ARCADE, DUNCAN LAURENCE & GIRL CRUSH, HARRY STYLES
Her touch is all I can think about. It feels as if her fingertips phantomly stroke along my skin. She spins and turns effortlessly on the strap-held hoop hanging above the great stage at The Manor. Her every drop makes me squirm. Please don't fall. Please don't fall. Every cell in my brain wants to believe that. She has a smile on her face, hidden every now and then by her red hair. A red wig that tells me she's in a zone. Untouchable. Unfazed by anyone around her.
"She will be alright," Rayna places a palm on my bicep. "Matthew, if you genuinely love her, whatever she did you can forgive. Except if she cheated, that's a low-blow."
My gaze returns to hers in alarm. Does she intend to use that against me? Once I see the growing smile on her face, I narrow my eyelids at her. Rayne attempts to suppress a giggle.
"Matthew, I'm joking. I know what our relationship was. I told you to be happy, if you found someone. Being uncomfortable was a typical response from me because you're my best friend. I didn't want to see you hurt and here we are," she explains. "You're watching the girl that you say broke your heart and trust like a hawk while nursing a glass of whiskey with your ex."
The music ending shifts my attention back to Genesis. She frees herself from the hoop. When she looks up, I watch her find me. Her eyes dart between Rayna and I as I plant a kiss good-bye on Rayna's forehead. Her jaw clenches and she looks away. Genesis walks off of the stage.
"Call me anytime you need to chat, okay?" Rayna insists. "I'll hang out at the nightclub for a while, if you need a ride home. You've had a lot to drink tonight."
"Okay," I nod but the remember I forgot something extremely important. "Actually, I have something to talk to you about in the office."
"Oh, okay," she says. I take her hand in mine, leading her down the hall.
~ 🦋 ~
I'm in the middle of offering Rayna a job as a chair in Monarch's committee when both, Chris and Thomas, barge through my office door. Rayna and I are both startled by the loud bang as the door clashes against the wall. Their mannerisms and body language tell me they've run here. Chris tries to catch his breath. Thomas makes the first move.
"Sir, we've got a problem." he says.
What is it?" I ask.
"It's Genesis, sir," Chris replies.
My heart plummets to the floor.. I immediately stand from my seat, thinking the worst. "What's happened?"
"You're not going to like it," Thomas says.
"Will you excuse me? I must take care of this," I tell Rayna.
She nods. "Of course. I have to leave but I will think about your proposition."
"Great," I say, before following Thomas and Chris out of the office.
My mind reels with scenarios. Genesis with a broken bone after a performance. Genesis... Genesis... Genesis. But never would I have foreseen the scene I find myself walking into. The girl I loved merely a day ago was now with another man. A man I had seen her with before. The man she had taken keen to when trying to catch my sights a year ago.
"Genesis!" My voice booms louder than I intended.
She comes down from the euphoria she must be feeling. The face of getting caught with another man if just as upsetting as the heartbroken look she'd given me earlier in the office. It wasn't as upsetting as finding her in the middle of a threesome with her ex-lover. Her eyes are as wide as saucers. She looks like she's been caught red-handed.
"Let's go. I'm taking you home," I try to calm myself down, clenching my fists beside me.
Her eyes suddenly blaze with defiance as if remembering everything what's happened in the past twenty-four hours. Remembering the defiance of that other night I had seeked her out and fůcked her on the floor. Even if she broke my heart, I still love her. The pain of finding her here - like this - pains me deeply.
"No. I think I'll stay right here, Sir," she says, adding lighter to the fire. She gasps as Liam's hands travel higher against her thighs. Genesis deliberately sways her hips in that way she knows how. In that way I was well acquainted with.
"Don't make me go over there," I warn her.
"Then don't," she moans as she orgasms on another man's face.
"Genesis," I say her name one more time in warning. I am itching to throw her over my shoulder and spank her ass until it's burning red to match the lingerie set she wears.
Genesis rolls her eyes at me. Swiftly removing herself from Liam, her panties fall back onto their place. I finally feel like the weight on my shoulders is fading. Rolling her eyes one more time, she sarcastically calls Liam Daddy and I Master. He has the audacity to play along with her.
Yet they haven't finished slapping me on the face.
Leaning forward over him, Genesis licks Liam's lips. Infusing their mouths together they share her orgasm. Goosebumps spread across my body, feeling the anger rise again. I'm about to move forward to grab her when she stands up straight and faces me.
"Let's go," I force myself to motion her towards the dressing room.
She walks in front of me. I watch as her hands twitch, her breathing changes, anticipating my touch. It won't happen. I won't touch her. Thomas and Chris told me she had liquor tonight. Her feelings may be heightened. Suspense is one of the brain's fears. It is her punishment.
Arriving at the dressing room, I open the door to let her in. She stands in the middle of the room, waiting for whatever may happen next. I gently remove the black lace mask from her face. Settling it down the vanity behind her, I move away to grab her dress. The same black one she'd worn to the office today. It had looked fucking delicious on her body. I had a terrible urge to throw on onto my desk and ravish her.
As I do now.
Genesis closes her eyes as I help her dress. I watch her for a few seconds debating whether or not I should remove the wig on her head. She finally opens her eyes. Lifting her hand, her fingers gently graze my cheek against the stubble.
"Why are you mad?" her voice is soft. Dubious to ask.
"You let another man touch you," I sneer, forgetting all about the wig.
Genesis scoffs and offers me a smile. She sways, reaching out for the dresser for balance. I step to her steady but she raises her palm stopping me. Genesis looks at herself in the mirror, blinking away any tears she had in her eyes. She takes a deep breath.
"What did they give you?" I worry that the drinks she had have taken a toll on her system.
"That's none of your business. You no longer love me..."
Her snap makes me wince. She's twisting and throwing my words back at me. She moves away from me going for her coat and purse. Without sparing me a second glance, she storms towards the door. I follow her out. She walks aimlessly until she finds the entrance of the building itself. I barely make it to her when I watch a car coming towards her. The panic - the fear - I feel as I watch this scene almost makes my heart stop.
I cradle her in my arms as the car storms off, honking. Collapsing our foreheads together, I take her in. This may be the last time I get to hold her in my arms. I may never see her again. Genesis cries against me, clenching my dress shirt in her fists. She pulls aways.
Looking at me in the eyes with her sad ones, she says what I feared the most: "Good-bye, Matthew."
And she walks away.
Fück that hurts.
Tears fill my eyes. It does not bother me to spill them. I am a man who's heartbroken.
~ 🦋 ~
"How sure are you of this?" Rayna asks me. "I mean, she just left?"
"Have you been listening to anything I said?" I slur. I think I drank too much these past two days.
"Matthew, I just..." she trails off. "I've never seen you like this. Not even with Marie."
She pours the copper-coloured coffee into one of my black mugs. She makes it just like I like my coffee. Rayna then placed the mug in front of me.
"Drink up, buttercup," she teases.
I laugh at the nickname she gave me years ago. She said she gave it to me because she thought I was a sweet guy. It was the reason why she'd become my best friend. It was the reason why we had tried to be a couple but it never genuinely worked. While we were allegedly dating in public, we were open to meeting other people in private. She expressed her anger when she learned about Genesis because she worried I would be heartbroken just as she had told me the other night.
"Thank you," I say. "I love you."
"I love you too." As she looks out the glass wall behind me, her grin slowly fades. Furrowing her eyebrows she expressed confusion. "Is that Genesis?"
"What?" I turn to the window.
Sure enough.
Genesis is standing outside in the pouring rain in a white dress. She looks like she's debating getting closer - to knock on the door. Thunder booms outside. She's unfazed as lightning flashes above. I abandon my coffee on the countertop and walk for the door. Genesis notices this once she lifts her attention from her cell phone. I don't bother with a jacket as I step out. Startled, she runs off to her car. I don't catch up.
Once again, she escapes from my hands.
I love Rayna😂 she's a gem