Call Me

by Gillian Jones

  I hope everything’s okay with Sam, he seems like a great guy. But by now, I’m getting a bit frustrated with Ace. I’ve texted him three times to check in and make sure that everything is all right and to offer my help if he needed it, but have yet to hear back from him.

  Assuming he’s dealing with something, I decide to take my irritation to the gym for a late night work out. My knee has been locking up on me a lot more often since I’ve been slacking at the gym. I’m coming to terms with the fact that I might not run competitively again. My new immediate goal is to learn to live with the pain, using the pain management routine Doctor Robinson and his team created for me.

  Since I’ve not been competing this year, I actually feel somewhat better; I sleep better, my body isn’t always sore, I can eat whatever I want and I love having all the extra time for myself. I didn’t realize how much running took up my life. I’m happy to say that jogging for leisure now sounds like a pretty good goal to aim for down the road.

  Entering the gym, I wasn’t too surprised to hear a couple of machines going as I made my way to the change room. There are usually a few people here at this time, although normally by eleven I have the place to myself.

  Whom I didn’t expect to see when I walked out of the change room were Ace and Mercer, running on treadmills. My steps almost faltered when I walked out, catching Ace’s eye and an accompanying lurking grin trained on me. I could almost feel his eyes blatantly boinking me from my toes up to my nose. Wanting to ward off the awkward feeling I was having with both men staring and smiling at me, I offer a small wave then bee-line it to the back of the gym and out of sight. Where exactly I was going, I had no clue. But if Mercer’s subtle, knowing grin told me anything, it’s that he knows something’s up between me and his friend.

  Finding a rowing machine in the back corner, I hop on, relieved when I can’t see them anymore, giving me a bit a reprieve before I have to loop back into the main area to work on the strength-training machines. Back to Ace’s heady stare.

  Sooner than I’d like, I’m finished rowing, so I slink back into the main gym, feigning nonchalance. You know in tennis where you’re moving your head left-to-right—then right-to-left, over and over again—to make sure you don’t miss anything? Well, right about now, I feel as if I’m watching a three-way tennis match. One where Ace watches me, then I watch him before quickly diverting my gaze to Mercer, whom I catch watching Ace, then me, the whole time trying to hide a Cheshire Cat smile. He totally knows!

  It’s almost midnight now, and I have yet to utter more than simple “hey” to Ace or Mercer, despite the game of tennis we’ve been playing since I rounded back to the weight and cardio part of the gym, where I hopped on the elliptical while they did the training circuit. And the only reason they got that “hey” from me was because of Ace calling out my name, saying “Hey, Ellie,” when I reappeared.

  Finally, after nearly twenty minutes of working out on the elliptical I hear Mercer’s voice. “Be sure to hit the lights before you lock up, eh?” The double scrutiny was killing me, and I’m thankful he’s leaving.

  “You got it, boss. We won’t be too much longer,” Ace says, looking for my agreement.

  “Yeah, I’m almost done too,” I acknowledge.

  “Right. ’Night, guys.” He waves, a curious expression on his face as he looks between us one last time.

  “’Night, Doctor Reynolds.”

  “Mercer, Ellie. Call me Mercer, please.”

  “I can do that.” I smile. “Good night, Mercer. Thanks for letting me finish up.”

  “Not a problem. You’re in good hands with Ace here.” He clears his throat and closes the door behind him.

  I’m mid-stride on the elliptical when I hear Ace’s commanding tone.

  “Come here, Ellie.”

  Immediately, my head jolts up to find him. My heart rate might have jolted a bit at the tone of his voice. And I might have gotten that Jell-O-leg feeling, too. Just maybe.

  “Come here, Ellie,” he repeats.

  Looking up, my eyes find him easily where he’s sitting at the chest press. As if guided by a force beyond my control, within a nanosecond I find myself standing in front of his muscular knees.

  “How’s the workout, E? Your knee?” He cages me with his thick thighs, his touch on my waist causing my nipples to harden under my sports bra. The result doesn’t go unnoticed by Ace.

  My tongue is taffy-stuck as he begins trailing his hands along my exposed sides, the deep green pools of his eyes never leaving mine.

  “I’m all sweaty.” I try to squirm from his grip.

  “I bet you’re sweet and salty—my favourite combination,” he says, running his stubble across my exposed skin. “I want to snack on you, Ellie. It’s killing me not to touch you. I can’t stop thinking of what’s under those tights,” he whispers, dipping his head low onto my stomach, his lips brushing softly over my skin as he references that time in his office, the time he made me come without really touching me.

  “It’s killing me too,” I say, and find I can’t hold myself back. I cup his strong jaw, tilting his head to meet my eyes. Reaching up, he pulls the hair tie out of my hair, and simultaneously I pull off his glasses. Suddenly our faces are sheltered by my messy tendrils; our eyes lock again. His trail down to my mouth, and in turn I bite my lip, stifling the moan that tries to escape at being so turned on. He hesitates a few beats before meeting my stare again. Taking his glasses from my hand, he drops them beside us.

  “I wanna bite that lip of yours, E. You look like sin right now.” Leaning up, Ace positions himself to take my bottom lip between his teeth. He sucks gently on my bottom lip before running his tongue along to soothe the bite.

  My hands immediately fall into his hair, the need to anchor myself to him while we continue to kiss is all consuming. I never want to let him go. Our tongues battle for dominance, he tastes like nothing I’ve experienced before: passion, sweetness, mine. All too soon, he’s pulling away, trailing his tongue down in a slow path towards my stomach. “See? You’re the ideal tasty blend—sweet, salty, and sexy. You going to let me eat you now, E.? Let me run my tongue over the sweetness between your legs? Let me nibble on that aching clit?” he asks, walking his fingers up my thighs, teasing me lightly where I want him the most.

  “I want that, but someone might see. Might walk in,” I whimper, tugging a lock of his dark hair, trying to make him pause in his endeavours.

  “I could give a shit right now. All I care about is taking what’s mine. You are mine, Ellie. And I know you want to give it to me, baby. I can smell how excited you’re getting,” he says, looking up at me while pushing my shorts and panties to one side and skimming one of his stealthy fingers along the lips of my soaked pussy for the first time.

  Chapter 45

  Ace

  “God, Ace, you feel so good,” Ellie whispers, as I continue to gently move two fingers over the outside of her wet pussy.

  When she walked into the gym earlier, I almost came in my pants. I’ll need to have a little chat about appropriate gym attire if she ever expects us to work out together. There’s no way I could operate heavy equipment with her around in those tiny shorts without getting my swollen dick caught in the machinery.

  “This feel good, E?” I ask, inserting two fingers inside her.

  “So good,” she says breathlessly, clenching her pussy walls around my digits. It wasn’t my plan to touch her here, or like this, tonight, but when Mercer—the knowing bastard—left, I couldn’t stop thinking about finally getting a feel of what I’ve been dreaming about for months.

  Withdrawing my fingers, I stand, quickly switching our positions. I sit Ellie down, making quick work of pulling her runners—and both her shorts and panties—from her body before positioning myself on my knees in front of her on the chest press’s small bench seat.

  “Open up, E. It’s time to let me taste your goodness. You’ve made me a starved man and I’m done fucking waiting.” Reaching behind her wai
st, I pull her ass to the edge of the seat before spreading her legs to exactly where I want them. “Beautiful. You are a cinematographer’s dream spread out like this. Look at that glistening pussy. You ready, Ellie? You ready to come all over my face?”

  “Oh Jesus. Yes. Oh God, Ace. Do it. I’m ready,” she says, and I laugh at the hitch in her voice and the tremble that wracks her body. We both have so much pent up sexual frustration that I know it won’t take me long to get Ellie off.

  “I can’t wait to break the last rule. A few more weeks, and I’ll be inside you, finally feeling all of you.”

  “Ace…”

  “Nothing between us, Ellie. I warned you,” I remind her. Gripping her ass with both of my hands, I pull her slightly further towards the bench’s edge to meet my mouth in perfect alignment.

  Christ, she tastes perfect. I swirl my tongue over her clit before sucking on it rhythmically, giving her the perfect balance of pleasure and pain before lifting her legs and tossing them over each of my shoulders. Ellie’s now leaning back low on the equipment, her pussy and ass hanging where they belong—over my face. I lap up her juices as I slide my flattened tongue along her slit and run my stubbled chin softly down over her lips, clit and inner thighs in a pattern that I know will drive her crazy. Her legs start jerking on my shoulders and her thighs are trying to clench my head in closer.

  “Such a greedy girl with a greedy pussy to match. I fucking love it,” I chuckle adding my finger into the rotation. I’m hard as stone, but I could care less—this is all for her.

  “Yes, yes. Oh shit, don’t stop, Ace. Please don’t stop,” she says, leaning up and trying to tangle her hand in my hair.

  Picking up my pace, I rock the pattern a few more times before she detonates on my tongue. I pull her off the seat and we fall onto the floor with her laying on top of me, my hands running down her back soothingly as she comes back down to Earth.

  After a few minutes of silence, Ellie looks up at me, eyes still hooded. “We shouldn’t have done this. We’re breaking all of our rules, Ace. And we’re on campus,” she says, when her breathing finally evens out.

  “It’s fine, E. I took care of it,” I say, rolling us over. I kiss her nose before shifting to stand up. Grabbing her shorts and panties, I pull her up, and then help her dress. Once I’ve got her shorts back on, I pull her into my chest, nuzzling her neck, taking in her sweet scent. And letting what I’ve said sink in.

  “What do you mean?” She pulls back, her face confused, her eyes seemingly worried.

  “Exactly what I said.”

  “Stop being evasive. What’s going on? Does this have anything to do with Sam? I saw your email and you didn’t text me back.” She reaches up to cup my cheeks to make me look at her.

  “Everything is good. We don’t need to talk about it now.”

  “Tell me. Right now, please.”

  Taking her by the hand, I lead her to the mats where it’s more comfortable. I sit, then pull her down to straddle me. Her arms wrap around my neck instinctively, and I revel in her closeness.

  “I talked to Sam earlier. It didn’t go very well. I needed to make sure we would be safe in case he decided to make trouble, so I went and talked to the chair of my department about us today,” I shrug, pretending like it was no big deal, when in fact it was a huge deal, and says a lot that we haven’t yet said to each other out loud.

  “Holy shit.” Tears start to surface in the corner of her eyes. “So that’s it, just like that? So now what? Am I expelled? Do I lose the right to graduate? Are you fired? Was all this just a helluva goodbye present?” She gestures to the chest press. “Oh my God, Ace, what will we do?” Ellie huffs out all at once, a few tears starting to fall.

  “Shh, E. We’re both fine. Everything is more than good, actually.”

  “How can that be? You told them about us, and you’re my professor?” she says, bewildered.

  So, for the next forty minutes I sit with Ellie on my lap and tell her everything. How Doctor Mehta (my department chair) was understanding about our situation when I unloaded it all on her following my meeting with Sam. She also agreed that I did the right thing in dismissing him.

  “She understood that these things happen, and believed that we had yet to cross any major lines, so that no-one in any of my classes had reason to think that we’ve had a conflict of interest. She was somewhat disappointed that I hadn’t come to her sooner, but was willing to let that go since I’ve been such an outstanding employee. She made a few calls on her end, and it’s been decided that Jax will re-mark all of your assignments this term, acting as a third-party to ensure that there wasn’t any favouritism on my part. Jax will also grade your thesis paper—with Joelle’s input, and mine—after you defend it next week. And that’s pretty much it.”

  “Wow. I can’t believe you risked getting in trouble for me…”

  “For us, E. I did it for us. I hate feeling like we’re doing something wrong when deep down I know it’s nothing but right. They will keep everything a private matter as long as we continue to be respectful and don’t start flaunting our relationship, so it’s best to keep things quiet for a few more weeks until you graduate,” I say, catching another escaped tear.

  “So, no bleacher song-and-dance just yet, then, eh?” Ellie teases, giving me a sexy smirk.

  “Way to ruin your graduation present.”

  “I think, after tonight, I just might have fallen pretty hard for you, Doctor Ryan,” she winks, before hugging me close.

  “You better have,” I whisper in her ear.

  Because I’ve already fallen.

  This girl is definitely my trifecta.

  Just one final phone call to make everything right in my world.

  Or so I think, anyway…

  Chapter 46

  Ellie

  “You’ll be great. I have no doubt that you’ll impress them as much as you have me.”

  Ace kisses my forehead outside the small seminar room where the thesis defences are being held. It’s been a long road, and the journey has led me on a path I never expected to find myself walking, but it’s one I’m happy I took. I feel a confidence I never thought I exhibited before, even when running track, and I know that whatever questions Jax, Joelle, and Dr. Mehta ask me today, I’m ready. Unfortunately, Ace isn’t permitted to sit in on my presentation with circumstances being what they are, but he’s here to wait and offer support, and has been helping me prepare all week.

  “Thank you for everything, Ace. I mean it. I don’t think I could have done this without you,” I say, taking a deep breath.

  “I’ll be right here when you’re done.” He squeezes my hand as I turn to enter the room.

  “Oh, and E,” he beams, “remember to use the Force.”

  I let out a nervous chuckle before walking in to face the Galactic Senate waiting in the seminar room.

  “Ms. Hughes, welcome. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed your dissertation,” Dr. Mehta states, “Please, sit. We have a few questions for you.”

  I nod and give all three a warm smile before sitting down.

  “Question one: Do you think Princess Leia could have freed herself from the Death Star without the help of…”

  Almost two hours later, I left that seminar room grinning from ear to ear.

  Chapter 47

  Ellie

  “Ever wonder if we’d get along in person? Do you ever imagine what I look like? I try to picture you…”

  “What was your childhood like?”

  “What is your biggest fear?”

  “…and sometimes I feel like I know you. Do you ever get that feeling?”

  Snippets of conversation after conversation between me and Jake run through my mind like a highlight reel tonight, as I take in what he’s just asked me.

  He wants to meet. In person, face-to-face.

  Over the last few months, Jake has become not only a regular caller, he’s become more. I think it would be safe to say that we’ve become sort of friends.
Partially because he reminds me of Ace in some ways, especially when he calls just to talk. It hasn’t always been about sex with Jake, and tonight, it makes sense why. I can’t put my finger on it, but there have definitely been times where I feel the same easiness when speaking with Jake that I do with Ace. I know deep down that Jake and I could have some semblance of friendship in the outside world, but am I willing to test my theory by meeting him in person? A caller. What would the Conrads say?

  Granted, we know things about each other; or at least I feel like I know things about the real Jake. For example, like Ace, he grew up without his parents in a smaller town; I know that his first kiss was with a girl named Sabrina; his job is taking up all of his time right now; he loves Star Wars, and also knows the every single word of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (a piece of info that I might have been a bit overexcited about, seeing as I can recite every single word verbatim, too. But who’s to say it’s not all part of a role, the game? Just because Jake’s told me this, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily true.

  It’s because of this that I’m struggling with what I should do.

  “Do you think we’d be friends if we met?”

  “Have you ever thought of me when we aren’t talking?”

  It’s weird, because I do.

  I have thought of Jake. Not often, but I have.

  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel the same pull for Jake that I do for Ace. Not even close. And I’d never compromise what I have with Ace, either. That’s why, when Jake proposed to meet me tonight, in the end I told him no.

  With that decision also came the decision that it’s time to take the costume off and pack Chanel69 away for good.

  Thinking of Ace causes a wave of guilt to crash in my stomach. I need to tell him about Breathless Whispers. Especially after what he did for us, the risk he took by coming clean to the chair, in case Sam took his anger too far.