I laid back down and curled back into my self-protective ball. After a few minutes, I heard him sigh in resignation and resituate himself on the couch. The bed felt much colder without him in it, but I couldn’t let him be close to me, not anymore.
I woke up several more times before morning. Now that the pain pills had worn off, my mind couldn’t rest. I kept reliving what happened and jerking back awake every time I was close to sleep. Finally, Sal climbed back into bed with me as the first hint of dawn was hitting the window.
“You’re having a rough night,” he commented as he curved his front to my back, holding me securely.
“Yeah,” I agreed, instantly relaxing into him. I was too tired to fight it.
“You can sleep now. I won’t let go,” he whispered.
“You already did,” I replied hoarsely.
Chapter 7
When I woke up later that morning, the first thing I was aware of was the strong, all too familiar body pressed behind me. I shifted slightly, trying to get out from under his arm, but he pulled me tighter against him.
“Morning,” he greeted, his voice raspy with sleep. That voice of his in the morning, God, I’d missed it. Hearing it had my thighs pressing together in a futile effort to curb the immediate ache that emerged.
“Morning,” I managed, trying to get a handle on my lust.
“Feeling okay?” he asked, and I thought I detected a note of amusement in his tone. No doubt he hadn’t missed my restless shifting.
“Yeah, I’m less sore than yesterday,” I told him honestly.
“That’s good,” he murmured, his hand moving to squeeze my waist. I felt the unmistakable press of his erection against my lower back and my ache intensified.
“I need to get up,” I said, somewhat desperate to get away from him before my body completely mutinied and jumped him.
“Not yet,” he replied, pulling me closer.
“If you think for one second you’re getting any, you’re out of your damn mind,” I huffed while still trying to pull away. He chuckled, the sound low and annoyingly sexy. “I don’t think that. My cock hasn’t gotten the message, though,” he replied. “I haven’t been close to you in a long time; it has a mind of its own,” he added.
My phone started ringing then from its place on my nightstand, providing me with a welcomed escape. Sal rolled to the side and grabbed it, his eyes narrowing on the screen.
“Who’s Gavin?” he demanded.
“None of your business,” I snapped, grabbing the phone and silencing it. There was no way I was talking to Gavin in front of Sal. And why was he calling anyway?
He sat up and I tried to ignore the play of muscles against his stomach at the motion. It was so easy to get distracted when he was shirtless. The beautiful tattoos which spanned across his chest and down both arms were enough to make my mouth water. And his skin was a beautiful color. I didn’t know many details about his family, he didn’t talk about them much. But, I knew his father was Spanish and his mother Caucasian, resulting in a beautiful light brown skin tone that looked good enough to eat.
“Who is he?” he asked again, his dark eyes watching my movements as I got up off the bed and stood glaring at him.
“That guy you went all caveman on,” I retorted with an eye roll.
Sal’s face turned hard and his anger pissed me right the hell off.
“In case you’ve somehow forgotten, I’m sin-gle.” I emphasized the syllables with my hands on my hips. “I can go out on dates if I want to. Maybe it’s lost on you, but the opposite sex does tend to find me attractive,” I snapped.
“It’s not lost on me,” he replied steadily.
I sighed, searching for patience and trying to ignore the throbbing in my neck and face. It was time to end whatever was going on between us. I didn’t want to be angry and bitter with him, yet I couldn’t help but lash out when his being here brought everything to the forefront. It was too hard.
I took a deep breath. “Look,” I began, my voice and stance deliberately calmer than before. “I don’twantto be angry with you. I’m sure you had your reasons for breaking up with me. It’s not like you made me any promises. But, I can’t deal with this,” I said, gesturing to my injuries, “while dealing with being around you.” I tried to explain, horrified when a lump formed in my throat. I was making myself more vulnerable to him than I’d intended. “Having you around is making it harder, and I’m not saying that to hurt you. I just can’t deal with it,” I said as I gulped, a sheen of tears filling my eyes. “Dammit,” I muttered to myself, forging ahead as though the tears weren’t happening, “so if you feel bad for leaving or you feel obligated because of what happened to me, please don’t. I’m fine,” I tried to assure him. “Or, I will be,” I added.
He continued to watch me with his dark eyes from the edge of the bed.
“The guys can watch out for me. They’ve been doing it for the past six months anyway,” I stammered, eyeing him wearily as he moved to stand up and started to advance toward me. I backed up, trying to ward him off. “I need you to go, Sal,” I said, my voice harder. “This isn’t a situation you can force your way through.”
He did the opposite of what I asked and pulled me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me.