Twist (A BDSM & Romantic Erotica Boxed Set)

by Tara Crescent

  “NO! Dammit, Michael –” Bryant looked irritated and he had pulled on a pair of dress pants in his room. It was time for her to go. She smiled apologetically at him as she snuck past him to get dressed. “I’ll handle it. Like I always do, I’ll handle it. – No, don’t apologize now, I gave you the list last week. You had plenty of time.”

  Phee got dressed quickly and moved to the door where she’d dropped her purse the night before. Bryant came out of the bedroom in an unbuttoned dress shirt, and he looked sad, his forehead creased.

  “Michael, Michael… Michael! Shut up. I’ll call you when I’m on my way in.” Bryant hung up the phone and moved towards her. “I’m really sorry, I wanted to spend more time with you this morning.”

  “It’s okay, really, maybe if I get to work early to help with setup then Alex won’t be so irritated that I left before clean up was done last night.” She smiled up at him and he smiled back, cupping her face so he could kiss her again. It was gentle, but reminded her of how he’d felt on top of her, inside her.

  “I’ll call you, okay? Do you like plays? There’s a great play this weekend, we could go.” Bryant sounded hopeful and it made her blush.

  “Yeah, that sounds great. We’ll talk then.” Phee reached for the doorknob but Bryant spun her back around and kissed her again, pressing her back against the door and she moaned against his lips.

  “I’m really going to kill Michael for ruining this morning.” Bryant looked down at her like he was hungry and she blushed harder.

  “Don’t kill him, it’s not necessary. I’ll um, talk to you soon, okay?”

  “Absolutely.” He held the door open for her and she waved as she headed towards the elevator.

  Phee had done her best to clean up in the bathroom at work. The bag she’d left there had a hairbrush, and she’d packed some normal clothes just in case she hadn’t gone home last night, which was smart. After bathing in the sink and putting her hair up in a loose knot on top of her head, she didn’t look like a total mess.

  It ended up being a good thing that she was early because Regan was over a half an hour late. Without the wake-up call Phee usually made before she walked to Regan’s apartment so they could go in together, she had slept in. Phee and Alex had almost everything prepped though, and the first batch of baked goods were already in the case as he started the second. But Alex was still barely talking to her. He was being nice, but none of his normal jokes, or laughter. He’d barely looked at her all morning as she’d gone through the opening procedures.

  Hours later and there was the lull before the lunch rush, and Phee was leaning against the counter thinking about being over Bryant’s lap.

  “Okay, are you all dreamy eyed because you’re off in Ophelia-land again, or is it because the sex with mister tall and delicious was that good?” Regan grinned as she hopped up on the counter, and Phee blushed bright red.

  “Oh my God, Regan, can you be quiet at least?” Phee glanced at the window to the kitchen, but she couldn’t see Alex.

  “I’ll be quiet if you give me all the juicy details. Did he buy champagne at dinner? Take you away in a limo? Is he hung like a horse?” Regan cackled when Phee slapped her arm.

  “It was actually really cool. Kind of low key. I mean, it was still a restaurant downtown so it was kind of pricy, but definitely mid-range. The pasta was really good, and we just had wine. The wine was good though…”

  “Okay, I was kidding about wanting to know about dinner. Come on, Phee, tell me the good stuff!” Regan actually managed to lower her voice as she leaned towards her to listen.

  Phee grinned and whispered, “Well… he spanked me?”

  “Yes! That’s what I’m talking about! I knew he looked like fun.” Regan groaned in jealousy before turning back to her conspiratorially. “Keep going!”

  “Um, he made me beg him to fuck me? It was kind of hot.” Phee laughed, “Who am I kidding? It was really hot. And, oh my God, he was so good in bed. I think I saw stars when I came.”

  They were both cackling when a customer walked in and Phee tried to compose herself, which only made her laugh harder. The man and woman sat down in Regan’s section, and she hopped off the counter to go help them and Phee tugged her phone out to text Bryant: Last night was fantastic, hope everything is fine with work. TTYL.

  “You went out with that guy?” Alex’s voice made her jump and Phee shoved her phone into her apron.

  “Um, I’m sorry, Alex. Regan and I were just chatting because it was empty.” She swallowed. Alex was looking at her with his dark eyes, not a trace of his normal playful smile.

  “But you did. You went out with him. A downtowner.” Alex took a step towards her, his fists clenched at his sides, but he stopped. A nervous flutter filled her stomach and she was suddenly very sure that Regan had been right about Alex having a thing for her. “What the hell, Phee?! Is that why you wanted this job? So you could snag some pretty, rich boy?”

  “Alex! God…” Phee crossed her arms over her chest, glancing behind her to make sure the couple that had just sat down couldn’t hear them. She kept her voice low, “I went out with him, yes, but you know why I took this job. I didn’t want to work in the fog, I wanted to work downtown so I could at least spend time where I could kind of see the sky.”

  “I can’t believe you. All this time and you jump on the first downtowner who does more than pay the check?” Alex sounded disgusted and his expression looked almost angry, a flush in his cheeks as he glared at her.

  “That’s not –”

  “Whatever, Phee. You want to throw yourself at guys like him? Fine. Go ahead. But there are consequences to that shit.” Alex looked past her, and made a sound in his chest as he turned away.

  “Alex!” Phee hissed, but he didn’t turn around.

  “Whoa, what’s up with Alex?” Regan stopped next to her, watching as Alex stormed back into the kitchen.

  “He heard us talking about Bryant, and he’s pissed.” Phee looked at her best friend and rolled her eyes, stopping her before she could gloat, “And yeah, you were right. I’m pretty sure he liked me.”

  “Liked?” Regan tilted her head.

  “Well, he definitely isn’t happy with me right now.” Phee sighed, groaning inwardly. At least he hadn’t fired her, but work was definitely going to be awkward the rest of the day.

  And it was awkward. Alex didn’t even speak when the orders were up, he just rang the bell with a slam of his hand and then moved back into the kitchen, basically ignoring both of them. With all the tension in the air the day crawled, and when it came time to close up Alex put their money on the counter and then told them to leave.

  They’d left quietly, and Regan hadn’t bothered her on the long ride home. As she sat in the seat, Phee could barely think about how Bryant hadn’t responded all day, she just really hoped she still had a job the next day.

  “Nothing?” Regan came back from the bathroom to see Phee checking her phone again on one end of the couch.

  “Nothing since this morning when he texted that he’d see me again soon. But I’ve sent like ten messages and that’s all he’s said back.” Phee groaned and poured herself another glass of bourbon, the mid-range stuff for stressful days.

  “What a dick! He can’t be that busy. It’s been two days!”

  “He works for the COF, Regan. Who knows what he’s doing? I’m sure he’s just caught up in something. I told you that he’d had kind of an intense phone conversation the day -”

  “That’s no excuse, Phee. If he wanted a one-night stand he should have been up front about it, he shouldn’t have been all sweet with his cute date plans, and his oh, I can’t wait to see you again – not if he was just going to fall off the face of the earth!” Regan muttered as she grabbed the bottle of wine she’d brought with her and poured another hearty glass.

  Phee tried to ignore the bruised feeling in her chest. Regan was right, if she had known he just wanted to have some fun, she wouldn’t have even thought about really li
king him. Wouldn’t have thought beyond the fun they could have – and they’d had a lot of fun. She took a drink of the bourbon, and the fuzzy feeling in her head was helping. She just didn’t understand why he hadn’t messaged her anything substantial back. Why be so sweet, why kiss her the way he had as she was leaving, if he didn’t want to see her again? She was an adult, she didn’t need to fall in love with every guy she slept with. She’d had a couple of one-night stands herself. She could have handled it fine if he’d just been honest.

  “Aw, hey, look at me.” Regan had settled on the other end of the couch and she nudged her with her foot. Phee looked up at her, and Regan gave a little smile, “You know you’ve always got me, right? Even if he doesn’t call, and Alex seems to be getting over everything.”

  “Of course I know that. I’m fine, Regan, I swear. And who knows, maybe he’ll call and have a good explanation?”

  Regan didn’t look convinced as she took a sip of her wine, but Phee knew there was more to their evening than just a one-night stand. He’d taken her to the park with the art installation that his mother had loved. What guy would do that if he wasn’t serious?

  Unless he made it up? That was a miserable thought.

  “Why don’t we just watch a movie and crash, and then get back to work tomorrow. If he calls, great, if he doesn’t –” Regan shrugged, “Then he’s missing out on all of your hotness, and on his deathbed he’ll think about how much he regrets never getting to touch you again.”

  Phee laughed, and so did Regan. Best friends, they always knew the right things to say. “Deal. What do you want to watch?”

  Another day passed and Phee was busy at work. The café was packed, there were even people waiting on the tables outside in the thin fog of downtown. Her and Regan were running around like crazy and Alex had even called in a friend of his to help in the kitchen. The chatter of so many voices was a din in the restaurant that made her ears ring as she rushed back and forth delivering orders, bussing tables, and taking new orders.

  She had just set plates down at table five when she turned around to see Bryant walk in with another man. The sunlight through the window caught his hair and her breath caught in her chest as he spoke to the man with him, both of them in nice suits. Walking across the café she smiled brightly, “Bryant!”

  Bryant turned to her with a blank expression on his face, not even the hint of a smile. The guy next to him looked at her with surprise, “Who is this, Holbrook?”

  “No idea. Some waitress? I come here sometimes, didn’t know they’d memorized my name.” He laughed, and he didn’t act like he knew her at all. It was like a knife to her chest. Her mind was filled with scenes of a destroyed beach, broken tree limbs and the scattered refuse of bark and leaves across a bloody shore.

  “Um. Oh. Right, I’m sorry. I just -” Phee bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying as she pointed at a table Regan had just cleared, “Um, I’ve got a table for you.”

  As she took their drink orders in a numb state, all she could think of was her grandfather’s urgings for her to be realistic, to stop fantasizing about some life bigger than she was capable of attaining, and he had been right. This was what she got for thinking she was made for greater things, meant for something grand. She wasn’t. She was just a waitress.

  As soon as she set their drinks down, and Bryant didn’t even glance at her, she walked into the kitchen and started crying. She had her hand over her mouth to try and stifle the noise but Alex came around the prep station and sighed, crossing his arms, “What happened, Phee?”

  “I’m sorry, Alex. It’s nothing. I just need a minute, okay?” She wiped her face and took a shaky breath trying to calm down.

  “Fine. Don’t tell me.” Alex threw his hands up and turned around.

  “No! Alex, don’t be angry with me, it’s nothing, I promise. We’ve got a full house, and I know you’ve got a lot of orders up. I’ll be back in front in a minute.” Phee forced a smile on her face as he looked back at her, and she could tell Alex was pissed. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, and then he just turned away to tend to some pans on the stove. She leaned back against the wall and took a few deep breaths until the tears stopped. She wasn’t going to give Bryant the satisfaction of seeing her upset. Grabbing a rag she wiped her face and walked back out, heading to the opposite end of the café from where she’d seated Bryant and his friend.

  Regan must have taken their orders and dropped their check because Phee never went back to them as she threw herself into her work. By the end of the day, Regan had found out what had happened and she said she’d come over for drinks that night.

  That was how they ended up on the floor of Phee’s living room. Phee had her nice bottle of bourbon open, allowing herself one glass of the best before she switched to the cheaper stuff. Heartbreak was worth a glass, even though she had no right to feel heartbroken. She was being stupid. An idiot. A fool.

  “I just can’t believe it was a one-night stand.” She sniffed and took a drink, letting the bourbon burn its way down as Regan upended her wine in sympathy.

  “He’s a rich downtowner. An asshole. He probably thought he could just dazzle you for an evening and you’d be so grateful to have had the privilege of being in his fancy ass apartment that you’d let it go.” Regan huffed out a breath, “I should have poisoned his food.”

  “Regan!” Phee rolled her eyes.

  “Well, I did spit in his food.”

  “Oh my God! You did not!” Phee gawked at Regan who just laughed and took another drink. “Regan! Seriously?!”

  “Of course I did, Phee! He has the nerve to play it off like he likes you, that he wants to see you again, and then he ignores you? And on top of all that he fucking shows up at our café? Fuck him. He deserved it.”

  “I cannot believe you!”

  “He was the one dumb enough to show up at the Elsinore and pretend not to recognize you. He’s lucky I wasn’t in the kitchen, who knows what Alex has back there that I could have put in his food?” Regan looked completely serious with the kind of determined vengeance only best friends had for each other.

  “Ugh, why can’t we just find decent guys, Regan?” Phee laughed at Regan’s protectiveness and took another drink.

  “I don’t know, girl. All I know is that if all these guys have to offer are their cocks, there are battery-operated solutions with a lot less trouble and heartache.” Regan smiled and Phee raised her glass, and they clinked theirs together in a toast.

  “I agree with that!” Phee sighed to herself, “It was really great sex though.”

  Regan groaned, “It sounded like it. But at least you got a decent night out of it, even if he is a colossal asshole that deserves to get a nice dose of food poisoning, and maybe some kind of erectile dysfunction.”

  “Remind me never to piss you off, Regan.”

  “Oh, you’ve pissed me off plenty of times, I usually just pee on your toothbrush.” Regan grinned and Phee laughed and kicked her leg. Regan kicked her back, and it was as if they were kids again, except they had to set down their glasses before they shoved each other back and forth. They spent the night giggling and laughing about all the stupid men they’d dated. Going through their asshole halls of fame together, while Regan finished off her bottle of wine and Phee poured herself two glasses of the cheaper stuff after her nice glass.

  Regan finally left a little after midnight, and Phee snagged her book and dragged herself to her room to read before she fell asleep. The warm, tingling buzz of the alcohol in her veins was a welcome feeling after all the stress of the last few days. A half hour later she was deeply invested in the story, and a loud knock came at her front door. The clock on her bedside table said it was almost one, and so she slipped on a pair of pajama pants before she headed to the door. “Who is it?” she called through the door.

  No answer.

  She looked through the peephole, but it was black. A nervous feeling tried to surface under the haze of the alcohol,
but Phee remembered the boys on the floor below her had been in trouble for harassing other tenants in the building before so she yanked the door open planning to catch them. Instead, Bryant was standing there. He shoved her backwards into the apartment and kicked the door shut behind her, covering her mouth firmly with his hand as she struggled. He turned and pressed her against the wall and she felt panic rise up inside her, the fuzzy edge of the alcohol burning away. Bryant shook his head and pressed a finger to his lips. The look in his eyes, his incredible, turquoise eyes, caught her attention. He didn’t seem angry, and he wasn’t being aggressive now that she was still and quiet. He pressed the finger harder to his lips and tilted his head as if asking her if she’d be quiet. Phee nodded and he blew out a breath and nodded back, slowly moving his hand from her mouth. He stepped back from her and reached into the backpack he’d been wearing.

  He wasn’t in a suit today. Instead he was in a thick motorcycle jacket, dark jeans, and boots. It made him look nothing like the privileged downtowner that Regan and she had been discussing earlier in the evening. He put the finger to his lips again, and then made a motion urging her to stay there before taking out a strange device. He started to walk around the room, moving the device side to side, around cabinets, her lamps, the windows, the walls. It seemed to take forever before he finally sighed and tucked it into the pocket of his jeans.

  “Phee…” his voice was soft, and it was like it broke her from a trance.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?!” She screamed at him and he walked towards her until she backed up against the wall again, and he froze.

  “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry, Phee. I’m so sorry for ignoring your messages, for ignoring you today at the café. I shouldn’t have even gone to the café today, but I had to see you. I had to see you myself and make sure you were okay.” Bryant shoved a hand into his hair, pacing across her living room. “I should have never taken you home, I was just, fuck, I was just so infatuated with you from the moment you had the balls to tell me to ask you out! When I looked at you, really looked at you? I was sunk. I knew it.”