The phone stopped ringing as I poured some food into her bowl. She looked at me with her ‘you’ve gotta be kidding me’ look.

“That’s all you get,” I said to her and with one last cranky look at me, she began eating.

Deciding I must smell bad, I headed into the bathroom for a shower. Just as I leant in to turn the taps on, my phone rang again. What the hell? Now he’d pissed me off. I stalked into the bedroom and retrieved my phone. “What the fuck do you want?” I snapped at him.

“Lovely to speak to you too, Velvet. Do we really need the language every time we talk?” he chided.

“Yes, we fucking do,” I swore for his benefit.

He sighed. “Your lawyer has my proposal. Has he contacted you?”

He had, but James didn’t need to know that. I figured it was my turn to muck him around after all the shit he’d ever put me through. “No.”

“Can I suggest you get in touch with him?”

“It’s Sunday, James. Surely you don’t mean for me to call him today.”

“Velvet, I think you are underestimating the seriousness of this situation.”

“No, James, I think you’re underestimating the lack of fucks I give about this situation.” This man seriously made my blood boil. I had no clue how I ever thought I’d loved him.

Silence was followed by the nasty snarl I knew so well from years ago. “You’re still the gutter trash you were when I met you and saved you. Getting rid of you was the best move I ever made and it’s no wonder that you don’t have a man in your life, because I can’t imagine anyone choosing you over the other women out there.”

The rational part of me knew his words were worthless and not to be given any attention to, but there was a part of me that was powerless when it came to James. He used his words like weapons and they annihilated me every time. They shredded their way through the self belief I’d spent years building and circled their way through my body in a painful spiral of doubt, loathing and fear.

I froze, unable to form words to shoot back at him, and he took my silence and fired more poison at me. “Your life is shit, Velvet. It’s been shit ever since I kicked you out. The offer I’ve made you is the best option you have to make it better. I suggest you get back to me soon to tell me you’ll take it, because it won’t always be on the table.”

He hung up and I slowly removed the phone from my ear. His words hung heavy in my mind as I tried desperately to sort through them. I needed to shove them out of the way so I could think straight; so that I could acknowledge them for the lie they were.

“Shit!” I yelled at the empty room. Why the hell did I let him get to me? Every fucking time!

My heart started beating faster and I broke out in a light sweat. Bella’s wary eyes were focused on me and she looked like she was ready to run. I scooped her up and patted her. “Sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to yell but that asshole just fucks me off,” I whispered. Her eyes blinked and she began to purr. Once I was convinced she was settled, I placed her back on the ground and headed back into the shower. I was going out and I was going to have a lot to drink. James was going to be banished from my mind tonight if it was the last thing I did.

***

Nash

I entered the club, scanning to find what I was looking for. Tonight I was making my cock my bitch.

I found what I was looking for in the corner of the club; blonde, stacked and sending me the signal that she was up for it. She also looked like she might have a friend who would play with us; the more the fucking merrier I thought. It’d been a long week of no sex mixed with confusion about Velvet, and I needed to fuck like I needed air. My dick grew hard just thinking about it, and I picked up the pace as I made my way across the club. I was a starved man and I was going to fucking bang these chicks into tomorrow.

My destination was almost realised when I caught sight of Velvet out of the corner of my eye. I came to a dead stop and sucked in a breath. She was wearing the shortest, tightest dress that barely covered her ass, and she was bent at the waist, whispering something in some guy’s ear. The displeasure I felt stunned me, and I had to hold myself back from stalking over there and tearing her away from him. I tried to drag my eyes away but I couldn’t; I couldn’t fucking move my legs either. She had me transfixed. I let my gaze roam over her body and soak in the beauty that was Velvet. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on; I’d known this for four long years and I was done trying to deny it.

As I stood staring, she flicked her hair and caught my gaze. The smile she gave me reached out and stroked my dick. It was pure fucking heaven that smile, and it propelled me forward; towards her. She turned her body to face me, a move that signalled she was done with the guy she’d been whispering sweet nothings to. Her feet moved her in my direction and we met in the middle.

“Nash,” she said, her voice breathy.

Sex.

Velvet oozed it and I wanted it.

With her.

I didn’t care about the consequences; I couldn’t even begin to wade through that minefield tonight when all I could see, smell and touch was her.

Her hand landed on my chest and my dick jerked again. Hell, this woman commanded my attention like no-one ever had. Not even my ex-wife. I curled my hand around her ass and pulled her to my body. When she brushed against my dick, she moaned, and her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. When she opened them again, I leant my mouth to her ear and murmured, “Sweet thing, I want to take you home and fuck you. And I’m not taking no for an answer tonight. We’ve been dancing around each other for too long now and my dick is so fuckin’ hard for you that if you don’t do something about it, I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”