by Claire Adams
“Oh, my,” she said under her breath. Two, well-muscled men, wearing little more than leather thongs and flip-flops, walked by us, holding hands. We passed by another man dressed as a woman, in a long sequined evening gown and impossibly high heels. My mother’s eyes widened even further. “Let’s go in here,” she said, tugging me into a restaurant we were walking by. “I heard this place is supposed to be pretty good, actually.”
“Sure,” I said.
The restaurant had a distinctly European feel: minimalist décor, everything very modern. We were seated on high stools at a round table for two. “Abigail will be right over to take your drink order,” the hostess—who may have actually been a man—told us.
“Great,” my mother said, and we both began looking at the menus.
Abigail turned out to be a pretty girl with a pierced nose and very short, spiky hair, dyed bright pink. Except in the front, she had left her hair long and had side-swept bangs. Both her arms were covered in colorful tattoos, from her shoulders all the way down to the backs of her hands. I tried not to think about Graham.
“Now that’s quite the look,” my mother whispered to me after she’d taken our order.
“I kind of like it,” I said. “She doesn’t have to worry about brushing her hair every morning.”
“Now,” my mother said. “Let’s talk about something nice, shall we? How is your sculpture project coming along?”
“Uh ... it’s okay,” I said. I didn’t want to tell her that it actually wasn’t coming along at all.
“Your father and I will come to the opening. I want you to know that. It’s important to us that we be there and see what you’ve been working on.”
“Great,” I said, feeling even worse about the whole thing. I just had to not think about that right now, either. There didn’t seem to be anything safe to think about. I started ripping my napkin into little bits, wishing that I had just stayed at home in bed.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Graham
I decided to do what Tara said—I’d give it a few days before I got in touch with Chloe. Maybe I’d even decide that I didn’t feel like talking to her after those few days had passed, which was nothing more than wishful thinking. I couldn’t, in fact, seem to get her out of my mind.
I had her address; I’d go over to her house and talk to her. I’d tell her I was sorry and that I hadn’t really felt like this toward someone before and I didn’t quite know how to handle that. Maybe that sounded lame, but it was the truth. If she wanted to know what happened between me and Francesca, I’d tell her that too: absolutely nothing.
My phone rang as I was pouring my first cup of coffee of the day. I looked at the screen. My mother.
“Something is up with my car again,” my mother said. “Are you at work?”
“No, I’ve got the day off.”
“Oh, good! So you can come down there. Can you come down here now?”
“Just because I’m not going into work doesn’t mean I’m just sitting around on my ass—I’ve got things I need to do.”
“It will just be a few minutes, sweetie, please?”
“There’s no one there who can help you? I find that hard to believe.”
“If you left your house now, you’d be here in under five minutes. I think it just needs a jump again.”
“It sounds like you need to invest in a new battery if it’s going to keep dying.”
“Yes, I know. And I will. But for now, will you just come down here?”
I should’ve known better, but I agreed.
*****
My mother was sitting on the hood of her car, smoking a cigarette. Another woman that I didn’t recognize stood next to her.
“See, that hardly took you any time at all,” my mother said. “Now, come over here; I want you to meet Charlotte.”
She grabbed me by my forearm and pulled me over.
“Charlotte, this is my son Graham. Isn’t he as handsome as I told you? Graham, this is Charlotte.”
“Hey,” I said. Charlotte smiled. She was one of those women that might have been pretty, but it was hard to tell because she put so much makeup on.
“Your mom’s told me a lot about you.”
“I can just imagine,” I said. “I don’t really have time to chat, though; I’m just here to jump start that piece of shit car. Again.”
“I have to go get something inside, I’ll be right back!” my mother exclaimed. She turned and hurried off before I could say anything.
“So,” Charlotte said. “I guess this is where I’m supposed to ask what you out.”
I looked at her. “Huh?”
“Your mom said you were single, and she thought ... she thought we might hit it off. But we won’t know that if we don’t go out, right? I just got out of a relationship myself, actually. Well, we broke up a while ago, but this is the first time I’ve really felt like getting back out there on the dating scene. It’s because—”
“Hold up,” I said. “I think you might have the wrong idea here. I came down because my mother said her car needed a jump.”
Charlotte smiled and shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
“Right. I get it. Listen, I’m sure you’re a very nice person, but you can’t listen to my mother, okay? I shouldn’t have listened to her—if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here right now, on my day off.”
“I think she was just trying to be helpful.”
“Oh, I’m sure she was. Just like I’m sure there’s nothing she actually needed to go get inside, but just wanted to give us a little alone time to arrange our date tonight.”
Charlotte laughed. “Janice has good intentions.”
“Well, I think I’m going to take off before she comes back out here. You can tell her I appreciate her efforts at playing matchmaker, but I’d prefer to let these things happen a little more naturally.”
“I completely understand.”
“Great.” I started to get into my truck. “Good luck, though,” I said. “And do yourself a favor—don’t listen to what my mother says anymore.”
Since I was already out, I decided I’d just drive over to Chloe’s. That would keep me from thinking about the fact that my mother was batshit crazy and that I’d never in a million years go out with someone from The Finery.
I put Chloe’s address into the GPS and found it pretty easily. They stayed in a place that was right by the ocean, of course.
I knew Chloe came from a wealthy family, but I hadn’t been expecting this. The house was fucking huge. She lived here? My place must’ve seemed like a shoebox to her. I parked my truck at the end of the long driveway, which wasn’t paved but covered in crushed, white seashells. The lawn was a brilliant green and perfectly manicured, like it should’ve been a putting green. There were elegant flower beds and a brick walkway that led up to a Cape-style house. Except it was more like five or six houses that were combined all into one. Three people lived here? Insane.
I went up to the front door and knocked.
“Just a minute!” a woman’s voice called out from somewhere back in the house. She appeared a moment later, a tall woman with similar features to Chloe. The expression on her changed when she saw me though, from open friendliness to guarded skepticism.
“Who are you?” she asked. “This is a private residence.” She stood behind the door, as though using it for a shield.
Was she serious? Did she think I was about to pull out a knife or something and demand that she give me all of her money? I had to stifle a laugh.
“Does Chloe live here?” I asked.
The woman hesitated. “Why are you asking?”
“I just wanted to talk to her. I mean, I know she lives here because I see her car right over there.” I gestured behind me and the woman looked as though she didn’t believe me.
“What’s your name?”
“Graham. Graham Walker.”
“Chloe isn’t available to speak to you right now. Or ever, really. I don’t know who you ar
e, Mr. Walker, or what exactly you might want with my daughter, but I think it’s best you just forget about it. I’m not sure how else to phrase this, but ... you’re not the type of person my husband or I would like our daughter to be fraternizing with. I apologize for putting it so bluntly, but I just want us to be clear here.”
She had stepped out from behind the door and was looking at me boldly, as if challenging me to contradict her.
“Excuse me?” I said.
Her mother looked over her shoulder, as if she’d heard something behind her. She stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind her.
“You can’t come here and try to intimidate me,” she said.
I held up my hands. “Ma’am, I am not trying to—”
“And don’t ‘ma’am’ me. Don’t act like you’re this refined person, because you are so clearly not. Listen, I am not trying to insult you.”
I laughed. “Oh, really?”
“I know it might seem that way, but I’m not—Chloe’s father and I just want what’s best for her, which I hope you can understand.”
“And I’m not what’s best for her. You know this how?”
“Look. We don’t have to turn this into something that it’s not. I’m not sure what’s going on between you and Chloe, if anything at all. But you are not the right person for her.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“You’re right, I don’t. But I don’t need to. Chloe is a good girl who might be a little confused about things. And I’m not trying to say that you yourself aren’t a decent person, but you are not the type of person that she’s going to end up with. You showing up unannounced at the house like this is entirely inappropriate, might I add.”
I was having a hard time believing that I was actually hearing all this. I kept waiting for her to start to laugh and say it was a joke, but there was a part of me that wasn’t surprised because I knew many of the rich summer residents thought like this. Most wouldn’t actually have the balls to come out and say it, but Chloe’s mom didn’t seem to have any qualms about it.
“She’s not going to come out here and talk to you. I think it’d be best if you just went on your way. And please don’t try to get in touch with her again.” She stepped back into the house and looked at me once more before firmly shutting the door in my face.
Right. Okay, then.
Chapter Thirty
Chloe
I watched from my bedroom window as he got into his truck and drove away. I could only imagine what my mother had said to him. Actually, I didn’t even want to know.
But he had driven out here, presumably to see me. Tara must’ve given him the address. I’d been working hard to put him out of my mind, but even just seeing him through the window like that made me realize that he really wasn’t someone I just wanted to forget about. There was something more there.
*****
I drove by the shop first but didn’t see his truck, so then, I went over to his house. He was home, and I felt a mixture of relief and anticipation building in my chest as I got out of the car.
I tapped on the wooden frame of the screen door. I could hear him moving around in there, and then a second later, he appeared, the surprise apparent on his face.
“Chloe,” he said. I stepped back so he could open the door. “Come on in. If you want,” he added.
“I do want to.” I went inside. “I saw that you had stopped by earlier. I was upstairs, but I could see you from the window. Talking to my mom.”
“Yeah. That didn’t go so well.”
“That’s why I didn’t come down. We would’ve just gotten into a huge fight and I didn’t feel like it. But whatever she said to you—I’m sorry. And I hope you know that I don’t actually feel that way.”
He nodded. “You know, I’m really glad to hear that. And just so you know, nothing happened between me and Francesca that day. It could have—but it didn’t.”
“Well, thank you. That makes me happy to hear it.” I smiled and took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. And at first I felt like I didn’t know what I wanted to say, but I realized that I actually do know exactly what I want to say. And that is that I like you. More than just a friend, way more than I like Parker, probably more than I’ve actually liked anyone before, ever. Which might seem kind of crazy seeing as we don’t even know each other that well, but I don’t care—I want to get to know you better. I want to spend time with you. Other people can think whatever they want, but it’s not their life. I’m all done doing things just because someone else thinks that’s what I should do.”
“Chloe,” he said, rubbing the lower part of his face. When he took his hand away, he was smiling. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that. I feel the same way.”
I grinned. “Well. Imagine that.”
“So, you knew that your parents were going to have an issue with us,” he said. “That’s why you brought up keeping it a secret that time at Lorraine’s.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t think it would be this bad, though. I didn’t realize they’re such elitist assholes.”
He pulled me toward him and brushed a few wisps of hair back from my face. “Let’s not talk about them,” he said. “There’s something else I’d much rather be doing right now.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Graham
“I like the sound of that,” Chloe said.
I ran my hands down her back and kissed her neck, then nipped and sucked at the soft skin there. She smelled so good and her skin was like silk. She slipped her hands underneath my shirt and drew her fingernails up and down my backside. We moved over to the couch, shedding our clothing, first her shirt, then her bra, and I paid attention to those gorgeous, perfect tits of hers before removing my own shirt. She slipped out of her shorts and her underwear and I kicked my jeans off.
“I didn’t get to return the favor after that day in your studio,” I said, gently pushing her down on the couch so she was sitting but leaning back all the way, her ass at the very edge. I repositioned myself and put my hands on her inner thighs, pushing them apart. I put my mouth on her, licking first her clit and then her pussy, feeling how wet she already was. She groaned and reached down, grabbing my hair with her fingers.
I spent a while down there, feeling her getting wetter and wetter. While I licked her clit, I slid one finger, then another, inside of her, and she squirmed against me, arching her back, moaning through clenched teeth. I didn’t want her to come yet though, and each time I sensed she was getting too close, I backed off a little, pulling my fingers out or letting my tongue just rest on her without moving.
“Oh my God,” she kept saying in a throaty whisper. Finally, she yanked on my hair, hard. “I need you inside of me,” she said. “Right now.”
Ah, music to my ears. My dick was as hard as it’d ever been, and I fumbled first with getting my wallet out of my discarded jeans, then getting the condom out of the wallet, then finally with ripping open the packet of the condom and getting it on my dick. I just wanted to hurry up and get it on so we could get back to it. Finally, I got it. She slid down toward the end of the couch, draping herself over the arm, her feet on the ground now, ass up in the air. I held on to either side of her hips and she dropped down to her forearms, making it easy for my dick to just slide right in. I took a deep breath and let my eyes close. Fuck, that felt so good. She pressed her ass back against me, then moved forward, then back again, repeating that, so for a few, heavenly minutes, I just remained still while she fucked herself on me.
And then we shifted positions; I brought her back onto the couch, much like she’d been when I’d gone down on her, except I put her legs up onto my shoulders and leaned over her. My face was right in front of hers and I leaned down, almost folding her in half, so I could kiss her. I slid back inside of her, and with her knees up by her head, I was able to get as deep in her as I’d ever been in anyone. I moved slowly at first, a warm tingling feeling shooting up my spine, into my
brain, with each thrust. I rocked my hips faster, and she squeezed her legs around my neck, her eyes shut, mouth slightly open as she panted and groaned. I could feel her pussy muscles contracting and relaxing against my dick, pulling me in further the faster I moved. She was right there at the edge, about to come, and I wasn’t far behind. I kissed her again, and then just left my mouth there against hers as we moved together, not really kissing but just connected, and then she bit down on my lip as she started to come, letting out a little shriek, her fingernails scraping the length of my back, the pain of it just heightening the pleasure I was feeling even more. That ecstatic tingling feeling that had been spiraling up my spine exploded through my whole body as I came, and for a few incredible seconds, it felt as though my brain had short-circuited, rendering me nothing more than a pile of neurons and synapses, pulsating in pleasure.
And I could tell just by looking at Chloe that she felt the same way.
She worked her legs down from my shoulders and stretched out, and though it was a tight fit, I lay down next to her on the couch. Our bodies were slick with sweat as I wrapped my arms around her. She nestled back into me, sighing in contentment.
“That was amazing,” she said. “I think that was the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced.”
I smiled. I’d been given plenty of compliments over the years about my ability in the sack, but that was, by far, the one that made me feel the best.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chloe
I left Graham’s place later that afternoon when he went to go meet up with a buddy of his for a bike ride.
I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face as I drove home, and I kept replaying the day back in my mind. It almost felt like this wasn’t my life—except it was, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. But that smile faded when I turned down the driveway and saw Parker’s car there. He was standing on the front lawn, talking with my mother, who had that charmed look of hers on her face.