Living with My Ruthless Ex-Husband (ENGLISH)

CHAPTER 4

GARRIE

I FELT someone lifted me in the air. I could smell the familiar cologne and a mixture of whiskey and cigarettes. So, he was back in smoking again. I used to tell him to quit smoking when we were still together. It took him a while, but he eventually gave in and finally quit smoking.

Though I didn’t like the smell of cigarettes on him, I liked the feeling of his arms around me. I didn’t want to open my eyes. I already had an idea who was the one carrying me. Instead of opening my eyes, I buried my face into his neck so I could smell him even more. I was enjoying my position when he finally put me down to bed. I wanted to sleep beside him tonight. I missed him. I kept on pretending to be asleep so I wouldn’t need to explain to him why did I want to sleep with him tonight.

I wanted to protest when I felt him removing my arms that were wrapped around his neck so he could completely lay me down on the bed. I thought he was going to leave and rent another room since he let me lay down here but I never heard the door opened indicating that he didn‘t go out. Few more seconds later, I heard the sound of the door opening.

I felt a sudden feeling of disappointment thinking that he couldn’t even be with me in the same room, but all of that vanished when I heard the gushing water coming from the shower.

He’s taking a shower!

I was so tempted to open my eyes and take a peek but I was afraid that I would be caught and he would make me leave. I didn’t know why do I like to stay with him tonight. I didn’t want to admit, but I missed him. I missed the feeling of being with him, feeling the warmth of his embrace and softness of his lips against my temple. That was our usual sleeping position. Lucas didn’t want us to sleep away from each other no matter how big our bed was.

My heart almost jumped out of my rib cage when I heard the bathroom door open. I could smell the scent of his favorite body wash that he always brought wherever he goes. No matter how expensive the hotel was, he didn’t want to use their body wash. I was trying to hold my breath so I wouldn’t make any sounds.

What should I do? Should I wake up or not?

My head was in turmoil. Lucas, walking around the room wearing his manly scent didn’t help. I was trying to keep my calm so I wouldn’t make any movement or sound. I felt the other side of the bed sank and it was followed by the familiar of scent of his body wash.

“You can breathe now,” I heard him say.

I opened my eyes quickly and got up. I looked at him and squinted my eyes. I didn’t really know why I was pissed at him, but it was more like I was pissed with myself for wanting to be with him tonight while I kept on insisting that I wanted nothing to do with him.

He just chuckled. He laid on his side and put his hand to support his head.

“What?” he said in between his laugh.

“You knew and you didn’t even say anything!” I snapped at him before getting the pillow and smashed it on his face.

He just continued laughing while I kept on hitting him with the pillow. He tried to ward off every beat I gave him but I wouldn’t let him stand a chance.

“You’re trying your best not to make a move. You almost look like a twig,” he said while continuously laughing.

I was out of breath when I finally decided to stop hitting him. I stared at him and squinted my eyes.

“I hate you,” I said before throwing the pillow at him.

I didn’t notice that I was actually smiling the whole time. I couldn’t remember when was the last time that I smiled genuinely. He was the only one who could brought out the genuine smile out of me.

“We both know you don’t mean that,” he said.

I could almost hear the seriousness in his voice. I suddenly felt uncomfortable in our situation. I almost forgot what kind of situation we were into. I quickly got up on my feet and tried to look formal again. I felt awkward with the kind of look he’s giving me. I suddenly felt like I wanted to vanish right there and there.

I cleared my throat before speaking. “I need to go home now,” I told him so I could change the topic.

“It’s late now. You can spend the night here, I’ll bring you home tomorrow first thing in the morning,” he said with his serious face, away from his cheerful face a while ago.

“I need to go home now,” I insist.

“Why? Are you meeting with the Arnaldo guy?” he sounded jealous.

“What? Of course not! I’m just worried about Inang Mercy. She will definitely look for me if I won’t get home tonight,” I explained to him.

I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea that I already have someone.

“Just call her,” he calmly said.

“My phone doesn’t have a load,” I almost whispered.

I heard him let out a loud sigh before he got up on his bed and reached for the drawer. He got his phone from there and walked towards me and hand me his phone.

I gulped when I saw his shirtless body. He was wearing nothing but a boxer. My eyes widen when I saw the large bulge in between his pants.

“Staring is rude, Garrie.” He caught my attention while waving his phone in front of me.

“I-I’m not!” I stuttered before grabbing the phone from his hand.

I turned my face around so I wouldn’t be seeing his delectable body.

Shame on you, Garrie! Stop fantasizing about your ex-husband!

I quickly copied Inang Mercy’s number from my phone and started dialing it. After a while, Inang Mercy finally answered the phone. It took a while before I could finally calm her down. I explained to her about the situation and that I was fine. She wanted to let someone fetch me if I wanted to but I refused. I just assured her that I was fine and that I would be going home first thing in the morning. When she finally agreed, I bid my goodbye and turned off the call. I took a deep breath before turning around and faced Lucas.

“You shouldn’t be wearing that when other person is sharing a room with you,” I told him while crossing my head in front of my chest. I even raised my eyebrow so he could see how pissed I was.

“You know I can’t sleep with clothes on. Of all people, you should be the one who knows how I actually sleep at night,” he smirked.

Yes, I remembered how he liked to sleep naked. He was actually being considerate now for wearing boxers. I let out a loud sigh.

“Okay, fine! Just don’t walk around naked while I am here, will you?”

“You’re the boss.”

He was obviously enjoying this. He was having pleasure torturing me.

“Where shall I sleep?” I asked him.

“Here,” he said while tapping the side next to him.

“Not gonna happen,” I refused.

“Why? You don’t seem to have any problem pretending to be asleep beside me moments ago,” he teased me.

“I’m not pretending! I’m really asleep,” I insisted.

I would never admit to him that I was actually pretending moments ago, so I could freely sleep beside him. That was just a moment of weakness.

“Oh really? Then maybe you’re just dreaming when you sniff and buried your face on my neck when I carry you to bed.” He’s now back on his feet and walking slowly towards me.

Every step he made towards me made my heart beat louder. I could feel his muscular body slowly taking every space between us. I tried to run away from him but he immediately grabbed my arms and imprisoned me around his arms.

“Why would I want to smell you? The scents of whiskey and cigarettes on your body disgust me,” I told him, denying his allegations.

“Hmm, really? How did you know?” He looked at me with doubts.

“I-I can smell it from here,” I said, still trying to conceal what I did a while ago.

“Is that so? I already took a bath, Garrie.”

“Well, you still stink. Maybe you should change your body wash.”

“We both know why I love this body wash right, Garrie?” he said while smiling, clearly enjoying the awkwardness that I am feeling right now.

I used to complain about the smell of cigarettes and alcohol in his body when we were still together. He looked for the most expensive body wash that would wash away every unwanted scent on your body.

It was too late when I realized that I already gave away myself.

Sh*t!

“I-I” I stuttered. I didn’t know how to get out of this.

“You’re saying something, Garrie?” he said teasingly.

“Fine!” I gave up.

“Fine what, Garrie?” he continued prompting me on admitting my little escapade.

His arms were still wrapped around me and I was starting to get uncomfortable on how our skins touched. The warmth of his body sent thousands of emotions throughout my body. I just looked away and tried not to speak again. The words that were coming out of my mouth didn’t do me any good.

“I missed you,” I heard him whispered.

I shifted my gaze back at him and looked him directly in the eye. I could see the loneliness in his eyes. I closed my eyes when he started caressing my cheeks. I leaned my face towards his hands, so I could fully feel the warmth of his touch. When I decided to open my eyes, I gasped when I was greeted by his handsome face. Our faces are now inches away from each other. I didn’t know what got into me, but I suddenly felt the urge to kiss him.

I didn’t protest when I felt his hand on my cheek went down to my nape and grabbed it, then immediately claimed my lips. I welcomed his mouth into my mine. All emotions that were built inside me all these years suddenly burst out. I never wanted to leave him but he didn’t give me any choice. I missed his kisses, I missed his touch, and every part of him. Apart of me wanted him back but the other part was afraid of what might happen.

His other hand went down to my waist and grabbed it, so he could press his body more into mine. I moaned when I felt his tongue went inside my mouth. He then slowly took a step, guiding me towards the bed leisurely. I followed his every move willingly.

The next thing I knew, I felt the soft bed against my back. He was still torridly kissing me. His hands were now starting to roam around my body. I felt his other hand slowly traveling to my breast. I moaned in pleasure when I felt his hand squeezed my right breast. His lips were now starting to travel down to my neck. I was enjoying the warmth of his kisses against my skin when his phone that was still in my hand rang. I was planning to ignore it and put it on the bedside table but I remembered that it might be an important call since it was already past midnight.

“Lucas,” I called him but instead of answering he just put his lips into mine to shut me up.

I tried to move away from his kisses and tried to get his attention again.

“Lucas, pick up your phone. It might be important!” I told him again while trying to push him away from me.

“Just turn it off,” he said ignoring it and continued kissing the valley of my breast.

I peaked on his screen to check his phone when I saw the name of the caller. It felt like cold water was poured onto me when I saw the name of the caller.

“It was Sandy,” I dully said.

He was stunned when he heard me said her name. He lifted his head and looked at me directly in the eye. But I couldn’t stand looking at him that’s why I immediately shifted my gaze on the other side. I gave him his phone and abruptly pushed his body that was on top of me. I quickly stood up and sit on the side of the bed. I heard him took a deep breath before picking up the call. I didn’t want to hear what they were going to talk about that’s why I decided to go to the bathroom.

I briskly closed the door when I finally got inside. Streams of tears started to flow down my cheeks the moment I locked the bathroom door. I tried my best not to make any sound. I didn’t want him to know that I was still hurting.

Moments later, I heard a knock on the door.

“Garrie, are you okay?” I heard him asked.

I quickly wiped the tears on my cheeks and checked myself in the mirror to remove all the traces of my tears. I opened the door abruptly and told him, “Why won’t I be?” then walked pass at him.

I walked towards the bed and got a pillow and a blanket before settling myself on the couch. I laid down on the couch without even looking at him. I was facing the backrest of the couch so I won’t have to look at him but I could sense his presence beside me. I heard a loud sigh.

“The bed is huge, Garrie. You can sleep there. You don’t have to sleep in here,” he insisted.

I ignored him and just pulled the blanket up to my neck.

“Put me down!” I screamed when I suddenly felt his strong arms around me and carried me towards the bed.

He tossed me in the bed which angered me even more. I tried to stand up but he just pushed down to bed.

“Stop being stubborn and sleep on the bed,” he said.

“I’ll just take the couch if you really don’t want to sleep beside me,” he said feeling defeated.

I just rolled my eyes at him and slumped myself to bed and face the other side away from him. I was quite disappointed that he didn’t even try to explain.

Are you going to listen if he tried to explain himself? I heard my inner self saying.

Probably not. I wouldn’t believe in any words that would come out in his mouth. Never again. I shut my eyes hard and forced myself to sleep. I didn’t know what time it was when I finally dozed off to sleep.