That's a Promise (31 page)

I moved my hands down to his erection and rubbed it through his pants. He groaned and tilted his head back so it hit the wall. I loved watching him react to me. It made me want to do more to him. I carefully went to my knees in from of him, and unzipped his pants.

“We gotta go, Jo,” he said, when he looked down at me understanding what I intended to do to him. I just shrugged and continued to take him out of his boxers.

I looked up at him one more time before I wrapped my mouth around him. He let out a loud moan and closed his eyes. He was too big to fit all of him in my mouth, but I tried to get as much of him in as I could. I used my other hand to move up and down as I licked and sucked on him. I tried to hollow out my throat so I could take him deeper, and knew I succeeded when he started saying “oh my god.” His moans and breathing were all encouragement for me to continue. I could feel him throbbing in my mouth, and it made me suck him even harder. He tasted so good, clean and soft. I wanted him to come in my mouth, and he knew it, so he didn’t try to move me when he finally did. I felt his hot come in the back of my throat, and although slightly unpleasant, it didn’t matter because it was so sexy to have made him come.

“You’re so fucking sexy, Josie,” he said when I was done licking him clean. There were red lipstick marks all over his dick, but he didn’t care. He smiled at me and stood me up so he could kiss me. I let him do it briefly before I decided to brush my teeth again before I left. I loved him, but it only seemed appropriate to brush my teeth before going to a show and talking to a bunch of people.

We pulled up to Artspace, and I started getting excited again to see Seth’s work. I was so proud of him, and couldn’t wait to see him. When we walked in, we were directed to the portion of the gallery that was showcasing Seth’s work. Seth was standing there talking to a group of people, and I couldn’t help but smile. He was already getting recognition, if not for his work, then for his looks.

Blake and I walked towards him, and I immediately pulled him in for a hug. “I’m so proud of you Seth!” He kissed my forehead, and murmured a thank you. When I pulled out from his hug, I looked for Blake, and noticed that he was talking with Brandon. It seemed like they were having an intense conversation, so I decided to ask Seth to take me to see his work.

“Okay, Seth. Show me your masterpieces… I promise not to tell you if I hate them,” I said with a wink and smile. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked a little worried and glanced in the direction of Blake and Brandon before he grabbed my hand and took me to his pictures. It was right around the corner, and all of his black and white prints filled the wall.

At first I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. I knew it was entangled bodies, but I didn’t realize that I was looking at the intimate moments between Seth and me. I gasped when I recognized the pictures from our time together, smile dropping from my face immediately. My hand went to my mouth, and I could feel my heart racing.
Blake,
I thought.
Please don’t let there be any way for him to recognize me,
I pleaded with the universe. I knew that it was a longshot. Blake knew me. He would know.

The first picture was cropped so that the viewer could see Seth’s body over mine. My hair covered my breast and half of my face was covered by Seth’s profile since he was licking my neck. My hands were in Seth’s hair grabbing onto him while he kissed my neck.

The second picture was just a simple one that had my chest crushed against his. My breasts were flattened against his, and Seth’s tattoos showed in the picture, but there was no way to really know it was me.

The third picture had Seth back at my neck, but my hands were then on his shoulders. The viewer could tell that I was into the moment, because my grip was clearly needy.

The next picture had cropped the top half of my face, only showing the gasp I made from my orgasm. It showed Seth’s hand on my breast, and had him looking down at me while I came.

The fifth picture showed Seth’s back. The only parts of me that were seen were my hands clawing down his back, and my legs wrapped around him. It was an extremely sexy picture, and I couldn’t help but admire the beauty in it.

The sixth picture was another side shot, but it was when I had climbed on top of him. The viewer could tell that it was an intimate moment even though my hair covered my breast and profile, because we were both looking at each other intently. There was no way the viewer couldn’t tell it was Seth in this picture. His hands were gripping my hips while I had started to ride him. It was beautiful.

The next picture was equally sexy. It was the second orgasm I had. My hair cascaded down my back and my hands were clawing at Seth’s chest. His hands were splayed on my back. I don’t know how, but the angle of the picture was able to capture the corner of the view, so my hair and back showed, but my face was completely covered. The viewer could see very clearly the ecstasy that I felt in that moment.

The last picture was a side shot, and it was so intimate and beautiful that I almost teared up seeing it. Seth’s hands cupped my face, and looked so lost in me. Our skin glistened in the shot, and it added an extra compelling element to the piece. It was the moment that he came and told me he loved me. It was clear in the picture exactly what he felt.

There was one glaringly obvious focal point in a couple of the pictures that would give me away. I didn’t know if Seth did it on purpose, but I was extremely hurt that he would put such personal pictures on display for everyone to see. Especially where Blake could see. My anger boiled, and I didn’t know whether I should run to Blake and make sure that he didn’t come over to view the pictures, or if I should have it out with Seth in that moment.

I glared at Seth so hard, I thought I could kill him with that look.

“How could you?” I whispered harshly to him. He started to open his mouth to reply, but I didn’t want to hear it, and I needed to make sure Blake didn’t come over to the pictures. I had no doubt in my mind that he would know in an instant that it was me with Seth in those pictures. I turned abruptly to run over to him, but I was stopped by a human blockade.

Blake was already behind me, and his face was stony as he stared at each of the pictures. He was working his jaw, which was a clear indicator that he knew what he was looking at. He was looking at the girl he thought he loved having sex with another guy. And not only that, but he knew I lied to him multiple times, because it was with Seth, the person who was supposed to be my best friend.

He looked down on me, and I could see the hurt in his eyes. There was no way that he missed what was going on. I started to reach for him, but he turned away, and walked out of the building. I had just gotten him back six months ago, and then lost him again all because I decided that lying would be better than telling the truth. I knew I had to go after him, so I started to run as best as I could in the heels that I had decided to wear. Seth tried to grab my arm before I started running, but I swung back at him and glared.

“Get the fuck off of me Seth. This is all your fault,” I practically growled at him. He let go immediately, looking hurt and upset. I didn’t care, and I continued after Blake. I ran outside, and looked around the parking lot in search of him. He was leaning against his car, hands in his pocket, and head down.

I slowed when I saw him. I could feel the hurt radiating off him from the other side of the parking lot. He needed to understand that I never did it when we were together, so I pulled myself together and walked over to him like the strong woman I was.

“I keep trying to think that there has to be some way that it isn’t you in those pictures,” he said when he heard me walk up to him. He looked up and stared at me. Hurt, betrayal, and anger all displayed on his perfectly sculpted face. “But there’s no other way, is there, Josie?”

I shook my head. There was no denying that it was me in the picture.

“You had to wear my fucking ring, Josie? While you fucked some other guy? No… not some other fucking guy. Your best friend. The one you told me
repeatedly
, nothing was going on with,” he said, raising his voice with each word.

“Blake-,” I started, but was interrupted.

“Oh! And it didn’t just end there, you had to make a fucking scrapbook out of your endeavors! What the fuck, Josie!?” he said loudly.

“Blake! We weren’t together then! It was over the summer before school started,” I tried explaining. I walked closer to him, but he crossed his arms over his chest effectively closing me out of getting closer to him. “Just give me a minute to explain, okay?”

He looked at me for what felt like forever, before he nodded slightly and ducked his head.

“I told you how I didn’t talk for like a year after I was raped, right? Well, Seth helped bring me back out of that dark place. He’s always been there for me. The summer before I started school here, I asked him to take me to some parties so I could start getting more comfortable around people. One night he danced with me, and it was different. Something changed. I had this view of sex as something terrible, but in those few moments, I felt excited and good. I wanted more of it, so I asked him to give me more.

“I asked him to show me how it felt to be wanted and to have sex that isn’t terrible. So the rest of the summer, he did. I fell for him and was ready to tell him that my feelings had changed, but caught him getting head from some girl. I knew he didn’t feel the same way, and then he told me he thought we should stop before school started.  So, I got over it. We stayed friends, and then I met
you
.

“You became my life, Blake. Nothing about that was a lie. Seth and I always kept our thing a secret. Our parents didn’t even know. It was kind of an unspoken agreement that we didn’t talk about it to anyone. That’s why I never told you. And I really didn’t think there was anything going on with us. We were still best friends. I fell in love with you. What I felt and feel for you… there’s no comparison. When you didn’t fight for me and kept pushing me away, I was left heartbroken.” I sighed and leaned against the car, hanging my head.

“I was extremely depressed and lonely over the summer. A couple weeks before school, I knew there was one person who could take my mind off of the loneliness I felt. He’s my best friend, Blake. I would do anything for him, and he would do anything for me. I took advantage of that, and for two weeks I tried to forget. It didn’t really help, but in a way it did. You left me, Blake. I was alone, and Seth was there for me. I’m sorry I lied to you, but I didn’t want the fact that I had slept with someone else to ruin whatever chance I had of reconciliation with you.”

I was a little winded after telling him my reasons, and also felt a little dejected. He still hadn’t looked up at me, and I was starting to lose hope in my defense. When he finally lifted his head, the first thing I noticed was that his anger was gone. Unfortunately, I could see disappointment in his features, and that stabbed my heart a little more. I heard him sigh once, and then drop his arms.

“I just need some time to think, okay? I’m not leaving you, or trying to push you away, Jo, but I need some time to think about all of this. You lied to me. Since I met you, you’ve lied to me. I need to think.” I nodded, understanding that he needed to think. I didn’t want him to take time, but I could understand and respect it.

“Okay, Blake. Just… please know that I love you. And I’m so so sorry,” I said softly into the night. Blake came to me and pulled me in for a quick hug. He kissed the top of my head lightly. It may have been the simplest touch, but it made me fall even more in love with him. He wasn’t letting me go yet.

“I’ll take you back, if you want?” I knew he needed space, so I knew he was only asking to be a gentleman.

“I’ll get a ride with Brooke and Brandon,” I said. He nodded, and got in his car to leave. I stood there for five minutes before I walked back towards the building. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew that the thought of losing him again terrified me.

Chapter 29

I was on a fucking mission.

I needed to find Seth and beat his ass harder than I could in any of our training classes.
No padded suit for you today, buddy,
I thought. I contemplated going back into the building or waiting for him to come out. I may have disliked him immensely in that moment, but I didn’t want to ruin his chance to be well known.

Wait, that’s not entirely true. A part of me wanted to barge in there and pull down every one of those pictures. How could he think it would be okay with me to make a name for himself by using sexual pictures of us? And not even tell me?

I decided to go back in. I didn’t care about his stupid career, he shouldn’t have done that. I walked towards the doors, but stopped when it swung open. Seth must have known that I was about to kill him, because he put his arms up in a surrender kind of motion, and backed away from me.

“How could you?!” I yelled at him. He nodded his head so that we could move away from the people who were outside smoking, and I followed him even though I didn’t really care what the other people thought. He pulled me to the side of the building, and there was only a street light illuminating the space. I put my hands on my hips and glared at him as he leaned against the building.

“Pussy Cat, I asked you if I could put those pictures up. I asked you that night I told you that I was offered a spot in the gallery. I-,” I cut him off. I racked my brain to that night a few weeks ago, and remembered that I was drunk that night. I didn’t remember anything from that night.

“You what?! You asked me when I was wasted? How can you actually think that I was coherent enough to be able to give you a legit response?” I yelled at him, and shoved him against the wall.

“Jos-,” he started to plead with me.

“No, Seth! It was clearly me in the pictures. You had to know that everyone would have found out!”

“Jos, I’m telling you. I edited them so they wouldn’t show you. I really didn’t think anyone would be able to tell,” he said. I could see the sincerity in his blue green eyes, but it didn’t change the fact that Blake found out. I stepped back and sighed anger starting to calm.