Something for the Pain (Pain #2) (27 page)

“Come on . . . get those clothes off and join me, Stud.”

I smirk and pull my shirt over my head. “You know how I like to swim, babe.” I toss my shirt aside and start undoing my jeans. “I never swim with clothes on.”

She bites her bottom lip and reaches behind her to undo her bra. “No clothes . . . and just the two of us.”

“Fuck me, Tripp. Swimming will never be the same.”

She slips off her panties and tosses them out of the pool as I step out of my briefs, hard as a fucking rock for her. “That’s what I’m counting on,” she breathes out in a soft tone.

Not bothering to hide my erection, I walk into the pool, grabbing Tripp’s face as soon as she’s within reach. I press my forehead against hers and slip my hands into her hair, gripping it. “Do you want me inside you, baby?” I suck her bottom lip into my mouth, before releasing it. “You want me to make love to you? I want to so fucking bad right now, but I won’t unless you tell me you want it.”

She swallows hard and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling herself up to wrap her legs around my waist. “I want you to make love to me.” She presses her forehead to mine, before sinking down onto my cock. “I love you inside of me. I need it.”

With those words I wrap my arms around her and slowly start lifting her up and down on my dick, being sure to sink deep into her with each thrust.

Our touches become desperate, our kisses deep and passionate, as if this is the last moment that we get to be together this way. That thought causes me to give her all of me, every inch of me physically and emotionally.

We make love for what seems like hours, me slowing down when needed to keep this moment from ending. I can go all fucking night, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. This woman deserves all of me, and that’s what I’m giving her. I won’t stop until she orgasms so many times she can’t withstand anymore and is exhausted.

“Alex,” she moans. “I’m about to come again. I can’t. . . . I can’t.” She grips onto me as tightly as she can, digging her nails into my back as we both release at the same time. “It’s so sensitive.” She shakes in my arms and jumps when I move a little bit inside of her, making sure that I’m as deep as I can get.

“Damn, baby . . .” I kiss her hard and deep, pulling her as close to me as I possibly can. “I love watching you come undone around me.” I rub my thumb over her cheeks. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me, babe.”

A tear slides down her cheek that I quickly wipe away with my thumb. “You mean that?” She questions with hope.

“I do,” I whisper.

A few more tears slide down her cheek. Not knowing what’s going to happen in the next couple days, I just hold her and comfort her. I hate to see her cry. I fucking hate it so damn much.

We stay like we are for a little while longer, before I walk us over to the shallow end and finally pull out of her. I’m surprised that I’m actually still somewhat hard, but I can’t help it when it comes to her.

Setting her down, I help her out of the water and grab my shirt. “Come here, babe.” I slip my shirt over Tripp’s head, before reaching for the small towel that I left in here earlier, and slip it around my waist, tucking it.

“I’m hungry,” Tripp says with a cute little smile. “Want some ice cream?”

I kiss the top of her head and smile. “Lead the way.”

Once we get into the kitchen Tripp pulls out a tub of her favorite ice cream and grabs two spoons, digging one in and scooping out a spoonful. “Cookie dough okay? There’s chocolate if you want something else.”

Answering her question, I bend down and take her spoon in my mouth, sucking the ice cream off. “I’m having what you’re having, babe.”

She laughs as I bite her spoon and pull it out of her grip. “Alex . . . you’re so damn cute that it’s ridiculous.”

I flash my dimples and playfully lift my brows at her, while removing the spoon from my mouth. “Who me? Should I apologize?”

She leans in and licks the side of my mouth. “No.” She smiles. “You’re messy too, by the way.”

I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, getting what she missed. “I know . . . I did it on purpose.”

Everything is perfect right now. This is what I can see myself doing for the rest of my fucking life, and never getting tired of being with her. I want this moment to last forever . . . but I know that’s not an option. Or is it?

The back door opens and we both look over in shock as Lucas walks in and sets his suitcase down. He looks around at the messy kitchen. “Party night . . . I missed it. Shit.”

My heart starts beating out of my chest as he walks over and grabs Tripp’s hand, pulling her up to her feet. An overwhelming feeling to kill this motherfucker takes over. I watch his every move as if my life depends on it.

“Lucas, what are you doing back so soon? I thought . . .”

Lucas cuts her off by crushing his lips to hers and cupping her right ass cheek, slipping his hand up
my
shirt as if she’s his. Fuck him, because she’s mine and she’s in
my
fucking shirt.

I see red and lose my ability to fucking think straight.

Being careful not to hurt Tripp, I grab Lucas by the throat and slam him up against the wall. “Don’t you fucking touch her, motherfucker.” He attempts to pull away from me, so I grip him tighter, slamming him against the wall again, but harder this time.

“Alex!” I feel Tripp grip my shoulder and start pulling on it. “Stop! Please don’t fight.”

Catching me off guard, Lucas breaks free from the wall and shoves me, causing me to stumble backward into the kitchen island.

Out of instinct, I swing out, knocking him on his fucking ass.

He grabs for his jaw and looks up at me. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you insane, asshole?”

Before I can lose my shit, Tripp jumps in front of me and holds me back, afraid that I’ll hurt him. She knows how I get when I fight. She’s heard it all. “I said stop! Both of you.”

I swallow hard and clench my jaw, trying my best to keep my cool. Seeing him put his hands on her hurt like hell. I never want to see that shit again. She comes before everyone. I could care less about my past with Lucas. He can fuck off.

Tripp looks back and forth between the two of us. Suddenly she starts breathing heavily as if she’s having a panic attack. “I need to get out of here. Shit . . . I need to go. I just need to go.”

She rushes out of the kitchen. Everything in me wants to go after her, but I don’t want to do anything to trigger her even more. I couldn’t handle it if something were to happen to her.

I look down at Lucas on the ground, before forcing myself to leave the kitchen. If I stay . . . I will hurt his ass.

I shove the back door open and fight to catch my breath. I never wanted Tripp to have to see me this way. I’ve always done my best to keep her away when I had fights. I always told her about them, but never let her watch.

“Fuuuck!”

I’m outside for less than three minutes when I hear Tripp’s car start up and pull out of the driveway. My first instinct is to freak out, but I quickly stop myself. There’s only one place she’d be going if she needed to get away, and that is Tara’s.

I’ll give her a little time to calm down and then we need to talk. I need to apologize and tell her how I feel.

I need to tell her that I’m in love with her . . .

HAVING TRIPP WALK OUT THAT door has been one of the worst feelings of my entire life. I never thought I’d see the day that Tripp walked away from me, not wanting to be near me. It kills me, and I’m not afraid to admit that I can’t handle it.

It’s been four days now, and the longer that she’s gone the more it causes an ache in my chest. It feels so heavy that it sometimes feels hard to breathe. I feel like a piece of me is missing. The problem is, I know exactly what that piece is, but that piece isn’t ready to come back to me yet, and I’m afraid that forcing it will only push her further from my reach. I’m not willing to lose her forever.

I’m sitting at
Monty’s
by myself, checking my phone every few minutes to see if Tripp has responded to any of my messages yet. I asked her to meet me here so we could talk. It’s the one place that I thought she’d agree to.

Looking down at my phone I notice that there’s still no response, and my heart sinks for what seems like the millionth time since Tripp stormed away.

Slowly exhaling, I toss my phone into the wall beside me and run my hands through my hair, tugging. Suddenly, eating seems like the last thing I want to do, so I shove my plate aside, grab my cracked phone, and toss some cash on the table.

I’ve been sitting in that spot for three hours now and the disappointment that I feel can’t be denied. I can’t sit here anymore because it hurts too much. It’s pretty clear that she doesn’t want to see me right now.

Lost in hurt and anger at myself, as well as my idiotic decisions over the last few weeks, I drive home, grab my guitar, and play to myself for hours. It’s my only for sure escape.

Every so often I look over as if expecting Tripp to be there, listening beside me, but she’s not. I never thought there’d be a day that would happen, and I never want to feel the emptiness that it brings again.

I need to do something before it’s too late. I know that now more than ever . . .

I LOOK DOWN AT MY phone for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. Seeing Alex’s unanswered message causes an ache in my chest that I can’t explain.

It kills me. I almost can’t take it, but I know that if I cave and see him now, it’s going to hurt way too much when we realize that we need to move on and put the last few weeks behind us. I’m not ready for that disappointment and I’m afraid that what’s left of my heart will die.

Running my fingers over his message, I click reply and stop to stare at the screen. I stare at it for a while, trying to figure it out. How do I say no to Alex? How do I tell him that I’m not ready to lose him yet . . . or that I’m in love with him and can’t live without him?

I don’t. I can’t, so I toss my phone aside and bury myself under the blanket, holding back the cries that have been burning in the back of my throat all day. It feels raw.

“I’m sorry,” I say softly into the air. “So sorry.”

I never meant to lose you . . .