by Tania Sparks
Caleb looks a bit worried. He breathes in deeply and looks at me with concern written all over his face.
I start to panic, “What’s wrong? Has something happened at the club that I don’t know about?”
“No, no, nothing like that.” He says reassuringly. “It’s just that, well…hell, I didn’t think this would be so difficult.”
Now I’m really concerned. “Come on, spit it out, you’re killin’ me here.”
“Mmm…how do I ask you this without sounding like a douchebag?” He pauses dramatically before continuing, “You’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately with that rocker guy…”
I squint my eyes and look at him sideways. I’m not quite sure where this is going. “Yeah,” I answer hesitantly.
He frowns as he asks, “Well, is it serious?”
I hesitate for a few seconds, unsure of how to answer, “No. Yes. No. I mean, in all honesty, I’m not really sure. I love spending time with him, we get on really well and the sex is…fuck, the sex is mind-blowing!”
Caleb cringes but says silent. I can see his breathing has fastened and if he squeezes his coffee cup any harder he’s going to crush it. He notices and places the cup down, instead gripping the edge of the table.
I answer him as truthfully as I can, “I don’t know if it’s serious. But, neither of us do relationships, so the whole thing is all quite open. Basically we’ve agreed that when we’re in the same city we only spend time with each other. But other times we can do what we want. He’s going to carry on fucking around with groupies and I can do whatever or whoever I want. It’s sort of a compromise.”
He frowns at me, “Shit, that sounds a bit fucked up to me.”
“Shut up.” I hit him playfully on the shoulder and he grins at me.
“Anyway, why would you want to know if me and Nikki are serious?”
The room goes silent and he squirms awkwardly in his seat. Then he leans forward so he’s really close to me, his eyes focused on mine. “Well, it’s sort of made me start wondering. With you gone so much lately I’ve been thinking about what I want…”
This sounds serious. Is he going to pull his shareholding out of the club? I’ve got so used to having him around, it wouldn’t feel the same without him. He’s really important to me. “What are you saying Caleb? What is it you’ve decided you want?” I ask reluctantly.
His eyes suddenly turn heated. Shit I’ve seen that look before.
“You.” He answers abruptly as he studies my face carefully for my reaction.
“Me?” I squeak.
“Yes you. I want to see what we can have together. I want to be more than just work colleagues and fuck buddies. I think we could really have something special if we just gave it a chance.”
I whisper, “You know I don’t do relationships. And you’re not any better than me at the whole commitment shit either.”
“Yeah, I know babe, but just think about it. We get on really well. You’re my best friend. We have so much in common, the chemistry between us in the bedroom is off-the-charts. With you spending so much time away lately, I started thinking. Actually, I sort of freaked out when I thought I might lose you to some random rocker. I figured it was now or never. I want us to try and see what happens. So what d’ya think?”
I’m stunned. For the first time in a very long time, I don’t know what to say. Caleb is really important to me. Along with Eve, I consider him my best friend. I had no idea he thought about me in a more romantic way. Sure, we’ve hooked up quite a few times, and we’re certainly very good together in the bedroom, but it’s always just been a bit of fun. Nothing serious.
He can see my hesitancy and he looks a bit deflated, obviously not the reaction he was hoping for. He murmurs quietly, “Have a think about it Trixie. I think we could really work together. I’m hoping that your silence is just because you’re scared and I’ve freaked you the hell out. Let’s have a talk about it after tonight’s shift. You can come over to my place and we’ll talk.” He stands up, leans down and kisses me on top of my head and walks out the door. I’ve said nothing.
I walk into my bedroom and flop down on the bed. I start thinking about what Caleb said. I’ve known him for quite a while. He’s right, we do get on really well. He really is an amazing friend and sure, when we ‘do the nasty’ we’re certainly very compatible. I always have great fun and amazing orgasms. Is that what a relationship is? Maybe all this time we’ve already been in a relationship of sorts? I can’t imagine him not being in my life. But I’m not sure if it can be more.
I’m exhausted, both mentally and physically. Of course it doesn’t help that I was up until daybreak with a certain sexy rock star. I lie there remembering all the things Nikki and I did last night and the way he made not only my body sing, but my heart too. I really do miss him, I miss his cheeky smile and his cocky attitude. I miss the way he makes me feel special and the way I feel happy around him. But is it just physical chemistry? We haven’t really spent much time together when we’re not fucking? Could me and him even be anything more?
~~~
I wake up to the alarm screeching in my ears. Shit, it must be nine o’clock in the evening already. I hurriedly get up and jump into the shower. I rush to get dressed ready for tonight’s shift.
Before I leave I decide to quickly call Nikki to say hi, I miss him. The phone rings, and rings and rings. Eventually Nikki picks up, “Hey party girl.” he says enthusiastically. He sounds like he’s been drinking, but that’s not unusual, they would have finished their show by now and they’ll all be in party mode. It’s probably about one in the morning over on the east coast. There’s loud music playing in the background.
“Hey rock star, just thought I’d call and say hi.” I chirp happily.
“Well hi there.” He slurs.
Then I hear an unmistakably feminine voice, “Nikki, baby, come back, we’re getting lonely here.” Another voice purrs, “Yeah come on, we’re both ready and waiting.” I hear giggling.
Shit! This is really awkward. I quickly say, “It’s okay, I can hear you’re busy, I’ll let you go.”
“No, don’t go.” He says desperately.
I quickly respond, “I have to go. I need to head out to the club and I’m already running late. Bye.” I hang up the phone without waiting for a response. Darned it! Although I knew that we had agreed to see other people when we’re not in the same city, it still hurts to hear it actually happening. Damn, damn, damn. I wish I hadn’t phoned him.
My phone rings. I see on the screen that it’s Nikki. I don’t answer it and let it go to voicemail. Then it dings with a text. It’s not what it sounded like. I don’t respond. My phone rings again so I turn it off and head out to work.
~~~
When I get there the place is already quite full and has a definite buzz going on. I can tell we’re going to be run off our feet tonight. A lot of the regulars are sitting around having a few drinks before the place really starts to get pumping at around eleven. I place my handbag in the back office and start my rounds to make sure all the staff are ready to go and the stock is sorted and organized.
I spot Caleb leaning against the bar talking to a stunning red head. She’s doing her best to seduce him but he doesn’t look overly enthusiastic. He does look smokin’ hot though. He’s wearing charcoal slacks and a matching charcoal long sleeved shirt. His brown hair is ruffled into a messy but sexy-as-hell style. He spots me and his face lights up with a huge smile. He excuses himself from the redhead and heads my way, much to her disgust.
He reaches me and wraps his strong hands around my hips. “Hey babe, like usual you look stunning.”
“Thanks, you’re looking pretty hot yourself,” I say raking my eyes over him.
He smirks. His face turns slightly serious, “Look, I know I probably freaked you out earlier today. I think it’s one of the only times I’ve seen you speechless!” He chuckles and gives me a reassuring kiss on my cheek, “But babe, I honestly think we could hav
e something special if we just gave it a chance. Are you still okay to come back to my place at the end of the shift, we can have a talk? What d’ya say?”
I really need someone to talk to. My head’s buzzing in confusion. Me and Caleb have always been able to talk frankly to each other so I have no hesitation in meeting him for a chat after tonight’s shift finishes. “Yeah, I think that would be good,” I reply.
“Fantastic!” he chirps. He grabs hold of my shoulders, spins me around and slaps me on my ass, “Go on then, you have a club to run. We’ll catch up later.”
I smile at him over my shoulder and stride off to make sure everything is ready to go for what’s shaping up to be an extremely busy night.
~~~
At 4am we finally shuffle the last of the customers out of the club. I’m exhausted and we’ve been run off our feet the whole night. I take a few quiet moments to sit in my office and gather my thoughts. Caleb comes strolling in. “Ready to go?” he asks.
“Yeah, let’s go.” I reply.
We jump in his car, leaving mine in the car park and we make our way to his place. His apartment is nice and it’s in an expensive part of town. We make our way inside. “Have a seat on the couch, I’ll go and get us some wine.”
I flop down onto the couch. Shortly after Caleb returns with a couple of glasses of red and hands me one. I take a large sip, “Mmm, that’s good.”
He sits down next to me and puts his arm around my shoulder. “You don’t look happy babe. Have I mucked everything up. Was I wrong to ask you for more?”
I snuggle my head into his chest. “No, you did nothing wrong. We do have something special. It just took me by surprise is all and at the moment I’m not sure what’s going on in my head. I’m just totally confused.”
“It’s not just that I asked for more is it? I know you Trix, something else is bothering you. What’s wrong babe?”
Hell, he knows me so well. I’m still feeling upset about the phone call with Nikki earlier tonight. “You’re right, it’s not just what you said, and strangely enough it’s not freaking me out as much as I thought it would. It’s something else that’s bothering me. I’m a bit off because I phoned Nikki earlier tonight and it sounded like he was with some girls.”
“Oh sweetness, I’m sorry. But that is what you had agreed to wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, but it was easy to ignore when I didn’t have to see or hear it, but when I phoned and some random groupies were giggling in the background, it sort of brought it back to reality and I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
“C’mere,” Caleb rumbles as he holds out his arms and encourages me to crawl up onto his lap.
I move and reposition myself across his lap and snuggle my face into his neck. He smells good and I feel that familiar tingle of excitement in my body. Maybe what I need is to forget Nikki for a few hours? Maybe Caleb can help me do that?
I move myself so that I’m straddling his lap. I put my hands on either side of his face and lower my lips close to his. He interprets my actions immediately. He looks at me with a questioning expression on his face. “You sure you want to do this?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply.
He stands, lifting me with him he walks us through to his bedroom. He lowers me onto the bed and crawls on too. In one swift movement his mouth is on mine and he clasps me firmly on my hips. Our tongues entwine and his hands go to work on removing my clothes. Pretty quickly I’m wearing only my panties and bra.
He gets up, stands at the end of the bed and begins to unbutton his shirt. His eyes are full of lust and desire. Once he’s undone all of the buttons he slides it off his shoulders and lets it drop to the floor. He really does have an amazing body, all hard ridges and muscled tone. And that intense glare makes me feel like he’s going to devour me. I peruse his body heatedly but soon find myself seeking the tattoos that cover Nikki’s body. My mind drifts to what Nikki might be doing now and I start reminiscing about the last few days we spent together and how amazing it was.
Caleb slowly starts to undo the buckle on his slacks but he stops. I’m still staring absentmindedly at his chest imaging Nikki when I hear him rumble, “Trixie?”
I snap my eyes up to his and he’s smiling warmly at me. “You’re not really into this are you? Your thoughts are obviously somewhere else.”
Damn. How bad is that? I’m lying here thinking about Nikki while Caleb’s attempting to seduce me with his sexy moves. Moves that usually have me begging for more. I bite my lip in embarrassment and whisper, “I’m sorry.”
He does up his belt and sits down on the bed beside me. “It’s okay sweetheart, I understand. I can see your heart is clearly elsewhere.” He looks sad but resigned. He lies down on the bed next to me. He sighs deeply. “I’ll always care for you babe, and if that rocker breaks your heart, I’ll snap his fuckin’ neck. But can I give you a bit of advice?”
I nod my head in agreement as he continues, “You need to get over your negative feelings about relationships. If he’s where your heart is, you should commit to it. No more of this fucking around when you’re not in the same city, that’s just ridiculous. And if that douchebag doesn’t agree, you should dump his ass and come back to me.”
I tear rolls down my cheek and he leans across and wipes it away with his thumb.
“How do I deserve you?” I whisper, “Are we okay?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.” He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, “Not quite how I planned tonight going, but I care about you way too much for this to affect our friendship.” He pulls me in close and wraps me in his arms. He pulls the blankets over us, “Let’s sleep now, I’ll take you home in a few hours.”
~~~
Later that morning I wake up and reach across to check my phone. There’s numerous text messages and voicemail messages from Nikki, but I don’t think I can look at them or listen to them just yet. I need to get my head on straight before I talk to him. I get up, get dressed and quietly make my way to the kitchen to make some coffee.
After a few minutes Caleb joins me. He’s just wearing his jeans that are hung low on his hips. He looks delicious. I can truly appreciate how beautiful he is, but I now realize that Caleb is not where my heart is. Nikki’s the one I want and the simple fact that I’m so upset about hearing those girls in the background when I called him last night, proves to me that perhaps I should try this whole relationship thing with him. We need to talk and I make a promise to myself to discuss it with him.
Caleb and I chat like old friends over our coffee. He really is a great guy and I’m lucky to have him. I hope we can continue like we have, but of course without the sex. I would miss him way too much if we couldn’t continue our friendship.
Caleb takes me home. It’s refreshing riding in his convertible with the wind rushing through my hair. We pull up to my apartment and he leans over and gives me a kiss on my lips then sits back up, he pats me on my knee, “Take care sweetheart.”
I lean across the gearshift and snuggle into his neck. “Thanks for everything Caleb.”
“My pleasure. I’m here if you need me. Bye for now.”
“Bye.”
I get out of the car and wave as he pulls away.
I turn around and walk straight into a hard chest. I recognize the feel of his body and his scent straight away. He growls, “Who the fuck was that?”
Chapter 7
“Nikki, what are you doing here?” I shriek.
“Obviously I was under the misunderstanding that you might have been missing me.”
“I do miss you!”
“Sure as fuck doesn’t look like it. Did you spend the night with that dickhead?” he challenges.
“It’s not like that.”
“Well tell me what the fuck it is like then! It sure as hell looks like he was dropping you off home after a night of god-knows what. Jesus, I flew here all the way from New York because I thought you were upset. You wouldn’t answer my calls. I know you thought you heard me with so
me girls and I needed to explain.”
His raised voice is starting to attract the attention of passers-by and other apartment residents as they look out of their windows. “Let’s go up to my apartment and talk where there’s no nosy as hell neighbors.” I notice a couple who have stopped on the sidewalk to listen to our altercation¸ I scowl at them angrily and they quickly move on.
Nikki stomps towards my apartment and I follow along behind him. He gets there way before me because he’s been walking so fast. He’s standing next to my door with his back to the wall, his arms are crossed angrily across his body, a scowl is on his face. I fumble with my keys and open the door. I walk inside and Nikki follows.
I throw my handbag down on the side table and stroll towards the kitchen, mentally preparing myself for an argument. I hear a loud growl from Nikki as the front door slams shut. He stomps towards me and just as I’m about to turn around he sweeps me off my feet, throws me over his shoulder and carries me to my bedroom. He tosses me down roughly on my bed. I lean up on my elbows and raise my eyebrows in question, challenging him to take the next step. He glowers at me from the end of the bed. We say nothing as he stands there perusing my body. I lie here perusing his. Heat starts to spread throughout me and my skin starts to tingle. He always has this effect on me. Angry or not, he’s as hot as hell and my body’s reacting.
His eyes move to mine and I can’t break focus. He has me mesmerized. I can see him considering and thinking then he shakes his head slowly and growls, “I know what you said about not doing relationships darlin’ but I’m not taking no for an answer. You must think I’m fuckin’ crazy if I’m gonna to let you brush me off again sweetheart. You’re mine, no one else’s. Just mine. No one else is allowed to touch you. Just me! No one else is allowed to kiss you on those luscious lips. Just me! And no one else is allowed to fuck you Trixie. Just Me!” His words are angry and with each sentence his voice is getting louder and louder, but his eyes are burning with lust and possession, he roars, “Whether you like it or not, we’re already in a relationship darlin’. You’re mine!”