Less than Perfect, S. J. Evans [classic literature books txt] 📗

her of the look he’d given her in the woods—a look filled with so much possession and jealousy it chilled her to the bone. Reminding her of the things Jules had said about Victor. “I can’t leave. I tried—more than once—but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t want

to do it.”
She started shaking, afraid of what was about to happen, knowing by the look of both misery and desire on his face that something was going to go terribly wrong if she didn’t stop it. “But you should go, Vic. It’s not a good idea for you to stay. I just—I don’t want you here anymore. I don’t need you. Jules is back.” She knew she was being rude, and a little blunt, but she couldn’t think of a better way to get rid of him, and couldn’t stand the thought of being around him for another second. He stirred too much confusion within her, and he need to leave.
But instead of leaving, he began walking towards her, a pleading look on his face. “You don’t mean that,” he said, shaking his head. “You don’t really want me to leave. You want me to stay. I can see it in your eyes. Part of you wants me to leave, because it’s scared, but the other part wants me to stay. We share a special connection, Skye. There’s no denying it.” He took a few more steps closer, while she on the other hand scurried off the bed, avoiding him. “Come on, don’t be like that.” His lips crept into a small half smile. “Why are you so quick to judge?”
“Get away from me, Victor,” she hissed, scooting a few steps back. “I know all about you and that girl awhile ago. And I know what you’re doing, and how you’re feeling right now. But I’m in love with your best friend

, and he’s in love with me, so it’s probably best if you just leave right now. Before anything gets out of hand.” She stepped back again as he stepped forward, realizing too late that she’d backed herself up against the wall. “I’m serious. If you don’t leave right now, I’ll tell Rachel everything, and you’ll be all alone.”
He stopped in his tracks, searching Skye’s face. “Go ahead,” he whispered. “Tell her. I don’t care. I was just using her to get closer to you. I’ve always wanted you

.”
“What?

” Skye breathed, pressing her palms against the wall for support. “You were just u-using her? H-How could you do that? W-Why would you do that?”
“Because of you

,” he said, a little harshly. “Because ever since the first time I saw you at Buxton’s, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. And when I found out you two were best friends, I thought I could get closer to you without seeming suspicious to Jules, by dating her.”
“No.” She shook her head vigorously. “You could’ve tried to get to know me like a normal person would! Did you ever think about that, Vic? Because maybe if you had just talked to me like you did yesterday, we could’ve been friends. But now I want nothing to do with you. And I want you to leave. Now

.”
“Skye, please—”
“No, Vic,” she snapped, cutting him off. “Just go. Please

.” Her heart was hammering against her chest, like a bird trapped in a cage. It was getting hard for her to breathe, the truth catching up with her all too quickly. Victor had used Rachel. He was worse than she’d thought. “Please just—”
He cut her off with a kiss, aggressively seeking her. One of his hands held her face, keeping her in the kiss, while the other tangled in her hair. His body pressed on her, trapping her between him and the wall. His chest heaved against hers, his breath coming out in quick, desperate gasps.
She tried to push him away, tried to get away, but couldn’t. He was too strong, and she was too weak. Not to mention the fact that there was nowhere to go with his body blocking her only exit. She was trapped, kissing a man she couldn’t stand.
She tried to scream, but he quickly overcame the scream, kissing her with more desperation. “Don’t fight it,” he murmured around a kiss. “You wanted this earlier.”
In her own utter horror, she realized he was right. She’d been so heartbroken, so lost, so desperate

for someone’s love earlier, she’d almost let her emotions get the best of her. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to kiss him, but she’d been close to it.
She tried to shake her head, to tell him something—anything

—to get him to stop what he was doing, but before she could, something else stopped him. In a blurry instant, Jules had grabbed Victor by the back of his shirt, punched him, and wrapped Skye in his arms, holding her against his chest. It wasn’t until a few long, overwhelming moments had passed, that she realized Jules was speaking.
“What the hell

were you doing, Vic?” he screamed at Victor. “Have you lost your mind? After everything she’s been through, you decide to force yourself on her too? Did witnessing her fear earlier not get the point across?” He pulled Skye closer to him, his entire body shaking. “She was trying to push you away! You’re madder than I thought if you think she wanted

you to kiss her. Please, Vic—for your own good—just leave

. If you don’t, I’m calling the Sheriff in. You’ve caused enough problems for one night.”
Skye turned her head to look at Victor, watching as he wiped his bleeding nose, stumbled into a standing position, and looked at her with sad eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, Skye,” he told her. “I shouldn’t have hurt you.” He sighed. “I really wish I hadn’t.” And with that, he turned away and left the room, leaving Skye in tears, holding onto Jules’s shirt for dear life.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jules’s warm, gentle voice asked her. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come up any sooner. If only I had known he was going to…I never would have left you…”
“Don’t,” she whispered, “it wasn’t your fault. And besides—he didn’t physically hurt me. I’m going to be just fine. So please don’t let this change anything. I just want to be with you and forget it ever happened.”
He lifted her in his arms, carrying her over to the bed bridal style. “I’ll try to forget if you will,” he murmured, setting her down carefully. “Is that all right with you?”
“That’s perfect,” she whispered, too weak to speak any louder. Her body was starting to crash under the pressure of everything that had happened in the day, desperate for rest. Whimpering, she pulled Jules down onto the bed with her, kissed him, and relaxed, letting the needs of her body control her. “Stay with me, tonight? I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep without you by my side.”
“Of course.” He smiled, a kind genuine smile, filled with so much love, so much adoration, it broke her heart. She was going to miss his smile. She was going to miss him with every fiber in her body. “Just let me turn off the light.”
Despite herself and all the trouble that awaited her, she smiled. Her body was desperate for sleep she wouldn’t be able to have, her heart was breaking more and more with each moment she spent together with Jules, her mind was crowded with dark memories and haunting fears, and yet despite all of that—she smiled. She smiled for all of the good times. All of the happy times. She smiled because, even though there seemed to be no hope for a brighter future, she’d already experienced the joys of life. And if this was the beginning of the end for her, she was grateful for the time she’d already spent.
After Jules turned off the light, he went around to the other side of the bed, slipped under the covers, and wrapped his arms around Skye, bathing her with his warmth. “Jules,” she whispered, reaching for his hand and entwining their fingers together. “Can I tell you something?”
He kissed the top of her head. “Of course.”
She turned around in his arms, tangled her hand in his hair, and kissed him, as many times as she could, before breaking away, pressing her forehead against his, and saying three words that had never carried so much meaning in her life before. “I love you.”
Faintly she could see him smile. “I know,” he said, caressing her cheek. “And I love you, too. More than I ever thought possible.”
Afraid that this night could be their last together, Skye pushed him on his back, rolled on top of him, and searched for his lips with hers, desperately. She ran her hand up his shirt, rolling it up, pulling it off his head, all the while barely breaking away for air. Her heart was pounding, her mind reeling with the extremities of what she was about to do, temperature rising.
Jules made a small sound in the back of his throat, clumsily trying to sit up with her. He pulled her face in his hands, kissing her with a fierce aggression, igniting small fireworks in her stomach. She gasped when his lips ventured down into the crook of her neck, nipping softly at the tender skin. Her stomach did a few flips when he fingered the buttons on her blouse, carefully undoing one. She giggled, thriving off of his energy, lost in the heat of the moment.
His fingers paused at the third button of her blouse, quivering. “Are you sure you want to do this, Skye?” he asked her, looking into her eyes. “We can stop, right now, if you’re not ready. Because as much as I’d like to continue, this is something you can never undo.”
She froze for a moment, torn. Part of her feared taking such a huge step in their relationship, but the other part wanted it more than anything else. And despite the part of her that knew they shouldn’t—the part that knew it wasn’t right, at least not yet—she nodded, taking a deep breath.
Jules seemed hesitant for a moment, sitting there, looking right through her, but eventually returned to what he was doing before, taking things a little slower. As he undid the final button and took the blouse away, images of Johnny plagued her all at once, creating a slideshow of her in a terrifying scenario much like the one she and Jules were in at the moment except darker.
Scrambling out of Jules’s arms, she sobbed into the covers, terrified of the visions that continued to plague her. “I’m sorry, Jules,” she cried, shaking her head. “I-I just can’t shake the memory. I can’t shake him.

H-He’s always there. He always wants to hurt me.”
Warm breath brushed the side of her face. “Hey, it’s okay,” Jules whispered in a soothing tone, stroking her back in a comforting manner. “He’s not going to hurt you. He’s never going to hurt you again. I promise.”
She cried harder, knowing that that wasn’t true, but wishing it was. She had to be careful though; Jules couldn’t find out Johnny had talked to her. She wouldn’t put him in that