“Who says I’m coming back here?” she says, crossing her legs and leaning back while she holds her coffee cup to her mouth, trying to hide her smile.
“When do you leave?” I ask her, and I have this sudden burning in my stomach.
“Tuesday at eleven fifty,” she tells me, leaning forward and setting the cup down on the table.
“Three days?” I confirm, and she nods. “Lots we can do in three days.”
“Well, I want to go to the love bridge with the girls and put a lock on it,” she tells me. “There are other things on our list.”
“I just got added to the list,” I tell her. “You can do what you want during the day, but at night, you come back with me.”
“A vacation fling,” she says, putting her elbows on the table and crossing her hands. “I’ve never had a vacation fling before.”
I laugh at her. “Good to know.”
“We do have the YOLO tagline for this vacation,” she informs me, “and your bed is really, really comfy.” She smiles, and I laugh out loud. “You should do that more.”
“What?” I ask her.
“Laugh. You should laugh more, Alex,” she says, her voice going soft. She gets off her chair and walks to me, straddling my lap. “Okay, Alex, I’ll add you to the list.” She wraps her arms around my neck and I brush her hair back away from her neck. She leans in to kiss me softly, and my hands are rubbing her back when we hear voices.
“This is fucking unbelievable.” She laughs in my arms.
“I guess the girls are here,” she tells me, and then I hear Giselle’s voice.
“He’s the favorite child,” she says. “They gave me a two-bedroom condo.” I roll my eyes. She doesn’t mention that the two bedrooms are suites with their own bathrooms taking up its own floor and she had stairs put in so she can use two floors, so she has two floors for herself.
“If she doesn’t come back and sleep here tonight, I call dibs,” Kate says, and Meghan climbs off me, turning and walking away.
“There she is.” I hear from inside when I get up and follow her. “The walk of shame,” Diana says, laughing.
When I walk into the living room, Giselle is sitting down dressed in jeans and a top. Kate hands Meghan her bag. “Here you go.”
“That’s all my luggage,” she says, and they both laugh.
“We had a vote,” Kate starts, and then Diana finishes. “You have been voted off the island.”
“I’m going to get changed,” she says and wheels the luggage back to my bedroom, and there is nothing else to be done. I watch her smiling, knowing that she’s coming back to my home every night at least for the next three days.
Turning, I walk back into the room with her. I watch her open the bag and toss things around and pull out jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She grabs a white lace bra and puts it on, and then pulls up jeans that mold her long legs with a huge rip in the knee. She throws on a long-sleeved loose sweater that falls off the shoulder, grabbing her flat ballerina shoes. “You going to watch me the whole time?” she asks, taking her hair and braiding it on the side. I walk to my walk-in closet and grab a pair of jeans with a white polo shirt, leaving the buttons open. I tuck the front in and grab my running shoes and then walk out when I see she isn’t there.
“Chérie,” Sweetheart, I say loudly and then walk out to the living room and find her playing on her phone. “Where is everyone?” I ask, looking around and seeing it’s just us two.
“Giselle took them upstairs and said to hurry your ass up because she wants to take us to the cemetery.”
I walk to her and hold out my hand. When she places her hand in mine, we walk to the elevator, and I press the up button. We step in and I put in a key that takes us straight to the rooftop terrace, getting out into the cement room with a black door facing us. Her hand never lets mine go, so we walk out of the black door and onto the rooftop terrace. I watch her face as she looks around, and her eyes come back to me. “I changed my mind,” she says. “I want to sleep up here tonight.”
I laugh at her and turn to see where everyone is. It’s no surprise that they are in the corner sitting on the L-shaped couch. The marble and rock fireplace not lit. The hot tub just in the corner. “Monsieur, Alex.” I look to the side and see our in-house butler, Paul. “Que voulez-vous boire What would you like to drink? he asks me, and I look at Meghan.
“Je voudrais un mimosa,” I’ll have a mimosa, Meghan says with a smile, and he just nods at her and looks at me. “De l’eau,” Water I answer him, and he walks away. Meghan walks to the girls, her hand slowly slipping out of mine, but I stop it. She looks over her shoulder at me, and I stop walking. Her soft green eyes light up, the side of her mouth slowly tipping into a smile. She comes back to me, gets up on her tippy toes, and kisses my lips. I let her go and watch her get to the girls, and they high-five each other.
I stand here trying to wrap my head around what the fuck just happened. I look over at her and then hear the door open, and I see Guy walk in with Clement and Hugo. “Look what we have here,” Guy says. “Mr. Cool,” he says, slapping me on the back and standing next to me, nodding at the three of them.
“Qui aurait dit que l’on serait sous le charme de trois canadiennes.” Who knew three Canadians would have us all at the edge of the roof? Clement says and then walks away with Hugo to the girls. They all kiss each other on the cheek, and they sit down with them.
Guy looks on with me “Je n'ai pas besoin de vous rappeler que vous devez être très prudent.” I don’t have to tell you that you need to be extra careful, right? I don’t answer him; instead, I watch Meghan. “If anyone finds out.”
“I know,” I tell him, and then I walk over to them. I sit right next to her and lean back on the couch, putting my arm out. Meghan leans back, fitting perfectly beside me. She looks up at me. “Hungry?” I ask her.
“Starving. It’s like I ran a marathon,” she says quietly as the chatter goes on around us. I lean down to kiss her lips, and it feels like the most natural thing in the world. As if I’ve been doing it for years instead of hours.
We sit around the table with me and Giselle at the head and Meghan right beside me, and by the time the meal is done, we are all excited about walking around the cemetery. “How are we getting there?” Meghan asks when she walks into the apartment and goes to the bedroom. “I’m assuming we aren’t taking the train.”
I laugh at her. “No,” I tell her. “No train. We are meeting them there.” I watch her bend down, and my cock suddenly comes up.
“No,” she says, looking over. “That was the same look you gave me last night when I said good night.”
“I have no idea what you mean.” I walk to her, grabbing her hips, and slowly press my cock into her ass.
“Alex,” she says breathlessly, then she wiggles her ass back at me. “How much time do we have?”
“Ten minutes,” I tell her, and she snaps back up, turns around, and my hands are already at the button of her jeans. Her hands are just as frantic with mine, and one minute later, her pants are on the floor, mine are around my hips, the condom is on, and I’m fucking her against the wall. It’s never been strong like this; I’ve never been this reckless. My face buried in her neck as she moans out her release, and I plant myself in her and let go.
Chapter Eleven
Meghan
“I think it’s going to rain,” I say as soon as I get out of Alex’s car after he just parked. “The clouds are rolling in,” I say, and he walks to me, taking my hand in his and walking toward the stairs in the corner. We walk up the ten cement stairs and through a black faded cast iron gate. He pushes it open, and the creaking fills the air.
I look up as soon as we walk past the gate, and I’m in awe. There are tombstones, but then looking ahead in the distance, you see that it gets higher and higher and what looks like little cement huts fill some of the spaces. “They are right there,” he says, pointing at the group standing in the middle of a cobblestone path.
; Diana, Kate, and Giselle are having their own conversation; the guys right next to them having their own. Diana sees me first and smiles. “Took you long enough.” She winks at me, and I try not to smile too big or do cartwheels.
“He had trouble looking for parking,” I say, making up the lie.
“Oh, he parked something; that’s for sure,” Kate says, and Giselle just shakes her head.
“This is so pretty,” I say as we start walking down the walkway, the trees shading most parts of the path. “Oh my gosh, look at that,” I say, pointing at one of the graves right on the side of the walkway, the stone covered in moss so much you can’t read who is buried there, but you see a date under it of 1854. We continue walking down the paved path with us four girls in front of the guys.
“I don’t know what it is,” I start to say, “but it’s so peaceful.” I look into one of the tombs as we walk by. The door is off its hinges and blown leaves are scattered within the dimly lit room. “Imagine you go in there”—I point at the tomb—“and you get locked in.”
“I would die,” Kate says.
“Look at that one.” Diana points at a bigger tomb, and the minute she does, thunder rumbles the air, and the four of us scream. I, for one, jump. “Jesus fuck.”
I look back at the guys and see that Alex is looking at me with a smile. I stop walking and wait for him. “Isn’t it pretty?” I say to him and start to walk with him. Our hands swing by our side, causing our fingers to gently graze each other. His pinky grabs mine, and we walk like that.
“Jim Morrison is buried here,” Giselle says, looking over her shoulder at us. “His tombstone got stolen three times.”
“No way,” Diana and Kate both say at the same time.
“Let’s find it,” Guy says. “I think it’s that way.”
We walk for thirty minutes, walking higher and higher, deeper and deeper into the cemetery. We point out the oldest graves and come up with stories about how they died. “Why isn’t there a sign that says Jim Morrison this way?” Kate says when we come to a corner with four possible ways to go.
“This is almost like The Wizard of Oz,” Diana says. “Where is the scarecrow when you need him?” she says, and I throw my head back and laugh, shaking my head. Guy and Hugo open their phones and download a map for the cemetery.
“I think we need to go back and then right,” Guy says, and Hugo agrees with him.
We walk back and don’t see anything, so they take out their phones again, and we follow their direction and find it in the middle of the row behind a barrier. “That,” Kate says. “That is his tomb in the middle of the row. No wonder we couldn’t see it.”
“Can you imagine his neighbor?” Diana says, and we all look at her.
“Neighbor?” Giselle asks.
“Yeah, the one who is buried next to him,” she starts. “He must be like oh look more visitors, but they are all for him. He must be pissed.”
“I can’t,” I say to her while I hold my belly and laugh.
“We need to take a picture,” Kate says. “Everyone, get in.” We all huddle together; Alex next to me with his arm around my shoulder. “Wait,” she says, “we can’t be smiling.”
“Why not?” Hugo asks.
“We are surrounded by dead people. I think that’s rude,” she says, and Clement looks at her.
“That is very sweet,” he says, and she bats her eyes at him and smiles.
“Okay. Now, everyone, look a bit sad,” she says, and we all look at the camera. It takes us five tries, but finally one comes out.
“Now, let’s get out of here,” Giselle says. We all try to walk back the way we came, but after one hour, the clouds are moving in, and the sky is getting darker.
“I think we need to go that way,” Clement says, so we all follow him. Finally, we are walking out and down the steps.
“Where to now?” Giselle asks. Guy walks over to her and places his arm around her shoulders and kisses her forehead. She looks up at him, taking her hand and holding his. “I have to admit this touring the city is a lot of fun.”
“What is on your list?” I ask Kate, and she takes out her phone and scrolls through it. “Today, we had the cemetery and to go eat at the best falafel in Paris.”
Alex moans from beside me when Kate says the name. “L’as du fallafel.”
Guy just laughs as does Giselle when Alex says out loud, “Of course, it is. That bastard.”
Alex takes out his phone and opens it, scrolling through his numbers, and then brings the phone to his ear“connard, c'est alex.” Asshole, it’s Alex, he says and then smiles. J'ai des amies du Canada qui ont lu dans leur guide que ton resto est l’un des meilleurs restaurants de Paris. Je leur ai dit que c'était de la foutaise mais elles veulent juger d’elles-mêmes. On pourrait avoir une table dans la salle du fond ?” I have some friends visiting, and they have you on the list as the best place to go eat. I told them it's bullshit, but they want to see for themselves. Can we have the back room? he asks him, and then he looks at us. “je te dois rien, sois là dans quinze minutes.” I owe you nothing, be there in fifteen, he says and then puts his phone back in his back pocket. “You guys owe me,” he says to us.
“I’m sure Meghan can pay you back tonight,” Kate says, winking at us, then turning to me. “Make sure you take care of him for us.” I roll my eyes, as if I needed them to tell me that. I have two days left, and I’m planning to spend much of that time with him naked.
We walk back to his car with his hand in mine, and he takes his keys out of his pocket, pressing the button to make it beep. He opens the door for me but blocks me before I can get in. “Are you making plans?” he asks me as he pins me to the car, putting his hands on either side of me.
My hands rest on his waist. “What plans were you thinking of?” I ask him, his front coming closer to me.
“I was thinking we could maybe have some wine on the roof.” He starts talking in a soft, low voice. “Maybe I could get you into that hot tub.” He leans in, kissing my bare shoulder. “Have you sit on the edge.” He nips my collarbone, placing his lips to my ear, and whispers, “Spread you wide.” My head falls back, and my whole body shivers when he leans in and nips my earlobe. “Start making plans, Meghan.” He pushes off me, and I blink, trying to get my heartbeat under control while sitting in the car and watching him walk around the front and getting in. I watch the scenery while he drives us to where we are going.
When he parks his car, I get out and meet him on the side and follow him to the restaurant. From the front, it looks like a hole in the wall. You wouldn’t think anything of it, but he walks in the door, and the smell of deliciousness hits me right away. “Il est là, la plus grande douleur dans mon cul,” There he is, the biggest pain in my ass, a man with a beard from the side says once we get in. Alex laughs and goes to him, shaking his hand and kissing his cheek.
“Are the others here?” Alex asks him, and the bearded man just nods his head.
“Go by the side,” he says, and Alex nods his head. Turning, he takes my hand and walks to the side where it looks like the kitchen, but there is a door, and he opens it. Walking into a hallway, we turn at the first door we see. He opens the door, and there sitting at the table is everyone. A television is in the corner. The table is covered with a white tablecloth. The walls in the room are covered in pictures of celebrities with the man at the front door. I walk to the table and sit in one of the available chairs. “It smells so good,” I say. “What are you guys talking about?” I ask Kate, Diana, and Giselle.
“Tomorrow, Giselle is going to take us to this special place where you get the best pictures of the Eiffel Tower, then she is going to take us to the bridge so we can put our lock of love on. I mean, I know it’s not the real bridge of love since they cut all the locks off, but we are going to do it on another bridge,” Kate tells me, and the guy from the front comes in again; this time, he has a tray of drinks, and another man following him comes in with plates. He places three plates on the table wit
h mushrooms, eggplants, hummus, and a tomato sauce. A basket of pita bread is placed beside them.
“Do you want menus?” asks the man standing beside Alex with his hand on his shoulder. “Or do you trust me to bring you what I want?”
“Trust you?” Alex says, laughing. “I haven’t trusted you since we were thirteen.” Now the man laughs. “Meghan, this is Eiran,” he says. “Eiran, this is Meghan and her two friends Kate and Diana.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, smiling at him. “It smells amazing.”
“So which one of you forced him to come here?” he asks, and Kate and Diana both point at me.
“You have great taste in food,” he tells me. “Awful taste in men.” I laugh and nudge Alex with my shoulder. “Is there anything you want to try?”
“Yes. I want to try the shawarma with no beets or hummus,” I tell him. “The last time I had that, I was visiting my mother in Israel.”
“Are you Jewish?” he asks me, and I shake my head.
“No, my stepfather is,” I tell him. “She lived there for ten years. To this day, it’s the most beautiful place I’ve visited.”
“Again, your taste is amazing,” he says, then looks around the table. “Anyone else have a special request?”
“I would like to taste the balls,” Kate says, putting a piece of pita in her mouth. The man’s eyebrows shoot up, and everyone else laughs.
“I’m married,” he says to her, putting his hand on his chest, “but I’m sure I can.”
“No, I mean, falafel balls,” she says. “Jesus, it came out before my head had a chance to catch up.”
“She’s lying,” Diana says. “She totally wants balls.”
Kate glares at her and sticks up her middle finger. “I’ll be back,” Eiran says.
“You two are the worst,” Kate says.
“So tell me about this place to see the Eiffel Tower,” I ask Giselle, and she talks to me about the steps she found while exploring, and you can sit and have lunch with it at your back. “I’m so excited,” I say to her and then the waiter comes back in with plates of falafel on top of rice in sandwiches, and my very own plate of shawarma delivered to me from Eiran.
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