“How did you know that?” He doesn’t deny it. At least he’s not lying to me.
“Nick had it on his Instagram. We also share locations on our phones. Or we did.”
“It’s not what you think.” I let out a humorless laugh as I switch Bailey to my other breast. “It’s really not. Nick and Benjy wanted to go. I sat by the bathroom waiting for you to text me back.” I give him a skeptical look. “Then Miss D saw me and had me go into the back. I drowned my sorrows in a bottle. She’s become like a mom to all of us.”
“I used to take care of you guys.”
“Cherry.”
I cut him off, not wanting to talk about the fact that I was so easily replaced. Or how easily all of them let me go. I didn’t only lose Linc when we broke up, but Nick and Benjy hadn’t made an effort either.
“You don’t drink.” He really has changed.
“No, I quit. I’ll never drink another drop,” he pleads.
“I don’t care if you drink. That’s not the point. You’re just not who I remember. My Linc would have fought for us. He wouldn’t have given up so easily. And he would have never even asked me that stupid question to begin with.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have come back that night.” I stare at him. That was easier than I thought. Still, the hurt lingers. “I don’t care if you’ve been with other people.”
Just like that, my anger is back. “I have only ever been with you,” I grit out so that I don’t yell and scare Bailey. His mouth opens and closes but no words come out. “Can you say the same?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Linc
I drop to my knees in front of Cherry. “Is that what you’ve been thinking, baby?” My heart is breaking. “That I cheated on you? That I touched another woman?”
“You just went to a strip club for shits and giggles?” A silent tear falls and she swipes it away angrily.
“No! I went because…” I can’t even remember anything from back then other than being miserable and missing Cherry. Then it hits me—we’d finished the album and the boys wanted to let off steam and I know instantly that explanation is not going to fly. “I didn’t know it was a strip club until we got there but I should’ve known better.”
“Damn straight you shoud’ve known better,” Cherry bites out.
“If you hit me, you might feel better,” I suggest.
“You wish.”
Bailey unlatches and Cherry instantly switches the baby to the other boob, as if the two are in sync. I’m fascinated by it and mad that I don’t have that connection with Bailey too. She doesn’t know me. In fact, if I think about it, she probably thinks Brian is her dad. “Did you name Bailey after Brian?”
“Did you get hit on the head with a surfboard while you were in LA?” Cherry scowls, tugging down the side of her shirt that was raised to expose her tit for Bailey. Her nipple is distended from the sucking and I know it’s not sexual for Bailey to eat but fuck, it is for me. I can’t stop my dick from swelling. I know I’m going to hell for this but I can’t see Cherry’s naked breast and her erect nipples and not immediately think of how red they would get when my mouth was attached to them.
I could suck on those babies for hours while scissoring my fingers in her juicy cunt and every time I’d take a deep draw, her pussy would contract and squeeze my digits tight. I could make her come like that, too, just finger-fucking her hard while sucking on her boobs. She’d cream on my hand. I’d lick that up and then pierce her with my cock while she was still orgasming. Some of her hardest climaxes came when I fucked her first with my hand or mouth and then pummeled her cunt with my diamond-hard cock.
I could do that right now. I could spread her legs, lean forward and mouth her right through the cotton. I bet I could make her wet. I bet I could make her com—
A towel slaps me across the face.
“I know what you’re thinking and you can just stop right now,” she orders. But her face is curiously flushed in a way that seems pretty recognizable to me.
I stick my tongue in the corner of my cheek to stop a smug smile from spreading across my face. I suspect if that happened, I’d get more than a towel across my face. I drag my thoughts from the gutter back on track.
“I did not get hit on the head with a surfboard as I cannot get on the surfboard to start with. Besides, the ocean is fucking cold and you know I hate the cold. Nick was the only one who surfed.”