Free Cheaters Anonymous by Lacey Silks Page A

‘Tom Cruise from Risky Business ’ slide toward me, his smile stretching wide across his face, and I couldn’t help but picture him without those pants.
    “Scar, are you sure you’re okay? Let me have a look at you.”
    The doctor in me wanted to give him a thorough examination, and maybe another toxicology report. He definitely looked as if he was on meth or something. Scar turned off the stove, removed the pan, wiped his hands, and somehow I ended up stuck between him and the kitchen counter. With his hands splayed at my sides and his entire body against mine, he robbed me of an escape. The weight of his hips on my belly and the hardness of him underneath those pants, even when not erect, sparked a need inside me. The kind of desire I had fought to erase from my life during the past year crept in each time I saw him or thought about him. My pulse raced. It only took seconds for Scar to deprive me of a sound mind.
    “Want to examine me, Doctor?” His sweet breath curved around my face. I lifted my finger to wipe the raw pancake batter off his bottom lip. He took my hand before I had a chance to lower it, sucked my thumb clean, and kissed it gently. I closed my eyes for a moment, savoring the touch of his lips against my skin.
    “Has something happened with your father?” I asked. Was that why he was acting so strange? From what I remembered, their relationship wasn’t anything to be proud of. Scar whistleblew some of his father’s illegal businesses by working with the FBI, but as far as I knew, they had overcome their issues. His father was forced to give it all up without having to go to jail, but still didn’t like Scar meddling in his business. As a good lawyer – actually one of the best in the city, if not the state – Mr. Wagner didn’t need to work for the rest of his life. Just managing their law firm, he would still have enough cash to fill in a football stadium, and yet that had never been enough. On top of all that was his cheating, so maybe Scar had had a setback. Perhaps they hadn’t patched things up the way I thought?
    “Scar, I know you don’t believe in relationships, and I understand how much your father’s affair hurt you. But as your friend, I can guarantee you the place I told you about could help you. Even if you don’t want to speak, just hear different sides of infidelity. Maybe you can relate. Perhaps it could help you move on? I’ve met so many people who survived struggles. They were able to work it out. Scar, you’re the only friend who ever made me feel things I didn’t know were even possible. I... I really want to help you.”
    “Thank you.” He smiled. It seemed like my words had flown in one ear and out the other. He stood so close to me that my brain was beginning to fog up again. All it took was one look from him, and I was melting. “But I’m not ready to be fixed just yet.”
    What did he mean by that?
    “I can’t say I’m not concerned by your behavior,” I whispered. I heard a change in my voice. It was filled with lust, and if Scar didn’t back away, I was afraid I’d lose the last ounce of control I held. The same way I almost lost it last night.
    “If you think I’m high, I can guarantee you that I don’t do drugs, Jules. Not even weed anymore. I’m just... happy.”
    I recalled the familiar sweet smoke I had always remembered on him, and only noticed now that it was missing. But if he wasn’t high, then where was his dream-like state coming from?
    “Wait, you don’t smoke anymore?” I asked.
    “No, I don’t. Let the habit go a few years back.”
    Wow!
    “I prefer to concentrate on... other things.”
    Did he mean sex? Women? Jealousy pinched my chest. Had he used the euphoria of two bodies connecting as a substitute for his habit? Now I definitely felt guilty about last night. I shouldn’t have been so forward, giving him hope and encouraging him.
    “And I badly want to concentrate on you, Jules. Only you.”
    Oh my!
    “What do you