He broke away from the kiss, and we stilled when a sound came from the next room. He shrugged and continued fucking me, grunting way too loudly. I shushed him, and he looked at me like I was insane.
He slowed his pace and said, “Do you think the walls have ears?”
“Ellie’s home.”
He shook his head, smiled at me like I was being ridiculous, then dug his fingers into my hips and sped up.
I reached up and pulled his head down. Before our lips met, I turned his head and licked his dimple. He drew back, his rhythm slowing again as he stared at me. He shook his head and smiled again. “Does that do it for you, baby?”
I bit down on my lip and nodded.
He grinned, then shrugged. “Whatever gets you there.”
Then he took off again. Fucking me into the bed. Fucking me out of my mind. I came with Xander’s hand pressed over my mouth to muffle my shouts as he shivered and spurted hot cum into my pussy. How he managed to come so silently, I’d never know.
~*~*~
I walked into my office on cloud nine. Xander had fallen asleep in my bed after our fuck session, so I took a shower and rushed to work. My first appointment was with Ian, and when he walked in, I floated down from my cloud. He looked stressed, anxious, but weirdly, there was a hint of excitement in his voice when he said, “We need to talk.”
“Okay, sit down.” I gestured at the chair, but he shook his head.
“All right… do you mind if I sit?” I motioned to my chair.
“I think you should.” I sat in my favorite wingback and leaned back as Ian began pacing, which I noticed was a nervous habit of his. He’d done it quite a few times since he started coming to my office.
“What’s on your mind today, Ian?” He stopped his frantic movements, put his hands at his hips, and stared at me.
“We’re sort of friends, right? I mean, I tell you my secrets and I talk to you more than anyone in my life.”
“Where are you going with this, Ian?” I narrowed my gaze, hoping he wasn’t trying to declare there was anything but a doctor-patient relationship between us.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, but you deserve to know.” He met my gaze.
Why so cryptic? “Ian…”
He took a deep breath, then said, “Xander’s lying to you.”
I snorted. Not this shit again. “Ian, we’ve talked about this. My relationship with Xander holds no bearing to our sessions.”
“Not even if he killed your parents?” he blurted out.
My eyebrows furrowed and I narrowed my gaze as Ian watched for my reaction. “What are you talking about? A drunk driver killed my parents, and she died too.”
He stepped forward. “Do you know her name?”
I shook my head, placed my notepad on the table, and stood. “I don’t remember her name. I was young and heartbroken when I read the details. I haven’t thought about it in years.”
What is Ian trying to do?
I couldn’t understand where all this was going and how it benefited him to make this up. He stepped closer to me, reached out, placed his hands on my arms, and looked me in the eye.
“Her name was Jessica Rowling-Pierce.”
Our gazes locked and I tried to find some flicker of deceit in his eyes but couldn’t. I rose from my seat, walked back to my desk, and powered up my laptop. Ian had followed close behind me. As I waited for the search I typed in to come up, my eyes kept colliding with his unwavering stare.
The old news headline appeared, and the pressure I felt in my chest was unreal. The implication of Jessica being the driver gave Ian’s story validity. As I scanned the short column about my parents’ death, the only thing that stuck out to me was the name I hadn’t wanted to find in it.
Jessica Rowling-Pierce.
“She wasn’t the driver, Avery. My dad made it seem like she was so Xander wouldn’t have to face what he’d done.”
That went with what Xander had told me, but he never gave me the impression that our tragedies were so closely entwined. I fell back into my chair and covered my mouth with both hands as my eyes began to sting. I shook it off and asked, “Why are you telling me this now?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I swear to you, Avery, I didn’t know they were your parents.”
“How’d you find out? Does Xander know?” I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him anxiously.
He nodded. “I overheard Xander and Mom talking last week at the manor. Xander had just found out he’d… that he was responsible, and Mom knew all along.”
I braced my forearms on my thighs and hung my head. I needed a moment to take it all in. I needed a moment to compose myself, because I’d gone from floating high half an hour ago to plunging at full speed into the cold concrete. I looked up and Ian was watching me.
“Are you sure he knew? Because if you’re making this shit up to—”
“I’m not. I heard them talking.” He held up his hands and shook his head.
Turns out the walls do have ears after all.
He stood there watching me as I stared at the wall.
“What are you going to do?”
What kind of question is that? I couldn’t even come to grips with all the emotions I felt.
Ian had just turned my world upside down, and now he was asking me how I was going to put it back together. I shook my head.“I don’t know, Ian. Since you had a few days to mull it over, maybe you can tell me?”
“Don’t do that, Avery. It was only a week. I wasn’t trying to keep this from you. Xander’s the asshole, and you can’t let him get away with this. He should pay.”
I rolled my eyes and hung my head again. I wasn’t interested in getting in the middle of their melodrama. I wanted to know how to handle the man I loved—left in my bed this morning—betraying me. Lying to me.
“We could take this to the press. It would ruin his career.”
I tilted my head up slightly and threw him an annoyed look. “You can’t be serious.”
“What?” He looked at me like we were supposed to be co-conspirators in a plan against Xander and I’d just turned down his golden plot for revenge. “Everything’s been handed to him, and he never pays for his wrongs. It’s not fair what he did to you. What he did to Jessica.”
I stood and crossed my arms. “And you think it would be fair to have my parents’ death dredged back up and dragged through entertainment news?” I took a step around my desk and faced him.“Do you think it would be fair to me when the media figured out the same woman photographed on the red carpet with Xander was the daughter of the couple hekilled?” My hands shook and my head pounded from all the effort I was making not to cry.
“I’m sorry, Avery.” He reached out for me, but I walked away.
“If you came here to help me, great. But if you came here to get your ultimate revenge on Xander, then fuck off.” I sat behind my desk because I needed the distance. If Ian thought I wanted to handle this his way, he was way off.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I know this has to be rough for you, and I was trying to help. I apologize.”
I nodded.
“Do you want me to go?”
Affirmative.
I nodded again, and he was out the door as a blur passed in front of my eyes.
Fucking tears.
Lie To Me
Avery
I pulled into the driveway just as Ellie walked up the steps and opened the door. She stood in the doorway, waiting for me, but I wasn’t interested in small talk. I needed to find Xander, look him in the eye, and see if he’d lie to my face.
Ellie frowned as I strolled past her with purpose. I heard her shut the door but didn’t look back. Xander was in my kitchen. He looked up, surprised to see me back so soon.