Page 25 of Watching Ames

It took me a moment to remember why I was even there as Alex gaped at my confession, dropping my wrist in surprise. My hand reached into my chest pocket as I withdrew the key to the house and held it in his direction. “This was the only reason I came today, anyway. I wanted to return the key so this could finally be over.”

“It’s yours. The house, the key. I don’t want it.”

“I don’t care.”

“Kiss me.” His demand caught me off guard, and I almost stumbled where I stood, unbalanced as I held the key in his direction, still waiting for him to take it.

“What?”

He stepped closer, his chest almost brushing my hand as he repeated himself in a husky voice that forced my eyes up to his. He was no longer pleading, he was commanding, and I hated how my heart sped up at the dangerous edge of his personality he only occasionally let me see. “Kiss me…and I’ll let you return the key.”

“Let me?” The indignation rose back up at his words, my snarl only serving to make his lips curve in amusement as he explained.

“Sure, you can give me that key now. You can leave it here on the bench or throw it at my face but I will keep finding ways to give it to you. I’ll leave it at your work or at your apartment. I’ll mail it to you with gifts, each more extravagant than the last. I’ll buy the building you live in, just to own whatever is closest to you. Or, kiss me and I’ll let you give it back to me, right here, right now.”

“Why?”

Alex scoffed before responding, eyes narrowing in challenge as he replied, “You’re telling me this will be the last time I see you, right? Might as well see what we might be losing.”

His explanation wasn’t what swayed me, but rather the fire burning in my chest, eating me from the inside out. His stare held a challenge, and he lifted an eyebrow as if daring me to follow through. I gripped the key harder in my hand, imagining taking it with me. Throwing it down a storm drain. Shoving it in a drawer and finding it years down the road. Would I be able to handle the emotional turmoil that would come with seeing this key again and knowing exactly what mistakes I made and what I lost? Reminding me of this exact moment in my life? No, I wouldn’t.

“Deal.” I placed the key in his outstretched palm, committed to getting rid of it for good.

Alex didn’t wait for any further prompting, his palms rough on my cheeks as he grabbed my face and slammed his lips against mine. I attempted to stay still, a statue undergoing torture for the greater good, but the warmth of his body pressing against me and his lips moving against mine were too much for me to resist. I melted into him, just a bit, allowing my body to rest against his while he continued the sensual assault on my mouth.

And when one of his hands slid into my hair, tilting my head back for better access, while his other hand moved slowly down the front of my body, lightly touching my breastbone and stomach before gripping my hip, the unwilling gasp I released only served to urge him on, moaning as his tongue slid into my open mouth. Our tongues clashed and tangled as the kiss turned rougher, and I had to swallow a moan, refusing to allow it out of my mouth.

I wasn’t sure if it was the feeling of the kiss or the knowledge that it would be our only one that spurred me on, but I wound my fingers through his hair, reaching up high on my toes so I could reach where he towered over me. I tugged lightly on the ends, his answering groan urging me to pull harder and press our bodies closer together. It was an end-of-the-world kiss. The kind in romance books and movies, that I thought were impossible and exaggerated until I experienced one of my own.

Alex’s ringtone suddenly flared to life, breaking the spell, and I finally pulled back, Alex only letting me go after a few nips to my lips that almost convinced me to dive back into his mouth. My whole body was on fire, and I knew my cheeks were flushed and underwear would be damp with the need that was causing my body to shake. I had goosebumps dotting my arms and could feel that my lips were swollen with the bruising kisses we’d shared for…minutes, hours? The only indicator of the passage of time was the sky slowly pinking and purpling with an oncoming sunset.

I pressed my palm to my chest, trying to press my heart back into my rib cage because I was sure it was trying to escape, only to find a hard shape beneath my fingers. I reached into the pocket, ice replacing the lust in my veins as I pulled out the key, the same one he’d allowed me to set into his palm before our kiss.

“You told me you’d never lie to me.” The scene played in slow motion in my head against my will, Alex tugging on my earlobe as he reassured me he’d never lie after my panic attack about ruining his suit. I held the key up between my fingers, the one Alex must’ve slipped back into my overall pocket sometime during our kiss.

“And that was the truth. I didn’t lie to you about the key; I let you give it back. And if you hadn’t kissed me, I would’ve kept sending it to you like I said.”

I rolled my eyes at the loophole he implied, allowing me to give the key back for moments before returning it to my pocket. I watched before me as Alex turned back into the dangerous man I kept forgetting he was, his eyes darkening as he grabbed my chin between his fingers in a domineering grip, forcing my gaze to his. His tone sharpened, and I hated how this side of him only served to turn me on even further after our kiss, even knowing that he’d been stalking me for weeks.

“I’m not a liar. But that doesn’t mean I’m an honest man. Don’t forget that. And don’t forget my warning.”

“What warning?”

“I won’t play fair with you. And I don’t give up easily.” His words of warning finally spurred my feet into motion away from Alex. His taste still on my tongue, fingerprints on my skin, and key in my pocket, I left him behind, telling myself this would be the last time. But just before I was out of earshot, he called out, voice ringing in my ears long after I was gone, “And sweetheart, if you think I’m giving you up after that kiss, you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.”

Chapter16

Her

It wasThursday before I finally got around to painting my bedroom. I wouldn’t be moving in with Peter, that much I knew. We were over. Honestly, we had been over the moment he walked out of my apartment after our fight, though I hadn’t been able to accept the fact until Alex’s lips were on mine. I had never felt about Peter the way a single kiss with Alex made me feel, and that only served to make me angrier at the situation. Even worse, Peter was still out of town, which meant that I remained stuck in the purgatory of a dead relationship while maintaining the unwanted label of his girlfriend.

But even though I wouldn’t be moving into the townhouse with Peter, I’d be moving out of my apartment. Penny had broken my landlord down so thoroughly he wouldn’t meet my eyes anymore, and I wasn’t sure how much legal action - real or threatened - was involved in terminating my lease early. Which meant that I would be officially homeless at the end of the month. I didn’t have Bex or Alex to lean on anymore, which meant I might be kicking it at June’s house for the summer, and even though it was embarrassing to be moving in with a mom-figure in my mid-twenties, I knew she’d welcome me with open arms.

Breaking my lease also meant I had to return my apartment to its original state, white walls and all. If anything, I hoped painting over my navy walls would give me the fresh start that I needed to prepare me for what was coming. Even though I was hopeful Peter would see reason about the house and the breakup, I was also slowly preparing myself for a reaction similar to that of our fight two months ago.

I grabbed a pair of my clay-stained overalls that were thrown in a heap on the floor, slipping them over a sports bra, figuring paint wouldn’t stain the material any worse than it already was. I plugged my phone into a set of old speakers, playing music as I started to pour the paint into the tray.

I quickly got into the swing of painting, the repetitive motion of rolling on the paint soothing me after a few stressful days. Peter committing us to a house that I hated, me deciding to officially end our dying relationship, Alex springing a house on me, the kiss that knocked me off my feet, even now, days later, Bex still refusing to return my calls and texts. I tried to push it all to the back of my mind as I focused on returning my apartment to its pre-Ames, subpar glory.

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