This was always our game. We’re both dominant. But I typically won. I don’t know if it’s because she liked to give up a bit of control in the bedroom, or if I’m truly just the stronger willed of us. But either way, she always allowed me to win. And right now, I feel like I’ve scored a jackpot. I’ve won myself a one-way ticket to paradise. I walk us to her sofa. My fingers start fumbling with the hoodie she’s borrowed from me. I realize she’s left her clothes at my house. I don’t even care at the moment, I just want more of her. I want to expose every inch of her beautiful skin. I want to run my tongue along every curve of her body. I want to trace every scar as I remember where she got each one. I want my head to swim in the tales we’d tell each other as we’d lie naked at night, memorizing each other’s bodies and sharing the stories of each of our battle wounds.

I want to reacquaint myself with how it feels to lick her pussy. Fuck me. I need her now. I’m angry and annoyed and deep down, I’m still hurt as fuck. But all I care about right now is sinking my cock into her.

I push down the sweatpants that she’s rolled down around her waist. Her bare pussy greets my hand, and I groan as I slide one finger inside.

“You can say that we aren’t anything, my star. But you can’t erase what we were, and you sure as fuck can’t erase the need that I feel between your legs,” I growl as I push a second finger inside her.

She whimpers, but her eyes flare with defiance. “This is just sex.”

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