Kiss and Break Up (Magnolia Cove, #1)(46)

Unsure of what to say, I drank a little more, then set my glass down. My fingers curled, and I met his eyes, confusion enfolding me like a tsunami when I tried to think of what to say or do. “I get that.”

I picked the glass back up, draining it. Slumping back against the seat, I exhaled slowly, my limbs and heart heavy. Where was Dash? I pictured him waiting for me at the party, if he was even going. Maybe he and his friends went to the skate park to drink and get high.

“Byron,” I said when I looked up and found his eyes on me. My breath hitched as he took my empty glass and set it with his on the small table before sliding close.

“Maybe we can talk later.” His hand rose, caressing my cheek with his fingers. “Maybe I just need to feel that you want this too.” Then he was kissing me, his body leaning into mine and forcing it backward over the seat. I could hardly feel the leather beneath my skin as he tugged my dress up to my hips with one hand and used the other to tug the straps down. It wouldn’t budge, and being old, the strap snapped as his tongue plundered my mouth.

“It’s about fucking time, Peggy Newland. Open those pretty thighs for me,” he rasped into my mouth.

His fingers found my panties, and I shut my eyes as cracks formed like fissures in my chest. I waited for the heat, for the electricity I’d felt with Dash, or even the flutters I’d encountered with Byron.

They never came. Perhaps that was for the best. You can’t get burned if you don’t ignite. Byron was good. Byron was safe. Byron wouldn’t destroy years of friendship.

It was nothing like it should’ve been. Nothing like I’d dreamed it’d be. Fear and despair warred to keep me chained beneath him as his fingers met my skin. Memories of Dash’s being there infiltrated, and all my fake reassurances folded like wet cards. I gasped, trying to pull away from his mouth. He rose over me, and I blinked, tingles clouding my bloodstream from the few drinks I’d had. Before I could talk, my panties were gone, and his fingers were between my legs.

For long moments, I became lost, a sheet of thawing ice as pleasure ignited. My eyes slammed closed, and my body turned to mush as he kissed and gently explored.

“God, you feel so good. Are you going to come?”

I could hardly swallow let alone answer as he tried to insert a finger and the pain, accompanied by the sound of his voice, sent me careening back into reality. His tongue plunged deep into my mouth as he removed his finger and rubbed me with it. “I can’t wait to be inside you.”

I thought I knew what feeling sick meant until that moment. Until I realized what was happening and what was going to happen.

I tried to tear my mouth from his. I tried to shut my legs and move my hand between us to pull his away. When that failed to get his attention, I sank my teeth into his lip, hard.

“Fuck,” Byron barked, and the coppery taste of blood filled my taste buds. I spat it out, narrowly avoiding his face.

He rolled off me to the floor. “Shit, Peggy. What the fuck?”

“Sorry, but I can’t,” I said, guilt stabbing at my eyes.

He hissed between clenched teeth, dabbing a finger at his lip. “You’re a savage.” I banged on the window, wanting out of the car. “You said you liked me.”

I laughed even as tears started falling down my cheeks. “I do, but I can’t do this right now. I’m too …” I sniffed, words evading me. “Confused.”

His eyes widened, and he scrambled over the floor to the seat. “Confused? Don’t just try to bail, talk to me.”

I sucked my lip, glancing down at his lap to where his pants were tented, but then forced my eyes away. “I don’t know how to explain it. Or if I should.” I tried to smile at him. “We’ve both been drinking, so maybe it should wait.”

“You were enjoying it, though,” he said, a tad too vehemently for my liking. “Where did I go wrong?”

Regret, I’d learned, was something that didn’t arrive slowly. It barreled in with the force of a thousand sharp knives to the gut and shredded everything inside.

Byron was my boyfriend, and I liked him. So why did I suddenly feel as though I could hurl at any moment? I didn’t know much when it came to being in a relationship, but I knew enough to know I shouldn’t feel like this. Like maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe I was in the wrong place with the wrong person.

Withholding a cringe, I shook my head and ignored the hand that tried to reach for me. “Just get the driver to pull over, please.”

Something banged on the windshield, and the limo came to a screeching stop. The door opened, and Willa gestured for me to climb out. Without looking at Byron, I hurried out to find Daphne putting her shoe back on.

“Did you throw that at my car?” I heard the driver ask.

I righted my dress, then tried to fix my hair as I wobbled a little on my feet. I wasn’t even wearing panties.

“You wouldn’t stop when I waved at you, so yeah, I did. And your fucking windshield wiper scratched it. They cost more than your weekly wage, asshole.”

The driver backed up, sensing from Daphne’s glare that she was going to play nasty if he tried to argue with her. He climbed back inside.

“Peggy, please. Just wait a damn minute,” Byron said, climbing out of the limo.

“What did he do?” Willa said, helping me stay steady as the blunt edge of the night’s events threatened to send me sitting on the hard ground.