Dick Magnet: A Ruby Romp Novella

by Ruby Rowe

  Euphoric is not a strong enough word to express how her words make me feel. I prepared myself for the chance of not hearing them back, but I did, and I couldn’t be happier.

  Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulls me closer, and I make love to her until I can barely hold on. She comes again, and I let go, too. I notice the way her muscles contract and my cock pulses inside her. Never have I felt as close to Chloe as I do at this moment. God, I love her.

  Chloe

  Gripping the sink, I stare into the mirror in Ben’s bathroom. I look at my disheveled hair from a night of lovemaking and notice the mascara smeared beneath my eyes.

  Tears stream down my face, and as I replay the three powerful words Ben said to me, I have to cover my mouth. I try to muffle my cries, but picturing his adoring gaze looking back at me makes it challenging.

  I recall the way his tears were brimming on his eyelids, about to tip over the edge onto his long lower lashes.

  I couldn’t help but breathe back to him the words he desperately wanted to hear … the words I was so compelled to say.

  Swallowing my pain, I stand straight and wipe my eyes. I’m going to do the right thing. I’m going to leave him and let him hate me.

  It’s better than the alternative, which would be to blow up our families. I have Megan to think about, too. She doesn’t deserve to have the life she’s always known shattered. She’s already a hot mess, sleeping around the same way I have for so long.

  I did it to run from my love for Ben. What’s she trying to escape? I shake my head. It doesn’t matter. I’m not making things worse.

  I quietly dress, and after tiptoeing back to Ben’s bedroom, I find my purse and carefully shut his door behind me.

  It’s one in the morning, and after arranging an Uber ride, I type a goodbye text to Ben. While reading back the heartbreaking words, it feels as if a rock has taken up residence in my stomach, so I cover it with my arm.

  “Are you leaving him?” Nick asks. I jerk my head up and find Ben’s best friend leaning against the doorframe that separates the living room from their kitchen.

  Only a little light is filtering in from his open bedroom door down the hallway, but it’s bright enough for me to watch him remove his ball cap.

  He shakes out his shaggy hair and puts his hat back on. I don’t answer. I don’t have the nerve. “Wow, you’re more heartless than I thought.”

  “You don’t know the whole story.”

  He shoves a finger out at me. “And if you fucking knew the whole story before you gave in to Ben, then you were a bitch to let it happen.

  “He’s gonna be crushed, and I promise you this; I’ll do everything in my power to make sure he never looks your way again. He won’t be there to save you from being the slut we both know you are.”

  “Good. Ben needs to hate me. Trust me when I say that the pain of losing me will be far easier for him to live with than the truth.”

  “The way I see it, Ben should get to make that decision.”

  “I can’t take my secret back once I tell it, and the risk of it devastating him isn’t one I’m willing to take.”

  Standing from the couch, I walk to the door. As I open it, I turn back and stare into Nick’s squinting eyes that are full of hate. He’s the kind of friend everyone needs, and here I am, leaving my best friend forever.

  “He’s going to need you,” I whisper.

  “Yeah, and unlike you, I’m the friend that won’t leave. Get the hell out of our apartment, Chloe. And don’t ever think of coming back.”

  Nodding, I slip out the door … for the last time.

  ***

  “Chloe,” my mother says with surprise as she tightens the sash on her cream silk robe. “Is everything OK?”

  She’s asking since it’s only seven o’clock in the morning. I waited until I was sure my father had left to go have coffee with his friends from church. He and his buddies get together at a local restaurant before their morning service.

  “No. We need to talk.”

  “Come in, and I’ll make some coffee.” She steps aside, straightening her hair in the process. “You look awful. Have you even slept?” she asks.

  Not responding, I walk inside. “You don’t need to make coffee. I’m not staying. Actually, I’m going away for a few days.”

  “What? But you have finals coming up.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  My mother rubs her eyes and sighs. “Chloe, I don’t have time for your theatrics. You’re obviously angry at me as usual, so what’s this about?”

  “I know about you and Bryan. I know you had an affair with him.”

  The blood drains from my mother’s face as she reaches for the wall next to her. The color of her skin matches the color of her robe.

  “That was years ago,” she murmurs. “How?”

  “I saw him pull your giggling ass into the bathroom upstairs after one of our many dinner parties.”

  “God, Chloe. I’m so sorry.” The shame forces her to look away. She begins to weep, but I have no sympathy for her.

  “Your apology doesn’t mean shit, and I don’t want to know the details. I don’t need to hear how long you fucked your best friend’s husband. Hell, it could still be happening. What I came here to say to you is that I hate you for ruining my chance at a life with Ben.”

  “Chloe, it was—”

  “Shut up! I’ve had to live with this secret for years, so you’re going to hear me out. Ben has his father on a pedestal. I’m not going to destroy his idealization of Bryan and watch two marriages fall apart. I won’t break my sister’s heart.

  “But at the same time, I refuse to unite our families. I won’t let Ben gaze at me with adoration while I promise to honor and cherish him for all the days of our lives only to keep from him that his father had an affair with my mother.

  “I hope what you’ve done sinks in real damn deep and eats at you until the end of your days. I want you to remember how you ruined my and Ben’s opportunity at happiness. You did this.”

  Running out the front door, I cover my ears as she speaks. I burst into a sob and hurry to my car where I cry for the love I lost and for the disappointment I feel toward Bryan and my mom.

  I even cry for the regret and shame I saw in my mother’s eyes, and I don’t want to cry for her. I don’t want to feel an ounce of sympathy or remorse for the mean, hurtful things I spewed at her, but for some reason, I do.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Ben

  That was one of the best nights of sleep I’ve had in a long time. I scoot toward Chloe, but I never feel her body against mine. Opening my eyes, I look around.

  Not spotting her, I glance toward the bathroom next. The door’s open… Maybe she’s in the kitchen. I pull on some pajama pants, and after taking a leak, I head out of my room.

  In an instant, Nick sits up from where he’s been lying on the sofa. He’s still dressed, and I wonder why he isn’t in his bed. I glance around and don’t spot my girl.

  “What’s going on? Where’s Chloe?”

  “Bro, she left in the middle of the night.” Swallowing, he looks out the window of our living room. “And she’s not coming back.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “It’s over, Ben. She left you.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  “She said so.”

  “You had to have heard her wrong. She told me she loved me last night.”

  “The bitch has a weird way of showing it.”

  “Don’t call her fucking names. So, what? Did you sleep out here just to tell me?”

  “Yeah. I mean, she snuck out of here, so it didn’t look like she planned on mentioning it.”

  I stride to my bedroom, my eyes darting around to see if there’s a note. Spotting my cell phone on the nightstand, I grab it and see I have one text message from Chloe.

  Chloe: I know it’s awful of me to tell you this in a text, but you wouldn’t accept what I have to say otherwise. I also don’t be
lieve I could find the courage to do it in person.

  I can’t live in Georgia once I graduate. It’s not what I want, and I can’t ask you to move away. You even said you couldn’t.

  For that reason, it’s best we end this now before it gets any more complicated. I know this news will hurt you, and I’m sorry. I hope at some point in your life, you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

  My body shakes as I squeeze the phone in my hand and growl.

  Me: This is total bullshit! Why you feel the need to sabotage our relationship is beyond me. IF this is truly about you wanting to move, I’ll do it. I’d cross the fucking ocean for you, Chloe. I go where you go. Do you understand that? I’m not giving up on us, and I’m coming for you now.

  Tossing my phone on the bed, I begin to dress. Nick walks in my room, but I pretend he’s not there.

  “What are you doing?” he asks.

  “I’m going after her. She doesn’t mean it. She’s only scared.”

  “I can’t let you do that.”

  I glare at him. “This is none of your business, and you better think twice about trying to stop me.”

  “Dude, she doesn’t want to be with you. How long are you going let her treat you like shit? It’s pathetic.”

  Storming toward him, I shove him hard in the chest.

  “You have no clue how strong the bond is between Chloe and me, so you don’t get to weigh in on this.” Tears sting my eyes, so I hurry to blink them away.

  “Nick, I know her. When she told me she loved me last night, she meant it. She’s just scared. Loving her sure terrifies the hell out of me some days. I need you to trust for once that I know what I’m doing.”

  Nick scratches the back of his head and wanders out of my room. He doesn’t know shit. He couldn’t comprehend the night I shared with Chloe.

  She meant every fucking word she said to me. I felt it down to my bones, and I saw it in her teary eyes. Chloe’s never put her heart on the line before, so she probably needs reassurance that I’ll protect it. That has to be all this is.

  After I put my tennis shoes on, I grab my wallet and march to the front door.

  “She has a secret,” Nick calls out. I turn and eye him as he stands at the doorway to the kitchen. “If you figure out what that secret is and she still chooses to treat you like shit, then you’re on your own.”

  “What kind of secret?”

  “I don’t know, bro. She just told me that if you knew it, it would hurt you worse than the pain of losing her.”

  ***

  I pound on the Carringtons’ front door after seeing that Chloe wasn’t at her apartment. The stubborn girl won’t reply to my text messages, either.

  Melissa answers, and it appears she’s been crying. She holds a tissue to her nose and her face is puffy and red.

  “Melissa, what’s wrong? Is Chloe OK? Where is she?”

  “She left town. You need to come inside. Your parents are here.”

  Since my mom and dad live next door, they come over to the Carringtons’ house often, but something is off about them being here this morning.

  I walk in and follow Melissa to their family room. She begins to cry again, and my father rubs his forehead.

  “Melissa, I’ll handle this,” he says to her. “Why don’t you and Sharon go to the kitchen?”

  “You shouldn’t have to tell him alone?”

  “What the hell? Did someone die?” I ask.

  “No, son. Have a seat. Go,” he says, giving my mom and Melissa a serious look. My father is sitting in the recliner, so I sit on the couch to his right.

  “Ben, Chloe left because she’s angry at Melissa and me.”

  “Why?”

  “This is hard to tell you, and please, listen to everything I have to say before you react.”

  “OK.” I sure don’t like the sound of where this is going. After brushing back his dark hair, my dad rubs his hands on the thighs of his jeans.

  “Years ago, but after we were married, Melissa and I slept together.”

  Stunned, I stare at my father. And stare some more… Balling my hands into fists, I swallow.

  “Mom knows,” I say as a statement since she’s in the fucking house while he’s telling me this unfathomable news.

  “She does, and so does Greg … and Chloe.”

  “You son of a bitch.”

  “Listen to me. There’s more to the story. When you and Chloe were teenagers, your mother confessed to Melissa that she and Greg had kissed and messed around a little back in college. It happened while Melissa was dating him and I was dating your mother.

  “She claimed it only happened once, but your mom felt guilty about it for years. You know how close we all were in college.”

  “Yeah, Dad. I know how close the four of you have been,” I say sardonically.

  “Melissa promised Sharon she would keep it a secret, but she grew angrier and felt I had a right to know, so she told me.

  “We were both jealous and felt betrayed. Not long after we found out, we got drunk during a dinner party here, and that’s when Melissa and I made a huge mistake.

  “Ben, we were only together once, and we told Sharon and Greg soon afterward because the guilt was eating us up inside. It was difficult, and took some time, but they forgave us, understanding that we were angry at them and drunk at the time.

  “Unfortunately, when it happened, Chloe saw us, but we didn’t know that until today. She didn’t want you to find out and be hurt, but she also said she couldn’t make a commitment to you while keeping a secret of this magnitude. If only she’d talked to us about it…”

  “You and Melissa are the reason I haven’t been with Chloe all these years and the reason she left me!” I jump to my feet. “Why would she want to be with the son of the man who slept with her mother? Who slept with his best friend’s wife. Wife, Dad.”

  “I understand you’re angry, and you have every right to be, but people make mistakes, Ben. If your mom, Greg, Melissa and I can forgive each other for the mistakes we’ve made, you should find it in your heart to forgive us, too.”

  I point at my father. “You better hope I get Chloe back because if I don’t, forgiveness is something the four of you will never get from me.”

  I stomp to the kitchen and find my mother consoling Melissa as she weeps. This situation is fucked up. “Where did Chloe go?” I ask her.

  “Ben, I’m so sorry for what happened.”

  “You should be sorry. Where in the hell is Chloe?”

  “I don’t know. All she said was that she was going away for a few days. She was so angry with me.”

  “Think, Melissa. You have to have some idea.”

  “She didn’t say.” Her eyes widen. “Wait, I might be able to find her.” She grabs her phone off the kitchen counter. “When she and Megan went to New York City last year, Chloe shared her location with me on her phone. I don’t recall her every cancelling it.”

  I swipe Melissa’s iPhone from her hand and pull up Chloe’s contact. I’m soon able to track her movement.

  “Damn, she’s already past Chattanooga. I bet she’s headed to Nashville. She loves it there. I’m going after her, but I have to take your phone.”

  “That’s fine, but let us know she’s OK, and please, Ben, bring her home. Bryan and I have to make this right with the both of you.”

  “So do Greg and I,” my mother says with tears in her eyes. How the four of them forgave each other is beyond me. This is all too weird.

  “What’s going on down here?” Megan asks as she strolls into the kitchen, looking as if she just woke up. Her long hair is tangled, and she’s in her pajamas.

  “Oh, could this day get any worse?” Melissa asks.

  “I guess you have more explaining to do while I’m searching for your other daughter.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Chloe

  Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I brush the Oreo cookie crumbs off my shirt and onto my hotel bed. Along with crying for hours,
I’ve been drinking cheap wine and binging on junk food I raided from the vending machine down the hallway.

  I want to believe my luck can only go up from here, but without Ben in my life, I doubt that’s the case. I think rock bottom may have a basement, and I’m headed there.

  For the zillionth time, I scroll through the messages Ben sent a few hours ago. He claimed he was coming for me.

  “Sorry, buddy, but you can think again because I’m hundreds of miles away from you and our cheating parents,” I mumble before I fall back on the bed.

  Unfortunately, my pain followed me here. I’ll never escape it since I’ll never have Ben.

  My phone buzzes in my hand, so I sit up.

  Ben: I’m in the hotel lobby.

  Gasping, I cover my mouth.

  Me: How in the world did you find me?

  Ben: I’m not leaving here without you. I’ll sit in this lobby until you tell me which room you’re in or until the staff kicks me out. If they make me leave, I’ll sleep on the hood of your car until you see me. Nick dropped me off, by the way, so you and I have to work this out.

  Me: Mad props on your stalker skills, but I’m sure there’s a Greyhound bus stop in this city.

  Ben: Stop being stubborn.

  I don’t reply.

  Ben: Chloe, I know your secret. I know what our parents did. You don’t have to carry this burden any longer.

  I gasp again, and my guarded heart cracks open. Tears trickle down my cheeks as the weight of the burden he speaks of lifts.

  Having been made aware that he knows what his father did only makes me sob harder. My heart breaks for the pain and disappointment he must be feeling.

  My phone dings again, so I wipe my blurry eyes to read the message.

  Ben: Baby, I’m OK, and we can get through this. I’m not angry that you didn’t tell me, and I don’t want you any less. Please … what room are you in?

  I fight to breathe as the moment I thought would never come finds me. Beginning to hyperventilate, I run to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face.