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On the screen was a photo of Ryla sitting on kitchen counter of her parent's house, her legs wrapped around another man. Another man who just so happened to be Nathan. It was a recent photo too, I remembered. It was the night at the bar, Ryla was wearing the same outfit, and she wouldn't be caught dead wearing the same thing twice.
My best friend hooked up with my ex— probably did more than that too, and God knows for how long it had been going on for.
I bet Mae had been keeping this from me as well, for what reason? I didn't know. I didn't know anything apparently. I didn't know my best friends of six years enough to know that they were stabbing me in the back. I didn't know my boyfriend of two years enough to know he was cheating on me. And I didn't know what the fuck I did wrong for everyone to screw me over so badly.
I stared at my phone in complete disbelief, my eyes cold of betrayal. My breathing shook unnaturally, and my mind was consumed with all kinds of different emotions. I felt Dominic's eyes freeze on me.
"What's wrong?" He asked, stealing a glance at my screen.
"It doesn't concern you." I responded defensively, looking out the window, staring out into the city, not meeting his eye. The sun was warm and bright, causing colours of pale yellow to ray through the window.
Dominic took my phone from out of my lap, all he had to do was swipe up to unlock it since I left it unlocked. "What the hell?" I asked annoyed, but not stopping him. I would rather him see than have to explain.
Dominic was already looking at the picture and I watched as he scanned the image, taking in every last detail of the two strangers hooking up.
He kept his hand steady on the wheel of the car as he handed me back my phone. "Who's the guy?" He asked, our fingers brushing once I took back the device.
"My ex," I replied plainly.
"Him?" He half laughed.
My voice nearly inaudible, "Yeah."
"And the girl?"
"My best friend." I barely managed to say. The situation still hadn't fully sunk in, and to admit it out loud made me want to break a window.
Dominic nodded slightly, not looking my way. "Tough."
Trying my best to take my mind off of the image of Ryla and Nathan, I breathed out, continuing to stare out the window. But no matter the amount of time that passed while Dominic drove us to the house, I couldn't stop.
"Can you pull over?" I stumbled over my words without thinking. Dominic did just as I asked, without question, pulling over by the sidewalk in the city.
"You told me you'd do anything that I wanted to be done to me."
"Anything you want, Red."
"Can you.." The words lingered on my tongue, hesitating as I second guessed what I was about to ask for. Swallowing hard, I finished my sentence. "Can you mark me?"
I don't know what had come over me. Never in my life would I have asked for something like this, for something so intimate just to get back at people who screwed me over, but I wasn't thinking straight and I needed any kind of escape.
Dominic turned towards me, the side of his temples leaning against the headrest. "You want me to mark you to get back at your shitty ex-boyfriend?"
"Yeah, and then I'd like you to drive me to his house so I can yell the shit out of him."
His eyes looked deeper than I remembered, maybe even softer; not softer in a pitying way, but in an almost craving way. "Don't give me that look." I shook my head.
His lips curved upwards into something close to a smile, and his adam's apple bobbed up and down. He held his tongue between his teeth, contemplating his decision. "Come here." He nodded, facing forwards now.
I took a deep breath before shifting myself from the passenger seat to Dominic's lap, placing my knees on either side of his legs. The smell of his strong cologne filled the air between us as I sat on top of him, placing my hands on his shoulders.
"I told you you'd end up in my lap again," he teased, sliding his hands just below the hem of my sweater, not daring to touch the skin underneath. The tension was unbearable, and I found myself staring at him.
"You're wearing too many clothes," he muttered, his breath warm against the skin of my neck. It was true, the neckline of my sweater didn't expose enough skin for the right access.
I knew I should've worn a shirt under the fucking sweater.
I hesitantly tugged the thick material over me, slowly exposing the upper half of my body. My hair fell back to my shoulders as I was left sitting on top of Dominic in a black bra.
He removed one of his hands from my waist, brushing the loose strands of hair behind my shoulders, his fingers grazing the delicate skin of my neck in the process. The amount of silence and anticipation was driving me insane.
His hands moved around the small of my back, taking me by surprise when he pressed me closer against him, my pelvis firm against his lower abdomen. I gasped at the closeness between us, our bodies flushed together.
My chest rose and fell heavily. With every breath I yearned for his touch, to feel him on my skin, on my neck. "Are you sure?" He asked me, the light touch of his fingertips traced the waistband of my skirt.
I nodded. "I know what I want, Dominic."
"I know you do."
Hesitantly, he traced the outline of my jaw with his thumb, sliding over every curve. Leisurely, he lifted my chin up, his touch delicate and smooth. Giving him access to my throat now, he pressed his lips to the middle of my neck. His mouth was warm, sucking on the skin.
I sucked in a breath at the feeling, biting back a moan. I was holding my breath, trying everything in my power to hide all of the pleasure that I was feeling while Dominic's mouth worked on my neck.
My hands rested on his shoulders, steady and trying not to grip onto him too hard. I felt him smile against my skin while he moved his lips over to the sensitive line of my jaw, the contact making my jolt. His hands were still firm on my waist, his thumbs rubbing slow circles onto my skin.
Then his hands moved upwards, leisurely trailing up my back until one of them cupped the back of my head, his fingers intertwining with my hair, the other grazing over the clasp of my bra.
I itched to feel something more, something deeper, even though this was all that I asked for. I realized how sexually deprived I'd been, I hadn't felt this needy for a while.
Maybe it had something to do with the most good looking man I'd ever seen who was marking me.
His mouth continued to work on my neck, and he must have made at least seven hickeys. They were all generously spaced out along my neck and collar bone, marking that he was there, that Dominic was printed onto my body.
"Are you sure you aren't still attracted to me?" He whispered into my ear, his breath warm, hands roaming up my stomach, stopping at my bra. Gently, they wrapped around my sides, and his thumbs caressed the skin under my breasts. "Tell me, if I went to touch you now, that I wouldn't find you soaking wet for me."
My heart skipped a beat at his words, because they were true. He was bold alright. However, I liked bold. I could feel my arousal in my core, and I fucking needed to be touched, but not now, not here.
Grabbing my sweater from the other seat, I laughed softly, faking it. "If I was attracted to you, I would be taking more of my clothes off, not putting them back on." I slipped my sweater back over my head, not breaking eye contact with Dominic.
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Dominic parked in front of the address I gave him, and I began to slip off the wedding ring from off of my ring finger. It was my first time taking it off, and to be honest, I didn't really want to, but I couldn't wear it around Nathan.
I unbuckled my seat belt, but I didn't get out. Instead, I braced myself for the chaos that would most likely unfold as soon as I stepped into his ratty little home. Before I stepped out of the car, I asked. "Why did you laugh when I told you that guy was my ex?"
The question had been picking my mind, and I couldn't quite shake why.
Dominic shrugged. "He doesn't seem like your type."
"And what do you know about my type?"
He picked up my ring, holding it in between in his fingers. It was almost like he was examining it, as if he didn't buy it for me himself. "Well I know that you can do better than him." He said, not meeting my eye.
The shiny object looked so small in his hands as I watched his eyes linger on the inner band. "Why do you think that?" I asked.
He glanced to me, finally, looking me up and down slowly. "Don't make me say it, Red."
He either just tried to refer to me as pretty, or I was delusional. Probably delusional.
With a deep breath I stepped out of the car, making my way up the small steps. I loudly knocked at the door to Nathan's rental house, in which he lived with three other guys. I had been only been over a few times during the length of our relationship, living with that many other people didn't necessarily give us all of the privacy that we wanted.
When no one was there to answer the door, I knocked again, louder this time. I was growing with impatience. If Nathan didn't open the door, what happened in the car with Dominic would have been for nothing. I only asked for that so that Nathan could see that I didn't really care for him anymore, and that I was starting to move on.
I was about to knock for the second time when the door was finally pulled open by a disheveled looking Nathan. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw me standing there, his lips parting to form my name in question, "Violet? What are you doing here?"
My breath caught at the sight of him, a mixture of emotions bubbling up within me. His voice tugged at a string of memories, each one a fragment of our history together.
I wanted to beat him with a bat.
Violence is bad, Violet.
Looking back at the car, I knew Dominic was watching my every move. Even though I couldn't see him, I could feel his eyes staring at me. I turned my attention back to Nathan, my voice steady, "Inside."
Nathan's brow furrowed as I tried to brush past him, then he placed an arm in between the door way, stopping me from entering. "Who's in the car?" he pressed, his gaze flickering over my shoulder.
"Get inside." I said sternly, shoving him as hard as I could, and he stumbled back into the house. I wanted to throw up after touching him.
Slamming the door behind us, I made my way into the living room, positioning myself in front of the large window so that Dominic could see if anything happened to me in there.
"When did you get so aggressive?" Nathan groaned
"I don't know, when did you start hooking up my best friend?"
He sighed, sitting down onto his couch. "She told you?"
"Stand the fuck up and answer me, or so help me I will find out in a way you'll like a whole lot less." I threatened. Honestly, I was relying on Dominic for that threat. I knew he'd be able to shake the information out of him.
Rolling his eyes, he stood back up from the chair, just as I demanded him too. Little bitch. "Four months." He said, and my heart skipped a beat.
"Oh my god."
"It was.. it was only sex, Violet."
"Only—?" I cut myself off, my voice straining in disbelief.
The man laughed at me, as if I was insane. "Don't act like you were the perfect girlfriend either."
My eyes grew wide. I was nothing but perfect, I didn't do a single thing to hurt him, and I didn't understand how he could ever even suggest that. The worst thing I had ever done to him was leaving him waiting to pick me up for a solid 10 minutes, him cheating on me wasn't comparable. "I was perfect to the point where cheating on you never crossed my mind, let alone with your best friend."
"You and Ryla were hardly best friends, Violet. She told me you two were barely getting along."
I blinked. I had no idea what he was talking about. Before I found out that Nathan was cheating on me, we were fine.
Then the pieces fell into place. As soon as Nathan and I broke up is when she was suddenly started acting hostile towards me, she just wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible. And it was all for the pathetic 5'9 man who stood in front of me. I couldn't believe I actually dated him.
At least I got an upgrade.
"So it's not even that deep if you guys were barely friends." He added.
Someone hand me that bat, please.
"You're kidding." I looked at him dead in the eye, but his expression remained the same. "Oh, you're actually serious. Right, so if I were to fuck.. Peter for months, repeatedly, over and over, every single day. It wouldn't be that deep, correct?"
"It's not like that and you know it. Plus, it looks like you've kept busy without me." The hickeys on my neck were examined by Nathan as he spoke. Suddenly a wave of self consciousness washed over me, and I tugged on the neckline of my sweater.
"Here I was thinking that maybe you wanted me back."
I furrowed my eyebrows and laughed. "Your assumptions are about as accurate as your idea of a G-Spot."
The man looked nearly furious. It was amusing. "You're really out here criticizing our sex life?"
I scoffed, then laughed. I hated this man, hated him more than I hated Dominic when I first met him. "Consider it constructive criticism. You know, for when you fuck Ryla." I shrugged.
And then the unexpected happened. Nathan lunged at me. He fucking threw himself at me, and pinned me to the wall where Dominic couldn't see us anymore. "You use to love me."
And then the smell of alcohol in his breath was evident. Though I didn't see it before, there was an empty bottle of vodka on the coffee table. He had drank the whole thing.
"Let go of me." I yelled, struggling to free myself from his grip. His nails dug into my skin, and I was sure that it would leave scattered bruises. Tears started to swell in my eyes.
This was why I hated alcohol. It was like a potion that turned even the most decent people into agents of chaos, driving them to commit acts they'd never dream of otherwise. The aftermath, though, was always the same; no excuses could erase the consequences of their actions.
Maybe they didn't mean to do whatever it was that they did, but they did them regardless, and it was their fault.
The worst part of this whole situation was that I didn't know if Nathan would act any different if he were sober.
Somewhere deep inside me, I knew that this was how it would end.
This was the end of us.
"Nathan stop!" I screamed, hoping— begging that Dominic might hear me screaming from outside and come crashing into the house, but the door never moved.
Suddenly, I was the same eighteen year old girl from three years ago. The same one who had to beg a man to stop hurting her as he towered over her. The same vulnerable, helpless, terrified girl.
I knew that Nathan would regret what he did, someday, somewhere deep inside of him, but I didn't care. Even though his grip hurt like hell, I managed to pull myself together and deliver a hard kick to his balls. He crumpled, clutching his groin.
The man fell to the floor like a child.
"Maybe there was a time that I thought I loved you, Nathan. But that me is long gone, and if you were to drop dead on the floor right now," I whispered, dangerously quiet.
"I wouldn't fucking care."
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