Page 61 of The C*ck Down the Block

Lacey, on the other hand, seemed to. I hadn’t seen her by Rachel’s side even once tonight. She’d come in with that same man I saw her with last night, and I think it might even be her husband. That was nice. We’d even exchanged tentatively friendly waves from across the dance floor.

“Aw, man. You guys are going to leave early so you can go home and bang, aren’t you?” Lulu said as we walked back from the girl’s room to the gym. It was so weird being back in these halls these past few weeks. I thought I would be a little more nostalgic, but I loved my life now so much more.

I wondered if that was why Rachel seemed to hate me even more now than she did back then. She hadn’t brought a date to last night’s fundraiser or tonight’s dance, so either she was single, or she was with someone who couldn’t be bothered to come to this with her. And honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was one of those people whose best days were in high school.

Mine weren’t.

I looked for Chris and couldn’t wait to get him home. I had a feeling my best days were just about to show up.

But then I spotted him over at the refreshment table. Talking to Rachel and Anthony. And he looked ready to take someone’s head off.

I hurried toward him, but he turned his back on the two of them and crossed the gym like only an athlete in top form could, dodging couples and people who clearly wanted his attention left and right.

When he got to me, he grabbed me by the elbow and dragged me right back out the side entrance to the gym I’d just come in through. “What happened? What did they say to you?”

“We need someplace private, Beatrix.”

Uh-oh. He only called me that when something was really wrong. My gaze darted around the hallway we were in. This way there were only some bathrooms, the trophy cases, and the entrance to the locker rooms. The bathrooms were definitely not private, so I pointed toward the other door.

“They didn’t do something to like... threaten your career or something did they?”

He pulled me through the swinging door and then turned on me, backing me up against the nearest bank of lockers. “No. They said a lot of bullshit, and we’re going to talk about all of it. But you answer me one thing, right now, and do not evade the question. I need to know. Do you understand?”

My heart dropped all the way down into my stomach. Chris knew most of my life story. I couldn’t even imagine Rachel or Anthony could have told him anything he didn’t already have a clue whether it was true or not. I’d even told him about how disgusting Asshole Anthony was when I’d dated him and broke up with him. “Oh, okay. I don’t intend to keep secrets from you, but you’ve got me a little freaked out. What did they say?”

“Are you a virgin?”

What? That was the absolute last thing I expected to come out of his mouth. I didn’t even know how to begin to respond. I could feel my heart beating, but down in my intestines. What the hell had those two asshats said to provoke this question and also, he said he’d figured it out. “Why are you asking me this now?”

“I told you I need to know, Beatrix. Have you ever let any other man inside of you?” His voice went all growly, and while he already had me up against the lockers, one hand braced against the metal over my left shoulder and he grabbed my hip with the other.

“I thought you knew. You said you figured out that I didn’t have any experience.” I was so confused right now. Was he mad? I should have outright told him, but why was he asking this now and at my reunion? “Are you mad? What is going on?”

He grabbed at the skirt of my dress and pulled it up, then grabbed my thigh so I had to wrap my leg around his. He pressed his hips forward, and with the way he’d opened my legs, the bulge in the front of his dress pants hit me right at my core. “I’m mad, I’m so fucking angry, but not at you. I want to rip the dick off every boy you ever dated, every absolute jackass who ever thought they could treat you like a sex object, and I want to smash the eyeballs out of the ones who thought they could have you because they’d seen your mom’s porn.”

Oh. That’s what this was about. “I saw you talking to Anthony. Whatever he said, it doesn’t matter. I’m long since over it.”

“I don’t give two shits about him. What I do care about is that if I could go back, I’d have asked you to be my girlfriend ten god-damned years ago.” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, more disgusted than mad. “We lost out on all those years because I didn’t make my move. If I could lose my virginity again, it would be with you.”

He lowered his face to kiss me, but I placed my hands on his cheeks and waited for him to look into my eyes. I’d never seen him like this. “Then we’ll make the next ten years together so great, we’ll practically forget anything that came before we were together.”

He grabbed my other leg and lifted me all the way up. “Fuck, Trixie. I always thought you belonged with me. I love you so god-damned much, that’s all I want.” “

The stones of anxiety that had been weighing on my head, heart, and in my lower belly since he’d dragged me in here shattered into a thousand feathers of joy, gratitude, and love. So much love. “I do belong with you. Only you.”

He dropped my legs and reached for his belt. “That’s right. And you are not walking out of this locker room still a virgin, Trixie. I’m making you mine right the fuck now.”

My status as a virgin didn’t matter to me, but what did was that I was going to get to share my body with this man who made me so happy, made me feel so beautiful, and so loved. He was desperate for me, and I knew it wasn’t just about the sex. This was affirming the bond that we both felt so deeply, and it felt so absolutely right to be so reckless that we had to have each other right this second.

He jerked the front of his pants open, and I tugged my panties off, only snagging them on my shoes like five times.

“Dammit. I don’t have a condom. I didn’t think I’d need one at your fucking high school reunion dance.” The disappointment on his face was stinking adorable.

“In my bag.” I’d dropped it on the floor when he lifted me up.

He snagged my little, tiny envelope clutch from the floor and popped it open. There was only a handful of things inside because anything more wouldn’t fit. My phone, a twenty-dollar bill, my key, my ID, and strip of three condoms.

Because I’m a safety girl.

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