by K. M. Scott
“I’m done here, Stefan, and Kane told me there aren’t any more members in rooms on this floor, so I’m going to head out. Have a good one,” she said in a flat tone as she rounded the corner of the bar to leave.
“Where are you going? What’s going on?” I asked as I caught her by the shoulder to stop her.
“Home.”
“Why? You don’t want to do anything tonight?”
“I don’t think so. Good night.”
She pulled away from me with a look of disgust on her face and headed toward the stairs, so I jogged up behind her to find out what had changed between us to make her so cold. “Hey, wait up! What’s wrong, Shay?”
Stopping, she looked up at me and shrugged. “Nothing.”
“I don’t understand. We’ve hung out every night for two weeks, and now you’re acting like we barely know one another. What’s wrong?”
“Do I know you, Stefan? I thought I did, but then I showed up to work tonight and there was Lola coming out of your office.”
She was jealous. I couldn’t help but smile at how cute she looked all angry at me, but that didn’t help matters any and she stormed away even more furious than before.
“Shay, come back.”
“You think this is funny?” she asked as she spun around to face me. “You know, maybe if I thought you were ever really my friend, I wouldn’t feel so betrayed, but it seems that you’re that same guy I’ve thought you were all along and I’ve been fooling myself.”
“Shay, nothing happened with Lola. I haven’t been with her in nearly a month. I haven’t been with anyone since we started hanging out.”
“Whatever, Stefan. I can’t be around you right now.”
She moved to leave, but I caught her by the arm to hold her there, needing to let her know I wasn’t the person she’d condemned. Stunned, she pushed against me with such anger that I held her tightly to me, afraid if I let her go without proving to her how wrong she was I’d never get the chance again to see her laugh at my jokes or roll her eyes at me as I said something stupid.
“Let go of me!”
“No, not until you listen to what I have to say.”
I pulled her back as she fought to leave, nearly falling into one of the fantasy rooms before she slapped me hard across the face. “I don’t want to listen to what you have to say. You’re that same player I knew you were the moment I met you. How could I ever have let myself believe the way you’ve been for the past two weeks was anything but some game? I don’t ever—”
Each word out of her mouth hurt more than the last, and before she said she never wanted to see me again, I covered her mouth with mine in a kiss filled with all the pain I felt at the thought of Shay absent from my life. I may have been that person she thought I was for more years than I could remember, but with her I wasn’t that man. I didn’t want to be him anymore, and that was because of her.
But if she left me, I didn’t know if I could stay the person I was with her. I didn’t want to go back to who I used to be. I needed her, whatever way I could have her in my life.
Shay pushed away from me and shook her head. “What are you doing? I’m not one of your whores from downstairs. We’re supposed to be friends, nothing more.”
“Stop pretending, Shay. You no more want me to be just a friend than I want you to be just that. If all you wanted from me was friendship, you wouldn’t care who I fucked.”
She closed her eyes, as if what I’d said hurt her, and mumbled, “I don’t care. Fuck whoever you want.”
“Stop lying to yourself! You do care. When you saw Lo come out of my office, you were jealous. Admit it.”
Her eyes flew open and I saw pure anger in their green color. “Don’t flatter yourself. I wasn’t jealous. I just don’t like being lied to.”
“You were jealous, Shay! Why can’t you admit it? What harm comes from admitting you don’t want me sleeping with other women?”
Her face twisted into a grimace as she struggled to hold back the tears. Finally, she shouted, “Fine, you’re right. Does it make you happy to know that the idea of you being with Lola or anyone else makes me jealous?”
“Yeah, it does because just seeing you talk to Kane makes me want to kill someone I’m so jealous, so yeah.”
Shay flailed against me and turned to leave. “I can’t do this with you, Stefan.”
“Do what? Admit you want me like I want you? Why not?”
She stopped just as her hand grabbed the doorknob and hung her head. Silent for a moment, she began to softly cry. “This is a mistake.”
I touched her on the shoulder, and she turned around. Her face was wet with tears, so I wiped them away with the pad of my thumb, gently drying her cheeks. “Why? We’ve hung out every night for weeks and I know you want me like I want you. Why does it have to be a mistake?”
Shay sniffled and looked down toward the floor. “Because you’re going to hurt me when the player comes back.”
“Is that what you think? That the person I’ve been when we’ve been together all these nights is just some act—that once I get you to sleep with me again I’ll go back to who I was?”
She said nothing and didn’t even look up at me. Instead, I saw her give me a tiny nod. Hurt by what she thought of me, I backed away. “I guess you think I deserve that. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do. But you’re wrong. I haven’t been playing some game just to get you back into bed. I don’t know how it happened, but you made me want to be the person I was all those nights. I’m not going to deny that I wanted you. I did, but if all I could have was friends, I would have been okay with that, hoping that someday you’d want me like I want you.”
She looked up and frowned. “I didn’t know…I saw Lola come out of your office when I got here tonight and I couldn’t help myself. I was so jealous I could barely see straight. Then you didn’t even come up to see me until the bar was closing, and by that time my anger had grown so much that I wanted to hurt you. All those feelings were so confusing. I believed it when I said I just wanted to be friends, but just the thought of you with someone else made me realize that was a lie I kept telling myself to avoid being hurt.”
“I think you were right, Shay. This is a mistake,” I said, hating the words as they left my mouth. Pushing past her, I swung the door open to get the hell out of that room. And her.
“Wait!” she cried as she clung to my arm. “Don’t go. Please.”
I didn’t know if staying was the right thing to do, but something inside me screamed not to let my hurt feelings ruin what we could be. I spun around and took her in my arms. “No more games, Shay. We do this or we admit this can never happen. No turning back.”
She pulled me by the neck and kissed me hard as her body arched into mine. My hands slid down her back to her ass, and I tugged hard on her shorts, desperate to get to what awaited me under them. Shay moaned into my mouth as I made quick work of her thong, tearing it off as her fingers fumbled with my zipper to free my cock.
Taking her hand in mine, I opened my pants and placed her hand back on my cock. Already rock hard, it swelled even more when she wrapped her fingers around it and stroked me from base to tip, staring up at me with a look in those beautiful green eyes I hadn’t seen since the first time we were together.
“Hurry, Stefan. No more waiting,” she pleaded.
I lifted her just above my cock and slowly slid into her, loving the feel of her tight cunt as it swallowed my cock inch by inch. So hot, so wet for me. When she’d taken all of me, I groaned, “Wrap your legs around me. Hang on, princess.”
Shay’s heels pressed hard into my back, even as my hips pulled back to let me plunge back into her, and her hands threaded behind my neck pressed hard against my skin. With each thrust, I claimed her body as mine and tried to push away the jealousy I’d felt just minutes before. I wanted her as mine, even though I’d never wanted that before with a woman.
“Stefan…faster…please, don’t hold back.”
My hands tugged her
hair, pulling her head back so she had to look at me as I fucked her. “No holding back. You’re mine now and from this moment on.”
I pounded into her until our bodies were slick with sweat and my legs ached, but I could have held her there on me forever listening to her pant and moan my name as each thrust inched her closer to coming. Her pussy tightened around my cock and she scratched her nails across the back of my neck as her orgasm ripped through her, taking me over the edge with her.
When her body finally ceased its trembling, she pressed her forehead to mine and whispered, “Stefan, what did we do?”
“Shhh. No regrets. Okay?”
Shay pulled me close and hugged me. “Yeah. No regrets.”
* * *
THE MORNING sun streamed in through my window, waking me after far too few hours sleep. Groggy, I squinted and rolled over, smashing into Stefan’s side. The man slept like the dead compared to me and barely flinched but mumbled some garbled words as he turned away from me and the unwanted morning light.
My alarm clock announced in bright red numbers that it was barely nine o’clock, way too early for night owls to be awake, so I pulled the blanket up over my head and hoped I could fall back to sleep.
“You know, there are things called shades. Some of them are even room darkening,” Stefan whispered as he snuggled up against my back. “This room is desperately in need of them.”
I turned my head and looked to see him smiling at me. God, he was even sexy first thing in the morning. “Yeah? I’ll get on that right away.”
He groaned and pushed his hips forward, grazing my ass with his hard cock. “Good. Get on that.”
Rolling over to face him, I tapped him on the tip of his nose. “You’re pretty demanding in the morning. Do you know that?”
Stefan opened his eyes and smiled so sexy I couldn’t help but be turned on. “Not demanding at all. Just observant.” He nuzzled my neck and kissed me just below my ear, instantly making me want him. “If you want demanding, I have a few ideas about what we should be doing instead of talking about your room’s location on the surface of the sun.”
My head felt like it was swimming. Closing my eyes, I moaned, “Oh, God…mmmm...like what?”
“Like you climbing on top of me and straddling my hips to take advantage of this hard on that’s so nicely shown up just for you.”
“I like the way you think.”
Stefan rolled onto his back and pulled me on top of him in one fluid motion. Sliding his hands down my back, he cupped my ass and thrust his hips up so his cock slid through my already wet pussy. God he felt good!
Leaning down, I ran my tongue lightly over his pierced nipple and rolled my hips so his cock hit my clit perfectly. He tugged my head up and lifted his hips off the bed. “You’re so wet. I love that.”
I rolled my hips again, this time taking just the head of his cock inside me, and sat back on my heels, teasing him as I slid my fingers up the length of his shaft between my legs. “I like this.”
Stefan opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of his cell phone ring interrupted us. Looking down at his phone resting on his clothes that lay in a pile on the floor, I saw Cash’s name come up on the screen. “It’s your brother. Want me to grab it?”
“The only thing I want you to grab is my cock. Whatever my brother has to say to me can wait. Now, where were we?”
He lifted his hips again and slid the head of his cock over my clit, making my eyes roll back in my head. I’d had enough of teasing and foreplay, so I rolled my hips to take him inside me, but his phone rang again with his brother calling.
“You sure you don’t want to get it? It’s Cash.”
A look of pure frustration came over him. “Yeah, I better get it. He’ll keep calling until I answer. Can you reach it?”
Disappointed at the interruption, I leaned over and grabbed his phone as it hit the third ring. “Tell him I said hi and thanks for ruining a great wakeup,” I joked as I handed it to him.
Stefan swiped the screen and put the phone to his ear. “Cash, what have I told you about calling me before noon?”
His expression grew dark immediately as the person on the other end of the phone began speaking. “Olivia, when did it happen? Where is she?”
Listening closely, he nodded and the corners of his mouth turned down. “I’ll be right there. I’m not far away.”
He pressed END on his phone and threw it off to the side. Worry filled his brown eyes, and he said, “I have to go. My mother’s in the hospital. Olivia says they think she had a heart attack.”
I quickly climbed off him and sat there watching him racing to get his clothes on. “I’m so sorry, Stefan. Do you need anything?”
In seconds, he was fully dressed and leaning over to kiss me goodbye. “I’ll call you when I find out more.”
“Okay. If you need me, I’m here.”
He nodded, and I saw the sadness settle into his face. I wanted to help, but I wasn’t going to push. We were too new for that.
Hours later, I lay there in bed wondering if his mother was okay. I still had both my parents, so I could only imagine how awful it was to lose one, and Stefan had already lost his father. And he was close to his mother too. My heart hurt for him, but I stopped myself from calling or texting, wishing we were closer so I could at least be a shoulder to cry on.
After calling my mother to tell her I love her and reassure her I wasn’t dying or I hadn’t run off and gotten married without telling her, I had to get up and do something. I couldn’t stay in bed all day worrying. I’d never met Mrs. March, but somehow after spending that night on the beach at her house listening to Stefan talk about how close they were, I felt like I knew her in some small way and I wanted to know more about her.
A shower made me feel a little better, although all I could think of standing naked under the water was how my body had felt against Stefan’s as we’d made love, first at the club and then when we’d gotten back to my place. All this time fighting what I’d wanted seemed silly now that we finally gave in and enjoyed one another without thinking of what would happen later on.
I didn’t know what we’d ever be, but if all we were ended up to be just fun, I liked that idea. Dressed for the day, I checked the time and saw it was just about noon. Until Stefan called with more information on his mother, I planned to keep myself occupied one way or another. Carrie had been after me to have lunch for days, so I called her hoping she could take my mind off what might be happening at the hospital.
“Hey, Shay! Tell me you’re calling me for that lunch. I’m dying for a hamburger and fries.”
“I guess. Give me a few minutes and I’ll fly by and pick you up.”
“Everything okay, honey? You sound upset.”
“I’m worried about a friend. I’ll tell you about it when I see you. How’s fifteen—” My phone buzzed from a text. “Hang on, Carrie.” I check my phone and saw a text from Stefan.
I need you. Can you come to Tampa General?
I read over the first part of his text. I need you. Had she taken a turn for the worse? I quickly texted back I can be there before one and waited for him to text back, but I remembered Carrie was still on hold. “Carrie, let me call you later, okay? Something’s come up.”
“Okay. Call me if you need me.”
Stefan texted back I’ll meet you at the front entrance. Thnx and I grabbed my purse and keys, hoping everything would be okay.
He stood waiting for me at the front doors of Tampa General, and we walked to the cardiac ward and his mother’s hospital room. Her heart attack had been relatively minor, but she’d have to stay for a few days for observation because one of her arteries had been totally blocked. Stefan looked like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders, and he was back to his old self by the time we got to her room.
I stopped just before the doorway, suddenly feeling out of place. I’d never met his mother, and now I was visiting her in her hospital room after her heart attack. That
seemed inappropriate.
Stefan picked up on my uneasiness. “Don’t worry. She’s up and acting like herself already. Cash and Olivia are in there, but they’ll be leaving soon so it will just be us.”
Peeking in, I saw Olivia smile at me. Turning toward Stefan, I asked, “Are you sure? I’m a total stranger to your mother.”
Those deep brown eyes looked down at me, making me feel like I wanted to do anything to make him happy. “It’s okay. I told her I wanted to have you here with me. She knows you’re coming.”
“What did you tell her about me?” I asked, unsure what he could have said to his mother since all we’d been was sex and a couple weeks of pretending to be friends.
“I told her you and I had hung out on the beach at the house and you’d buried me in sand. It made her laugh for the first time all day. So don’t worry, okay? I’ll be right there with you.”
I took a deep breath. “All right. I’m just glad she’s going to be all right. You looked so worried this morning I was afraid it would be bad news.”
Stefan leaned down and kissed me softly. “I hope we can pick up where we left off soon.”
Knowing his mother, Cassian, and Olivia were just a few feet away made me blush at Stefan’s reference to us having sex again and I rolled my eyes. “Nice. Now I’m going to be all red when I walk in.”
“Don’t worry. I’m just like my mother, so you know what to expect.”
He took my hand and squeezed it, and a soft female voice from inside the room said, “Stefan, are you out there with someone? Don’t make her stand out there in the hallway. Come in.”
Now I had no choice. I had to go in to meet her. I swallowed hard and put my sweetest smile on as I headed in to meet the mother of the man I’d just begun sleeping with. No pressure or strangeness.
Right.
I tagged behind Stefan, gripping his hand tightly, like a nervous child going to school for the first time. Olivia and Cassian stood at her bedside next to an enormous window, and for a moment I wished I was anywhere outside in the distance than there in that room. Oddly enough, even though I’d spent years studying all facets of organisms found in the human body, I found basic sickness something I’d never been comfortable with. Added to that the pressure of meeting someone’s mother for the first time and I was a nervous wreck.