My night was ruined once I saw Elena in the pizza place. Hell, my life was ruined before that so why would seeing her make any difference? I was having a decent time with Marie and her new boyfriend Keith, whom I liked. He’d brought his sister along and the dark look I shot Marie made her flush as Olivia moved closer to me in the booth.
On paper, she was great. She was closer to my age, gorgeous, and someone that everyone would welcome me with. Olivia seemed nice enough through the meal, and her body moved closer to me throughout the night. I was laughing at something she said and well into my second beer when I looked towards the counter. Ginger and Elena were walking towards a booth, and I stared silently as she glanced my way before looking away.
The bruises were gone, and she looked beautiful, but I saw the stress on her face. I saw sadness, and my feet ached to move to comfort her. I’d called and sent her countless texts over the last few weeks with no response. I knew that her phone was broken, but she had to replace it, right? There would be people trying to talk to her apart from me.
I managed to stay at the table for ten torturous minutes before I excused myself to run to the bathroom. Marie watched me, knowing that something was up and Olivia looked at me like she was going to miss me. Miss me? We just met, and I knew what she wanted from the way her hand was all over my thigh.
I walked towards the front of the restaurant and found their small booth as Ginger stared at me with wide eyes. I wasted no time in scooting into the booth beside a shocked Elena. Her face was pained as she looked at me and I wanted to know what the fuck made her look this way. She was okay and recovered from the accident so what else was wrong? Did she need anything?
My voice came out hushed and angry instead of the compassion that was filling my heart. Elena looked around the restaurant, and I saw the paranoia in her face, cursing silently. I didn’t give a fuck who saw us here, and I reached for her hand under the table as she said something about feeling better and not being in school anymore. The heat between us burned as it climbed over my skin and my cock hardened. Fuck if I didn’t want her but I pushed that away and told her how much I missed her. I sounded so angry.
She flushed as I held onto her and I could see that my touch was affecting her. God, I was throbbing now, and I wanted to wrap my arms around her and just hold her. I wanted to rip her away from this table and bring her home to my bed, where we could talk all of this out.
“I’m fine.” That was all that Elena said even though I could tell she was feeling so much more. When she pulled her hand away, I felt lost inside. I reminded her of our conversation at my house that last night as she froze and closed her eyes.
Fuck this. Elena wasn’t hearing me, and I didn’t want to be this close to her if I couldn’t have Elena in my arms. I slid out of the booth and walked towards the bathroom where I could release the demons and focus on my night. Fuck, I was so charged up with now, and I closed the door to a stall hard, locking it before I walked towards the toilet. I dropped my pants and took myself into my hand, stroking hard as I replayed the feel of her hand in mine.
Nobody felt as good as Elena, not ever. I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but I wanted to break through the walls she had built around her. I aimed for the toilet as best I could when I came, taking a deep breath. I cleaned up the mess and looked around the stall before I left to wash my hands. I was going to return to my table and get back to the people in my life that wanted me there. My sister would never treat me like this, and I was going to get to know the new man in her life. She didn’t make that choice too often, and he might be around to stay.
Hell, maybe I’d give Olivia what she wanted. She clearly wanted to fuck me and why not? Elena didn’t want me.
I slid back into the booth when I got to the table, and my sister gave me a long, curious look. I knew that she’d be asking what the hell that was about later but for now, I just smiled. I had another
beer, and let Olivia slide her hand all the way up my thigh, so she was touching my cock. It wasn’t hard for her, but she never needed to know that. We stayed for another half hour or so until the four of us left. I glanced at Elena’s table, seeing Ginger’s stern face and Elena’s pain as Olivia reached for my arm. I let her take it and led her out of the door.
If it hurt so much, why did Elena let me leave with her? I wanted to tell her that I hadn’t touched a woman since her, too worried about Elena to try and move on. Elena could have me in a heartbeat, but if she was going to push me away, I wasn’t going to wait for her. I let Olivia drive me home since she drank a lot less than I did and my sister had her own plans. She parked where I directed her, and I knew that she was here to stay since she’d driven with Keith and Marie. I looked at her, making myself focus on her pale blonde hair and soft blue eyes. She was a beautiful woman, and any man would be lucky to have her. “Come on in,” I told her as I walked towards the front door of the condo, unlocking the door. I had cleaned up every trace of Elena here, and it was my place again.
“I love your apartment,” Olivia told me as I set my keys on the counter.
“It’s a condo but thanks. It’s all mine.” I turned to look at her as I let my eyes slide down her body, willing myself to want her. She had a slim body, skinnier than Elena, but there were enough curves to have a good time with. She was looking at me the way some of the girls in class did, full of longing and desire. Girls like this were too easy, and I stepped forward slowly to start this.
Her eyes closed as I leaned in to kiss her, longing for it to be Elena. Her lips were soft and responsive, and I kissed her harder. Olivia wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her body against mine as her tongue slid into my mouth.
I hadn’t had sex for a month, and my body was ready. My heart wasn’t, but I pushed all those thoughts away as I gripped her hips and slid my hands around to cup her ass. We made our way to the couch, and I excused myself to get a condom from the bedroom since I wasn’t ready to erase my memories there. There were too many good ones that didn’t involve casual sex for me. I looked down at the unbuttoned shirt and shook my head as I hurried back to the couch.
I watched Olivia sleep as I stood up and went to toss away the condom. The sex was decent, but it was just a release for me. She was the one that was clawing me, screaming my name, and coming so hard that I saw her eyes roll back into her head. I missed Elena even more as I dropped into the recliner once I was done, turning on the television. I would usually carry her back to my bed for a chance at round two tomorrow if I remembered how to treat a woman. Then I remembered that before Elena, I just left or sent them home. I looked at Olivia, knowing that she would be doing that in the morning with no more sex. I wasn’t feeling it anymore.
Marie called the next morning when I was alone. She asked what happened with Olivia and I told her, wincing when she cursed me out for sleeping with her boyfriend’s sister without any intention of seeing her again. “He brought her along as a set-up, Marie. Sometimes those don’t last more than a night. I was careful and treated her like a person, so Olivia will be just fine. She’ll have another guy within the week.”
“Jesus. I like Keith, and I hope that he’s not pissed. What else happened last night? Why were you away from the table so long?” Marie demanded as I sighed.
“Elena was there with her best friend. I had to talk to her.”
“I guess that didn’t go well. Did you rebound fuck Olivia? God, Liam. What if this gets serious and she’s in my wedding right alongside you? Do you know how awkward that will be?” Marie asked me as I laughed.
“You’ve known him for a month. Slow down.” I told her as I sipped my coffee. “She wasn’t receptive to me. I got that she was feeling better and that was about it.”
“Did she look better?” Marie asked as I sighed.
“Elena looked beautiful but there was something about her…stress or sadness or something. I can’t wrap my mind around it.” I replied as I sat down.
“She was in a bad accident. Those last a lot longer than recovery when you’re fighting with insurance companies and trying to deal with medical bills and replacing your car.” Marie was matter-of-fact when she spoke, reminding me of the time that she handled Mom’s accident a few years back. “I hope that she’s not alone.”
“Ginger wouldn’t do that to her,” I told her, certain that Elena was living there now. Ginger told me at the studio that she was going to try and talk Elena into the idea and I agreed with her. She needed someone, and she’d pushed me away.
“Come at four for dinner. Keith is working, so it’s just us. Thank fuck. I don’t want to discuss last night for a long time,” Marie told me as I chuckled, agreeing to be there. Marie was the constant in my life, and I wouldn’t know what to do without her.
Elena