Collaborate (Save Me #4) (4 page)

I open my mouth to say something— anything— to make it better, but before I have a chance, she storms away and Jameson follows. He stops at the door and looks back at me. I can tell he’s about to lose it and I can’t keep the tears out of my eyes any more.

“Just leave, Abby.”

I sink to the floor in the middle of the kitchen and stare at the empty doorway they just walked away from. How did I let everything get this out of hand? How do I fix it? All the questions running through my head are ones I would usually run to Jameson for help with, but this time I can’t and I have no clue what to do about that.

Vanessa

My chest slams against the wall and Jason winds his hand into my hair, pulling back until he can sink his teeth into my skin. It’s not hard enough to break the skin, but I know I’ll be wearing the mark for a while. Between that and these fucking panties he made me wear tonight so he could fuck with me, I’m on the edge of coming so hard I’ll probably forget my name.

Pure torture is what tonight has been and I couldn’t be more thankful that Damian passed out in his seat on the short ride home. I’ll have to buy the other kids something special for wearing him out for us tonight.

Jason’s fingers splay across my stomach as he backs me up and pushes me toward the kitchen. When I get to the table, he pulls my hair enough that I bend forward and rest my chest where he wants me. When he pulls his hand away from my stomach and it comes down hard across my ass, I yelp. I wiggle my ass, hoping for another one, and he gives me three quickly before letting go of my hair and dropping into a chair.

I love the rough side of Jason. The side that knows I won’t break and that I want him to let his aggression out on me. He’s usually pretty good at giving it to me that way too. As he yanks the new panties, that are sure to be soaked through by now down my thighs, I’m afraid he might rip them but thankfully he doesn’t. As hard as it was to keep from coming tonight, I love them and can’t wait to use them again.

“Don’t come,” is the only warning I get before he buries his tongue deep inside me. I forget about everything else that’s happened today. Everyone else’s problems fly out the window and I’m left with nothing but the feeling of Jason doing everything he can to tease me. I love that Jason’s way of punishing me is by trying to over pleasure me.

He has me close, right on the edge and I know I can’t come. I have to do everything in my power to stop myself because his tongue and fingers do crazy things to me. In my head I figure out what I need from the store tomorrow, I do math problems, figure out Christmas lists—anything to keep myself from coming.

Suddenly Jason’s mouth is gone but I know better than to move. Instead, I wait, and when he’s ready, he lightly drags his fingers back up my legs, causing me to shiver. His fingers wrap around my hips and he pulls me up, turning me so I’m facing him and makes me straddle his thighs.

“If I thought you could go all night without coming, I’d keep my face buried in your pussy, but you’re not coming unless I’m deep inside you.”

Everything changes when I sink down onto his cock. He pulls me to a stop when he’s as deep as he can go and stares at me. There’s something haunting about his gray eyes, something in them that says he is damaged like me. There always has been. At the same time, they tell everything I need to know. They tell me he loves me, and that everything is going to be OK even when I’m unsure about it. When he finally lets me move, his hands never leave my hips and he never lets my gaze drop.

I think we both needed this tonight after all the worries today. Just us, no more distractions now that my panties are off. I ride him until we’re both gasping for air and I know he’s close. When he grabs my hips to keep me from moving again and begins to thrust up into me as roughly as he can, I have to muffle my screams against his shoulder. It gets to a point where I have to beg him to let me come because the need is overwhelming. Thankfully he doesn’t make me wait much longer because I’m not sure I would have been able to. 

I drop my head to his shoulder and try to catch my breath. As always, Jason’s fingers caress my spine and he tells me he loves me and as soon as I can breathe I say it back. It’s the truth and we both know that without it, we would get nowhere.

5

Tuesday

For the past few months as Abby and Jameson’s relationship flickered and started to die out, I’ve been coming over in the mornings. I knew Jameson needed the help to get the kids ready to go so he could get ready for work. My relationship with Evan, as good as it is, was put on the back burner. I just didn’t realize how much until we talked yesterday. Watching Jameson in pain showed us exactly what we didn’t want to happen to us.

Pulling up to the house, I’m not surprised when I don’t see Abby’s car in the driveway. I am however surprised to see that Jameson’s car isn’t started and warming up yet. I don’t bother knocking as I push the door open. Instead of the usual flurry of movement and noise I’m hit with, it’s almost silent. The only noise I do hear sounds like a phone vibrating and I follow it to the kitchen. As I round the corner I’m met with Jameson’s broad tattooed back hunched over the island. Sure enough his phone continues buzzing across the granite beside him.

“I tried callin’ you to tell you not to bother comin’.” He doesn’t even bother looking at me but the sadness and lack of sleep are evident in his voice.

Instead of making a big deal of everything, I talk to him like I always would. “Yeah, sorry. Who knew planning a wedding in under a month was so hard. Where are the kids?” I ask, busying myself around the kitchen. I make coffee, put the dishes away, random stuff to keep me from staring at the broken man behind me. It takes him a minute but he finally answers me.

“Madison’s mom picked Sophia up early for school because they have fundraiser stuff this morning. Jason and Vanessa took Zander so he could play with Damian.” Taking a deep breath he scrubs his face with his hands. “And Izzy finally cried herself to sleep about two hours ago.”

When he finally looks at me, behind the hair falling into his eyes, I see a man who’s hurting so much more than I’ve ever seen. I drop down on the stool and slide a cup of coffee in front of him.

“What happened?” I ask, after working up the nerve.

“Told her to get out. It’s one thing if you want to hurt me. I’m a big boy and can take care of myself, but you don’t hurt my kids. Thankfully Zander was already in bed and Izzy had just tucked Sophia in but she came back downstairs. I think she broke Izzy.”

After asking him what he meant, I sit and listen to him explain everything that happened after we left last night. When he finally finishes talking I’m about ready to explode and beat the hell out of Abby, but the way he begs me to go up and talk to Izzy has me climbing the stairs instead. The door is still cracked open like Jameson said he left it when he finally got her to calm down and fall asleep. I know she’s awake now by the way her body twitches with her silent crying. I crawl in behind her, pulling her back against my chest and wrap my arms around her. In no time at all she rolls herself over and sobs against my chest.

I lose track of how long she cries before she’s finally able to talk without gasping for air. Just like with Jameson, you can hear how exhausted and sad she is in her voice.

“Why am I not enough for her?”

I reach up and swipe away my own tears before they fall. “You are, babe,” I whisper into her hair. “She’s just sad and having a rough time lately for some reason.”

“But it’s like she thinks she’s the only one who’s sad, the only one that misses him, but she’s not. I miss him every single day.”

~*~*~*~

After lying there and listening to Izzy cry and tell me everything going on in her head for a few hours, the anger toward Abby gets harder and harder to ignore. Leaving her was hard, but I need to yell at Abby and get back to my happy little life and plan this wedding.

In a room full of people, you can almost always tell where Abby is despite her height. People seem to congregate around her and my eyes are drawn right to where she’s standing— laughing— with a group of people. The second she realizes I’m here she tries to back out of the room. I yell her name, gaining the attention of everyone in the room but she doesn’t stop.

“I don’t have time for this right now, Tuesday,” she yells over her shoulder and all the anger that was simmering turns to a rapid boil.

“Make. Time. Now!” I yell through clenched teeth and all eyes are on us. 

Abby stops mid-step thankfully so I don’t have to keep screaming across the room at her. It takes a lot for me to raise my voice or step in and draw attention to myself, and I wouldn’t if it was just some stupid fight between her and Jameson. However, this involves hurting the kids and that doesn’t fly with me.

When she steps up to me, she clenches the stack of files in her hands to her chest. “Look, I’m sorry I missed your birthday but I’m so busy here.” 

She motions at the files in her hands. Reaching out, I grab the files and toss them in the air. Everything in them— all the papers, the contracts, confidential information— scatters through the air and falls around us. While she looks around at the mess I just created, I stare at her, challenging her to say something about it.

“You think this is because you missed us all getting together for my fucking birthday? Because you missed us telling everyone that we were getting married finally? Do you even know the type of mess you left at home?”

Abby’s eyes meet mine again and she moves closer to me. “He told me to leave.” 

I know she’s trying to keep everything quiet since everyone is still staring at us but I have no sympathy and refuse to whisper because she’s ashamed.

“Do you actually blame him? Do you really think that’s what he actually wanted?” I ask. “I can’t believe you’re walking around here like nothing is wrong. While you’re standing here laughing, looking like you just stepped off the fucking runway, Jameson is at home with your family. He’s brokenhearted and trying to keep Izzy from breaking down again. You are a piece of shit for saying what you said last night and you know damn well that Alex would be rolling in his fucking grave if he knew you hurt his baby girl.”

Abby takes a deep breath and drops her eyes to the floor. “I didn’t know she was there.”

“But you still said it, Abby. The words still came out of your mouth.” 

“I know, and I feel like a piece of shit for it but I have a company to run and it’s a little overwhelming right now.”

“No! You have a family to take care of and that trumps work every damn day of the week. What I don’t get is how up until lately you knew that. You might want to step back and realize that in four short years you could be out of a job because the girl whose heart you broke last night turns eighteen and becomes forty-nine percent owner of this company.” I take a step toward her, crowding her space and for the first time ever, I dig deep and try to act like I did in my old life. Letting the threat laced in my voice be evident, I say, “Fix this. I don’t care how, but I promise you won’t like me if you don’t figure it out.”

Evan

“Hey, dickface, got a chick here looking for you.” Sean knocks his hand off the doorframe. “Says somethin’ about getting’ a touch up but by the look on her face she wasn’t talkin’ about a tattoo.”

“She give you a name?” I ask, not bothering to look up from the stencil I’m working on.

“Amy,” the soft voice filters through the doorway of my office. “How quick you are to forget.”

When I finally look up, the blonde woman before me doesn’t look like anyone I know but that doesn’t mean anything. I see hundreds, sometimes thousands of people in and out of here every year. Something about this one, with her fake chest and even faker personality, looks familiar though. I just can’t put my finger on why.

“Sorry, honey, I see a lot of people. I’m better with ink than names.”

Sean shakes his head behind her and sighs. “I’m better with asses than faces. Do you mind bending over so I can tell you if I know you?”

Turning around, Amy giggles at him. “Sorry, babe, but you left before all the fun started. He probably needed a new tattoo gun after we were done.”

“Shit!” I drop my pencil to the desk and rock back in my chair. “I remember you now. How ya doin’, beautiful?”

She smiles now that I remember who she is. I sit and try to figure a way to keep myself out of trouble here. I do my best to keep the conversation casual and away from the fact that I fucked her while she tells me what she needs from me. A simple touch up. No big deal. That’s how it needs to stay. I think I’m clear until we’re just a few minutes from being done and she starts talking about having a repeat of the last time she was here.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but I’m off the market. If you wanna play with Sean I’m sure he’d be more than willing to bring his tools with him.”

Amy pouts as I finish up recoloring one of the flowers on her hip. “I don’t see a ring on your finger. Besides, even if there was, it’s just a piece of paper.”

“Oh, shit,” Sean mutters from the other side of the partition. I’m not sure if he’s talking about what’s going on over here, or something else.

I take a deep breath as Amy’s hand slides up my thigh. Reaching down, I remove it and put it back up on the table. “Sorry, but with or without that piece of paper and a ring, I wouldn’t do anything that would make me lose this girl.”

“Good answer,” Tuesday says from behind me. “One less person on my bitch list today.”

We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, a few trust issues and a whole lot of chasing, but the fact that Tuesday didn’t come in and hear the conversation and run away from it shows me how far she’s come.  However, the tone in her voice and the look in her eyes when I turn around to wink at her tells me something is wrong.

After finishing up with Amy’s touch up, she stands up and eyes Tuesday. Stepping closer to her, Amy twists a strand of Tuesday’s hair around her finger. The look in Tuesday’s eyes lets me know she’s about to flip out but I can’t do anything before Amy opens her mouth and it happens.