Damage Control

Chapter 50

I felt him stiffen underneath me, but I didn't give him time to respond; I needed to get this out of my system before my brain got mushy again.

"I was scared that you'd leave me for someone else because when it comes to females, you have the attention span of a toddler, annnd you're also a man-whore. There was no point in staying if you were just going to move on soon, soooo I wanted to move on before you did. Then you came back and convinced me to stay, but thennn I met your fiancè today, and I'm pretty sure she's still in love with you, by the way. Anyway, I couldn't help but wonder if I made the right choice choosing to stay instead of leave because every time things are going great between us, something always happens and ruins everything putting us back to where we started."

Tears slid down my face, but I did nothing to stop them.

"I think I rely on you too much, whichhh is why it hurts me a lot when I see how many other females you still have in your life, but I would never admit it to you when I'm sober because I don't wanttt you to think I'm weak orrr anything, but it makes me feel like you don't need me as much as I need you. Stella has Theo, Carter has Gabrielle, and you have your billion-dollar company and every woman at your feet. I don't have anyone or anything; I'm all alone. I want to be able to say I have you but not if you're going to pretend nothing is going on between us when you get around other people."

I let out a shaky breath and brushed the strands of hair sticking to my face. "Fuckkk, I think I've said too much."

"Anastazi—"

"Don't say anything; I'm too sleepy to understand anyway," I sniffled, wrapping my arms around his torso and snuggling closer.

I felt him nod and begin rubbing small circles along my back, and it wasn't long before sleep invaded my body.

~

The next morning I woke up feeling like my head was on fire. My heavy eyelids fluttered open, and I was immediately blinded by the bright light shining through the massive window.

I groaned, forcing my eyes open again, and looked down to find myself wearing an oversized t-shirt that smelled faintly familiar.

"What the fuck?" I mumbled to myself in confusion.

The last thing I remembered was coming here to get away from Nathaniel and running out of wine; after that, my mind draws a blank. I sighed heavily and lifted my heavy body off the bed, glancing over at the clock sitting on the night-stand and to my absolute horror; it read 10:45 AM, meaning I was 3 hours late for my first day back at work.

"Shit, shit, shit," I groaned, rushing out of bed and running into the bathroom.

I didn't even have time to look at my horrendous reflection as I brushed my teeth to get the disgusting aftertaste of whatever I drank last night out of my mouth. I also didn't bring any clothes here, which meant I would need to make a pit stop at my place before heading to work and that alone would take two more hours with the rush of LA traffic.

I speedily shuffled out of the bedroom, but only to slam face-first into a brick wall.

"Where's the fire?" A familiar gruff voice asked calmly, steadying me with his large hands.

"Nathaniel?" I squinted up to find him towering over me, wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts, showing off his tanned, muscular legs, littered with dark tattoos. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I—"

"I actually don't care; I'm going to be late for work," I mumbled, cutting him off, still baffled that he was able to find where I was staying at.