by Box Set
At least you have your answer, she told herself. At least you know now. Greg didn't want anything from her anymore.
Sylvia scrunched the tissue into a ball and took out another one. She had to get a hold of herself. She needed to stop feeling like he’d just cracked her open and stomped over her damn heart. Like the idea of the relationship with her was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.
She should have known, though. Maybe that was the worst part. Sylvia had always thought of herself as smart, but she hadn't been acting like it around Greg—from the moment they met. And somewhere along the way, she'd let herself believe in a fairytale ending after all—she'd let herself believe what they'd had could actually be real.
While it was only real to her.
“Take your time and everything,” the woman’s voice pulled Sylvia back to the present, “but if you need a cab, I can get it for you and arrange for it to park in the back so you wouldn’t have to—”
The door screeched open on the ground level, and the woman fell silent, taking a step toward Sylvia as if she wanted to shield her. Sylvia’s heart, that had been starting to finally slow down, quickened again. She didn’t want to see anyone.
She hid her face against her knees and prayed whoever it was would pass them by. She didn’t want to be the talk of the building. Or—her stomach clenched at the mere thought—the talk of the entire Internet, if the story got out.
The steps were slow, and Sylvia bit her lower lip, pressing her forehead against her knees and looping her arms around her legs. Pretend you don’t see me. Pretend you don’t see me—
“Sylvia.” Greg’s voice was quiet, but she could hear a sad relief in that one word, and the lump in her throat grew bigger.
He was probably relieved that she didn’t run outside, that nobody had seen her.
She shook her head without lifting it.
“Sylvia, please—”Greg's voice sounded apologetic, and she shut her eyes.
No. No, no, no. Don’t fall for it. Don’t do it.
“I don’t think she wants to talk to you right now,” the woman spoke up, still standing right in front of Sylvia, and Sylvia felt immensely grateful.
"I’m sorry, but this is important,” Greg said. “I swear it's a misunderstanding, okay?"
She almost choked. Of course it is.
"I wasn’t talking about you,” he went on. “What you heard… I was talking with my publicist. Marlow wants me to get back with my ex, a co-star. He probably thinks it’s good for publicity or whatever, but I don’t care. That’s what you heard, I don’t want a relationship with her.”
At first, Sylvia tried not to listen, but as he went on, she couldn't help it. The hope she’d exiled to a deep corner somewhere inside her only a few minutes ago raised its head again and kept growing and growing as his voice got quieter.
"I came here to tell you that the time’s up, that Dot can’t force me to leave anymore.”
She sagged against the railing with relief, despite everything. He was free. He didn’t have to pretend anything.
“When I got the news, you were the first person I wanted to tell. I wanted to share it with you—share how good it felt to not have to worry, to finally feel like I can breathe right. I wanted to celebrate it with you, not…push you away,” Greg continued, squatting a few feet away from her. "I don't need to…do what we’ve been doing anymore, but I do want to keep seeing you. Because what we had…it was real. To me. It was real to me. And I was hoping—"
Sylvia lifted her head and brushed the last tears off her face. When she turned to him, his face crumpled. She had to look really bad, but he didn't say anything. He shifted closer, dropped to one knee right in front of her—the mystery woman had moved to the side during his speech—and gathered her in his arms.
"Shit, I'm sorry," he whispered as she tried to catch her breath with her forehead resting against his chest and her arms trapped between their bodies.
When she was sure her voice would hold up, she sneaked her hands to rest on his hips and whispered back against his skin, "It was a misunderstanding.”
"Yes, but I’m still sorry." Greg pulled back slightly and grasped her face in both hands, thumbs running over her cheeks, probably brushing off tears or her running mascara. "I should've made sure you knew my intentions before now, but I didn't want to…" He kissed her on the forehead and chuckled humorlessly before moving back again to catch her gaze. "I've had this perfect plan, you know. I’d get the news and tell you right away and then ask you to a romantic dinner to celebrate. Then we’d talk about us, and I’d tell you that I want to do this, that I feel we've been already building something, but I didn't want to discuss it until we… I wanted there to be no doubt that I'm doing it for us, not for any other reason." He paused with a frown. "I didn’t fully realize how difficult it must have been for you. I screwed up, and I’m sorry. I should’ve told you that being with you made me happy, made me almost forget to be worried."
Sylvia cleared her throat and tightened her grip on his hips, blinking rapidly. "You make me happy, too," she admitted quietly.
His grin made her heart stutter, and she could feel herself smiling in kind before Greg leaned in and kissed her. It was soft at first, barely there, as if he was checking if it was okay, but she pulled him closer and opened up for his tongue. What followed was possibly the greatest kiss of her life. They moved as if they could hear each other's minds, in sync, pulling closer and pushing back, slow one second only to speed things up the next.
At some point, Sylvia heard a soft click of the door and guessed that the woman who’d helped her had left. Hopefully, she wasn’t going to tell anyone about any of this, but even if she did, Sylvia couldn’t find it in herself to care right now. All she wanted, all she needed, was right here in her arms.
And it was enough to make her happy.
At some point they went back to the office, so Sylvia could use the bathroom and the whole F.Y.U. crew wouldn’t launch the rescue party or go after Greg for making her cry.
Luckily, even her brother realized quickly that there was nothing to rescue her from, and they left them be, only sending Greg warning looks as he and Sylvia walked out of there again.
In the car, she leaned close against him, holding his hand and grinning as they drove through the city. The air was full of the heady scent of the bouquet, and Sylvia admired it now as it sat to her left.
"Thank you for the flowers," she said quietly.
Greg lifted their joined hands to kiss her fingers. "My pleasure."
They shared small touches and brief kisses, but Sylvia’s body was almost buzzing with energy. After the whirlwind of emotions of the last hour, the adrenaline was still pumping in her veins, and she couldn’t wait to get home.
Now that she knew Greg wanted her, really wanted her, there was nothing stopping her.
When they finally arrived home, she pulled Greg onto the couch and straddled his lap, and they kissed again, long and deep. Sylvia’s skirt rode up high enough that it barely covered anything. Greg ran his hands over her ass and dipped between her legs. He pushed her panties to the side and slipped one of his fingers into her without needing to take off her underwear. She shuddered and reached for his belt. She had never had sex with her panties still on, and now she was almost shaking with want and need to have him in her right now. He was hard under her hand as she pulled Greg's cock out of his pants. She rose onto her knees a little as he pushed her up to get the condom out of his pocket.
Greg slipped two fingers into her, and she shuddered, catching his head in both hands to regain her balance. Soon enough, she was lowering herself onto his cock, taking him as deep as she could. One of his hands was on her ass, the other at the back of her neck, keeping her in place as he kissed her in tune with his fast and hard thrusts. She ran her fingertips behind his ears, scratching from time to time and eliciting a groan she could swallow right off his lips.
She came quickly and fell, boneless, against Greg. She shiv
ered as he followed her over the edge after a few more thrusts, clenching his grip on her as he did so. She was pretty sure she was going to have marks on her ass from his fingers, and she almost came the second time just thinking about it.
It took them a while to move apart, but then they showered quickly and ordered food. When the delivery guy finally arrived and left, Sylvia threw down every pillow from the living room onto the floor, and they lounged with their backs against the couch with wine and dinner.
They shared food and lazy kisses, and Sylvia was on her second glass of wine when Greg turned to face her completely.
"That conversation I planned to have with you," he said, head resting on his hand with his elbow on the couch. "We've already said most of it, I think, but there are two more things I wanted to tell you."
Sylvia put her glass down and mirrored his position, smiling when his warm and open gaze told her it was nothing to worry about.
"Two?" she prompted when Greg didn't say anything else for a minute.
"The first one is about my Broadway project," he said. "It's Illuminations."
Sylvia blinked. And blinked again.
"You're doing Illuminations?" Her voice got at least an octave higher than usual, but she was… Greg was going to play in the best musical of the season, maybe the best in recent years. "Who are you going to be?"
Greg smiled. "Curtis. I'm playing Curtis."
Sylvia couldn't help herself. She threw her arms around him and kissed him as hard as she could. Curtis was the main character’s ex-best friend who caused the emotional pivot for the entire musical. And now Greg was going to play him.
He laughed when they pulled apart. "I had a feeling you were going to like that."
She beamed and kissed him again."Okay, I'm listening. What's the second thing?" she asked, settling back down. "It will be hard to top that, but—"
"I love you."
She froze with her mouth still open. She wanted to ask him to repeat it, to make sure she heard him right, but that was stupid. There was only one thing to say.
"I love you, too."
This time, it was him who leaned in for a kiss and soon she was lying on the pillows on the floor with Greg over her, laughing and making out.
"Did I top the news about the musical?" he asked at some point, brushing his nose against hers.
She laughed. "Yes," she told him, pulling up to steal another kiss. "Yes, you did."
Broadway might have to take the second seat to this one.
Epilogue
Ten months later
"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" Sylvia asked, leaning in to whisper as they sat down on their seats with the perfect view of the stage.
Greg chuckled. "Only every other hour since I've shown you the invitations. I'm not complaining, though. I'll miss it if you stop doing it after tonight."
"Unlikely." Sylvia sat back in her seat and looked around, probably trying to find some of her idols. There was a lot of them tonight, Greg knew.
"I hope so. I knew you'd be much more excited about this than about the Golden Globes or Oscars, but I didn't anticipate this."
Sylvia turned back to him with a grin and a shrug. "What can I say? It's the Tony’s! It's been my dream for, I don't know, two decades or so."
Greg grinned back. "I aim to please."
"Aren't you a prince charming," Charlie muttered from his other side, and it got him an elbow to the arm from Greg.
"Shut up, you."
Charlie smirked and exchanged looks with Sylvia. "As I said, charming."
"Why are we sitting next to you, again?" Greg said with an exaggerated sigh.
"Because you love me," Charlie told him.
"We both do," Sylvia added, and Charlie snorted, reaching out to fistbump with her.
Greg chuckled and shook his head. These two were now basically best friends, and sometimes, it seemed like they lived to make fun of him. But before he could say anything more, the sound over the stereo told everyone to take their seats. The show would be starting in three minutes.
"Ten dollars say I'm going to win, and Greg here's going to lose," Charlie whispered loudly enough for a woman in front of him to snort with laughter.
"You're on.” Charlie was up for the best lead actor, and he was up for the best featured one. Greg was pretty sure it would happen exactly the way his friend said, but he couldn't let the challenge go. Besides, he would be happy to pay up that ten if it meant Charlie was going home with an award tonight.
"My ten dollars is on both of you winning," Sylvia told them. "Now shut up."
Charlie nodded and sat back in his seat. Greg reached out to tangle his fingers with Sylvia's and raised their hands to kiss her knuckles.
"I love you."
She grinned at him right before the lights dimmed. "Good. I love you too. Now, shut up."
The show was just getting started.
THE END
If you enjoyed the story, you may like New York City Fixers trilogy, where Sylvia’s brother and his best friends find their way to the women of their dreams. Click here: NYC Fixers
About the Author
I’m a writer who fell in love with New York City… so now I write books about love in New York City.
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You can also find me at:
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Play
A Manhattan Lux Book
Olivia Devon
About This Book
Play [A Manhattan Lux Book] - Olivia Devon
Aaron Eldridge’s passion for his latest virtual reality program skyrockets when he meets a woman who shares his obsession for all things geek. The premier launch of HyperLyfe at Lux, Manhattan’s hottest sex club, would be a perfect opportunity to get Katie Martinez to check out his new toy, and the kinky sex ideas he has in mind.
Katie knows what HyperLyfe can offer – the best high-tech program out there plus Lux’s sexual world would be one hell of a heady mix if she could get Aaron Eldridge to play with her.
As they're pulled deeper into the virtual world, the lines between fantasy and reality blur.
What if your deepest fantasies could come true?
In HyperLyfe, anything is possible…
Chapter One
Curling up on her bed, Katie Martinez propped her laptop on a pillow, woke the machine, and clicked an icon on the desktop.
The HyperLyfe™ login screen glowed bright blue, and a short paragraph of white text scrolled up from the bottom.
What if you could have the life you've always dreamed of? Don’t just wish for it. Create it. In HyperLyfe™ the sky’s not the limit; it’s just the beginning.
The words appeared whenever a player logged into HyperLyfe, a massively multiplayer virtual reality online world. Katie must have read that intro a million times by now, and yet they still gave her a thrill.
She reached across the bed to her desk, and grabbed her mug of tea, taking a sip while she waited for HyperLyfe to log her in. One drawback of living in a cramped New York apartment was that everything was literally within arms reach.
She didn’t have that problem in HyperLyfe. In that world she had all the space she could ever want. A 3D artist and designer, Katie had seen the unlimited potential in HyperLyfe the first time she’d visited. After just a week in-world she’d bought herself a whole planet, named it Celestia, and spent months building countless futuristic cities, mysterious forests, and enchanting vistas on it’s surface. Before long, she was getting visitors to Celestia, people who explored, stayed, formed a community and paid real world money to rent homes to live and play in, in virtual reality.
HyperLyfe was a dream come true for Katie. It was a new path to happiness after the real world had let her down so epically. She both played and worked in HyperLyfe nearly fulltime these days. The money she made in the virtual world paid her real world bills, and the friendships she’d made
on Celestia were as authentic to her as any she’d ever had in person.
Every Friday night, the community hosted a planet-wide party. Tonight’s theme was Gods and Monsters, and Katie had only about ten minutes to choose something from her wardrobe. It had to be spectacular. Since, in virtual reality, you could make your avatar look however you wished, players tended to get excessively creative. Angels, demons, superheroes, and glamazons were pretty much standards. But it wasn’t unusual to see players dressed as fairies, flying spaghetti monsters, sentient automobiles, or giant amorphous clouds of fog and glitter.
In real life the closets in Katie’s modest two-bedroom condo in NYC were laughably small. Her virtual closet, however, had infinite capacity. What woman wouldn’t want a closet full of exquisite designer clothing, all guaranteed to fit like a glove? The only problem was she had literally thousands of outfits. Scrolling through thumbnails she huffed in frustration and turned to her cat when he hopped up onto the bed to join her.
“What do you think Rupert?” she said, pulling the purring ball of black fluff into her lap. “The diaphanous Venus toga dress with the sparkling rotating headpiece, or this Sun Goddess outfit with the massive gold wings and glowing eyes?”
Rupert looked up at her and squinted.
“So neither. Right. You’re no help.”
A video-chat notification popped up in a box on her screen, from the real world, not a friend inside HL. She clicked accept and smiled when her friend Aiko Yoshida came into view.
“Egads what is wrong with your face?” Aiko grimaced and raised an eyebrow.