Chapter 7

The move to Liverpool had gone well, better than expected. The buzz of a city suited me far more than country life ever would.

Although rural settings had their perks. A major one was not being hit on every time I went out for a quiet drink.

“Can I get you another drink, gorgeous?” The guy who’d been trying to get my attention for most of the night let his lips linger near my ear, bringing me back to the present. Lately, my thoughts constantly wandered to Simon and the kiss we’d shared.

Two months had passed, but despite that, I couldn’t forget it.

I returned my attention to the guy currently trying to suck the blood out of my neck. What was up with him? Was he a vampire?

I wrinkled my nose and attempted to step away from him.

“I’m good, thanks. As I said before, I’m with friends.”

Long arms wound around my waist, and I tried again, unsuccessfully, to extricate myself. He was a strong one.

“Come on,” he said, a little more forcefully this time. “Let me buy you a drink. We could take it somewhere quiet.”

He took hold of my wrist, tighter than I liked, and for a moment, I panicked. The memory of that evening at my aunt’s house filling my mind. I tensed, waiting, knowing what would follow.

Not this time. Not now.

“Let. Go.” I spun in his arms and glared at him, not wanting to cause a scene but ready to fight my way out of the situation if needed.

After years spent defending myself on the streets, I was no stranger to confrontation. Fighting dirty came naturally.

“Don’t fucking lead me on, then tell me you’re not interested. I don’t like that,” he said through gritted teeth. His nostrils flared as he gripped my other wrist. “Fucking prick tease.”

Panic set in as someone stepped up behind me. What the fuck? Was he part of a tag team?

It turned to some kind of relief when I recognised the voice.

“He said ‘let go’. Are you fucking deaf?” Simon’s deep voice vibrated against me, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Who the fuck are you? I was here first,” the other guy said.

First? Were we in school? No fucker called dibs on me.

“I’m no one’s property. You can both fuck off.”

I wrenched my arms from the stranger’s grasp, picked up my drinks from the bar and walked away, leaving them to stare each other down.

I made my way to the other side of the bar and sat down next to Ziggy and Marc. Beau had joined them with Kwan. Since moving back to Liverpool, we’d tried to make it a regular thing. I’d missed having good friends with me. Moving from place to place, I’d stayed nowhere long enough to forge lasting friendships.

These guys knew my past. Ziggy and I had lived a life before we even knew the others. Our previous profession formed a lasting bond, one I wanted to hold on to.

“What was all that about?” Marc asked, gesturing towards them.

“One guy thought I was easy prey. I don’t want to talk about the other one.”

“Hmmm, seems to me he wants to talk to you.”

I turned and looked up into Simon’s deep-blue eyes. A softer look had replaced the usual disgust I saw in them.

I stood and sighed heavily. Couldn’t I just have one quiet night out with my friends?

Not that they were always quiet. Ziggy almost always saw to that.

“What do you want, Simon?” I asked, exasperated by the intrusion.

“Did he hurt you?” he asked, his jaw and fists clenched.

“No,” I said, feeling incredibly flustered by this turn of events. “But I could have taken care of it myself. I didn’t need you to step in.”

This was definitely a different Simon than any I’d seen before. Gone was the aggressive arsehole, a concerned man taking his place.

He swayed a little and put his hand up to steady himself. Something wasn’t right.

“Are you okay?”

Now it was my turn to be concerned. He nodded and hurried away, mumbling about hate, Robbie and a few other words I couldn’t understand.

What on earth was wrong with him?

I took hold of his arm before he could walk too far and sat him down at a table next to ours. Marc stood, but I waved him away. I didn’t need his protection or his expertise at this point.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. I couldn’t see anyone with him.

“What do you care?” He swirled the amber liquid in his glass before gulping it down.

Ah, there he was, the arsehole. I knew it wouldn’t last long.

“I don’t particularly, Simon,” I said, emphasising his name.

“Once again, you’ve let him down.”

I looked at him, puzzled. What did he mean?

“Who? Who have I let down?”

“Don’t think I don’t know. You left him for dead. Your best friend, and now you can’t even get back in touch with him when he reaches out to you.”

This was the most he’d said to me in God knows how many years, but I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Who reached out?”

“Robbie,” he shouted, and I once again waved Marc away. I could handle him. Simon had definitely been drinking.

“Keep your voice down.” I sat next to him and edged a little closer. Fuck, he smelt good. I ignored the thought and concentrated on his slurred words.

“He said he’d called you, and you hadn’t answered him back.”

Drunk Simon was like a kitten that needed caring for. I always thought he’d be brash and loud, but the man sitting next to me was meek, almost childlike in his demeanour.

“I haven’t heard from Robbie since the accident.”

“He called you at that fancy spa where you work and said you couldn’t even be bothered to ring him back.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course he’d not get me there.

“I don’t work there anymore, Simon. I left months ago.”

“You did?” His eyes widened, and I almost laughed.

“How much have you had to drink? Are you with anyone?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I’m all alone.”

Every ounce of confidence I’d ever seen in him had drained away, leaving a shell of a man.

Tear-filled eyes met mine. Something had happened since I last saw him; I was sure of it.

Former Duke—pre-kiss Duke—might have walked away, but something compelled me to stay.

“What’s happened?”

I expected him to say nothing or hesitate before talking to me.

What I didn’t expect was for him to stand, pick up my drink and tip it over my head.

I spluttered, then gasped as the ice-cold sparkling water wet my face and clothes. A slice of lemon clung to the front of my shirt, and an ice cube slithered to the floor.

“What the fuck?” I shouted at his retreating form.

Ziggy moved and sat next to me, trying not to laugh.

“That could have gone better,” he said, smirking.

“You think?” He handed me a napkin, and I wiped the water from my face. What an arsehole.

“What you gonna do about it?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Let him get away with it?”

I pondered his words. Was I going to let the wanker get away with it?

No fucking way. I was fuming.

“I’ll see you later.” I stood and rushed after Simon, catching a glimpse of him as he left the bar.

“Atta boy!” Ziggy shouted, and I heard him laugh.

Interfering twat, but I wouldn’t have him any other way.

I burst through the doors and looked both ways, searching for Simon.

There he was. Several metres away.

“Simon,” I shouted. He paused but carried on walking. “I’m talking to you.”

Again, he stopped, and I made up some of the space between us before he started on his way again.

I broke into a steady jog, grabbing his arm as I reached him. I spun him around.

“Let me go.” He twisted out of my grasp and stumbled. I took his hand to steady him.

It was soft and warm, unlike the cold, unfeeling bastard standing before me.

“What the fuck is your problem with me? I know you blame me for Robbie’s accident, but you gotta let it go.”

“You ruined his life. All our lives with your stupidity.”

“I was a boy, barely seventeen. We’ve been over this.”

“You were old enough to know it was wrong. Why else would you have run? Robbie will never walk again. EVER.”

I was truly sorry. For years I’d regretted what I’d done, never really coming to terms with what had happened. I’d avoided Robbie for that reason, Isla providing the updates when I asked.

“What do you want from me? I can’t turn back the clock. I’d give anything to change what happened to him, and because of my stupid mistake, we’ve all suffered. Do you think that’s easy for me to carry around, knowing my actions caused everyone’s anguish and pain?”

“How have you suffered? You don’t know shit about what he’s been through. What we’ve all been through.”

Tears coursed down his face. I’d never seen him like this in all the years I’d known him. Granted, it had been a while, but when we were younger, he was always the easy-going, confident one. It was the one thing that had drawn me to him.

Right now, he seemed broken, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

As much as I’d love to put him straight about my past, now wasn’t the time. Something had to have happened. The man standing before me held no resemblance to the one I saw a mere two months ago.

The more I looked at him, the closer I was to his face, I could see the dark smudges beneath his eyes, the sunken skin. His usually styled hair was messy, darker roots stark against the usual dirty blond.

Maybe it was the streetlamp casting him in a bad light. I couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t look good.

“Stop looking at me like that. I don’t need your pity.” He spat the words out.

“I’m not fucking pitying you, Simon. I just don’t understand your anger towards me.”

“Then you’re more stupid than I ever thought you were.”

A red mist descended, and I released his hand, balling my fists.

“You’d better shut up now.”

“Why? What are you going to do? Hit me? You chickened out last time. You’re a fucking coward, always running away.”

That was it. I’d had enough. I swung at him, and despite his apparent sluggishness, he easily danced out of my reach.

I tried again, this time clipping his jaw.

“Fight me,” I shouted at him. My heart pounded in my chest, and my fingers tingled from the rush of adrenaline surging through me.

“Coward,” he taunted, a sneer on his face.

“I am not a coward.” We stood so close. I could smell the expensive aftershave he wore, see his long eyelashes, his crystal-blue eyes that dared me to continue.

My eyes dropped to the mouth that uttered the words, goading me into a fight I wasn’t sure I could win.

A wave of lust hit me. What was it about him that turned me on so much?

His loathing had been on display since the night Robbie had been injured, but Simon had never been far from my thoughts.

I’d admit I’d watched him more than once since discovering his profession. I’d dreamt of having him inside me or me inside him. I didn’t care. I knew that sex with him would be memorable. How could it not be?

As if sensing my change in mood, his face hardened, and a lascivious smile spread across his face.

He took hold of my hand and cupped his groin. I felt his hardness grow, and an involuntary groan left me.

“Do you want this? I know you do; I can see it.” He inhaled deeply. “I can smell it.”

Surprise rippled through me as he licked my face, his tongue hot against my chilled skin.

“Hmmm. I can taste it too.”

By now, my dick throbbed, begging to be released from the confines of the tight jeans I wore. I’d beg if I thought he would do it.

What the fuck was I thinking? I was ready to lamp this guy a minute ago. Now I was ready to drop everything, jeans included, just to feel the touch of his hand.

I tore my eyes away, the spell broken.

“What? Too much of a man for you?” he asked.

Cockiness dripped from him. Where had that come from?

“I wouldn’t let you fuck me if you were the last man on earth.”

“Oh, I guarantee you would, Duke.”

He was becoming more abhorrent as each second ticked by, and I berated myself for even thinking about having sex with him.

He was a bastard, through and through, so why was my hand still at his groin? Why did I continue to stroke along his length?

At some point, we’d moved out of view of any passersby, his back against the wall of a store. He thrust his hips forward, grinding his cock against my hand.

He worked up a steady rhythm, and I flattened my palm against his cock, feeling the imprint of the head through the thin fabric.

I crashed my lips into his, remembering the last time. He slipped his arms around my waist, bringing me closer to him, my hand trapped between us.

He continued to grind himself, taking pleasure from the closeness.

“Touch me,” I whispered against his lips, momentarily breaking contact.

I gasped as he complied. It had been months since I’d felt the touch of another. All thoughts of intimacy disappearing when they weren’t him. His kiss had ruined me for everyone else. I doubted the same could be said for him.

I dropped my head to his shoulder, hearing his harsh breath in my ear.

“Yes, just like that,” I panted. At this rate, I’d be coming in my jeans like the horny teenager I’d been.

He moaned too. Was he as close as I was?

Shuddering, his body sagged against mine, and his breathing stuttered. The warmth of his spunk seeped through the light trousers he wore. Guess I had my answer. I chased my own release, but before I could get there, he was gone, leaving me open-mouthed in his wake.

If it were able, my cock would have cried out, denied the orgasm it desperately wanted.

I turned around and searched the vicinity for him, but he was gone.

“Now who’s the fucking coward,” I shouted into the darkness.

An elderly couple tutted their displeasure as they walked by. Had it been a moment earlier, they’d have witnessed something that would have likely shocked them. Or maybe not. You never could tell these days.

The walk back to the bar seemed to take forever. Ziggy and Marc were still there, gazing into each other’s eyes. You’d think they’d be out of the honeymoon phase by now, but for them, it appeared to be eternal.

Beau and Kwan were nowhere to be found.

“What happened? You look flustered. Case of blue balls?” Ziggy asked, his legs draped across Marc’s lap.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I sat with a thud and dropped my head to the table, my arms dangling by my side.

“Look, I don’t know what your deal is with this guy. Does it have something to do with why you left home?”

Ziggy knew a little of my past, although I’d never mentioned in detail what had made me run all those years ago.

I lifted my head to look at them both. Ziggy looked serious, concerned even.

“A little, I guess.”

“I’ll grab us some more drinks.” Marc extricated himself from Ziggy before placing a loving kiss on his lips.

I sighed inwardly. Ziggy was so lucky to have found what he needed. It’d taken almost being killed, but both he and Marc said it was worth it.

I wasn’t sure I’d want to go through a near-death experience just to find true love.

“He’s really got under your skin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this way before. Not once.”

“I’ve never been this way before. He was my very first crush, and I don’t think you ever get over that.”