Forever Mine (Roommate Duet 0.5)(26)

“I’m sorry,” is all I can muster. “I really am.”

Hayden clenches his jaw, and I know he’s pissed. I can’t blame him, of course. I hurt him so badly, that much is evident.

“I had always hoped you moved on and found someone amazing. I never knew, though, because I couldn’t bear the possibility of seeing you smiling with another woman. Though I would’ve deserved that pain.” I knew that. It’s why I didn’t like being on social media. Ignorance was bliss when it came to him.

I cover his hand with mine, and he jerks away as if my touch burns. A tear escapes and slides down my cheek. I royally fucked up. It’s why I never had the courage to tell him sooner or to clear the air. No amount of time can heal this kind of betrayal. I was his life, and he was mine.

After long moments of silent, our conversation is done. He’s done.

I slide off the barstool and walk away. Glancing over my shoulder one last time, he doesn’t move. Nothing I say can fix this or take back what I did to him. I don’t know how those days after the breakup were for him, but I knew he was hurt. I was hurting too.

I leave the bar and head to the elevator. There’s nothing more to say.

Once I’m inside my room, I slip off my shoes and try to keep more tears from falling. Hayden Manning was my first love, my first everything, and I broke him.

Just when I’m about to undress and get into the shower, a knock sounds on my door. First, I’m confused, worried it’ll be Veronica again or something, but when I look in the peephole and find Hayden standing there with his hands on either side of the door and his head bowed, I’m stunned. My body shivers as soon as he lifts his head, and I see the look in his eyes.

Pain. Lust. Anger.

All of the above.

Slowly, I open the door and wait with my heart in my throat for him to speak.

Hayden pushes off the doorframe and lunges for me. Cupping my face, he crashes his mouth to mine, pushing into me. I walk backward until we’re all the way in the room, and the door shuts with a loud slam. We move together until the back of my knees hit the bed.

Sliding his tongue between my lips, he captures the moan that releases from my throat. Hayden’s kisses are desperate pleas not to let him go. He devours me, animalistic grunts vibrating against my mouth. The hunger, eagerness, desire—I feel it all.

“Hayden,” I whisper as he kisses my jaw and licks up to my ear. “Don’t stop.”

“Fuck no,” he growls. “Not this time. Not ever.”

He strips me out of my clothes, and I do the same to him. Our movements aren’t calculated, but clumsy and hurried. Hayden lifts me, and I curl my legs around his waist as we fall to the bed. His cock is hard as steel between us, and I don’t want to wait another second to feel him inside me.

Hayden lifts up slightly, my legs widening for him as he licks a finger before rubbing it along my wet slit. The pressure alone has my back leaping off the bed, my hips arching for more. The pad of his thumb circles my clit, the heels of my feet digging into his back.

“I can’t wait anymore, Sav. I want to kiss every inch of you.” His voice rough and gravelly. Deep brown eyes pierce mine as he silently asks for permission.

“I want you, Hayden,” I tell him confidently. “Please.”

With our bodies aligned, the tip of his cock rubs my slick pussy before he slides into me.

“Christ, Sav,” he mutters, and my eyes roll to the back of my head.

“Hayden…” My voice is nothing more than a whisper escaping from my mouth. He feels so much bigger. He’s not the boy I remember. He’s all man. “God, yes.”

He towers over me, wrapping a hand around my neck and pulling me up to meet his lips.

“Fuck. You have any idea how much you ruined me?” He pulls back slightly, then thrusts hard back inside me. My eyes widen in shock at his angry motions. “Wanna know how long it took for me to be inside another woman after you destroyed me? How long it was before I slept with someone else?”

I swallow, my chest rising and falling rapidly. “No,” I beg. I didn’t wanna hear it. I couldn’t bear to even think about him with another woman.

He adds pressure around my neck, his thumb under my chin to keep our gazes locked.

“Three fucking years, Savannah. That’s how long. Three long years, and I was still hung up on you. Only God knows why because I hated you as much as I loved you.” His words come out cruel and harsh, and I wish he’d stop. He’s angry, so angry.

“Please, Hayden,” I cry because I caused him so much fucking grief.

He softens his hold just enough so I can take a deep breath. Grabbing my thigh, he bends my leg so my ankle rests over his shoulder, making him go impossibly deeper. I release a loud moan, unable to control myself as he pounds harder into me, showing me exactly how hurt he is, and I want it, all of it.

“And when that relationship inevitably burned to the ground, I never wanted anything serious again. It wasn’t even her that was the issue. I was still in love with someone who couldn’t love me back.”

“Hayden, this isn’t fair,” I plead. His words hurt, and I know he wants them too, but I already hate myself for what I did to him.

“You’ve got that fucking right, Sav. It’s been ten years. But I haven’t stopped loving you for one second. No matter what I do, who I dated, what I tried telling myself—it all brought me back to you.”