One Night Stand With My Enemy

CHAPTER 9

Gareth

I stand to the side and watch Gwyn as she smiles at the guests, accepting their condolences. Luke is standing right next to her, holding an arm around her shoulder to give her support and it takes everything in me not to walk up to them and rip his arm away from her. The only thing that is keeping that thin thread of sanity stable is the fact that I can see the glares Gwyn gives him whenever no one is watching. She isn't happy that he is trying to give her comfort, but she is trying to put a fake face on for her mother one last time.

After the last guest leaves, Gwyn shakes off Luke's hold and then fully glares at him. I wonder if they even realize that I am still standing in the corner of her apartment, nursing the same drink I had since I walked in here five hours ago. I wonder if she could feel my eyes on her or if she can even feel my presence the same way I can feel her when she walks into a room. "What is wrong?" Luke asks Gwyn, startled by her hostility. Fucker didn't even realize that she had been glaring at him the entire time.

"Stop pretending to care about me. Go back home to Abigale and give her the f*****g life she deserves. I am done here." She says and Luke takes a step back as if offended.

"What the hell did I do wrong? I have been waiting here for the past six months for you to talk to me! I have been nothing but supportive the past three days and this is how you react? What happened to my best friend?" He says, working those sad eyes of his. Please God, don't let her be manipulated further by him. At one time, his charms worked on me as well, and I had fallen for every line and every lie and I did it for three years, f*****g built a empire with this man. It is only when Gwyn walked back into his life that I realized what a manipulative ass this man is. I will give it to him, his charms has won us plenty clients and helped turned our company into a multi-million dollar company in four years, making us some of the youngest millionaires in California, but it is only because of Gwyn that I realized he doesn't just manipulate clients into investing in our projects or struggling companies to sell at next to nothing, but he has been using it on everyone in his life. His parents, his wife, his life long best friend and me. For the past two and a half years, I have been considering walking away, starting my own company rather than staying in a partnership with Luke, but every single time I have thought about leaving, I keep thinking about Gwyn and, for some reason, I just couldn't f*****g leave her, still can't and it infuriates me. Instead of being a normal person and just telling Gwyn that her best friend and the man she has been in love with most of her life is nothing but a snake, I have kept my mouth shut and instead, took my frustration out on her. In the beginning I was just pissed that she couldn't see him for what he was, but soon I realized that I was falling for someone that will always love someone else and well, that all just made me a rude, sarcastic asshole. Then the wedding happened and for the first time, I thought that maybe I was wrong and she could love someone else, but the moment that Luke interrupted, I fell back on old habits and ruined it.

"Your best friend? That girl you took pleasure in knowing that she would always be your back up plan or the one that made you feel needed? The girl that did everything for you? The one that cleaned up all your messes and then stood back when you broke her heart again and again while sleeping around with other women? The girl who f*****g planned and arranged your wedding because you couldn't give two shits about helping your wife plan the happiest day of her life? Are we talking about that best friend? Because here is the thing, if that is the girl you want, I am sorry to tell you but she is long f*****g gone buddy." Gwyn says and I can't help but smile with pride.

"Is that really what you think of me? That I used you?" Luke asks and I want to roll my eyes, of course that is what she thinks and with good reason.

"You know, I felt bad for walking away from you. Felt bad for not answering your texts or calls and then there were the roses that were sent to me and the dinners left on my stairs and I wanted to come back but I knew that I needed to grow if I was ever going to be able to watch you love someone else." Gwyn starts, but Luke interrupts her and I take a step closer when he shouts at her.

"I never f*****g loved anyone else! I only f*****g loved you but I never knew how you felt and every move I made on you, you just kept telling me that I am your best f*****g friend! So I moved on after you left and then I tried again when you came back!" Gwyn takes a step back, but Luke grabs her face in his hands and slams his lips to hers. I start to move, ready to pull him off her and beat the s**t out of him, but Gwyn moves faster, lifting her knee and kicking him so hard in the balls that I know he will feel it for a few days. He falls to his knees, cupping his balls as he looks up at Gwyn with tears in his eyes. "What the f**k, Gwyn!" His face is red and spit flies from his mouth and I can honestly say that I have never seen him look this f*****g ugly.

"You never f*****g loved me and anyone with two damn f*****g eyes could see that I was in love with you. I thought you might feel the same but I was stupid and naive. Every time you saw that I was pulling away because I couldn't handle seeing you with another woman, you dumped her and then gave me hope, only to run after some other girl. When I went to London, I thought that you would wait for me. I thought that you would finally be ready to settle down when I came back and you kept that hope alive with your texts and video calls and then I came back only to realize how stupid I had been. You had Abigale and I couldn't f*****g blame you because I wasn't there. But you know what, I should've blamed you instead of myself because you played me. You knew me inside out and you knew just what to do to keep me around. But I am done. I am so f*****g done being there to boost your f*****g ego. I am done being your doormat. Now get the f**k out of my house or I will kick you in the balls over and over again until you have no other choice but to crawl to the nearest f*****g hospital." She shouts at him and f**k me, but she has never been more beautiful than she is right now. Luke says something under his breath but he gets up, glares at me over his shoulder and then walks out. Well I guess he didn't like the fact that I was here to see the show. Good thing I have been putting away every penny I could because there is no way I would be able to go back to working with him after that.

For a moment Gwyn just stands there, looking at the door where Luke had just walked out of, and then she turns her eyes to me. "I will just..." I don't know what I started to say, but I point at the door and then give her a little wave before I startto make my way out.

"Thank you." Gwyn says just as I reached the door and I stopped and turned to look at her.

"For what?" I asked. f**k, she looks breathtaking, standing there in her black lace dress, her hair hanging down her back in lose curls, lips painted blood red. Her big green eyes stare up at me and it is like I am pulled towards her, taking a step closer without even thinking about it. "For what, Red?" I ask her again when she stays quiet.

"For the dinners and the flowers and for being there for my mother." She says and my heart clenches at the mention of Maddy. For the past six months, I have been visiting her four times a week, playing poker and trying to find ways to make her laugh. I knew Luke wouldn't bother to visit the woman that had been there for him when his own parents were too busy for him, so I went instead. I asked Maddy not to tell Gwyn about the fact that I was the one visiting her. I didn't want Gwyn to feel like I was overstepping. In the past six months, I had gotten to know the woman that had raised Gwyn and a bond was created between the two of us. She had asked me to take care of Gwyn if she wasn't able to beat the cancer and I had promised her I would and I will find a way to keep that promise. "Why didn't you tell me that you were the one there for her?" She asks.

"I didn't really get the chance and the night at the club," Gwyn flinches at the mention of the night before her mother passed. "Well, I was horny as f**k and pissed off at seeing other men look at you and well, one thing led to the other and I acted like a complete asshole." I tell her with a shrug. I didn't even realize I was walking closer to her until I was standing so close to her that I could feel the heat of her body against mine. Gwyn tilts her head all the way back to look at me and my eyes fall to her soft lips. My c**k hardens at the sight of her lips and the way her eyes gloss over and I know I have the same affect on her as she has on me when her breath hitches. "Can I kiss you, Red?" I ask her, my voice soft but commanding and I feel like I might just f*****g die if I can't have another taste of her.

"Please." She begs and I slam my lips against hers.