He very grumpily responded, “Well, turn up the A/C!”
“Oh, yeah, I guess I could do that.”
I fumbled around trying to find the A/C in the dark, and then, having no idea what I set it on, I climbed back into bed. Within about an hour I was freezing my ass off. But rather than poke the bear again, I just tried to snuggle against him for warmth. He kissed my forehead as I burrowed underneath him, so he must not have minded too much.
Around six a.m., as much as I tried to deny it, I had to get up to pee again. I figured while I was up, I might as well brush my teeth too so I didn’t knock him over with my breath. I crawled back into bed with him, and he stirred a little bit, lifting his head and smacking his lips around.
“Morning breath?” I asked.
“Oh, I GOTS it!” he replied.
“Well lay it on me, stinky,” I said.
He grinned and gave me a very tight lipped kiss and quickly got up to brush his teeth too. He came back to bed and we rested against each other, our eyes closed, completely naked and huddled together. I can’t remember who started it, I think it was his fault, but we started kissing very softly and slowly, lazily really, still half-asleep. The sun had not yet begun to rise, so it was still quite dark in the room. There was just a faint beam of light from street lamps outside casting a warm romantic glow through the window over his handsome face. Looking at him there, I was the happiest I had been in years. Being able to be so close to him in what was left of the darkness was pure bliss. We were both still groggy, but he looked so good, I just had to have him. So, I kissed him with a little more passion, ran my fingers over his back with just a little more enthusiasm and wrapped my leg over him just a little more tightly. How convenient for me that his naked chest was right up against mine. I brushed my hand through his soft chest hair as I kissed him, making sure to tap my fingers over his trouble spots, knowing that anything coming near them was sure to cause a reaction. He gave a heavy, tired sigh as he pulled his lips away.
“Mallory… are you trying to seduce me this early in the morning?”
“Not at all. And quite frankly, sir, I’m offended by the implication,” I answered, as I took his nipple in my mouth and licked it, watching him the entire time.
“Oh, so that’s how it is? Two can play at that game,” he said, cupping my entire breast in one hand and drawing it to his mouth, licking and sucking my nipple while I moaned quietly against him. We remained there, kissing and caressing each other very leisurely for several minutes, still trying to wake up. He was going to try to pretend that I was bothering him until I felt something thick and hard rubbing up against my thigh.
“Oh, so I see you aren’t interested in any shenanigans this morning,” I laughed, reaching down to squeeze him.
“Nope, not interested in the least…” he replied mischievously, turning me under his weight slightly and knocking my legs apart with one quick swivel of his hips. God bless those hips.
He must have known I was sore from all that monkey business the night before because he very cautiously slid inside me, watching my face for obvious signs of distress. I couldn’t help but gasp really loudly, even though he was very gentle. Sweet Jesus, it was tender. Still, I was prepared to power through until sunrise. I realized that I only had a short time left with him and I wanted to make the most of it. As he began to move, my eyes welled with tears, but it wasn’t from physical pain. I just couldn’t imagine having to let him go again in just a few short hours.
“You okay, sweetie?!” he said, seemingly alarmed. He stopped for a moment. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”
“No, baby,” I responded. “Just go really slow… I don’t want this to end.” Realistically, I knew I was going to see him in just a couple of weeks, but still.
“Aw, me either, sweetheart,” he said, holding my head and kissing me softly.
Any of my emotional tender spots dissipated with his kiss as we continued to make love in the semi-darkness. In fact, I was feeling pretty darn good all over, until about 20 minutes in when a most unfortunate event occurred. I was comfortably pressed back against his chest and grasping the headboard for support, when suddenly he lost his erection. Permanently I guess, because he made no excuses or substitutions. Everything just came to a grinding, awkward halt and he, rather nonchalantly, declared, “Well, babe, I guess two and a half times is going to be it for a 24-hour period.”
I’m not sure that I was able to hide my disappointment. I don’t have a very good poker face. It wasn’t so much that I was disappointed that we had to stop, it was more the way he was so matter-of-fact about it, non-apologetic even, as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was just his way of saving face, and the last thing I would have wanted was for him to be embarrassed. It honestly wasn’t a big deal. I just would have expected someone you were close to be like, “Damn, baby, I’m sorry; this happens sometimes because of my medication… IT’S NOT YOU.” Because at that particular moment, with this being the second time, I very much felt like it was me.
In his defense, he did continue to hug me and kiss me for a minute or two, but not once did he offer any words of reassurance. There was that awkward pause that I didn’t think we had in our relationship. I felt guilty and somewhat selfish because out of the two of us, he was probably the one who needed reassurance. But how could I comfort him when he pretended there was no issue? What would I say anyway, “Sorry about your boner?” I have always struggled with supportive phrases and saying the wrong thing. I was so much better at buying people presents or baking them a cake or something, but I don’t think a cake would have been appropriate in this situation. I mean, I still would have eaten it… but no. I tried my best to lay affection on him as thickly as possible, to let him know I still found him as gorgeous as always because I did. I hugged him tightly while we were still lying there together; rubbing his back while I kissed him all over his face, making sure to gaze adoringly into his eyes like I normally would. It seemed to work. After several minutes of that, we were both smiling and joking again and seemed back to normal, snuggling and watching TV. He got up to throw on some clothes and offered to go to the lobby to get us some breakfast and coffee. I thought that was an awesome idea.
Once he was gone, I was just getting ready to text Jules to let her know how things were going when I had an epiphany of sorts. The light bulb in my feeble little brain flipped on. The man was using Viagra. Suddenly, so many things made sense. That’s why he was always so hot-to-trot after meals and wine. That explained why he couldn’t make it happen whenever I caught him by surprise… he hadn’t taken anything. He didn’t have incredible stamina, he was doping like Lance Armstrong! I don’t know how I hadn’t figured it out before, but looking back, I bet he had used it every time we were together. He must have just planned it better and taken it right before he knew he was going to see me. Then he would take it afterwards when he was chowing down on snacks and wine so he would be ready for round two. Maybe that was why he always seemed to cut oral sex a little short, because he knew he’d be one and done. Good thing… because I always thought I knew what I was doing, but I had actually started to question my skills in that area.
That very first night he wanted to run out for condoms, I bet he wanted to run out and pop a little blue pick-me-up instead. I chuckled to myself; it was so not an issue to me, really. It’s not like it’s an uncommon problem for men his age, but I had never been with one before, so it just never occurred to me. He certainly never acted like he had any issues whenever our conversations turned sexual, which at one point, was 99% of the time.
I was probably just stupidly in love with him, but uncovering this little tidbit made him somehow even more attractive to me. It was as if I was seeing a private, more real side of him, a certain vulnerability. Despite being wickedly handsome, intelligent and wealthy, he had imperfections too. When he returned with my eggs and coffee, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him like he had just returned from the war. I bet he found it really odd conside
ring he was only gone for about 15 minutes.
We sat at the little table by the window and ate our breakfast. He was dressed in a black Under Armour workout shirt, which looked spectacular against his solid biceps, and some tan cargo shorts. With his baseball cap turned backwards so he could see, he looked like he was about 28. His little curls cascaded out from around the rim, ridiculously adorable. I took a couple more pictures of him with my phone. I wish I had thought to take some of us together, but I was never happy with the way I looked in pictures anyway. Any photos that I sent to him in the past had been put through a rigorous screening process to make sure I didn’t have anything in my teeth or any wayward eyebrow hairs.
As we sat there, he completely covered his eggs in hot sauce. “Like things a little spicy there, do ya?” I teased.
“Yes, ma’am, especially tasteless ones like these.”
“They do have that cardboard buffet taste about them, don’t they? Coffee’s not too bad though.”
“What are you going to do for the rest of the day, sweetie?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I guess I’ll go get the girls, maybe take them to the park or something.”
“Did you get everything you wanted at the outlets yesterday?”
“Yeah, I think so. I didn’t have time to go in Banana, but I got way too much at Ann Taylor.”
“Will you have time to go back today? I’d like to buy you an outfit for work if I could.”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
“No… You’re not.”
“Really, you don’t need to do that, babe.”
“Um, I know that, but I want to,” he insisted.
“You’ve done enough!” I said very matter-of-factly.
“Mallory…” There was that exasperated tone.
“I don’t need anything else.”
“Just let me do this. You said yourself you needed work clothes. Quit being so damn stubborn.”
“Stubborn has nothing to do with it, Matt. I just don’t want you feeling like that’s why I’m with you or what I’m about.”
“I know that, Mal,” he said, pausing. “You are obviously with me because of my awesome hair,” he said, patting down his curls on the side of his hat.
“You are stupid,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Look, I know you aren’t like that, sweetie,” he said as he stood up. “But I like buying you things, and I’m buying you an outfit, so I guess you’re just gonna have to deal with it, okay?” He walked across the room and shoved what looked like a couple of hundred dollar bills in my purse.
“Turkey.”
“You’re welcome.”
We had a little staring contest and both busted out laughing at the same time. He pulled me into his lap and I sat there with my head against him and my arms around his neck for several minutes. Three weeks suddenly seemed so far away.
“Are you going to take a shower before you go, Sugahdaddy?” I asked him, running my hands over his face.
“Hahaha. Yeah, just a quick one, but you can join me…”
“Well, it will save time…”
We headed into the shower. As usual, he complained the water was too hot. Wuss. For once, there was no funny business. For the longest time, he just held me close to him, my arms wrapped around his shoulders and my head against his chest as the water rushed over both of us. It was really nice, very soothing. He washed my hair for me and I washed his back for him. I may have skimmed my hand over his ass a couple of times and kissed his muscular back as I washed it, but no harm, no foul. I didn’t even drop the soap. We finished up, kissed a little more, and got out to dry.
And so began the silence. Or quiet, I should say. I packed up everything except for my toiletries and my clothes for the day. I tidied up the room because I clean whenever I’m nervous. It’s probably the only time, actually. I wasn’t intentionally trying to ignore him, but I felt like if he so much as looked at me the wrong way, with any hint of sadness or longing in his eyes, I was going to burst into tears. I wanted to stay right there. I didn’t want to go back to normal. Normal where I barely heard from him until late in the day. Normal where he never flirted with me anymore. Normal where he was just. so. busy. and had so many people pulling on him and stressing him out. Our normal fucking sucked.
When we only had about 10 minutes left, he came up behind me as I was cleaning up the trash from breakfast and put his hands on my shoulders, nuzzling my neck. “Are you going to leave when I do?” he asked quietly.
“No, I’ve still got to fix my hair and put on makeup,” I responded, trying my damndest not to cry. “I’ll just wait until after you go.”
“Okay, come here, sweetie… sit with me.” He reached for my hand and pulled me over into the chair with him.
NOOOOO, I silently screamed, not the chair! I could already feel the waterworks coming. He held me tightly in the chair and kissed me. My face fell into his hands and he stared at me for a good minute or two before saying, “Mal, I had a great time with you. Last night was just incredible. Dinner was just spectacular, the food, being outside, and most importantly, the company, and just… well… everything. It was one of the best nights of my life, babe.”
“Me too,” I said. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“I know, I don’t want to either, but I have to,” he said, kissing me again. “But I have Grandover in three weeks so it won’t be long. You probably won’t even have time to miss me.”
“I miss you already.” There it goes. One tear escaped.
He quickly wiped it away and held me tighter, kissing my cheek.
“Thanks for coming all the way up here, Matt, and getting the room, and dinner, and everything…”
“It was my pleasure, sweetie.”
He looked at his watch. It was past nine. “Okay, I really have to go, baby, big kiss…”
I could kiss him one million times and it would never get old. He could still set me on fire with one slow pass of his tongue over my lips. It was almost cruel how much I needed it.
“Three weeks,” he said.
“Three weeks,” I repeated softly. “Be careful driving. Let me know when you get home.”
“I will. Bye, sweetie. I’ll see you soon.”
He didn’t tell me he loved me. I guess I could safely assume he didn’t. And with one more quick peck and a hug, he was gone.
Chapter Thirteen
The quiet in the hotel room was suddenly deafening. I couldn’t stand it. I quickly got my things together and just left. I didn’t feel like shopping anymore so I decided to go straight home. I called Jules on the way.
“Well, hey!”
“Hey.”
“What’s the matter? Everything going okay?”
“Oh yeah, he’s gone now. I’m just heading home myself.”
“Already? I thought you guys were going to hang out for a while?”
“No, he had to head out early to go to Durham and then get home for some family birthday party.”
“Well, everything went okay, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was fucking magical, actually. Probably the one of the best nights in my entire life. But, I don’t know. I already feel like it’s going to turn to shit once he gets home. I hate this part of it. I don’t want him to be married. I don’t want him to be six hours away. I can’t stand the way he changes once he’s not with me anymore.”
“I can imagine so. He turns back into a toad.”
“I’ll be curious to see what he says to Brooke, if he says anything at all.”
“So, um… who won the bet?” she said, chuckling.
“Well, you see, that’s complicated.”
“Oh, really? How so?”
“Well, there was a little trouble. I can’t believe I’m about to tell you this. Um… it would seem that perhaps Mr. Wynne may be using performance-enhancing drugs if you catch my drift.”
“Oh my God, seriously? Like something of the little blue pill variety?!”
“Well,
he is 48…”
“So, did he tell you this?”
“Oh nooooo.”
“Bwhahaha! That doesn’t sound good. How did you find out?”
“Basically he just had an issue with his wang not working when I first got there, but then suddenly it was working extraordinarily well after we went out for food and wine. I had gotten up to use the restroom, so he could have easily taken something. Then, the same thing after dinner. But when I tried to be spontaneous, very early this morning… it was pretty obvious that he was having trouble, err… maintaining.”
“Well, damn. You think he’s been using it all along?”
“Yeah, I do. I mean, it makes perfect sense. Why he could last so long, for one thing. I really don’t mind, but he could have told me, you know? I feel bad that he doesn’t feel like he can, but you know how weird they are about their penises. For what it’s worth, I did try at least four times, so had it worked, I definitely would have won the bet.”
“Haha, at least it did eventually work, and everything else went okay, right?”
“Oh yeah. He was so sweet, Jules. I just wanted to eat him up with a spoon. We just had so much fun together. It was just so… so… good.”
“Well, I’m glad you had a good time. At least it makes up somewhat for that bullshit he pulled with Miami. But it would be nice to see him follow it up with a little consistency for once.”
The Other Other Woman Page 27