Page 50 of Scoreless Nights

“You can accept that black eye as me officially pulling my name from contention.”

Cruz placed a hand on the small of my back, guiding me through the crowd that had gathered. When he put his phone up to his ear, he said a few things in Spanish before putting it back in his pocket. I knew enough to know he had called for our car, and it was waiting by the time we got out the door of the lobby.

Cruz didn’t wait for the driver to open the door. He jerked it open himself and gently guided me in before climbing in behind me and slamming the door shut. He said a few things in Spanish to our driver and then pulled me across the backseat so that I was almost in his lap as we drove away.

“Oh my God, Lil. I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” His words were pained, such a contrast from who he was moments before when he spoke to Mr. Archer.

“No, I’m sorry,” I managed to get out, nearly choking on the words. But with one look from Cruz, I stopped saying anymore and just let the tears fall down my face again.

“Don’t.” His forehead fell to mine and his hand stroked the side of my face.

“He said he knew it was pretend,” I cried. It didn’t rationalize his actions, but I hoped Cruz knew I was just trying to explain why Mr. Archer even attempted to kiss me in the first place. But Cruz just shook his head and held my eyes with his.

“Nothing about tonight was pretend.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

Cruz

The rest of the car ride was quiet, and I held Lil close to me as her tears kept slowly falling. It took everything I had to not go back and get in a few more punches on Archer. If it hadn’t been for Lil needing to get home safely, and my need to be with her, I would have.

When we got back to the apartment, she started walking towards her room, and I stopped in the kitchen, leaning on the bar with my head down. I was taking deep breaths to try to compose myself again when the click of her heels stopped.

They started clicking again, but were coming toward me, getting closer each time. I picked up my head and watched each of her strides. She had streaks of her mascara running down her face, black lines across her perfect cheeks. But her chin was high, and her eyes looked as though they were more concerned about me than herself.

I stood up straight when she was directly in front of me and waited for whatever she had come back to say.

“Thank you.” I knew why she said it, but it didn’t feel like I deserved her thanks. I was the one that put her in that position. I was the one that asked her to go and be my date. But I just nodded and licked my lips as my eyes stayed connected to hers.

“Tell me how to fix it.” I should have been calling my lawyer, but making sure she was okay was more important.

“I just wanna brush my teeth and get the taste of him out of my mouth.” Her shiver was a little exaggerated and she tried smiling as if it was a joke. But that was just for my benefit, and I grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward me.

“Let me take it away.”

Her head tilted, questioning what I meant, so I pulled her closer and lowered my voice while running my thumb over her lips. “Let me kiss you, Lil. Let me take away what he did. My lips. My taste. My tongue.”

I heard her sharp intake of breath and her bottom lip trembled a little. Maybe it was stupid to ask to kiss her right after what had happened to her, but I didn’t want her thinking of him. When she didn’t say no, and she didn’t back away, I moved in closer to her. With my lips an inch from hers, I stopped and gave her one more chance to tell me to stop. Because I may have wanted to kiss her, but I wouldn’t be like Archer and take it without her consent.

All that came out of her mouth was a moan, and I smothered it as I closed the gap between us, knowing that it meant she wanted me to kiss her. Pressing my lips to hers, I felt her give way to the kiss and mold her mouth to mine in response.

My hands went to her neck, my eyes were closed, and I pressed my body against hers. Her hands grabbed onto my biceps and I felt her melt against me as her mouth opened slightly. I took that opening and slid my tongue between her teeth, tilting my head and devouring her.

The moment I started losing control was the moment she gained clarity, and pushed at my arms to make me move back. My chest was heaving, and I opened my eyes to look at her, worried I had misread her body language from the beginning.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered with her eyes still closed. “Don’t kiss me because you feel guilty.”

“I’m not,” I growled, making her eyes pop open. “I’m kissing you because the thought of someone else’s mouth on your makes me sick. I don’t want you thinking of what happened, I want you thinking of me. My kiss.”

“But I want you to kiss me because you want to.” Her words were low, almost shy.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you since I was fourteen,” I confessed.

She tried to find the lie in my eyes, but she wasn’t going to see it. I had never been more serious than I was at that moment. “You hated me.”

“I hated how you made me feel. And when I got older, I hated that I couldn’t have you. And now, I hate that you’re sleeping across the apartment, and I’m supposed to act like none of those feelings ever existed.”

“You hated me,” she repeated, only with less conviction.

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