Page 80 of The Woman on the Jury

Then, when the act was done, he just… stormed off. Without a word.

I’d never really felt used before, but there was no denying that was how I felt as I sat there.

It didn’t matter that I’d gotten off too.

It still felt like something was off.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to push those thoughts aside.

It was probably just because I usually had sex within the confines of a relationship. No matter how hard the sex was, it was intimate because of the nature of our relationship. I never felt weird or alone orusedif a partner walked away afterward.

But Cosimo’s cold dismissal left me feeling almost emotional.

Okay, not even almost, I realized as tears pricked my eyes.

I picked myself up off of the floor, walking into the bathroom, and turning on the tap for the shower, then stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself as it warmed up.

I needed to get a grip.

I mean, really, if I was expecting warm and fuzzy anything from Cosimo Costa, it was my own fault I was feeling this way.

Nothing about that man implied he would be the kind to cuddle and kiss your forehead after sex.

He probably did this to all the women he fucked.

Finished, then got the hell out of there.

But with me, I was in his house. He couldn’t just leave. So he’d gone upstairs.

This was why I’d been trying to tell myself how terrible an idea sleeping with him would be.

We were trapped together.

It would be awkward.

Well, maybe not if I just… didn’t interact with him.

It felt childish to be concocting a plan to never run into Cosimo while I was staying in his house.

But it felt like the only way I could get through this without feeling really weird about not only what happened, but how I felt afterward.

I showered until my skin was bright red and the water finally ran cold before getting dressed and climbing back into bed.

I didn’t sleep.

Not for a long time.

In fact, not until I heard Cosimo stirring again. When I checked the clock, it said it was half after five in the morning.

He was likely going to hit the gym before he got to work.

Which meant I would then have the whole day in the apartment before I needed to get back into my room.

I dozed on and off until the knocking at the door finally roused me from bed.

As usual, I found my breakfast waiting for me, as well as a bag of books.

I hated being grateful to him for them, but I brought the books to my room, placing them on my nightstand along with a flashlight I found in a drawer, knowing I would be able to read them for the long hours between when Cosimo came home and when he went to bed.

---