Society Girls: Matisse

by Crystal Perkins

  “A perfect specimen of the human race.”

  I turn over so I can put my arms around him and kiss him. “Can I use your bathtub, or do you want me to go home?”

  “I’ll run you a bath and make some breakfast, but then I have to go to work.”

  “The recruits have the day off since all of the mentors are hanging with Teeg.”

  “You can stay here if you want.”

  I look around me at the African print headboard, and the black curtains around the four-poster bed, and then back at him. “You don’t mind me hanging out here when you’re not here?”

  “Nope.”

  “Even though I’m training to be a spy, and am naturally curious?”

  “I value my privacy, but I also trust you.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t trust me, so I’ll go hang with my girls while you’re gone.”

  “Thank you.” He gives me one more kiss, and then hops out of bed to get my bath going. It’s not fair that guys can fuck all night and still walk normally. Then again, I came more than a dozen times, so I have no room to complain about a little soreness.

  I’m dozing when I feel Kendrick lift me into his arms. “I could’ve walked.”

  “I like to carry you in my arms.”

  “It’s nice,” I say, curling into him for the short walk to the bathroom.

  “Yes, it is.”

  He places me in the water, which is just the right temperature, and I can’t help letting out a moan. “This is perfect.”

  “Glad you approve. I only had my shower gel, but it seems to have bubbled up nicely.”

  “Like I said, perfect.”

  “Enjoy. I’ll come get you when breakfast is ready.”

  “I could get used to this.”

  “Please do.”

  I close my eyes, and sink into the bubbles with a smile on my face. It feels so good, and I have to force myself to stay awake. All too soon—or maybe not—Kendrick comes back for me.

  He helps me out of the sunken tub, and towels me off before wrapping me in his robe. It’s kind of ratty and old, but I love it. Especially when he gets self-conscious about it.

  “I should’ve given you something nicer to wear.”

  “You use this regularly?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then it’s the best thing you could’ve given me to wear. I love wearing one of your favorite things.”

  “You’re lucky I have to work today.”

  “No, I don’t think I am.”

  “Your breakfast is getting cold, and I need to take a shower.”

  “I could help.”

  “Then I’d never leave, and I do have to go check on Tegan and little Cynthia. My nurses are great, but it’s not fair to put my work on them.”

  “Of course. I shouldn’t have suggested…”

  “Oh yes, you should’ve. Never think I want to be anywhere but with you. Inside of you, but so much more. I love talking to you, and helping you learn what you need to for the Society.”

  “If swooning was your intent, it’s happening. Like right now…I’m totally swooning, Doc.”

  “Good. Now go on before I forget I can’t have you again right now.”

  I kiss his cheek and run out to his living room where I find eggs, bacon, toast and juice waiting for me. I don’t drink coffee, and he somehow remembered that. If I wasn’t already falling in love with him, I’d be starting this morning. Kendrick is going to be the perfect boyfriend, and I’m the luckiest woman ever.

  * * *

  Kendrick

  “I hear everything went well last night,” I say as I walk into Tegan’s room. She’s alone right now while Caleb took Ethan to school.

  “And I hear you had a pretty great night, too,” Tegan tells me with a smirk.

  “Yes, well, I did,” I admit, since there’s no way I can hide it from her, or the rest of these women and men.

  “She’s a great girl.”

  “Yes, she is.”

  “Don’t hurt her, Kendrick. We like you, but she’s one of us now, and we won’t spare you because you fix us up or deliver our babies.”

  “You’re discounting what I do here?”

  “She’s not,” Reina says from behind me. “We all owe you so much, which means we’ll stay out of your relationship with Matisse unless it becomes a problem. If we have to intervene, you won’t be harmed physically, but things may not be pleasant for you. That’s all I can promise.”

  “It won’t be a problem.”

  “Failing tests because you’re upset about what’s going on is as a problem. We’ve all let our relationships affect our job, so there’s no stone throwing at this point, but she needs to pass.”

  “I didn’t know she failed a test. She should’ve told me.”

  “Did you give her a chance?”

  I think back to last night, and how I immediately seduced her, and then kept that seduction going for most of the night. We never talked. “No, I didn’t.”

  She nods. “Ainsley and I receive notifications when any of the cameras are turned off, and so do the guys. You should know that.”

  “Shit.”

  “We would’ve known even without the cameras—you were holding her hand when you left.”

  “I knew you’d notice, but I had to do it. For both of us.”

  “Talk to her, Kenny, and treat her right. That’s all you need to do.”

  “I’ll talk to her after work,” I tell her with a nod. “Right now I need to examine these ladies.”

  Reina takes Cynthia in her arms, and steps outside while I examine Tegan. She’ll be having her own baby several months from now, and it’s kind of adorable to see her getting into “mother” mode. Not that I’ll tell her that—I’ve stood up to her in the past, but if you’re not a little scared of Reina Corrigan, you’re not human.

  Once I make sure Tegan’s doing well, I check over Cynthia. “You’re both doing great. You can go home today if you’d like.”

  She can also stay here if it’s easier, although I don’t need to tell her that. There’s no insurance company to deal with here, although Corrigan covers them under the company plan in case they get hurt when they’re out on a mission. Treatment here—for any reason—is free to these women who put their lives on the line for others, just as it should be.

  “I think it will be good to get into a routine, but I’ll stay until E gets out of school, since I know he’ll want to be there when we take his sister home.”

  “Of course. Call me when you’re ready to go.”

  “Thanks, Kenny.”

  “You’re welcome, Teeg,” I say, causing her and Reina to draw in surprised gasps as I walk out.

  I’ve never called anyone by their nicknames, because I was trying to maintain my distance from them. Now that I’m with Matisse, it’s time for me to loosen up a little with everyone else. I’m not even close to as uptight as I made them think I was, but I had to set a precedent. I tried to set boundaries, but the husbands, led by Matt Corrigan, were having none of it. I’ve gone out with them, but I pretended to keep that stick firmly planted in my ass, only letting out my fun side with a sarcastic comment or two.

  I’m not alone here, though, and how much I let go isn’t up to just me. I need to talk to Waverly, so I head to the therapy center. She doesn’t have anyone she’s rehabbing right now, but she’s been helping some of the recruits with anatomy and kinesiology, as well as workout plans to complement their other lessons.

  Sure enough, she’s got Sierra, Jenysis, and Harlow in the room with her when I enter. They’re all studying a model of a foot she’s holding as she manipulates it, and points out each bone. I smile, because I’m proud of her for being here when she never thought she could do it. She sees me walk in, but finishes her tutoring before acknowledging me.

  “Hey, what’s up?” she asks, causing everyone else to turn my way.

  “I was hoping to speak to you for a few minutes. Since the recruits have the day off, I didn’t realize I’d
be interrupting.”

  “You’re just talking, right?” Sierra asks.

  “As opposed to what?” Waverly responds before I can.

  “Look, he took our friend to his bed last night, and no one knows exactly what’s going on between the two of you, so of course we’re going to ask,” Harlow tells her.

  “We’re friends, and it seems we do need to talk. Keep quizzing each other on the foot, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Waverly walks past me, and I wave meekly to the other girls as I follow her into the hall. “They’re already calling or texting her, you know.”

  “She knows you’re my friend.”

  “You went ahead and did it.”

  “Six times.”

  She makes a gagging face. “Just because you’re my best friend, doesn’t mean you can share sex stuff with me.”

  “Maybe I need a pat on the back.”

  “I’m sure the pat she gave you on your dick was better.”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “You don’t need to check in with me. I’m the one who convinced her to give you another chance.”

  “Your cupcakes from Drago Sisters will be here later today, but that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Then please impart your true intentions on me.”

  “I want to be like this with everyone. I want to stop pretending to be uptight.”

  She looks at me hard for a minute and then nods. “Okay,” she tells me in a small voice.

  “We’re almost there, Wave. Everything’s coming together.”

  “Which is why things should stay the way we are. But, I understand why you want to be yourself with your girl, and your friends.”

  “You have friends, too, and this won’t mess anything up. I promise.”

  “You deserve to be happy.”

  “So do you, my friend.”

  “I believe that could happen.”

  I smile wide, because this wonderful girl in front of me wouldn’t have said that two years ago. “It will. I know it. We can both be happy.”

  “I love you, Ken.”

  “Love you too, Wave.”

  We hug for a minute, and when I step back, I see we have an audience. “Ladies, I know you have better things to do than spy on me and my best friend,” I say and walk back to my office.

  I know they weren’t standing there for the whole conversation, but I’m still annoyed. Despite all of the spies and their sexcapades in my medical ward, there are boundaries. Personal conversations should stay just that—personal. I press the button for Reina’s office before I think too hard and stop myself. This isn’t my old “persona” reacting. I deserve the same respect those women ask of me, even if I know they’re just trying to protect their friend.

  Chapter 6

  Matisse

  I texted Kendrick to ask him if he had a good talk with Waverly, but he hasn’t answered me. I keep checking my phone in between reading Physics chapters on my tablet, but there’s nothing, and I need to concentrate on my reading. We’re farther into our Physics lessons than the other sciences, and in fact, my friend Neveah used some of what we learned when she went off on her own last year. Going rogue is frowned upon in the Society, but she did what she had to do, and I respect her for that. We all do.

  I hide my phone under one of my couch cushions, and get up to grab a snack. A knock comes at my door, and I yell for whoever it is to come in. I know Kendrick is still as work, so I’m not surprised to see some of my friends enter the room.

  “Hey, what’s up?” I ask.

  “Your boyfriend got us in trouble, that’s what,” Jen says.

  “What did you do?” I ask, my heart sinking.

  “How do you know we did something?” Sierra asks.

  “You wouldn’t be in trouble if you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “We eavesdropped on the last part of his conversation with Waverly. He saw us, and told Reina,” Harlow admits.

  “Why would you do that?” I ask, panicking. Now I know why he’s not responding—he probably thinks I told them to listen in.

  “We wanted to make sure he wasn’t playing you both,” Jen tells me.

  “She’s his best friend,” I screech. I know I sound crazy, but I feel crazy right now, so it fits.

  “Calm down, Teesy, we just have to apologize and man the security feeds of the parking lot for the next week,” Sierra says.

  “I don’t care about your punishment. Kendrick hasn’t answered the text I sent earlier, and now I know why.”

  “Oh shit! Do you think he thinks you asked us to do it?” Harlow asks.

  “I don’t know what he thinks since he’s ignoring me, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that, yeah, he does.”

  “He said he loved her, and then hugged her,” Sierra says.

  “Again, they’re best friends. I’ve told everyone in this room ‘I love you’ but I’m not romantically interested in any of you. I can’t believe you did this! Especially the three of you—you all guard your privacy, and yet here you are, invading someone else’s.”

  “We’re training to be spies,” Jen reminds me.

  “That doesn’t give you the right to spy on your friends.”

  “You’re our friend,” Sierra tells me.

  “Didn’t Kendrick patch you up—more than once?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “And Waverly helped Joel get back to playing, didn’t she?”

  “Yes.”

  “You don’t consider them your friends after all that?”

  “We suck.”

  “Yeah, I’m not gonna lie, right now you do.”

  “We’ll tell them you didn’t know,” Harlow offers.

  “You just go talk to Waverly and make sure she’s okay. You know, since we’ve hung out with her a few times, but now you’ve treated her like she’s not our friend.”

  “I hate us right now,” Jen says. “We totally overstepped.”

  “Yeah, but you had good intentions. They’ll forgive you.”

  “Are you going to make nice with the good doctor for us?” Sierra asks, the smile finally returning to her face.

  “I’m going to try and talk to him. I’m not sure he’ll be interested in anything else.”

  “Maybe talk to him while just wearing your knickers,” Jen suggests.

  I roll my eyes. “Just because you refuse to give Wayne anything more than sex, doesn’t mean we all want that. I need to talk to him with my clothes on.”

  “And hope he asks you to take them off afterward,” Harlow adds.

  “Yeah, that.”

  “We’re sorry,” Si tells me.

  “I know. Just go take care of Waverly.”

  We hug it out, and I abandon my snacks to retrieve my phone from the couch. I take a deep breath and type.

  Me: I had no clue about what Si, Jen, and Harlow did until right now. I told them it was wrong. I would never ask anyone to spy on you and Waverly.

  I’m not expecting a quick response, so I’m not surprised when I don’t get one. Nervous and stressed out, but not surprised. It’s almost two minutes later when my phone vibrates. I’m clutching it so hard that I almost drop it when I relax my hand.

  Hot Doc: I’ll be home in a couple of hours. We can talk then.

  Me: Okay.

  That’s it, nothing more. He doesn’t say anything back, and I’m not going to make myself look even more desperate by texting again. Time to get back to my studies, because that’s something I can control.

  * * *

  Kendrick

  It’s been a long day, and I’m really ready for a beer. I’m on-call tonight at a local hospital, so that’s unfortunately not an option. I keep the privileges at the facility in case one of the women or men I look after gets admitted there. It happened with Matt when he almost got killed in Mexico and was flown back here, but that’s one of the few times my “moonlighting” has come in handy. Who knows when we’ll need my access again, but it’s not like I can just q
uit and apply again. So no beer for me, and probably not much sleep. The glamorous life of a doctor.

  I go straight to Matisse’s apartment when I get home to the Corrigan apartments. Most of the Society lives here, and so do all of the recruits, as well as myself and Waverly. I stand outside of her door too long, so I’m not surprised when it opens and she’s staring at me from the other side.

  I can tell she’s been studying, not just because she’s in a loose t-shirt and leggings, but because she’s got a little bit of pencil smudged on her cheek. I can’t help but smile as I reach out to rub it away and kiss her there. “What are you studying today?”

  “Physics.”

  “Not my specialty, but I can help,” I tell her as she steps back to let me in.

  “I thought you were mad at me.”

  “I was mad at the situation, and yes, I was annoyed because it wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t together.”

  “I can’t control what other people do, even if it’s because of me.”

  “I know.” I do know. “I was unfair to you.”

  “Yes, you were,” she’s standing there, with her arms crossed, looking angry and hurt at the same time.

  “I’m sorry, Tees.”

  “I accept your apology,” she says, relaxing her stance.

  “Thank you. I’ve got a few hours before I have to report to the hospital. What can I help you with?”

  “You can go take a nap like you do every night you have a shift. I’ll save you some dinner.”

  “I do need a nap,” I tell her, not hiding the regret in my voice.

  “I know. You can sleep in my bed if you want.”

  “I want.”

  “Go on, before I make you forget you need your sleep.”

  “I’ve already forgotten.”

  “Tease.”

  I kiss her hard. “Just being honest, but I have to get that sleep, or I’ll be no good to the patients who might need me.”

  I’m not used to doing 30 hour shifts anymore, or even 16, so I have to get a little bit of sleep. I could catch some time in one of the on-call rooms, but I never sleep well in there because I know I might have to get up at any time for an emergency. So, naps before, if I can squeeze it in, and normally I’ll take the day after off, unless we have someone in the ward. Tegan went home before I left, and Jade doesn’t start her next mission until tomorrow night, so I’m good on that front.