Naughty Match

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 14

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“The hell you haven’t. Lying by omission is still lying, Rosie.” It took everything I had to keep my distance from her. I had to stay away. The closer I got, the more I would want to touch her and I couldn’t bear to have her in my arms right now. Not when I wasn’t sure she was really the woman I thought she was.

Rosie’s jaw twitched and her little hands clenched at her sides. “I didn’t omit anything, Dex,” she spat my name out harshly, her lips curling even farther downward. “It just wasn’t your business.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “The fuck it isn’t- ”

She cut me off, her face twisted into a scowl but still unable to meet me eyes. ”What was I supposed to do? Spill my life story to some guy I had just met?” She threw her arms up. “My fucking boss?”

“So what, Rosie? You thought you could lay up in my house, get fucked a few times by ‘some guy you just met,’ and run back to your fiancé?”

Rosie said nothing, her head shaking slowly back and forth.

“Then what, Rosie? What the hell is it?” I was officially fed the fuck up. “You can fuck someone you barely know but you don’t have the decency to tell him you belong to somebody else?”

“It’s complicated, Dex. But I promise,” she took a long pause. “I swear, Daniel isn’t my fiancé. He isn’t my anything.”

“He seems to think he is.”

“Well he’s a fucking idiot,” she snapped, her voice suddenly acrid with disdain.

She sounded so sure in her declaration that it gave me pause. Barely a couple minutes in and I was already growing tired with this argument. Fighting with her wasn’t going to solve a damned thing. She needed to talk to me. I needed to finally make her talk to me. No deflections, no side stepping, no more fucking bullshit.

“I want the truth, Rosie. All of it.”

16

Rosie

I didn’t know what to say

. I barely knew where to start with my explanation. There was so much garbage, so much fog, clouding my perfect little life that I could hardly sift through it all. Daniel Bennett, my father, school, everything was a mess and I only made things worse by running away.

I moved to Miami in attempt to live for myself. To forget the expectations and pressures forced on me by my family and find out who I really was. Dex had been completely unexpected. The beautiful man with all of his passion and goodness completely trampled all over my carefully

laid plans. Though he had yet to say it, he showed me more love and kindness than I ever felt or expected to feel.

In all of my eagerness to explore my newfound feelings of love and security, I outright refused to acknowledge my past. Choosing to forget all of the painful things I left behind. Hoping that, with enough willpower, all of my problems would disappear, leaving me free to ride off into a perfect watercolor sunset with Dex by my side.

It was becoming clearer by the second that wouldn’t be possible. I was naïve to think my dramatic past wouldn’t catch up to me sometime. But it had, much too soon for my liking, and with a vengeance that threatened to ruin my relationship with the only man I had ever felt some semblance of love for.

I couldn’t hide it anymore. Couldn’t hide behind pretty smiles and coy deflections, Dex deserved to know everything. Every ridiculous, messy detail from my past that brought me to him in the first place.

“I…” I took a moment, pausing to get my bearings. “I don’t know where to start.”

“At the risk of sounding like an asshole, the beginning is probably as good a place as any. Why did you come to Miami?”

That one was easy. “I came to Miami because I needed a fresh start. Isn’t that why everyone moves to a new place?”

Dex chuckled humorlessly. “It’s more than that with you though. I can tell.”

“You’re right.” I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, chewing on it furiously to keep myself from crying prematurely. There would, no doubt, be tears by the end of this conversation, but it was

still too soon to fall victim to my emotions. “I was… Am. I am running away from something.” Dex suddenly looked alarmed, I reached out to touch his arm, attempting to soothe him. “Nothing like that! I wasn’t in any physical danger, I was just profoundly unhappy.” I knew it

sounded terribly dramatic and childish but there was no other way I could explain it.

He stared at me patiently, his eyes dark and expectant but somehow still the most comforting things in the world.

“My father has… All of these plans for me. For my life.” I was fumbling with my words. It was the first time I had ever outwardly discussed the topic and I wasn’t entirely sure how to fully express my thoughts. “He’s a senator.” I spat out a laugh. “Completely unremarkable, but you’d never guess it by his ego.”

Dex’s dark eyebrows furrowed, confusion taking over his handsome face. “So you ran away because your father is some asshole politician?”

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I shook my head. “No, I ran away because I was tired of him dictating my life, just like he dictates everything else.” The tears were coming now and I could do nothing to stop them. “Back when he was still a big- shot lawyer, my mother was his secretary. She was beautiful and young and so

full of dreams and she fell in love with a total bastard.” I choked out a bitter laugh, this was a tale that seemed as old as time. It was almost too cliché to seem real.

“Long story short, she got pregnant and he refused to acknowledge me as his own until she died when I was seven. He took one look at me on the day of her funeral, spit some garbage about how I looked so much like him and carted me off to his mansion in the hills.”

“From there it was all- girl’s boarding schools for most of the year and summers spent being carted around the south of France with Au Pairs, followed by my entrance to a well- known but not too prestigious university, and an internship at a small time law firm.” I was becoming increasingly angrier, almost unable to contain my contempt. “And of course the relationship with a well- to- do young man. All carefully planned and orchestrated by my father.”

Dex’s expression had gone from angry, to shocked, to confused in the span of a few seconds. “And you couldn’t tell him that you were unhappy?”

“He didn’t care.” My voice sounded desperate. “Christopher Reed doesn’t care about me or anyone else who dares to defy him.”

“So what about, Daniel? How did that happen?”

“I did what my father asked and met a man. Daniel is from a well- off family, one with connections and a bank account the size of a large country. We dated for a while and it didn’t

work out. I broke up with him and the next thing I know, he’s kneeling down in front of me with a

ring, talking about short engagements, and children, and moving to California to support my father’s reelection.”

I remembered the feeling I had when Daniel approached me that evening on my way home, the abject disgust I felt as he slipped the gaudy ring on my finger before I could get a word out. It had been the tipping point. The thought of spending my life standing at the side of Daniel Bennett, bearing his pompous little children, and forever being under my father’s thumb had me creating a half- cocked plan to move across the country and start a new life.

“I just couldn’t do it, Dex. Not anymore. So I left. I emptied my bank accounts, chose the sunniest place I could find, got my shitty little apartment and hauled ass.”

Dex stepped closer to me, softly touching me for the first time since he had confronted me about Daniel. His rough hands gripped my elbows, forcing me to uncross my arms and wrap myself around him. I breathed him in as he held me, his clean, musky scent comforting me endlessly. I was too tired to cry but somehow more at ease than I had been in a long time.

“So what now?” Dex’s voice rumbled and vibrated through me. “What do you mean?”

“What are we going to do about this?”

I was confused. “There’s nothing to do, Dex. Now that you know everything we can just move on.”

“Rosie, sweetheart…” His voice was soft, like he was trying not to upset me. “We can’t just pick up where we left off like there’s nothing wrong here.”

“I don’t see why not. My father, Daniel, none of that matters.” I got my new start and now that Dex knew everything, I didn’t have to hide or be ashamed anymore, we were so close to everything finally being perfect.

“You can’t just expect your family to forget about you, baby.” He chuckled, his hand moving up to my smooth cheek, prompting me to look up into his gorgeous eyes. “I don’t care how much of an asshole your father is, there’s no way he’s just going to let his daughter disappear without a fight.”

He didn’t understand. Not fully anyway. Sure, my father never raised a hand against me but he never had to. His neglect, his lack of affection, his overall disdain for my presence in his perfect family was more than enough to screw me up.

Dex had an amazing family. A mother and father who loved and supported him, a beautiful unit of nuclear happiness, there was no way he could understand the messed up relationship I had with my father.

He was right about one thing, though. My father would come for me. Not due to any kind of

fatherly concern or because he genuinely cared about my safety, but because he owned me. In his eyes I owed him for acknowledging me when he hadn’t had to and for giving me a life that most people coveted. The money, the education, the blessing of his family name. All of it came with a price. One that I had to pay with my obedience.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore right now.” I wasn’t sure how to make Dex understand, but things were becoming overwhelming again.

Dex sighed as I gently moved out of his arms. “Fine, but you can’t ignore this forever, Rosie. Not anymore.”

I nodded, turning back to the now room temperature celery on the counter. “Fine.”

He moved up behind me, his large hands clasping my bare hips, pressing his lips against the back of my n

eck. “You don’t have to do it alone, baby. I’m here now. There’s no way I’m going to let anyone take you away from me.”

17

Rosie

Two weeks after our fight and my subsequent gut spilling, Dex and I had barely broached the subject again. He tried countless times to prompt me into carrying on the discussion, but I

always refused. Instead choosing to change the subject and push it from my mind.

Dex took my countless deflections gracefully, giving me constant reassurance that he was there to support me, telling me definitively that everything would be alright. I appreciated the sentiments but they did very little to comfort me.

I knew there would come a time when I would have to confront my past head on. When I would have to stop running and stand up to my father once and for all. There was no way I could

continue on with my life, with or without Dex, in a constant state of worry. Something needed to be done, and soon. I wasn’t entirely sure what the outcome would be, whether I would fold to my father’s demands as I always had or come out stronger. Either way, it would have to wait. I

wanted to hold on to my life here for as long as possible.

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I wasn’t sure how long I had until the chaos bubbling under our blissful facade finally came to a head. I wasn’t sure how long I had until reality came back around to knock me on my ass. All I knew was that whatever amount of time I had left would be spent with Dex Quinn.

“I still can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” My boyfriend’s deep voice prompted me out of my thoughts as we moved around his large dining room table, setting up an arrangement of plates and utensils.

I walked around the table towards him, lightly slapping his hands away from his sloppily done setting, and moving the forks to the left side of the plate. “It’s a good idea and you know it!”

“No the hell I don’t.” Dex took a step back from the table, crossing his strong, tattooed arms across his chest as he watched me finish setting the table. “This is going to be a fucking disaster. I can feel it.”

“Well, I think they’re going to love each other.” I smiled up at him cheekily. “First sight, head over heels. All that shit. I’m counting on it.”

Dex shook his head. “Hell no. They’re going to hate each other. From what you tell me about Nora, they’re way too much alike. There’s no way Cam can put up with someone who’s as obnoxious as he is.”

“Yet somehow he’s friends with you…”

He growled, reaching out to send a sharp smack against my denim covered ass. “There you go looking for trouble again.”

I reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck and standing up on my toes for a deep kiss before the doorbell rang.

“You’d better behave, Dex.” I poked my finger in the center of his chest. “No funny business.” “No promises.”

Before I could reply, the bell rang again, followed by a series of knocks, causing the two of us to rush toward the front door, eager to greet our dinner guests.

After brief, but pleasant introductions and a bit of good- natured ribbing, the four of us sat down to a beautiful dinner of Italian takeout. The air around us was thick with an awkward silence.

Cam and Nora sat picking at their meals and almost entirely ignoring one another. Across the table, Dex stared down at his plate of food with a small smirk on his face. I refused to give him the satisfaction of being right.

I turned to the handsome man sitting to my left. “So Cam, Dex was telling me earlier that you went to a Toro Y Moi concert last weekend, how was it? I know Nora really loves him.”

Cam looked over at me. “Oh.” His bright blue eyes seemed to light up with childish excitement. “Yeah it was a pretty sweet show. There were a lot of cool people there.” He smiled over at Nora. “Have you ever seen him live?”

“Nope. But I hear his shows are always full of douchebags.” Nora gave him a saccharine smile

before taking a slow sip of her wine.

I watched as Cam’s eyes narrowed at my friend, his top lip curling up into a slight sneer. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, honey.” He mimicked her dry tone perfectly, causing the woman across from him to sit up in her chair a little straighter.

“Well, by the looks of the man sitting across from me, the assumption definitely doesn’t seem wrong.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Nora swiped her tongue over her lips then let out a snort. “Oh come on, look at you.” She motioned over the length of his body.

Cam looked down at himself, the expression on his face confused and more than a little annoyed. “What the fuck is wrong with the way I look?”

“You showed up to a dinner party in a tank top and flip flops.” Nora took another large sip of wine. “And by the looks of it, you couldn’t even be bothered to shower before you got here.”

The man crossed his bare arms across his chest. “This is my best friend’s house, I’ll show up bare ass naked if I want to.”

“I sure wouldn’t put it past you.” Nora’s nose turned up in disgust.

I sat silently, not entirely sure what transpired to cause this ridiculous argument in the first

place. Nora wasn’t typically so confrontational, and while I didn’t know Cam well, I definitely got the feeling he was a pretty laid back guy. Seeing Nora be so rude to a guy due to his apparent wardrobe choices was odd to me, and I sure as hell didn’t like it.

I stood up from the table, smoothing out my white blouse. “Hey Nora, you want to help me bring out another bottle of wine.” We didn’t need another bottle of wine at the table, nor would I have needed help getting it if we had.

Nora silently followed me into Dex’s kitchen, a kind smile replacing the sneer on her pretty, tawny brown face.

“Nora Romero!”

She looked at me innocently as she fiddled with a wine cork on the counter. “What?” “What the hell was that in there?”