Always Yours (25 page)

"Relax, Cara, I'm not breaking the law." He laughed. "Someone owes me a favor. We're allowed to be here. Just trust me." He softly rubbed my arm, reassuring me everything was good and I felt silly for even questioning him.

Once inside, we walked down three different dimly lit hallways before emerging in the large lobby of the aquarium. This was one of the few places I had never visited growing up and I was becoming really excited about the possibility of getting to look around.

Nolan led me to an escalator. At the top there was a young man in a uniform at the entrance to the exhibits. He nodded his head at Nolan and opened the door. "Welcome to the Denver Aquarium, I hope you enjoy your private viewing experience." My eyes widened and I gripped Nolan's hand tighter with anticipation.

We walked through the doors and I was instantly greeted by a wall of humidity. The smell of fresh streams and the outdoors filled my senses as we began our journey.

"Are you freaking kidding me, Nolan?" I squealed, looking around at all the fish. "Do we really have the whole place to ourselves?"

"We sure do, beautiful," he replied, twirling me around. He pulled me to him so we were face to face; his large hands gripped my waist as he looked at me. "Are you impressed?"

"You did well, Mr. Brooks." I giggled and he lightly kissed my forehead.

"Shall we continue then?" I shook my head in disbelief and we headed further into the exhibit.

The rest of the night felt like we were staring in a romantic comedy. Nolan was a little kid at heart. He wasn't scared of being himself and his goofy, playful personality melted my heart.

Even as we were standing in the shark exhibit, watching the mysterious creatures swim above our heads, he couldn't help but be...Nolan. I laughed uncontrollably, watching while he made absurd faces and hummed the theme from "Jaws" at the sharks swimming by.

"You are such a dork," I chuckled while I shook my head at him.

He looked over at me, tilting his head slowly. His eyes grew wide and his mouth snarled into a teeth baring growl as he slowly began stalking towards me. "Duh nuh...duh nuh..." he sang, moving closer, crouching down like he was about to charge. "Duh nuh...duh nuh...duh nuh..." His speed picked up and he lunged at me. I screamed while he grabbed me by the waist and pushed me up against the glass. Burying his face in my neck, goose bumps broke out all over my body as he pretended to gnaw on me.

Time began to slow down, everything spinning out of focus like I was on a merry-go-round. I don't know if Nolan felt it as well but at the same moment, he nuzzled into my face, the rough stubble on his jaw grazing my skin sensually. Our breathing picked up as the heat between us grew. Bringing his hand up he cupped my cheek, his eyes flitting down to connect with mine. He leaned in, his mouth parted slightly, and our lips met softly, moving in unison together.

Running my fingers through his hair I pulled him closer and he took the hint, deepening the kiss. For the first time in weeks my whole body felt alive, my heart pumping wildly as he dipped his hands below my waist, grabbing my hips and forcing our bodies closer. Every part of my body was screaming at me. I could feel the familiar ache between my legs starting to grow, forcing me to moan faintly into his mouth. He pulled back slowly, resting his head on mine, leaving me quivering for more.

"We can't do this here," he whispered breathlessly. "I want you, Cara. I've wanted you for as long as I can remember but I won't do it like this. I want it to be special."

"I don't care where we are, Nolan," I admitted. "If you want it to be special make it happen."

"Then let's get the hell out of here." He picked me up in his arms and carried me out of the aquarium.

I couldn't believe how fast I was falling for Nolan. Maybe knowing him for all those years was making it easier, maybe it was how easy he was to talk to or how he always knew exactly what to say to make me weak in the knees. Whatever it was, it scared me and for once it wasn't because of my past—it was because of Cam.

For years I used women as a distraction—a way to keep my head clear of Amber—it didn't work. Two months with Cara in my life and Amber becomes the distraction—it's still not working. I had come full circle.

Waking up with Amber in my bed that morning was terrifying. I fucking hated myself for doing the unthinkable—but as bad as it was, it helped me. She was the diversion I needed and that's why I didn't kick her out of my bed.

Things with Amber were straightforward. She knew all I wanted from her was sex and she was more than willing to accommodate that need. I didn't have to deal with a relationship. She was at my beck and call whenever I wanted, which was almost every night. Sometimes we would go out to dinner or go see a movie, but mainly we fucked.

Last week when she asked me to go to dinner with her father I didn't even hesitate. I knew I would get laid afterward so my mind instinctually said yes—what a mistake that was. Amber got clingy after that. She wanted to talk more, hang out more and she actually started refusing me sex. She started digging into my personal life, asking me things about Cara and my relationship. She wanted to share everything like your typical female does.

Nevertheless, she was still a distraction. Her whiny, high maintenance, complaining ass kept my mind off Cara and that's all that mattered to me. Plus, trying to get rid of her now would be like trying to bath a cat—her claws were dug in and she wasn't going anywhere.

Somehow she even convinced me to take her to Blake's Fourth of July party. I didn't know if showing up unannounced was a good idea, seeing how I was supposed to be at work but I knew Blake wouldn't mind. I got my shift covered and getting drunk sounded way fucking better than working.

"Are you excited to introduce me to all your friends, baby?" she asked in her high-pitched voice as we made the drive over to Blake's.

"To no end," I mocked as I pulled into the neighborhood. Cars were already overflowing out of his street as people flocked to his house.

I parked the car and we both got out, Amber tripping all over the place in her white high heels.

"I told you not to wear those shoes, this is a block party not a club," I said, looking down at her feet.

She grabbed my arm to steady herself. "But they are so cute," she pouted. "And if you're lucky, later I'll keep them on while you fuck me from behind."

That brought my dick to a standing position. One thing about Amber was, she liked it whenever, however, and the dirtier the better. "Damn straight you will. You'll be doing more than just fucking me for dragging me out here tonight," I said, slapping her ass.

"They're your friends, why are you acting like it's such a bother?" she asked as we started walking up Blake's driveway.

I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn't want to answer her. There was only one reason why I didn't want to come and her name was Cara. I had no clue if she was even going to be here but the thought of running into her made me sick. I wasn't ready yet.

Spotting Blake and Matt, I quickly introduced Amber to them to change the topic. While they were shaking hands I frantically looked around for Cara, but she was nowhere to be seen. My gaze landed on Tessa as she approached us. She and Blake had worked their shit out and I didn't know how I felt about it. I liked Tessa but right now her face was contorted into a look of disgust and she was staring straight at me like she wanted to hurt me.

Maybe coming tonight wasn't such a good idea
.

I could feel the tension between Amber and Tessa as I introduced them. There were all smiles but something was just off.

“Cam, baby, can you run along and get me a drink? Vodka and Cranberry—and don’t forget the ice,” Amber asked me. I looked around the group and they were all staring at me with wide eyes.

What the fuck was wrong with everyone?

Shrugging my shoulders I headed over to the garage.

I poured Amber her vodka and cranberry and then turned around to grab a beer out of the cooler when I saw Cara. I was rooted to the ground like a fucking tree. She was actually more stunning than I remembered. The white shorts she was wearing showed off her tan legs and the red sparkly top made her glow. I was drawn to her, and without willing them, my feet began to move towards her.

I was almost to her—almost close enough to reach out and touch her - when some fucking guy wrapped his arms around her waist. Time and movement stood still. I couldn't hear anything but the rushing of blood pulsing in my ears. The only thing I could see was the radiant, beaming smile on Cara's face.

"Blake, this is Nolan," I heard her say as the world slowly caught up to me.

The cocksucker?

All my anger and all my frustration exploded from my gut, causing me to release a low, depraved growl. Not wanting to catch Cara's eyes, I lowered my head and stomped back over to Amber. Handing the drink to her I snaked my arm around her waist and pulled her to me—I needed a distraction. She rose to the occasion as always, pushing up on her tiptoes, she started tongue fucking my mouth.

"Why is she here?" Amber asked as she watched Cara on the dance floor a few hours later.

"Because she's friends with Tess," I explained.

"I should go tell her what I really think of her," she grumbled. Amber had a hard time keeping her mouth shut. She always gave her two cents even if it wasn't asked for. I didn't need her making things with Cara worse than they already were.

"Just ignore her, alright?" I warned, taking another shot. This was my fifth of the night and I was starting to feel it. I just wanted to get drunk, make it through the night, and have Amber fuck Cara out of my head. The way Amber was glaring at Cara though, I had a feeling she had other plans.

I stood up to go get another drink. "I'm serious, Amber, keep your mouth shut and leave her alone."

She nodded her head as she stared at Cara, dismissing me with a wave of her hand.

I walked over to the garage to get another drink. I took another beer out of the cooler, popped the top and tipped the bottle to my mouth. In the corner of the garage, Blake and Tessa were talking to a very distraught Lexi. She was sitting on a bucket, holding ice to her knuckles while Tess rubbed consoling circles on her back.

The bullshit that was going down at this party was enough to give me a fucking stroke. Between Cara showing up with that cocksucker, Lexi punching Matt's girlfriend in the face, and having to keep Amber in check, it felt like I was on daytime television—the only thing missing was Maury and some DNA tests.

All this shit was a buzz killer and it was pissing me off. I poured myself another shot and slammed it down, trying to numb my head and silence the stage show that was surrounding me. It was working fine until I heard a shrill, bitchy voice echo through the night like one of those whistling fireworks. My pulse spiked when I turned towards the shrieking sound and saw people hovering in a circle around the dance floor. Closing my eyes, I let out a disgruntled sigh.

Fucking Amber.

Part of me wanted to leave. I didn't even want to be a part of whatever it was she was doing, but the other part of me knew whatever she was doing, she was doing it to Cara and that made my feet move. As I got closer and the crowd parted, I could see Cara and Amber, only a few inches apart, standing face to face.