“In love with you? This guy must be a fucking lunatic.”
“No, it’s not like that Drake, I promise! We spend a lot of time together in class, and apparently, I misread the situation. I thought we were just friends until he made that move. I didn’t know I was making him think anything else.” I begged for him to believe me.
“So do you love him, Molly?” he asked quietly bracing for my answer.
“Of course not, Drake. I’m in love with you!”
“Do you have feelings for him, then?” Fuck me.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
And with that, Drake bolted for the door. I tried to stop him by grabbing his arm, but he was too strong, he just kept going. After the door slammed, I knew I had just broken his heart.
CHAPTER 19
I didn’t hear from Drake for the rest of the weekend. I knew what I had admitted to Drake sounded awful, but I needed to be honest with him. And myself. I needed to use this time to really think about what I was going to do. I was in love with Drake, but I had feelings for Travis, as well. What a fucking mess!
“Earth to Molly!” Travis waved his hand in front of me. I was completely unfocused. Travis and I had returned to our friends-only routine, but I couldn’t get what happened with Drake out of my head. Is Drake the one for me? What if I’m destined to be with Travis? I was so conflicted.
“Sorry, my head is just a mess.”
“Do you want to talk about it? Is it about what happened with us?”
“No and no. Sorry. Let’s get back to work,” I insisted, hoping he’d drop it.
We worked side by side, neither of us wanting to break the comfort of silence. I had a large metal bowl of soup in my hand that had just chilled long enough to be put into the freezer, but with my head a mess and my thoughts running wild, I wasn’t paying attention when I ran directly into Travis and spilling the entire thing all over him.
“Oh my God!” I shrieked. “Travis, I am so sorry!” I backed away as I saw soup drip down his body.
Travis shook his head, as he wasn’t really surprised by my clumsiness. “It’s all right, Molly. Just get me another chef’s coat, would you please?”
I ran to the storage closet, returning just in time to see Travis pulling his coat and t-shirt off. Holy shit. Travis was covered in tattoos. Fucking sexy. He continued to wipe himself off with towels as I stood there like a moron, staring.
“Molly? Can I have that please?” Travis finally asked, as I hadn’t moved yet.
“Oh, of course, yeah, here.” I threw the clean coat at him. “Do you want an apron too?”
“That depends. Are you going to keep spilling food on me?” he teased.
I glared at him. “I really am sorry, Travis. I should have been looking where I was going.”
“Never a dull moment with you, sweetheart.” He smiled at me, totally making fun of me. I shivered as he called me that. God this was confusing.
“I didn’t know you had tattoos,” I decided to finally say. Wow…he looked amazing.
“Yeah, I made sure I got them in places I can cover. A tatted- up chef isn’t really appealing to restaurant managers.” He looked at my expression as I tried to see what they were. “You want to see them?”
I nodded without realizing it. He pointed to a few that were just designs and explained when he got them. There was one with his son’s name and date of birth on his upper arm. He had turned around so I could appreciate his back when I noticed it. I instantly held my breath.
“Molly? Everything okay?” he asked hesitantly as I drooled over him.
“You have an anchor tattoo,” I mumbled as I brushed my fingers over it. No fucking way.
“Yeah, that one’s my favorite. It’s in memory of my grandmother. She practically raised me.” I could see the memories flashing through his mind as he talked about her.
“You like?” he asked, as he saw my expression.
“I love it! I’ve been thinking about getting an anchor tattoo, actually.”
“Well, if you ever want one, let me know. I have a buddy that does amazing work.” Stop drooling Molly!
“Here, take this.” I handed him the apron. As much as I enjoyed drooling over his naked, tattooed torso, I needed to stop staring. Not only was Travis good-looking, his muscles were wrapped in ink, which was extremely sexy. And hot.
I managed to finish the rest of the day without spilling anything else or tripping over myself. The image of Travis’ anchor tattoo was embedded in my head all day. The image of his perfectly-toned muscular body would not leave my mind. Ugh, get out!!
Travis scooped me up and slammed my body against the counter of the internship kitchen. He pressed his mouth to mine and after hesitating, I allowed him in. Our mouths moved in perfect harmony as our hands explored one another’s bodies. Travis’ scent was intoxicating as I breathed him in. He had one hand in my hair and the other on my waist pulling me in closer as he stood in between my legs.
He pulled my shirt up and, only breaking the kiss for a moment, ripped my shirt off. He wrapped his arms around me and unclasped my bra, releasing my breasts into his hands. I released a moan as his lips met my nipples, making them hard. I threaded my fingers through his blonde locks and tilted back giving him access to me.
When he reached back up for my lips, I quickly unbuttoned his shirt, eager to touch his skin and run my fingers over his tattoos. I reached for his pants next, eager to touch him.
“Travis…” I moaned into his ear as he undid my pants, pulling them down my legs and off me completely. Thank God, I wore my lacy underwear today. “Please,” I moaned again. I needed him, wanted him right now.
“Hang in there, sweetheart,” he teased. “I need to see you first.”
He lowered his body in between my thighs and kissed me tenderly up and around me. Suddenly he inserted two fingers and then his mouth covered me. I moaned in pleasure, wanting him to take me even more.
“Oh God, Travis… please, more,” I begged. He didn’t stop until I climaxed and before I could recover, he slammed into me, taking me by surprise. I arched back, grasping for something to hold onto. “Oh God, yes!”
The immediate pleasure I felt was overwhelming. I was exploding over and over again. He lifted me up off the counter and lowered me down to the floor, still hard inside me. He lifted one of my legs up and continued to thrust inside me, making me quiver each time.
He kissed me tenderly when we finished and we lay there trying to catch our breath. I smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.
“I love you, Molly,” he said sincerely as we lay there.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.
“Molly, turn your alarm off!” There was loud pounding at my door. “Molly, wake up! You’re going to be late!” Michael yelled from outside the door.
I rolled over and saw that my alarm had been going off for twenty minutes. Oh my God, I had a sex dream about Travis.
I reached over and slammed my alarm off. That dream felt so real. And worse, it felt natural. How could I face Travis today knowing what I had just dreamed about? I had to shake it off and get ready for my day.
Not having time to take a shower, I threw my hair up in a messy bun and put a layer of mascara on. I knew I looked awful, but the moment I walked into the kitchen and saw Travis’ wide smirk, I knew he noticed. “Morning, sunshine.” Travis studied me with curious eyes.
“Morning. Don’t laugh at me,” I groused.
“I’m not laughing. The just-rolled-out-of-bed look is cute on you.” He tried to hold it in, but laughed anyway.
I glared at him and rolled my eyes. “So what are we working on today?” I tried to push the image of his naked body on top of me away, but it was a struggle. Constant struggle.
Drake still hadn’t contacted me and I was beginning to worry. I didn’t know if I should call him or stop in at his office. I was scared that he would leave me. I needed to get Travis out of my head and allow Drake in, fully and completely.
&nbs
p; The day went by quickly with Travis’ jokes and banter at how clumsy I was. He tried to talk me into going back out with him and his friends this weekend, but I politely rejected the offer, considering what happened the last time.
I decided I needed to see Drake. I wasn’t waiting around anymore, so after class I went up to his office. His receptionist didn’t greet me like usual, and there was almost no one around.
I decided to knock on his door instead of just walking in. After a few moments, I knocked again. What the hell? Finally, someone came and answered the door. However, it wasn’t Drake.
“Hello,” a friendly female voice greeted me. Who the hell is this? In Drake’s office? She was at least six inches taller than me, with blonde beach-wavy hair, and petite. As she was standing there, she licked her lips seductively as if she had just eaten something.
“I’m looking for Drake. Is he in here?” I asked politely through clenched teeth.
“I’m sorry, you just missed him. He left fifteen minutes ago.” She smiled as she could see I was disappointed.
“Do you know where he went?” I asked, hoping to get some answers out of her.
“No, sorry.” She held the door closer to her not allowing me to look inside. I faked a smile and walked away. My stomach turned at the thought of another woman in his office. I was sick. I couldn’t believe this. Is this what I made Drake feel when I told him I didn’t know if I had feelings for Travis? I shook my head in disgust at the thought of it. I have to find Drake!
I decided to call him on my way home, eager to hear his voice. He didn’t answer so I decided to leave a message begging him to call me back. I hadn’t spoken or seen him since Saturday night and it was killing me. Why won’t he talk to me?
I came home and snuggled up with Stella on the loveseat. I could feel my heart breaking, the longer it went without hearing from him. The ball was in his court; I called him first. Now I needed to hear from him.
* * *
Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks. I was miserable. Sick. It’d been three weeks since I left Drake a message to call me. Why wasn’t he calling me back? Was he that upset? I cried myself to sleep almost every night, cuddling up to Stella. Finally, Michael made me get out of bed.
“Get up, now, Molly! It’s the third Saturday in a row you’ve spent wallowing in bed. Break-ups are hard, but the pain will subside.” He tried to sound comforting.
“We didn’t break up!” I corrected. “We’re just taking a break.”
“Oh honey, you’re delusional if you think that. He hasn’t spoken to you in weeks. He’s a coward, leaving you hanging,” he said seriously. Ouch, that fucking hurts.
“Really? It’s over?” I cried.
“I’m afraid so.” He rubbed my head as I burrowed into his chest. I sobbed uncontrollably at hearing those words. Michael was probably right.
“I fucked up, Michael. I hate myself for it. How do I get him back? Help me get him back!” I begged through tears.
“Honey, I don’t know. You just have to allow yourself to heal. Things will get better and you will move on. I’ll be here for you, okay? But right now, you need to get up and shower. We’re going out.” He pulled me up and slapped me on the ass, pushing me out the door.
The last three weeks have been absolute hell. I called Drake three more times after my first message and still hadn’t heard a thing. It was really over. I cried in the shower, releasing the last few weeks of stress and hurt. Travis and I continued our typical days at our internship and stayed strictly friends. I didn’t even tell him about Drake, because I was still holding onto hope that we would work things out.
Travis started talking about a new girl he met last week. I tried to act happy for him, but all I could feel was pain. I was numb. I didn’t feel anything. When I was in the kitchen, I put all my focus on the project at hand, but at the end of the day, I was a complete mess.
Travis found me in the cooler twice trying to recover from a panic attack. I told him it was nothing, but I knew he didn’t believe me. Just the feel of his touch had me going into convulsions.
“Molly, are you ready yet?” Michael yelled, pulling me out of my daze.
“Yeah, I suppose,” I mumbled. I walked out in baggy sweats and a sweatshirt. I showered at least, but threw my hair up in a messy, okay very messy, bun.
“What the hell, Molly? You look like death,” Michael made sure to lay it on me.
“Well, that’s how I feel, so I guess it’s appropriate,” I grunted back.
“Mommy, are you sick?” Stella asked under her little lashes.
“If you count lovesick, then yes.”
Michael dragged us to the Adler Planetarium where Stella had a blast looking at all the exhibits. Surprisingly, it put me in a good mood and I was able to have a great day with them.
The following day I started to get out of my funk and finally enjoyed a day off. Michael had kept a close eye on me to make sure I didn’t eat the entire gallon of ice cream. I kept thinking I needed to find a way to make it up to Drake.
By Monday, I was smiling so big I couldn’t contain myself. I was planning to go right into Drake’s office and seduce him—remind him of what he was missing until he couldn’t be away from me any longer. Totally going to work.
“Hey, Trav! How was your weekend?” I smiled, as I stood next to him putting my apron on.
Before Travis could respond, Blakely approached us. “Well, isn’t this perfect. The slut and her side piece.”
I gave her a puzzled look, but before I could comment, Travis interrupted my thoughts. “Shut up, Blakely! Don’t talk to Molly like that. Ever!” he stated through clenched teeth.
“I’m just stating the facts. Didn’t you see your newest photo shoot?” she snickered.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded.
She searched through her purse and handed me a U.S. Time Magazine, plastered with…
Chicago’s Drake Stagliano in the middle of a nasty love triangle: Molly caught with another man!
On the cover was a picture of Drake and separate picture of Travis and me. The first one was when we were outside the club waiting to get in, and the second one was of us in the kitchen. Oh my God! Someone sold photos of Travis and me. Shit, shit, shit!
My jaw dropped but nothing came out. I was speechless. Is this why Drake was avoiding me?
Travis grabbed it out of Blakely’s hand and gasped. We were all over the cover. Drake must have seen the footage weeks ago. Why wouldn’t he just tell me that, or at least confront me? My mind was spinning. I didn’t know if I could handle more press drama.
“Molly, let’s go!” Travis grabbed my hand and led me out the door. I followed, as I wanted to be anywhere besides that kitchen.
“Where are we going?” I asked, as he pulled me into the elevator with him.
“Drake’s office. We are getting to the bottom of this.” He looked beyond pissed. This wasn’t just about me anymore. His face was plastered all over that magazine as well.
“Travis, there’s something I should tell you first.” I turned to face him. “Drake hasn’t spoken to me in over three weeks. I told him about you and that we kissed. My guess is he looked through the surveillance footage and saw us. I’m sure that’s why he broke up with me.” I looked down, afraid of Travis’ expression. I slowly glanced at his face but he looked emotionless.
“You mean to tell me that you and Drake aren’t together anymore?” he questioned. I just nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“To be honest, I didn’t know. I just thought he was giving us time, but after a few weeks, I finally concluded that it was over. He won’t return my calls.”
We arrived at his floor and once again, Travis grabbed my hand and led me out. Through all the drama and the sadness of the situation, he still had an effect on me whenever he touched me. The receptionist led us to his office, and I started shaking. I haven’t seen him in weeks, and now here I was about to go into his office with the man he saw
me kissing. Drake turned around at the sound of the door closing as he was staring out his large windows. My heart sank as I saw the sadness and anger in his face.
“Molly,” he said, exasperated. “What are you doing here?” He glared at Travis. “And with him?” He jerked his head in Travis’ direction.
“I brought her here, sir,” Travis spoke up.
“Well, Travis, I’d say it was nice to meet you, but you kissed my girl, so it really isn’t.” He said honestly. “Why are you in my office?” He demanded.
“I wanted to come tell you personally that there is nothing going on between me and Molly. We had a moment, and it was wrong, and it hasn’t happened since. She confessed her love for you and I kept my distance ever since. Even after I told her I was in love with her, she told me she could only be my friend.” He paused for a moment waiting for Drake’s reaction. “I just thought you should know, sir. Molly doesn’t deserve any of this negative press.”
“So you do love her?” Drake asked, not amused. I already told him that part, but I could see how it hurt him to hear it from Travis.
Before Travis could answer, I spoke up. “Yeah. He does. But I told him it wasn’t reciprocated and that we could remain friends and that’s what we’ve been ever since.” I promised. I hoped he could feel the sincerity in my voice. Travis had confessed his love for me, but he knew I didn’t feel the same way.
“Say what you want Molly, but I saw the footage,” his look dark. “You can’t fool me. And neither can you,” he said, looking directly at Travis. “You humiliated me, Molly. You knew there were cameras in there, just like before. You allowed yourself to be caught.” He sat in his chair facing me. “You thought I wouldn’t go digging?” He arched an eyebrow up.
“I thought you would at least take my word for it. Yeah, I screwed up, but I told you about it.”
“You couldn’t even answer me when I asked if you had feelings for him!” I could feel Travis’ eyes boring into me.
Alphas & Millionaires Starter Set Page 17