by Olivia Harp
He grinned.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, tell me.”
He looked down, to her hand. It was still firmly grasping his manhood.
“Oh, sorry!”
She released him and moved back, drying them on the back of her dress, then fixed her hair. He pulled his pajamas up, his shaft still pretty visible beneath the thin layer of fabric.
Their eyes locked for a second, and both of them laughed.
“Damn,” she said, covering her eyes with her hands, half embarrassed, half unbelieving.
“I know,” he replied, “I think we got a bit carried away.”
“Just a bit?”
He gave her two soft spanks, “just a bit, don’t worry.”
She stood up and rearranged her dress, looking around for her underwear before realizing it was useless now.
“You ripped my undies.”
He shrugged, “I got carried away.”
“I noticed.”
“Send me the bill tomorrow, I’ll pay them back to you.”
She laughed, “Shut up!”
“I’m kidding.”
“I know.”
The city outside still looked incredibly beautiful, serene, as if every light outside shone just for them, like an earthly version of a starry night.
“I’m clean, by the way,” he said walking past her, back to the window, picking his cup of tea up from the windowsill.
Her stomach tightened.
“Me too.”
“I don’t usually do this,” he said, “I hope I didn’t give you the wrong impression.”
She nodded, feeling bad for a second.
Five seconds passed but they felt like five hours.
“Awkward talk, right?” He finally said, finishing his tea.
“No, it’s good. I mean, it’s good to know you care about that stuff too.”
“Who doesn’t?” He asked, taking her beer —she’d only taken a sip before all this happened— and handing it to her.
“Well… you can never be too sure.”
“You’re right. I’m glad we had this conversation, so it won’t be weird next time.”
“Next time?”
He turned to her, his left eyebrow raised. He was fishing for something —anything— to save himself.
“A man can dream, right?” He said nonchalantly.
She laughed, slapping his arm. Okay, he made it. No hard feelings.
Her phone rang for the third time.
“Geesh! Can’t they understand I’m busy?”
“Maybe it’s important.”
She sighed deeply, then took another sip from the bottle before finally moving towards her purse, waiting for her by the entrance.
She missed the call, but she had more than twenty texts, each more urgent than the last. All sent by Nina.
“Julie, you busy? Where are you?”
Then, “Julie?”
She kept scrolling down.
“I was supposed to stay with you tonight!” The last one read.
Goosebumps. A hollow feeling in her stomach.
“Shit!” She blurted out, grabbing her purse and fixing her hair as quickly as she could.
“Everything all right?”
“No, I mean. Yes. Well. Nothing to worry about. I need to go. I’m sorry, someone’s waiting for me.”
Remy nodded but she saw a flash of jealousy in his face. But he downplayed it, pretending everything was normal.
“It’s Nina. I left her alone. I need to pick her up.”
She explained herself, for some reason. They weren’t together, they hardly knew each other… she just felt like doing it.
She didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.
It didn’t mean that she was really into him, right?
Right?
Fucking hell.
He grabbed the keys from a small bar looking from the kitchen to the living room and walked briskly to the door.
“Thanks for helping me out tonight,” he said, unlocking it.
She gave him a quick hug, nothing too flashy or personal.
“Thank you too,” she said, walking out to the hall.
“For what?”
She tried to think of something but couldn’t.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, my pleasure,” he said with a wink.
“I didn’t mean that!”
“Of course you didn’t. I’ll walk down with you, just wait for—”
“It’s fine, don’t worry.”
He was half naked and she needed to leave like, right now.
He smiled again, eyeing her from head to toe.
The way he looked at her, it made her heart race. It was more than enough to let her know they still had to finish whatever they started here.
“Remy Morgan, behave.”
He leaned forward, close to her ear.
“If you say my name like that again, I’ll have to fuck you against the wall out here in the open.”
Her skin broke out with goose bumps.
Part of her wanted to say it again, yell it, even. To show him how wrong he was. But it was too risky, the idea too tempting, and she really had to leave.
Her phone rang again, piece of crap!
She answered it, “Hello?” And nodded her goodbye to Remy. He did the same and the second she turned to the elevator, his door closed with a loud thud.
“Julie! Where are you?” Nina yelled in her ear, “do you know how worried I am?”
She was right to worry, after all, she left with a couple of strangers a few hours ago.
And by the looks of it, they were more dangerous than she could have imagined.
Chapter 11
Julie
Nina finished changing and hopped on Julie’s bed.
It had been a long drive to the estate to pick her up, then going back home.
“I owe you Nina, I’m so sorry I forgot.”
“No worries, girl, you were busy, I get it.”
“The hospital and dropping them off—”
“Yeah, the hospital…”
There was a slight edge in her voice. Almost like making fun of her, in a good way.
“We were there for over an hour.”
Nina nodded, massaging her feet.
“That’s it?”
Something was up.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing at all…”
“Nina…”
“I heard Tommy went to the hospital too, broken arm.”
“You what?”
“Don’t worry, no one else knows. I had to do some detective work after you left me there standing like a dumbass. And you know Trey’s friends, they can’t keep their mouths shut.”
Julie sighed with relief.
“They thought they were invincible.”
“Five of them and they still couldn’t really get them.”
“Well… I kind of had to step in front of a revolver to protect them.”
Nina gulped, her eyes incredulous.
“Don’t worry,” Julie said quickly, “you know Trey, all talk, he wasn’t going to—”
“He pointed a gun at them?”
Julie twisted her lip, “He’s crazy.”
“Do you think he—”
“No. I don’t think he would have done it, of course, he knows my father doesn’t condone idiocy.”
“Yeah, but still…”
Julie shrugged.
“Nothing happened, that’s what matters.”
“If you say so…”
“What do you mean?”
Nina eyed him, not saying a word. She didn’t hide her grin, though.
“Nina?”
“Well… the way you’ve been talking about that guy, Remy…”
“I just told you what happened, it doesn’t mean—”
“Remy did this, Remy did that, oh, Remy kiss me, kiss me!”
Nina said, faking Julie’s voice.
“My gosh, I thought you weren’t going to stop talking about him all the way up here.”
“Shut the hell up!”
“Good thing I got the cute one.”
“Mark is not cuter than—”
“Gotcha!”
Yikes, she got her defending Remy’s handsomeness without even noticing.
“I mean, yeah, he’s a cool guy and all, but—”
“What? He’s not a good kisser?”
Julie frowned.
“We did not—”
“You know you can’t hide anything from me, right?”
Julie bit her lip. They knew each other since grade school. Nina could read her like an open book.
“Did he kiss you goodbye, at least?”
Julie rolled her eyes so hard she could have won an I-hate-you award.
“Because he sure as hell forgot to give you back your bra.”
She stared at Nina. Trying hard to process that information.
She tried to speak but the words came out garbled.
“I—”
Her throat felt so raspy, she needed water.
Nina kept staring at her, her mouth hanging open in gleeful surprise. She couldn’t escape her. She took her time to say that.
“I—”
“Calm down Julie, no one’s here but me.”
Blood rushed in her veins faster than ever, “Well… we might have—”
Nina yelled, clapping her hands.
“Oh my God, you slut!”
She laughed and laughed; Julie wanted the ground to swallow her up.
She wanted to run and hide.
Was she that obvious?
“Also, your lipstick’s gone, and your dress’ fabric is thin. I can see you’re kind of cold.”
She moved her finger towards her nipples. Julie gasped and jumped back, covering her breasts.
“Stop it!”
Nina laughed harder now, “finally! I was worried your pussy had dried up by now!”
“Nina!”
“It’s a risk, darling…”
Julie widened her eyes.
“Oh, poor girl, she doesn’t like to hear her pussy dried up.”
“Stop it!”
“Dry pussy, dry pussy, dry pussy,” she repeated, threatening to poke her with her finger. Julie stood up and grabbed an umbrella next to the vanity set and raised it over her head.
“Say it again and I’ll break your face, girl!”
“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!”
They laughed until their belly hurt.
“So, tell me all about it.”
“No.”
“Oh, come on Julie! I always tell you everything!”
“Yeah, thank you for that.”
She was being sarcastic, of course. Nina was a free spirit. She wasn’t bogged down by what people thought of her.
She didn’t bed everyone, though. She just didn’t mind having fun with a guy that wasn’t his boyfriend.
Julie, on the other hand, could not be with someone she wasn’t in a relationship with.
Except today, I guess.
“Was he good?”
She eyed her friend, wondering whether to tell her or not.
“It was amazing.”
“Oh my God, yes! I’m so happy for you!”
“Why? Do I look that desperate?”
“No but you’ve been super-stressed lately. You finally got a break.”
“I could have had sex with anyone I wanted—”
“Yeah, yeah— wait. So, did you know him from before? He’s not your boyfriend, I know that. But—”
“No, I didn’t know him, and he’s not my fuck buddy either. Don’t get your hopes high.”
“You’re telling me you met this guy and made love to him, and that’s that?” she said the words “made love” with a deeper voice, like a host from a romance radio show. She was still trying to figure everything out.
Julie shrugged.
“So it was just a one night stand?”
Yikes. Was it? It had been amazing but they were so different from each other.
He worked with numbers, she worked with art. Polar opposites.
Opposites attract.
She was already trying to override her decision to not see him again.
“I don’t know,” she finally replied, “we’ll see what happens.”
Nina opened her mouth in surprise, then closed it, looking away.
“I don’t get it. Are you going out with him or not?”
“I don’t know. I really enjoy being single, I—”
“But this guy was special. You helped him, then took him to a hospital, then had sex with him—”
“We didn’t have sex.”
“What? Then why—”
“Just foreplay.”
“Just—” Everything Julie said seemed to shock her, “did he finish too soon? Oh crap, that—”
“No, in fact, I did.”
“Oh my God!” Her friend said laughing out loud, “that’s great news!”
Julie shrugged.
“I say go for it, what’s there to lose?”
“Nothing,” Julie replied, but she was sure she was threading dangerous territory. She didn’t want a relationship, “I’m just too busy right now.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly why I’m telling you so.”
She lay back on the big bed, pulling the sheets over her.
Julie was suddenly cold. She walked over to the big window and closed it. Her friend was typing something on her phone, smiling as she did.
Nina was always the crazy one, the pretty one, she made friends easily. She, on the other hand, was more down to Earth.
“What about Mark? You disappeared with him.”
“Oh, I hate him,” she replied, putting down the phone.
“Why?”
“Well, he tried to kiss me, but I didn’t let him.”
Julie stared at her.
“I’m not as easy as you think, Jules.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You thought about it.”
Julie rolled her eyes, holding back her smile.
“Well, he did leave me there like a fool, you know that.”
Julie shook her head in disapproval and was about to reply but Nina turned to her, fully interested.
“Why? Did he mention me at all?”
“He was pretty tired, Trey and his asshole friends really beat them bad.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Nina deflated. It was barely noticeable, but she did.
“He did say you were cool.”
Her face lit up, she couldn’t hide how she liked him.
Julie lay on the bed.
“Maybe we should stay away from them altogether.”
She switched the bedside lamp off.
“Yeah, maybe.”
And that was that. It was decided. Remy wasn’t for her. She was focusing on her career right now.
The last thing in her mind before sleeping was his kiss. She tried to think of something else, but there was no way to avoid it.
Maybe in another life they would have been great for each other.
Chapter 12
Remy
The whole house bustled with life. He sat on the old couch, still comfortable as hell, the sound of the TV blended with kids yelling around playing and talking and laughing.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
“Son,” his mom said, coming out of the kitchen, “are you okay?”
He looked at her and gave her a big smile.
“Sure, why?”
“You haven’t said ten words since you came in.”
“Oh, sorry, I went to bed super-late and you know…”
He looked around. People coming and going, the kitchen completely busy, football playing on TV.
His older brother, Conner, arrived at the house, bringing a casserole with even mo
re food. The last time they gathered there was so much of it left he took home more than he’d brought.
“Holy shit, Remy,” he said, “what happened to you?”
He didn’t want to explain how he almost got killed by one of their enemies so he just shrugged.
“Nothing man, just a bad decision.”
“He got you good. Did you win?”
Remy rolled his eyes. No he hadn’t won. Thanks for reminding me.
His stomach tightened. If the fight hadn’t taken place, Julie wouldn’t have been eager to take him to the hospital, and they wouldn’t have kissed.
He needed to see her. He needed to taste her again. His cock stiffened but he moved to the side to hide it. Who ever thought losing a fight against five idiots was really good luck in disguise?
He smiled.
“That’s cool, bro. I can imagine how the other guy ended up.”
Conner reached his own conclusion; he wasn’t going to argue with him. It was easier this way.
“Where do I put this, mom?”
“Just set it right…”
Remy tuned everything out. He didn’t even know who was playing. It didn’t matter.
He changed the channel, then again, then again.
I’m a fucking idiot.
He hadn’t asked for her number. Everything happened too fast. But she had his. The ball was on her court now. He left an old show on, volume was too low to understand anything.
This was peace. When his father arrived, it would be a whole different story.
***
The kitchen’s table was full. No else asked about his wounds, it was probably his mom’s work, right there. She understood him, and probably told everyone not to ask any questions.
The kids finished eating, grown ups now gathered at the big table.
“Amazing, just amazing,” his father said, taking another bite of the lasagna his mom prepared.
“Thank you dear,” she replied.
His father sat at one end of the table, Conner on the other. Kat, his sister-in-law on one side, his mom and him on the other.
“I heard another shipment got delayed, Conner.”
“Here we go again,” his older brother said.
“What? Can’t I ask about it?”
“We’re eating, Ed,” his mom said, patting his hand, “don’t—”
“Listen,” he said, raising his fork and pointing it at Conner, “that makes us look weak. Do you want us to look weak?”
“Weather delay, dad.”
Ed slammed his fist on the table, “that’s your excuse this time? Do you think our enemies care? Those animals want our heads on a pike.”