Page 101 of No Strings
The water starts to warm up. “Am I a bad person?”
“I don’t think you know how to be a bad person.” I kiss her shoulder, and let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding, when she leans back into my embrace.
“I don’t think I would have been able to do that without you by my side.” She turns in my hold, her small hands cup either side of my face, I lean down until we rest our foreheads together. “Thank you.”
Then she’s standing on her tiptoes and kissing me. I kiss her back, but I stop when she tries to deepen it.
With my hands on her shoulders, I tell her, “Morgan, I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”
“I can still feel him on me. I can still feel his hands as they ran over my body.” She runs her own hands over her body, trying to scrub his touch from her. “I can still feel his erection grinding against my ass. I can still feel his blood on me. He’s everywhere, again. Help me forget. Please, Rhys. Replace his touch with yours. Please. Please make me forget him.” Her eyes pleading as much as her words.
And I want to, fuck do I want to; I want her always. I want to help her forget him. But this afternoon has been intense, and sex isn’t going to help how she’s feeling right now. It will just be a mere distraction, a Band-Aid stopping her feeling what is running through her body, until tomorrow when the weight of it crushes her. I see the moment she takes my hesitation as rejection.
She takes a step back, shielding her body and shutting me out. “Just get out.”
“Morgan.”
“I said leave.” She turns, giving me her back, letting the water run over her body.
My heart squeezes in my chest. I tell her I’ll call Shane, to let him know Ethan is no longer a problem.
“Get him to book me a flight home while you’re at it.”
“What?” I spin around to face her. Her expression is stone fucking cold.
“He’s dead. He was the reason I was here, right?” I silently beg her not to say the next words. “There’s nothing keeping me here.”
I simply nod, as my heart I once protected, that started to beat for her, falls dead in my chest. I step outside and ring Shane.
He answers on the second ring. “You right?”
“He’s dead, book her a flight home.” I don’t recognise my own voice. Cold and detached.
He starts to respond but I hang up, letting the walls she broke down rebuild themselves while reminding myself; I don’t do feelings for this very reason.
Fuck you, Morgan Elliot.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
MORGAN
Sleep doesn’t come easily, and when it does, I tossed and turned, eventually being dragged into a nightmare. I thought I got over them; I haven’t had one since I first got here. And then the night before I go, they’re back. I blame Ethan, my killing him, and the fact I have to go home. But ultimately, I think Rhys is the reason.
Shane brought my plane ticket, and surprisingly it was the next day. It’s too soon. I need to talk to Rhys; I haven’t seen him since yesterday afternoon in the shower. I regret the words I said. I was just considering the idea of staying here, and then that fuck head rocked up and messed with my emotions. I can’t blame him, not really. If Rhys and I had a conversation, just one goddamn conversation, instead of being scared or insecure or whatever other reason, about how we feel, I wouldn’t be here packing my bags with tears streaming down my face while my heart breaks. I could be in his arms, safe, warm, loved.
I need to tell him I’m sorry. I need to explain that I didn’t mean any of it. I need to tell him I want him. I want his armswrapped around me, the small kisses on top of my head. I want him to call me Princess.
But instead, I swallow all that and zip up my bag. I look over to Esky who is curled up on my bed, none the wiser. My alarm goes off and, in the distance, I can hear Rhys’s. Then the heavy footsteps of his booted feet. Did he also not sleep?
I rip out a piece of paper from my sketchpad and lay it on the desk. Placing his hat, the one he never asked for back, the I one never offered to give back on top of the piece of paper. Grabbing my duffle bag, I meet him in the kitchen. He doesn’t look at me, and barely acknowledges my presence.
“Rhys, I want to?—”
He cuts me off. “Dani is going to take you into the airport.”
“But...”
He looks up; his face is blank, no emotion anywhere. “This was the plan, right? Be here until your ex was found. Well, he’s dead. Our arrangement was until you left, no strings, remember? You’re leaving. So, there’s nothing else to say.”
