by Amber Lynn
Chapter 9
Hannah didn’t know what felt better, the fact that she had a secret or that the secret included mind-blowing sex. Her whole body hurt the next day, sitting behind her desk as she tried to concentrate on the spreadsheet in front of her. It was a good hurt, though. Somehow it made her feel like a woman for the first time.
She’d been reckless. That made it all the more delicious. Hannah believed she finally knew how someone like Nina felt all the time. She’d never felt as desired as Curtis made her feel on his boat.
Alive was the word she’d come up with to describe it. After she and Curtis finally parted ways, she climbed in her bed and passed out. She didn’t have the energy to do anything other than that. She hadn’t even looked at the clock to know what time she’d made it home.
When she woke up to her alarm, for a few minutes she thought it was all a dream. As soon as she got a look at herself in the bathroom mirror, she had all the proof she needed that Curtis had left his mark on her. It wasn’t a literal mark, although a love bite would’ve been cute.
Her lips were swollen, her eyes surprisingly looked bright after getting little sleep and she swore her boobs were somehow bigger. It probably didn’t help that she stood in the mirror for five minutes sizing them up. Looking at them long enough, Hannah had pictured them as Cs instead of her small Bs.
She was fairly certain hours of someone squeezing her boobs couldn’t make them bigger. Hannah wasn’t going on record saying Curtis didn’t have that power, though.
“Heads up, wicked witch is on the march.”
Hannah blinked and shook her head. Jess’ harsh whisper alerted the four women who shared a giant cubicle that trouble was on its way. The specific trouble was Nina. Her coworkers knew the head honcho was her best friend, but they’d established Hannah wouldn’t blab for what she considered routine office talk. Hannah never joined in, or even gave the slightest inclination that anything they ever gossiped about was either true or false.
On any other day, Hannah would’ve laughed as the gossip died down and keyboards got louder than any other time. Nina didn’t often visit the back corner of the sixth floor, but every once in a while, she graced them with her presence. Hannah was fairly certain her trip had to do with the fact Hannah had been unreachable for a full day.
“Just so you know, you should probably announce my arrival before I’m ten feet away, Jessica. I’ll have to bring a broom along with me next time to sweep up this department.”
With the general way Nina spoke, it was always hard to tell if she was upset about something. Acknowledging she heard her being referred to as the wicked witch sounded the same as if she would’ve been pissed about her favorite contestant being kicked off a reality TV show. The latter usually included her throwing things across the room. It was pretty much a capital offense in her books.
“Sorry about that, Nina. I was just having some fun.”
Nina could take a lesson from her employee. Jess had the appropriate amount of apology and reverence to soothe a beast, which was a pretty accurate depiction of what was going on.
“Lucky for you, I have bigger fish to fry today. Hannah, it’s great to see you aren’t dead. I think it’s typically understood that if I call you fifteen times, you call me back. I almost called the cops to come break down your door.”
Hannah could picture how much fun that would’ve been. She could see them getting in, finding her gone, then Nina would go crazy and get someone to track the GPS on Hannah’s phone or something. At that point, things would’ve turned so cosmically bad that someone would need to use a nuclear bomb to get Nina to stop her destruction.
Even if the topic of not telling Nina hadn’t come up, there was no way Hannah could tell her friend she’d been screwed ten ways to Sunday by her archenemy. There was no way Nina would ever accept it, which made the promise to continue seeing Curtis almost a death wish. Whether it was her or Curtis, or both of them, getting killed was a strong possibility.
Shaking her head, Hannah cleared an image of Nina storming onto Curtis’ boat with a machine gun strapped around her body. The woman was scary enough to deal with without the thought of her gunning you down. Hannah wasn’t sure on the status of Nina actually owning any guns, but she made a mental note to find a time to drop a question about the subject in conversation.
“Sorry, Nins. I just needed some time to myself. After Saturday night, my head felt like it was spinning.”
Hannah had been pretending to finish something on her computer but wanted to gauge Nina’s response to her half-truth. Her head had been spinning, but she wasn’t alone, and it wasn’t because of what happened at the reunion. She was worried Nina would see that, or at the very least see the changes Hannah had seen in the mirror.
No one else had mentioned the glow in her cheeks, but no one knew her as well as Nina. Hannah had made sure she made eye contact with everyone in the department, just to see if any recognition of someone being screwed senseless was apparent. No one seemed to notice or care, so she thought she was safe.
Nina wore a tight gray suit, tight enough that even Hannah would have cleavage in it. With Nina’s more bountiful goods, it almost looked like a baby’s bum was attached to her chest. It had to be the oddest comparison Hannah had come up with, but there wasn’t much left to the imagination.
“You poor thing.” Nina was a few feet away, but she stepped forward to show compassion by patting Hannah’s shoulder. “I was told he wouldn’t be there. If I’d known he would be, I would’ve told you to stay home.”
Because obviously Hannah couldn’t be left to make that decision on her own. She’d practically begged to stay home, but Nina wouldn’t hear a word of it. There were other people Hannah would’ve been more concerned about seeing, who thankfully weren’t there. Curtis didn’t even rank on that list since she hadn’t thought she registered on his radar.
“I don’t get it. Why would Curtis being there make a difference. Other than getting some digs in on you, he seemed nice.”
Nice was neutral. There were so many words Hannah wanted to replace it with, but sexy or insatiable would’ve pushed things a little too far. As it was, nice seemed to only rile Nina even more.
“Excuse us.”
Hannah’s hand was engulfed by Nina’s as her friend ripped her out of her chair. Unprepared for the move, Hannah about tumbled face first onto the ground. Nina’s strength and forward momentum kept that from happening, but it didn’t stop Hannah’s heart from trying to escape her chest.
She didn’t know why she was being led away from her coworkers, but it couldn’t be a good thing. Hannah almost pulled on Nina to get her to stop so Hannah could find at least one witness to maybe divert whatever deadly thoughts Nina had rolling through her head. Hannah had worked herself up so much about Nina’s reaction that she was sure she was about to get yelled at for something.
“Out, May. I need to use your office.”
Nina hadn’t dragged Hannah far, only the fifteen feet it took to get to Hannah’s direct boss’ office. May’s scowl indicated she wasn’t thrilled about getting kicked out of her office, but she didn’t say a thing as she undocked her laptop and walked out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Nina shut the door. Hannah had tried to plead with her eyes to get the woman to stay, but May hadn’t even bothered looking at her.
Her friend didn’t always act rational, but her actions were coming across a little extreme. Nina wrapped her arms around Hannah for a quick, and totally awkward hug, then pushed her into one of the two chairs in front of May’s desk. Nina paced around the room a couple of times before she sat in the chair next to Hannah.
“You know I love you and have always done everything I can to protect you. There are guys in this world that are scum and would tear you up and use you without a second thought. Curtis Power is one of those guys. I knew it in high school and I can see it in his eyes now.”
Nina stopped her intro to reach over and grab Hannah’s left knee. Hannah felt a l
ittle like a baby being soothed, which irritated her just as much as Nina’s words. Hannah had heard the speech before, not often, but a couple times when she’d asked Nina’s opinion on guys out of her comfort zone.
“Curtis is not nice, Hannah. He is the epitome of evil. I didn’t think I’d ever have to tell you this, but since he made the choice to pop up and mess with you, I think you have to know. Maybe I should just gut him and not worry about upsetting you.”
As if the patting and sympathy hand on her knee wasn’t enough, Nina brought out the puppy dog eyes. Hannah had seen them pointed at her and others enough times to know that whatever was about to be said wasn’t good. Nina brought them out when she fired people, broke up with guys and told her personal shopper that the dress she picked out wasn’t suited for someone in a poverty-stricken country.
Hannah thought about interrupting and telling Nina she didn’t need to know whatever news she felt she needed to share, and she sure as hell didn’t need to run off and gut Curtis. The thought of that made Hannah’s stomach turn. She wanted to make her own opinions about a guy for once, but before she could quiet the oncoming information, Nina spit it out.
“Curtis made a bet with Paul Kilmore that he could take your virginity at prom.”
The words were rushed, which was a little unlike Nina. Usually, every word out of her mouth was calculated to make her point.
Whether the delivery method was like Nina or not, the words rendered Hannah speechless. First, it was a shock hearing Paul’s name. He was the reason there was a sex scale to begin with and someone Hannah preferred not to think about. His name alone made the blood in Hannah’s veins turn to ice.
After spending the day with Curtis, she couldn’t believe he’d do something like that, even when he was a teenager. It wasn’t so much the idea of taking her virginity, which judging by her experience wouldn’t have been the worst thing. It was the idea that he talked about her with Paul that hurt.
“How do you know that?”
Hannah’s mind worked to poke holes in the idea, but Curtis hadn’t really been on her radar in high school. Sure, she thought he was hot and they had some classes together, but she didn’t know him enough to know who his friends were.
“I heard them. Afterwards, I found Curtis and set him straight. You were, and are, off limits to him. I don’t know what the hell he was doing buttering you up and carrying you around at the reunion, but I wouldn’t doubt it if he’s got another bet going. I’m sure it was just for the night, so you’ll probably never hear from him again, but I thought you should know the truth. Curtis is a swine that you should stay far away from.”
The truth. Hannah had no idea what the truth was. It was hard to fathom that the guy she knew more intimately than any other person alive would lie to her about anything. He’d seemed so honest, and it clearly wasn’t just a one night, or day, thing for him. He’d already texted that morning that he missed her. If there was a bet behind his actions, it had to be the most drawn out, convoluted bet ever made.
“And that was senior year?”
Hannah felt she had to ask something to fill in the time she scrambled to remember any indication that Curtis was using her. More than anything, she wanted to find Curtis and ask for his side of things. He’d hinted he had a side that was completely different than Nina’s, but walking out of work and running to him wouldn’t exactly cover up their secret affair.
“Yeah, senior year. I heard them talking a week or two before then. I’ve told you before that guys are such idiots. I know this one is cute and all, maybe even more than just a little cute, but he’s no better than Paul.”
Paul again. Hannah’s face had shown her confusion, but at the mention of the name again, her face went blank. It wasn’t necessarily his name, but the timing of things. If the story was true, Nina was leaving something out. Hannah didn’t remember every single detail from high school, but she remembered that Nina’s hatred for Curtis started when they were in tenth grade, maybe even before that.
Picking on Hannah could’ve added to an anger already there, but something felt off. Curtis had said during the reunion that he wanted a chance to explain. Sunday was supposed to give him that chance, but things went a little different than planned.
Maybe he really did have some kind of bet going. Hannah was having trouble seeing the downside of it though. Unless he had cameras somewhere recording what they did and was sharing it with his buddies, Hannah didn’t see a big problem. He made some money and she had the best day of her life. She couldn’t really be upset about that.
She could have felt used, probably should have, but she didn’t. Nina’s big reveal left her feeling no different. If Curtis wanted to keep things going, he’d have a little explaining to do, but Hannah for once wasn’t going to follow what Nina told her to do. That didn’t mean she was going to let her best friend in on the fact she planned on seeing Curtis again, or that she had to begin with.
“Thanks for letting me know. Like you said, I doubt I’ll hear from him again.”
Hannah put on her best smile and took a deep breath. Her life had changed the day before and whether things continued with Curtis or not, she wasn’t about to look back.
Chapter 10
Come to my game tonight?
Curtis was already in the locker room preparing for said game when he sent the message. They hadn’t officially discussed when they were going to see each other again, but after spending all day thinking about Hannah at work, he knew he wasn’t going to make it through the night without seeing her. It was bad enough that he was supposed to be getting dressed and instead was staring at his phone waiting for the reply.
Nina cornered me today. Probably should talk before I show up as your puck bunny – that’s what they’re called right? I did a search.
The message was quick enough after his that Hannah hopefully wasn’t busy, because Curtis hit the button to call her before he finished reading. He did finish, and smiled a little at the puck bunny reference, but the first part was what warranted the call. He knew he should’ve explained the turbulence between himself and Nina. If Nina came up with an explanation first, it meant all the cards were in her corner. Hannah at least seemed open to hear his side of the issue, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t already been biased against him.
Curtis stood up and walked outside the locker room, then down the hall to the first empty room he could find. An empty conference room would serve his purposes fine. As close as it was to game time, the chances of someone needing to use it was slim. It was bad enough Brady started making weird kissing noises when Curtis put the phone to his ear. Curtis didn’t want anyone else listening in on the conversation.
“I didn’t mean we had to talk right this second.”
Listening carefully to her voice, Curtis couldn’t tell Hannah’s mood. It seemed playful, but at the same time chastising. She didn’t exactly sound mad, so he was cautious as far as how to proceed. After admitting she’d spoken to Nina, he practically rejoiced that she even answered.
“If I’m going to convince you to come, as my girlfriend, then I don’t have much time. I’m already getting dressed for warmups.”
He made it clear that he didn’t see her as just a puck bunny – someone who only came to games because they were attracted to the players. That seemed like a good place to start. It was cute that she’d done a little research, even if it was a little off from what he considered her. Hopefully, she’d spent some time looking up his stats as well as terminology about the actual game.
“Girlfriend, really? Is that what the bet is? It’s not just sleeping with me. It’s making me think we’re in an actual relationship. Is that why you insisted you didn’t want it to be a one-time thing?”
The words caught Curtis by surprise, especially the fact that she still didn’t sound mad. He had no idea what she was talking about, but he’d be furious if there was some kind of bet going on.
“You just lost me. I have no idea what bet you’re talking
about. I know yesterday seemed like just a bunch of sex, but my train of thought was leading towards a relationship. I mean, I asked you on a date at the reunion and again brought up dinner yesterday. So yeah, I was thinking we’re moving towards the whole boyfriend-girlfriend scenario.”
He could have just said he had no idea about the bet, but Curtis wanted to reiterate where he thought things were headed. Nina had clearly put the bet idea in Hannah’s head. Without knowing what her lie entailed, Curtis didn’t want to overstep and make an even bigger mess of things.
He knew he was battling the shrew, but he needed to be clear exactly what the battle was. If he started rattling off what he knew without some context, it could make things worse for him.
“Are you saying you never bet Paul Kilmore that you’d take my virginity at prom?”
“What the fuck,” Curtis replied, louder than he meant.
He punctuated the words by punching a door. He didn’t know what Nina was up to, but she’d definitely picked the wrong avenue.
“Why would I make a bet with Paul? I hated that guy. He was a rich kid who thought he could get away with anything. Guys like that make my skin crawl. Plus, I didn’t even go to prom. I was in Chicago at a tournament.”
Curtis expected to need to explain further, maybe even come up with proof from the tournament. His mom kept all sorts of crap from those days, so she probably had a roster or something with the date on it. What was unexpected was Hannah laughing at his reply. It wasn’t a full-hearted laugh, but it was a good chuckle.
If Curtis wasn’t so confused, he would’ve probably cracked a smile himself. The idea was utterly ridiculous, but coming from Nina, it could have been taken as gospel.
“I had a feeling she was lying about it. Things just didn’t add up.”
Curtis sighed as he let his blood pressure calm down. Thank god things didn’t add up. Nina was a master liar and manipulator, so clearly she was slacking if Hannah saw through it.