by Hazel Keys
I was immediately impressed at just how profoundly the experience affected Stephanie. She didn’t jump up and run…actually, she just stayed there. And looked at me. For the first time in many years, I had a houseguest who didn’t want to forget this ever happened.
Chapter 8: Stephanie
The shoe is on the other foot, indeed, since Jake has been texting me nonstop about the other night. I feel so bad about it. I mean, yes the sex was fantastic. The talk we had after…another long night of rambling and sharing our feelings…was great!
But the aftermath of an accidental affair really stings a person’s pride. Of course I wanted him. It was all my idea. But now that I can think a little clearly, I feel it may have been a mistake.
Jake was so sweet. Not at all rude or the kind of man that would make a woman feel low after an affair. But my fear was that he was too earnest. He was ready to fall in love.
With HER. Not with me. And dammit, it was all my idea. I offered to dress up like Catalina. I offered the experiment and he took it.
I can’t say it was disappointing because it was everything I thought it would be. But now mundane reality has come back to bite us in the ass and not in a good way.
I don’t even know who I am anymore. Who is he? What are we doing here? I attracted the guy of my dreams by becoming someone else. By betraying all my instincts and doing the opposite of everything that is my true identity.
I told Jake via email that I think it’s best to end our experiment, and certainly not because it was a mistake. If anything, it was the right thing to do, maybe the best thing that ever happened to me! It helped realize what I am.
It helped me to grow up. I am forever thankful to Jake for his friendship and his encouraging spirit. And yes for his very, very good bedside manner. But if I’m going to be honest and pick up the pieces of my life, like Jake says, then I have to say goodbye to Catalina. For good.
I finally agreed to meet with Jake in the park, after taking a weeklong hiatus to think things through. The park seemed like a good neutral location and definitely not the place where I might surrender to my urges to dress up like Catalina again for purely selfish purposes.
“You know you really drive me batty,” he said in an agitated voice. “Seriously.”
“I know! I’m sorry. I do kind of mess with guys and it’s a habit I’m trying to break.”
“You didn’t mess with me like a normal person. You invented a fictional character and then fucked my brains out. Right after pretending to be gay for five years. That’s fucking supervillain bullshit!”
I laughed. “Don’t make me laugh! This is supposed to be a sad breakup.”
“Look, I resent the whole breaking up thing. I was a pretty damned good friend for five years to you, Stephanie.”
“Yes, you were.”
“So please don’t dump me like a bad habit. I hate that you have to think of what happened as a big mistake.”
“It was my mistake. Sex just complicated everything.”
“I don’t understand why couples get so weird about it. I mean what is sex? It’s like a kiss hello! People should have sex as soon as they meet. Then we wouldn’t have this weird thing that destroys good friendships.”
I laughed again. This time I remained quiet as I strolled along the park trail, listening to him ramble on. I found it charming he was trying. Trying to keep my attention. Actually fighting to keep me interested in him. Weeks ago, I never would have thought this moment would be happening.
“Steph,” he said, using that same familiar tone he used to use before Catalina came into the picture. “Who did I ask out today?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. You didn’t come dressed as Catalina, did you?”
“No.”
“In fact you didn’t dress up for me. You just look sort of like the same Stephanie I remember.”
“Yeah, don’t rub it in,” I said with a pout.
“I’m not! Steph, when we made love that day I didn’t call you Catalina. I didn’t close my eyes. I looked at you. I didn’t see Catalina’s eyes because that wildcat never let me look at her for more than five seconds.”
I giggled, and once again avoided his eyes.
“Look at me,” he said, gently turning my head towards him and bringing my brisk walk to a halt.
“It was you, Steph. That’s why it was so hot. That’s why I was so hot and so intense because it was you and I was losing control. I was betraying my instincts to respect you as a friend and just making love to the woman I realized that I sort of knew, but didn’t really know her mind. Her body. Her dark side. Her…imagination.”
I started blushing. I could barely look at him and started walking the trail again, this time at a slower pace.
“I just need to know, Steph…did you feel anything real for me? Because I’m tired of always wearing my heart on my sleeve. All that Catalina showed me or what I THOUGHT she showed me…was that you kind of liked me. And yeah, I gawked at Catalina because…you wanted me to look. She was your character, your image. You made her.”
“Yeah I know. But…”
“But I wonder, Steph, are you running away? Now, really? You’re running away now, when you have my full attention?”
“Well honey, just imagine if the situation were reversed. What if you played a character that was opposite of you. Like…I don’t know, a boring white guy with a soft voice and one that hated pizza.”
Jake laughed and shook his head.
“What if you pretended to be someone else just to get into my pants. That’s how I feel about myself.”
“Jesus, Stephanie. You’re too hard on yourself. If a woman told me that she tried THAT hard, and invented a whole persona just to bed me, I’d be pretty damn impressed. That shows a lot of spunk. That shows determination. Most girls don’t even try today. They make me do all the work.”
“I don’t know. I keep thinking, Jake, I want our friendship to stay strong. God knows you’ve been there for me for a long time. I mean…” I giggled to myself thinking about Jake’s altruism. “You thought I was gay and stood up for me. To my brother and sister who know I’m straight.” I laughed again. “You’re a classic gentleman. Friends like you are invaluable to me.”
“Yeah I know,” he responded, a little stressed. “I do seem to fall into a familiar rut of having good friends and lousy girlfriends. I don’t know. What I’m really feeling right now is that I went home with Catalina…but I stayed for you. Steph. I cuddled with you. I talked to you. I saw both of your ‘sides’. But…”
He finally sighed in frustration and looked away from me in regret. “I don’t want to keep talking if you’re not feeling what I’m feeling. My heart’s been damaged too much. I’m just tired of…trying so hard to keep a woman’s attention when all she wants to do is look the other way. You know?”
His eyes were reflecting his soul and it was damaged. The poor dear looked at me in a moment of truth like he was imploding from the inside, unable to keep talking to a brick wall. He was telling me in that moment that he expected better from me. Not to treat him like all the other women did. He deserved better than that. From me, he deserved better. Maybe he even deserved total honesty.
“Jake…when you were with me on that plane…and I was freaking out as I always do…you held onto me and you protected me. You made me feel calm. In that moment, I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I felt at home in your arms. I didn’t want that moment to end.”
His eyes get wider and he gave me full attention. He listened in respect…no something more than respect. Something like his heart warming and spreading to every pore of his incandescent skin. He looked beautiful to me in that moment, like he was looking at me—Stephanie and Catalina both at the same time. My reality and my greatest ambition.My strength and my weakness.My beauty and my blemishes.
“And feeling that makes me afraid. Jake.” I finally stopped looking away and shared a painful moment with him.
To
my surprise, and to my great interest, he didn’t send me back pain. He sent me back a sensation of healing.
“Steph, I am into you. I do love you. I thought it was as a friend all these years but if you want all the cards on the table, I felt something special with you. Maybe the sex, the uncontrollable attraction came when I saw you dressed as Catalina. But I fell…you know…in love with you when you told me you were straight. It was like…all this time, and I didn’t realize Steph was available. And I don’t care if you want to be sexy, talky, goofy, or even badshit crazy! If you want to be vulnerable…honest…or if you want to freak out and give me your hand.”
He stopped me from walking and held my hand, looking deep into my eyes, so deep that I went into a love trance and listened in expectation.
“I enjoy your company most of all. What I remember is not just Catalina but all the times we watched TV in my apartment, chilling. I remember our conversations over five years. I remember confiding in you about all my broken relationships. And you…”
“Telling you it’ll get better.” I smiled back, a little misty-eyed. “I just never imagined Jake…that I could be a woman to satisfy you. That deserved you.”
“Then let me prove it to you.”
He took me in his arms and took his time. He looked me in the eye and held my face delicately in his hands, proving to me that I would always be cradled in his loving touch. He would never disappoint me, never fail to protect me. He kissed me and swallowed all my worries away with his lips.
I didn’t wear any makeup. I hardly dressed up and just threw on a shirt and pants, expecting to have a sad conversation. And in my regular clothes, he kissed me so fervently. Oh God, I wasn’t dressed for this! But he didn’t care. He kissed me with everything he had, looking at my face, realizing that Catalina and Stephanie were all the same essence. He wanted me. He wanted my versatility, my attention, my love, more than anything.
That night escaped into the deeper recesses of the park and surrendered ourselves to animal lust. All we had for each other, and all we wanted, were bodies. We stripped off our clothes. Thank God I wore no makeup. I wanted to be in the wild. To be stripped of all pretenses and just be natural. We fondled each other in the nude and let our lips explore every valley and crevice of skin. He put me under a tree and had his way with me there, thrusting inside my wetness in the unlikeliest of place. On top of grass and dirt, with his bare backside rubbing against bush leaves that covered us.
All I could feel in that moment was his manhood, his tool, his big Italian dick!, crashing into me, while the wind caressed my legs and ass underneath me. It didn’t take me long to climax since I was so excited to be daring out in public. I tried to keep my voice down but towards the end, as I felt him losing his control and unleashing himself inside me, I groaned into his ear. He didn’t seem to mind. He wanted it. He wanted my breath of life, my full mind, body and soul and that was the way I wanted him to want me.
This was going to be a memory that would last a lifetime. A friendship that was never going to end. This was what it felt like to fall in love. And now life was like a dream, one that I would never have to wake up from.
I may have accidentally seduced my best friend wearing a crazy costume. But when we fell in love…it was the most “naked” I had ever been. Emotionally exposed, trusting…and our eyes locked together in an unbreakable bond of friendship and beyond.
****THE END***
ALSO BY HAZEL KEYS
BEWITCHED SERIES
Crazy About My Best Friend (Free Prequel, get it now!)
Obsessed With My Best Friend (Book 1)
Attracted To My Best Friend (Book 2)
Smitten By My Sister’s Best Friend (Book 3)
Tricked By My Best Friend (Book 4)
Seduced At My Best Friend’s Wedding (Book 5)
Blindsided By My Best Friend (Book 6 | Available only in the Bewitched Series Box Set)
Bewitched Series Box set 1 (Book 1-Book 6)
BILLIONAIRE PASSIONS
Passions of the Caribbean (Book 1)
Racing for Summer (Book 2| Available only in the Billionaire Passions Box Set)
Breaking the Rules (Book 3| Available only in the Billionaire Passions Box Set)
Billionaire Passions Box set (Book 1-Book 3)
WORKING DESIRES SERIES
Tempted At The Office (Book 1)
Secret Attractions at the Office (Book 2)
Note: All the books above can be read as standalones even if they belong to a series
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