Relinquishing Liberty (12 page)

Something building up inside of me was on the verge of bursting. The intense sensations grew higher and higher until I couldn’t hold back anymore. My release resulted in me shouting Shayne’s name loud enough for anyone that might be out on the beach to hear. When the tremors coursing through my body finally subsided, I opened my eyes to find Shayne staring back at me petrified.
Oh God, what have I done?
Clearly I had caused the look of horror on his face.

I jumped off of Shayne’s lap and quickly made my way back towards his house. I had to get out of there before I fucked the rest of this date up. Everything about tonight had been absolutely perfect until I decided to grind up on Shayne like a sex-deprived teenager.
How could I be so stupid?
I tripped in the sand about halfway back to the house. Shayne kneeled down beside me and placed his hands on either side of my face, preventing me from looking away.

“Liberty, please don’t leave. I’m sorry about the way I reacted. I just wasn’t expecting
that
to happen. I promise, you didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry too. I don’t know what came over me. I think I had too much wine.”

Shayne laughed as his gently caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. “Babe, you only had two glasses. I don’t think it was the wine.”

Shayne could see the wheels turning in my head. He knew I was trying to find something to blame my behavior on, other than the obvious. Luckily, Shayne took care of that for me.

“We’re obviously both attracted to each other. It’s natural for us to want to take things further. I just don’t want you to ever feel pressured to do something you’re not ready for.”

That
is why he reacted the way he had. He thought he pressured me to hump the shit out of him. We wouldn’t even being having this issue had I not revealed my virginal status to him. I knew my V-card would come back to haunt me.

“Look, Shayne, you didn’t pressure me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I wasn’t expecting
that
to happen either, but I don’t regret it. I-I actually really enjoyed it.” I felt a little timid admitting that to him.

“Oh, well, in that case…how was it?” The devilish grin returned to his face, and I could tell he was enjoying this way too much.

“Well, for my first…ya know…it was very…um…,” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Intense?”

“Whoa, wait. You mean to tell me that’s the first time you’ve had an orgasm!? And it was with me? Shit, sweetheart, I think you just made my fucking night!”

Oh, God. I’m sure that just helped boost his player ego even more. I huffed as I briskly walked back towards his house again. I should’ve known he was too good to be true. He had been a perfect gentleman the entire night up until this moment.

I didn’t get very far, as he reached out and entwined his fingers with mine, pulling me back to him. I struggled to release his hold on me, but it was no use. He was determined to make me stay and hear him out.

“Liberty, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to embarrass you. Shit, I’m not very good at this, am I?” Roughly running his fingers through his hair, I could see he was fighting to find the right thing to say.

“Look, it’s been a really long time since I’ve been in a serious relationship. I’ve got to be honest with you: I’ve been with a lot of girls, but I’m not proud of it. I was a stupid horny bastard back in high school and thought I was the shit because I got with all of the girls. When everyone else went off to college, and I stayed here to work for my dad, I didn’t have time for chasing girls anymore. It was a huge wake-up call for me, and from then on I made my job and my family my priority. Now, I’m not saying I’ve been celibate since high school, but I’ve been trying to bury this reputation I so naively built up for myself.”

Shayne took my hand and turned it over, placing a delicate kiss in the center of my palm. “I’ve just never felt anything more than a physical attraction to girls. But with you, it’s different. I don’t know what it is, but I feel this energy pulling me towards you, and it makes me never want to let you go.” He paused, still struggling to find the right words. “That’s…that’s never happened to me before. Normally, when I’m done with a girl, I can’t get her out of my bed fast enough.”

I cringed at his words.

“Sorry, I know that sounds kind of harsh, but it’s true. Liberty, I want to give this…
us
…a chance. I don’t want my past mistakes to ruin my chances of having a normal, happy relationship. Now, I don’t know the first thing about having a normal relationship, but I’ve painted this picture in my head of what that might be, and that’s what I see myself having with you.”

The promise I had made to myself earlier echoed through brain. I promised to give him a chance. Maybe I was going against my better judgment, but I didn’t want to give up on the possibility of there being an
us
either. Deep down, I knew there was more to this man than just his insatiable libido.

“Okay,” I whispered, just barely audible.

“Okay?” He looked at me with his brows pinched together, not sure of what I was agreeing to.

I reached up, lightly pressing my thumbs against his forehead to brush away the creases. “Okay, I’ll give this a chance.”

His eyes softened, and he swept me up in his arms, swinging me around as he rained kisses all over my face; this, of course, caused me to fall into a fit of giggles. He smiled against my skin as he pressed one last kiss to my neck.

“Thank you. I promise we’ll take things slow as you want.”

Shayne took both of my hands in his and led me back to the blanket, carefully walking backwards so he couldn’t remove his lustrous gaze from mine. I nestled myself between his legs, and he wrapped his arms across my chest while we watched the waves come crashing in with the tide. Exhaustion consumed me, causing my body to relax into Shayne. Being here with him felt right, and I wondered what might’ve happened had I never made the rash decision to leave home and come to Savannah. I closed my eyes as I relished in the thought that maybe fate had intervened that day on the beach, throwing me straight into the arms of this beautiful man.

I woke the next morning after having the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages. I stretched my arms over my head and turned to check the time. It was only seven, but it felt so much later. The sun had already risen and was piercing through the blinds. The crushing sound of waves broke through my drowsiness, and it wasn’t until I smelled cologne mixed with the saltiness of the ocean air that I realized I wasn’t in my bed.
Where the fuck am I?
I knew that scent though; it was unmistakable.

“Dear God, please tell me I didn’t sleep with Shayne?” I wiped my hands over my face hoping I could wake myself up from what was soon becoming a recurring nightmare. How had I found myself in this situation again? At least when I woke up in Brett’s bed, he was there to reassure me we hadn’t slept together. The other side of the bed was cold and empty, leaving an unsettling feeling in my stomach. I slowly dragged myself out of bed and noticed I was wearing the same dress from the night before. Well that was a good sign.

I opened the bedroom door and peeked out into the hallway. The house was quiet; almost too quiet. I guess there was the possibility that he left, but why would he leave me alone in
his
house? I grabbed my sandals that were neatly placed beside the bed and tiptoed down the hall to the front door. Just as I pulled the door open, Shayne was standing there with two cups of coffee and a Dunkin Donuts bag.

“Mornin’, sleeping beauty. You weren’t leaving just yet, were you?”

Even at the ass-crack of dawn he looked absolutely delish. He was dressed in a baby blue V-neck shirt that looked like it was clinging to his body for dear life, with khaki cargo shorts. His hair was slicked back, still damp from having recently showered.

I knew I must’ve looked atrocious. I didn’t have a chance to look in a mirror before attempting to escape. Holding up a finger to let him know I needed a minute, I ran to the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Just as I suspected, I was a hot mess. Half of my hair was matted and tangled, mascara was smeared around my eyes, and my morning breath was definitely not something to brag about. I ran my fingers through my hair and scrubbed away my raccoon eyes. After searching through the medicine cabinet, I was thankful to find a bottle of mouthwash. I’m sure Shayne wouldn’t mind if I snagged a little;
hell, it was for his benefit!

Shayne was sitting at the kitchen table sipping his coffee when I entered the room. His smile was beaming off of his face in an adorable child-like fashion.

“All better?” He stood and held a steaming cup of coffee up to me, and I snatched it from him greedily.

“Yeah, I’m a sight for sore eyes first thing in the morning.”

“Impossible. But I must say, I like you better without all of that stuff painted on your face. You have natural beauty that shouldn’t be covered up, sweetheart.”

I could feel my face flush at his words. He lightly brushed over my cheek with the back his finger. “I love that even more, when your cheeks are all rosy and sweet. God, you’re so beautiful, Liberty.”

I was pretty sure my blush had just turned bright Elmo-red as he uttered those words.

“Yeah, well you’re not so bad looking yourself. I see you cleaned up already. You must have woken up pretty early if you had time to shower and get breakfast.”

Taking his seat at the table, I followed suit. He placed an assortment of muffins in front of me, taking a blueberry one for himself while I decided on banana-nut.

“Yeah, I’m usually up by six every morning.”

“Oh. I was little worried when I got up and saw you weren’t here.”

He gave me an incredulous look. “Did you really think I’d just ditch you at my house?”

“Well, after you told me about your history…” I started to look away before he grasped my chin, carefully returning my attention to him.

“Liberty, I would never do that to you.” He stared at me intently making sure I understood the truth behind his words.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, how did I end up in your bed?” I chewed on my bottom lip nervously, waiting for his response.

“You fell asleep in my arms while we were still sitting on the beach. You looked so peaceful lying there, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you up. So I carried you inside and placed you in my bed. But you don’t need to worry, sweetheart. I slept on the couch.”

To my surprise, I was actually a little disappointed he hadn’t made an attempt to crawl into bed with me. I already fell asleep in his arms once, it would have been nice to spend the rest of the night there. I guess he was serious when he said he wanted to take things slow.

“Well, I appreciate it, but you didn’t have to sleep on the couch. There’s more than enough room for the two us in your bed.”

“True, but I don’t think I’d get much sleep knowing you’re lying in bed next to me. Besides, you snore like a grizzly bear.”

“I do not snore!” I smacked his arm, making him laugh.

“Nah, you don’t snore, babe. But I did go in there to check on you, and you must have been dreaming about me because I could have sworn I heard you say my name.”

Oh shit, was I really dreaming about him last night?
It’s a shame I can’t remember it; I can only imagine what kind of dream I would have about Shayne. My dirty thoughts were pushed aside when I heard music playing in the other room. When I recognized “Alive” by Adelitas Way I realized it was my phone ringing. I dug it out of my purse and groaned when I saw Maddie’s name appear across the screen.

“Shit, Maddie’s probably wondering what the hell happened to me.”

I checked my phone and sure enough both Maddie and Brett had blown up my phone with numerous voicemails and texts.

“Oh God, everyone probably thinks you murdered me! I’m surprised Maddie and Brett haven’t sent out a search party for me yet.”

Shayne apparently thought that was hilarious because he was practically doubling over from laughing so hard. “I know I don’t have the best reputation sweetheart, but I’m pretty sure no one thinks I’m a murderer.”

“Ugh, I am not looking forward to going back to the apartment.” I sank down into my chair sulking.

“Well it’s about time for me to head to work anyway, so I’ll give you a ride back now. Wouldn’t want to keep mommy and daddy worrying.” He rolled his eyes and continued laughing as he turned to grab his keys off the table.

If he only knew the irony of that statement.

When we got back to the apartment, he hadn’t forgotten his manners. He came around to open my door and helped me down from the Jeep. He was about to lead me to the front door, but I stopped him before he had to deal with Hurricane Maddie.

“It’s probably best if we say our goodbyes here. I don’t want you to have to deal with the wrath of Maddie. She’ll probably be worse than Brett.”

“All right, sweetheart. Well, thank you for spending a wonderful evening with me, even though there were a few hiccups along the way.”

He dipped his head down towards his chest, but I reached for his face before he could look away. I stood on my tiptoes as I pulled his mouth down to mine. His warm, soft lips were eager as they moved in tandem with mine. I could taste the blueberries from the muffin he scarfed down earlier, enhancing the taste of Shayne that I was already developing an addiction to. He nibbled on my bottom lip playfully before pulling away. I could see in his eyes that he was hungry for more, but I knew he had to get to work.