Page 68 of Caging Liberty
More silence. I’m surprised she hasn’t slammed the door in my face.
“You don’t have to feel humiliated,” I say as gently as I can. “Sawyer doesn’t give a shit.”
She laughs dryly. “He thought it was hilarious.”
Yeah, he did.
“He thought myreactionto you was amusing. Neither of us expected you to be a porn star.”
Another poor choice of words. Her flinch is even more pronounced this time, and she points her gaze at the carpet. As an awkward tension forms between us, I finally start to pick up on what’s really wrong. She’s not horrified by the idea of sucking dick, she’s just embarrassed. But why? Because she was good at it?
That doesn’t make sense to me.
Regardless, she’s hurt. I can see it all over her face.
Guilt churns my stomach.
“I’m sorry.” I reach out and trail my fingertips down her arm. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re not my Prince Charming, remember? Don’t backtrack now.”
I look up at the ceiling, exhaling through my nose. “I didn’t mean that to say I don’t care about you. I do. I’m just getting a little tired of having to rescue you while getting nothing in return.”
“Like sex?”
“No, likeyou.”
Her eyes lift to meet mine as her brow furrows.
“I’m not asking you to fuck me. I just want your trust. I’m not trying to ruin your life here, and I want you to stop treating me as if everything I do is intended to be some affront to you.”
A tear leaks from her eye, and she quickly swipes it away.
I step up closer to her and put my hands on her arms. “If it wasn’t me today, it would’ve been Sawyer. You had to give himsomething, Lib.”
“Liberty,” she whispers, swatting another tear away. “And I know.”
“Liberty,” I parrot, although I know for certain she goes by Lib. I’m sure it’s a ‘my friends call me Lib’ thing.
Does that bother me? A little. But I get it.
“What an ironic name,” I tease in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“Not as ironic as yours.”
I laugh at that and caress her face, tipping her chin so she looks at me. Weight lifts from me when I spot a tiny smile that glows with amusement. My lips twitch in return.
“Are you okay?” I ask again, studying her features.
She rubs beneath her eyes, getting rid of the residual tears. “Sure, until I see Sawyer again.” She chuckles, but there’s little humor to it.
“I’ll tell him not to tease so much.”
“I’m sure that’ll do loads of good.”
I finger a lock of her hair and let the sarcasm go. She’s probably right. Sawyer can be … insensitive is a nice way of putting it.
I inhale deeply, breathing in her flowery scent. My cock stirs, and my skin heats. Already, I want her again. Being this close… It fucking does something to me.