Misplaced Trust (Misjudged) (5 page)

The intensity in his eyes as they roam over me sends heated sparks through my lower abdomen
, and I find myself almost panting as his fingers slip further south.

Lifting his head until our eyes meet
, he fixes his gaze firmly onto mine as he tugs my skirt up high around my waist. Moving my panties to the side, he skims his fingers delicately over me. Slowly closing his eyes, he leans forward and kisses me again, while sliding a finger inside of me, “Damn, I’ve fucking missed you,” he groans into my mouth.

Gently touching me,
with his finger moving in and out in soft, sweet, and tender motions, I let out a moan at how good it feels for him to be back. How good it feels to be so close and intimate with him again, “I love you, Brandon.”

That’s all it takes for him to completely los
e his control. Removing his finger from inside of me, he drops his other hand away from where he was pinning mine, tugging at his pants until they’re hanging low to his knees.

Kissing me, seemingly with a newer found need, he
grips at my hips, lifting my legs high so they’re resting up and around at his waist. His breathing becomes heavy as he pushes me hard up against the wall, before I feel him sliding himself inside of me.

Clutching
onto my hips, he presses himself firm and deep inside.

Staring right into
my eyes, he thrusts himself in and out, never breaking any contact with me. His thrusts are firm, but slow. This feels as intimate and passionate as the first time we ever made love.

Letting out a moan
of contentment when I feel myself tightening around him, he begins to move faster, his thrusts becoming harder still as I reach my peak, “Fuck!” he growls in my ear, and that’s when I feel him emptying inside of me, and his body beginning to tremble as we come, together.

It takes a while
for my pulse rate to slow down and for my breaths to get back under control, with the both of us staying in that same position, still gazing into each other’s eyes as we come down from our intense high. Not being able to help the smile that’s beginning to spread over my lips, I notice him closing his eyes, before letting me down gently onto my feet. When our body contact is broken, I watch as he goes to take a seat on the bed.

Ra
king a hand through his hair while wiping his brow with the other, removing the sweat that has formed over him from what just happened, he lays back on the bed. I watch his chest rise and fall while grabbing my robe from the back of the door.

I
’m about to join him on the bed, we have so much that we need to talk about, but we’re interrupted by his cell phone. Sitting up and grabbing his pants, he pulls the cell from his pocket. His face becomes tight when he checks the caller ID. It doesn’t look like it’s the same cell phone as the one he had before.

“I
… Alexis, I need to take this,” he says quietly. “Do you have some beer or something?” he asks as he turns to face me, and this is when I notice just how different his whole demeanor has become. He’s starting to look really uncomfortable, agitated even.

“Sure,” I answer, nodding slightly as I
open up the door and walk through towards the kitchen.

Hastily g
rabbing a bottle of wine and a couple of beers from the refrigerator, I reach for a wine glass, the corkscrew, and then head back to my room, noticing the answer machine flashing red over on the coffee table.

I have more important thi
ngs happening right now, so I decide to check it later, or tomorrow. The most important thing is that Brandon’s back and he’s in our room, waiting for me.

Heading through and
placing everything down on my nightstand, I turn around, feeling both my face and heart fall when I see him slipping into his leather jacket.

“What are you doing?” I step forward
, seeing the pained look crossing over his face at my question. “You’re leaving?”

Avoiding
my question and any eye contact with me, he walks over to the door, and grabs a hold of the handle, with his shoulders slouching down low, “I never said I could stay, beautiful,” he throws me a pitying look as he opens the door, before proceeding to walk out of my room.

“Are you fucking with me?” I snap
out as I follow him, feeling a low blow to my stomach at his words. “Why? What the fuck did I do wrong now?”

Reaching midway to the main door, he pauses, inhales a deep breath, but keeps
from turning around to face me, “You didn’t do anything wrong,” his voice is low, and as I step in front of him, that’s when I see he looks just the same as he did that other time, when he walked away and left me.

Lifting my hands until they’re cupping
his face, I make him look at me, “If I didn’t do anything wrong then why are you so determined to keep on breaking my heart?” my lips begin to tremble when I say the words out loud, and I feel my eyes becoming glazed from the tears that are threatening to fall. “Why?” my voice is a whisper from the lump that’s just formed in my throat.

“That’s the last thing I ever wanted, Alexis,” he answers, his voice weak and tears visible in his
now dull blue eyes. “I needed to make sure you were okay, and now that I know, I have to go.”

“You think that I’m okay? Do y
ou think I seem okay? Do I fucking look okay to you Brandon?” my voice turns from steady, to an almost scream as both the anger and the hurt combine. “You left, without so much as a word. You broke my fucking heart when you left the first time! Please … please don’t do this again? What can I do? What can I do that’ll make you stay? I love you. I fucking love you!”

Wrapping my hands around his neck, he flinches away and throws
me a look of dismay. Taking my hands in his, he lowers them, before letting me go completely. “I’m doing this for you … I’m doing this for us,” he says, almost as though his words will bring me any form of comfort. He glances at his wrist watch and begins to fidget. “I really have to go.”

Placing a feather light kiss on my forehead, he steps around me, and
then hurries over to the door.

“I’m not one of your whores, Brandon.” I spit at him, feeling the tears streaming down my face as my heart begins to hurt all over again. “
You can’t just come here, fuck me, and then leave!”

He looks angry at my outburst as he whips
around to face me again, “You’ve never been just a fuck to me, Alexis,” his voice sounds strangled as he opens the door and steps halfway through. “Never.”

“Unti
l now,” from my words his eyes dim even more, and a frown forms over his lips. “If I mean anything to you, anything at all, then you’ll stay. You’ll tell me why you left and why you have to leave now.” My voice is pleading as I step closer to him.

“Just
… just please don’t hate me for what’s happened or for what’s happening. I’m so fucking sorry,” he looks defeated as he whispers the words.

And then he’s gone, leaving me hurting more than I ev
er have before.

Hurt. Anger. Regret. Those are the main
three emotions I’ve been feeling ever since he left. Mainly and surprisingly, I’m feeling all of those things towards myself, not Brandon.

Why didn’t I make him stay and talk this out? Why did I
let him walk back out of the door, not knowing when, or
if,
I’m ever going to see him again?

Why would
he think for a moment that I would hate him? For crying out loud I’m in love with him, does he not see that?

I’ve been pacing my bedroom floor for most of the afternoon, trying to make sense
of everything, but yet here I am with still no clue about, well, anything.

“Knock knock!” Alyssa’s s
mile is beaming as she walks in. Striding over, she plants a kiss on both of my cheeks. “How is my favorite lady?”

I smile,
although I know it’s not going to fool her. I can already see that she’s eyeing me warily, “Did you have a good time?” I try to sound optimistic, but my voice betrays me as I step away from her, and go to sit myself down on my bed.

“
Heaps!” Alyssa clasps her hands together, but her face falls somewhat when I turn in her direction. “Although … something tells me you haven’t had quite as much fun as I have,” she answers. “Don’t tell me you’re still pining over Brandon? Alex, just go and get glammed up and ready. We’ll find you a new Brandon.”

She’s fucking unbelievable.

“I don’t want or need another Brandon,” I say, noticing her eye roll at my words. She crosses her arms over her chest and begins tapping her foot on the floor. “You might find it extremely easy to replace all the guys you date, but me and Brandon, we had …
we
have
something.”

Alyssa has just managed to
officially piss me off. Striding out of my room to go in search of a bottle of wine, I bump straight into Ryan, “Whoa! Slow down, sister!” he chuckles, holding me steady before I crash land on my ass. ”What’s the hurry?”

“Wine,” I answer firmly, straightening myself out
and brushing myself off, before heading through to the kitchen.

“Well are you almost ready to go?” I hear him call a
fter me, and then I remember. We’d arranged to have drinks and a catch up tonight. “We’re leaving in like a half hour!”

The last thing I really feel like
doing is going to a bar. Taking a bottle of red wine from the wine rack and the largest wine glass I can find from the overhead cupboard, I walk back through and sit down at the breakfast bar.

“Hello? I said we have to leave soon,” Ryan tries to grab my attention as I
open the bottle up, but I ignore him and listen to the glugging sound as I pour the wine instead. “Earth to Alex!”

“Alright, ready when you guys are,” Neil says, rolling the sleeves back of his deep purple shirt as he walks out from his room. “Are you g
oing in your jogging bottoms?” he jokes, but the smile over his face soon fades when I shake my head and avert my eyes. Glancing back over to him, I try to avoid his gaze when I see the disappointment etching over his features.

I take a sip of my wine before breaking the news, “I’m not really in the mood, sorry guys.”

Neil glances over to Ryan, who shrugs his shoulders and aims his focus on Alyssa, who is now standing by the couch and shaking her head over in my direction, “Brandon,” she implies with a sigh.

Ryan walks over and wraps
his arm around my shoulder, “Do you still think that he’s gonna be coming back?” he asks before kissing my hair lightly.

“He came back,” my voice is almost a whisper as I think back to what happened last night. The way he kept his ey
es on mine, every time he pushed himself deeper inside of me. How he looked and how I felt when I gazed into the depths of his soul.

“What?” Ryan looks surprised by what I just said. I have to say, I was just as
surprised when I saw Brandon standing in my room, in
our
room last night. “When? Well, where is he? Is he coming out with us tonight?”

“He didn’t stay
for long,” I mumble, the sinking feeling in my lower abdomen returning when I think about when I’ll see him again,
if
I’ll see him again. Alyssa’s right, I am pining, but it’s only because I love and miss him so much.

If he told me he didn't want me and that it was over
between us for good, then it would hurt like hell for a while, for a long while. Unless he made it absolutely clear as to why he'd decided to walk away and that it was for a plausible reason, then I most probably wouldn't be willing to accept it. Time heals the pain they say. I'm not so sure about that.

“You sure you’re not coming out with us tonight?” Ryan asks, nudging my arm with his. I notice a slight glint of hope in his eyes. Hope that I’ll change my mind.

Hearing a door slam
ming closed makes my head snap up, and that’s when I see Neil’s no longer in the room with us, “What’s with him?” I aim my question at both Ryan and Alyssa, and while Alyssa looks just as unaware as I am about what just happened, Ryan seems to understand.

“He’s probably pissed because, A, you’re not c
oming out with us tonight, and B, Brandon didn’t stick around long enough to say hi. We’ve been friends for a long time, y’know?” Ryan answers, and I can see where he’s coming from, on both counts.

Sighing, I head over to Neil’s room and knock the door, opening it
up and stepping inside before even giving him the chance to respond.

He’s lying on his b
ed, with his arms crossed behind his head, and staring up at the ceiling. He doesn’t acknowledge me until I climb on the other side and lay beside him, “You’re pissed at me,” I say. There’s no need to ask him this, it’s evident.

“Honestly? No,” he answers after a moment of silence. “I’m upset that you won’t join us tonight, of course I am
…”

“
Then why are you so angry?” I ask, sitting up and observing him as he lets out a deep sigh.

“We’ve been worried about him
too, you know. Brandon, I mean. We’re like brothers but he didn’t stick around long enough to see us? It’s him I’m pissed at, Alex, not you.”

Sighing, I take a hold of his hand and stare up at the ceiling, mirroring Neil
’s actions, “He wasn’t here for long. I thought he was staying, I thought he’d come back, but then he left, again.”

“Did he say
why he left?” he asks, turning to face me while propping himself up on his left elbow, and resting his chin in his hands.

I sigh and feel ano
ther knot forming in my stomach, “Not a thing.”

“He didn’t say anything?”
Neil presses, throwing me a disbelieving look when I have nothing else to add.

“Not really
… we um … we …”

“What?”
he’s sitting up now, waiting for me to continue.

I’m thankful when the door opens, interrupting the uncomfortable conversation Neil and I were
just about to have. We’re close friends, but I just don’t feel right discussing what happened last night between Brandon and I with him.

“Hey guys, I’m sorry to disturb your little domestic here, but Alex, there’s a voicemail from your father
. He left it early yesterday afternoon,” Alyssa stands forward and holds the phone out to me. She looks unsure about something as she passes it over.

Taking a seat beside me,
I notice that she’s watching me with caution, “Thanks,” I say, taking it from her and holding it up to my ear so that I can listen.

Neil’s sitting on the other side of me now, and I
can feel both sets of eyes resting on me as the message begins to play.

‘Alex, sweetheart. I just heard from the police department. They have a suspect over the break in on Sunday … I’m not sure why the name rings a bell but they should have him be in custody by the time I return back to Salem. They found an ID card amongst some of the items they took away for examination and he’s known to the police already, so, don’t be worrying. Love you sweetheart and I’ll call you when I get back home next week.’

“Hey, are you okay?” Neil asks, with concern written over his face while leaning himself forward as I end the call. “Alex?”

“Yes,” I look up and smile at them both, feeling
the relief flowing through me at knowing they have found out who was responsible for this, and that my father will be safe when he returns back from Florida next weekend.

***

I tried for over an hour to get a hold of my father and return his call, but each time, it just rang until the long tone sounded. I wish my father was more technologically minded, at least that way he would know how to set up his damn voicemail.

Neil, Ryan, and Alyssa decided to stay home and play drinking games instead of hitting the city, on the promise that I would definitely join them when Ryan and Neil play their gig with the rest of their band over in Aruba on Friday night.

Although I’m having a few drinks with them, I have no intention of getting drunk, which is more than I can say for the other three. Alyssa has already started giggling over pretty much anything anyone says, and out of Neil and Ryan, Ryan is most definitely handling his drink better.

As they set up another game of ‘I’ve Never’, a loud knock on the main door draws everyone’s attention
away from the game.

“I’ll get it,” Neil says lazily, picking himself up from the sprawle
d out position he was in and making his way over to the door. “Oh and here we go …” I don’t know how much he’s had to drink, but he’s already beginning to slur his words.

Turning
around so I can see what he’s talking about, I become more alert when I see two cops walking in to the dorm, “Miss Alexis Harper?” a female cop asks as she steps inside, glancing between both myself and Alyssa for a couple of seconds, before her eyes land back over on me. “I’m Detective Gil, and this is my partner, Detective Bartz. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if we may?”

“Go take a seat,” Neil ushe
rs them over to the couch, with Alyssa and Ryan vacating their seats so as to make room for them to sit down. “We’ll just be through there.” Neil winks over in my direction as the three of them head through to Ryan’s room.

The two of them sit on the
couch over on the other side of the coffee table, with the female detective taking in the surroundings, while the other prepares his notepad and pencil.

“As you are most probably more than aware, your father’s home was burgled on Sunday afternoon,” she begins, leaning closer and eyeing me cautiously. “During our enquiries, we’ve been made aware of a recent relationship between yourself and the prime suspect in our investigation, a Mr. Taylor. Are you in a relationship with him, Miss. Harper?”

“What did you just say?
” my mouth falls open and my stomach jolts. My heart, well I think my heart just hit the floor. “You must be mistaken—“

“Miss Harper, we have enough evidence to bring charges against him,”
she cuts me off, offering me a slight look of sympathy, before standing and glancing around the room. “Do you know where we might find him?”

Shaking my head, not believing I’m even hearing this, her eyes c
ontinue to roam around the area, “I know it must be difficult to take in, it’s not every day the person you thought you could trust turns out to be the one you shouldn’t have trusted at all, I know, I’ve been there. Honey, he’s committed a serious crime and it would be better for everyone, for him especially, if he were to hand himself in, and sooner rather than later.”

I throw my hands in the air, partly from the frustration that’s running through my veins, and the other part from the way she’s talking to me. I’m not appreciating the tone of her voice whatsoever. She’s glaring and speaking to me as though she
thinks I’m guilty of something, “You’re wrong. I mean, why would he even need to break in? Why would he?”

Throwing m
e a scrutinizing glance, she stands, and then proceeds to pace the floor behind me. It’s almost as though she’s looking for something. Looking for anything, “When was the last time you saw him?”

“A couple of weeks ago, maybe three,”
shit. I just lied to the cops. They’re wrong though. They have to be. There’s no way Brandon did this. No way at all. It doesn’t make any sense.

“At the moment we have strong leads, and both yours and Brandon’s full co-operation would
be appreciated, Alexis. Are you able to tell us why he left?”

She expects me to be a
ble to tell her this when I don’t even know the answer myself? “You tell me. I would love to know, really I would, but he left, without even so much as a goodbye.”

The male of
ficer stands and passes something over to me as he makes his way over to the door, “You can get hold of us on this number. If you see, hear, or remember anything, it would be in your best interest to get in touch immediately.”