The Lies Between Us (The Devil's Dust #4)(34)

CHAPTER SIX


CHERRY


2 Years Later

The ceiling is spotted from where the roof has leaked over the last few years. My body beads with sweat from the unbearable heat as I lie on the bed and stare up at it. The small air conditioner placed in the window is not keeping up with the f*cking heat this summer. Lip put it in trying to cool the house down, but it ain’t working. I may just evaporate into a pool of sweat if I lie here long enough.

Lip was finally released from prison about a month ago, the club lawer finally got him off on self-defense and his extended time was taken off. But, things are not like they used to be. Not at all. He’s quiet, often looking at me when he doesn’t think I’ll notice, but as soon as I make eye contact, he looks away. He has this raw energy surrounding him, like something dark dwells within his chest and it might just rip through at any minute.

I thought he would paw me to death, f*ck me into oblivion as soon as he got out, but that was hardly the case. He hung out at the club for a few days, getting patched in for his honorable duties. He had to learn the ropes. After that, the club had a big returning home party. I was nervous Lip would cheat on me. The way things were going I wasn’t sure where we stood. Instead, he came home drunk and screwed me on the couch. I didn’t realize how much I truly missed him until he was inside me. Him coming home after the party tucked all my insecurities away. His hands claiming me, and his hot breath whispering in my ear about how much he missed me almost put all the broken pieces of my heart back together. Almost. Things still aren’t right between us. He’s not the guy I remember. We are not how I remember.

“Heading to the club. Don’t wait up,” Lip states, striding through the bedroom. I sit up on my elbows and cock an eyebrow. His hair is wet and messy and my hands ache to tug on it. His arms bulge through his sleeveless black leather cut, revealing all of his tattoos and their vibrant color. My eyes sway down to his tight jeans that sculpt that sexy ass of his. His butt is fine, but not fine enough for me to forget him not coming home tonight—again.

“Don’t wait up? What’s that supposed to mean? What the f*ck are you doing?” My face twists with anger. Lip has been a recluse since he’s been out of prison. He rides alone, watches TV alone. He’s … alone. I’ve been alone without him the last six years and want nothing more than to play catch-up, but he has different ideas.

He sits at the end of the bed and shoves his foot into his dirty boot. Turning his head, he eyes me with those drop-dead-sexy brown eyes. “Exactly what I said—I won’t be here.” His voice is deep and rugged, something I definitely missed hearing every day while he was locked up.

I roll my eyes and swing my legs over the bed to get up.

“Seriously? You’ve been gone a lot lately,” I cross my arms and pop my hip out. “I wish you would talk to me, Lip. Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.” I step up to him and run my hands through his wet hair from the shower. He’s hiding something; I can feel it in my chest.

Lip shakes his head from my grip and pulls on his last boot. “I ain’t got time for this shit this morning.” My eyes widen with his tone of voice, and my heart sinks. He’s been losing his temper with me a lot lately—with anything, really. The other day, the kitchen drawer wouldn’t open so he yanked it open with anger, breaking the entire thing. I’ve never seen Lip react like that. I’m starting to feel like maybe what we had before isn’t what we have now. Maybe we’ve grown apart. I mean, we only knew each other for a short time before he was locked up, and we didn’t exactly have a lot of contact over the years.

He stands up, taller than me by six inches. Stepping up to me, he looks down at me. His dark brown eyes pierce right through me, and I hold my breath.

“Don’t be a pain in the ass today.” He leans down and smacks my forehead with a kiss, his lip ring cold against my sweaty skin.

I follow him out of the room, my hands on my hips. I have so many things on the tip of my tongue just ready to spew his way, but I can’t open my mouth. I feel like I don’t even know this man anymore.

“Later,” he tosses over his shoulder as he slams the front door.

My breathing quickens, my nostrils flaring to allow the harsh breathing to escape. In a fit of anger, I grab the picture of me and Lip that someone took of us when he first brought me to the club and throw it at the door. The glass on the frame shatters, and it splits in two before falling every which way. I’ve waited for his ass for six years. SIX FUCKING YEARS, and this is what I get when he comes back?

He won’t even tell me why he went to prison. Club rule. If it’s club business, it’s none of the ol’ ladies’ business, meaning none of my business. The time I spent with Lip before he went to prison, he was sweet and would spend every minute of the day he could with me. Most of those tangled in sheets, screwing my brains out, telling me how perfect I was. Sometimes it was as if it were too good to be true. But since he’s been out of prison… I haven’t seen that man. Prison changes people; that’s what I was told over and over by the girls at the club. I refused to believe it … until Lip got out. He went in a sensual man, but he came out something darker than the caverns of Hell. He’s not Lip. When I look in his eyes, I see secrets, I see … something unfamiliar.

I blow out an irritated breath and look at the clock.