Because of Lila (Sea Breeze Meets Rosemary Beach 2)

“When he was sixteen I taught him all about sex. I started his addiction. We fucked on this very table so many times I can’t count. I’ve stood right here with my legs spread while he licked my pussy until I couldn’t stand up. I let him be with other girls to get his taste. But I knew he’d always come back here. He wanted me. Needed what I gave him. He’s good at sex because I showed him what a woman wants. What she aches for. That mouth you’ve kissed has been all over this body,” she cupped her breast as she said it.

I couldn’t find words. The things she was saying sounded like rantings from a crazy woman. She wanted me to believe he’d been having sex with a forty-year-old married woman when he was sixteen?

“You are trying to sink your claws into what is mine.”

“You’re married,” I said still in shock that she’d even think I could believe her.

She laughed at me then. “That doesn’t matter. Not to us. Cruz and I crave each other. He was mine until you came along. Now I’m pregnant with his child and he wants nothing to do with me or the baby. You’re taking our child’s father away.” She touched her stomach gently.

“You’re lying,” I said shaking my head and backing up toward the door. I knew Cruz had been a little wild. That wasn’t a secret. But he hadn’t done this. I was sure of it.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” she said and picked up a remote from her desk. The sounds of sex filled the room, and I turned to see the flat screen behind me.

There would be no denying what I watched. Kelsey was naked, her legs wide open and her head thrown back as Cruz screwed her on her desk. Just like she’d said.

“We liked to video our sex and watch it later. It got us hot and bothered. We often fucked while watching us fuck on the screen. That’s the kind of thing Cruz needs to make him truly happy. I also watched him. He would fuck some girl while I hid and watched. He liked knowing I was there while he did it. Seeing them. He’d get so worked up we’d both be crazy for it. I have videos of that too if you need to see.”

“Fuck yes, Kelsey. Open wide you dirty whore. Give me what I want,” Cruz’s words came from the screen and I cringed. “Such a nasty bitch. My nasty little bitch, give me that ass.” Cruz then flipped her over. Pulling her hips up so her ass was stuck in the air. He spit on her bottom then stuck his fingers inside. “Tight asshole. You want my dick up that ass, don’t you?” She screamed, “Yes, fuck my ass. Fuck it hard!” She turned her head around to look back at him and he covered her mouth with his—that was all I could take. I ran. I ran out the door. I ran to my car. I ran from it all. I drove. I didn’t stop. I didn’t know where I was going but my soul had been destroyed.

My phone kept ringing but I couldn’t answer it. I turned my phone off. If it was my mother I wouldn’t be able to speak. She’d be worried. All I could do was drive. Run away from it all. Until my chest didn’t feel as if it were crushed.

The words he had said to Kelsey and the image of them together replayed over and over. Nausea clawed at my throat. Disbelief that I had actually trusted him. Thought what we had was real. But he . . . he was darker than I knew. When the tears finally began to fall, I pulled off at an exit and parked in a hotel parking lot. I cried for all I had dreamed of. All the happiness I thought I had found. And all that would forever mark me. I would never be the same. My fantasy had been just that. Nothing had been real. There would be no fond memories. Only one nightmare.

I’m sorry. But I’m okay. I just needed some space. I sent that one text to my mother to keep her from being worried. There were twenty-eight missed texts and fifty missed calls when I turned my phone back on. I ignored them all, turned the phone off again and went to pay for a room for the night.

Cruz Kerrington

IT HAD BEEN sex. That was it. How had I known my affair with Kelsey would lead to this? I kept my head buried in my hands as my father paced in front of me. The room was silent now. His ranting and yelling had ended.

“She’s okay. That was Harlow on the phone. Lila Kate sent her a simple text saying she was fine but needed space.” My mother announced as she entered the living room.