by Lauren Wood
Kissing her, I didn’t worry about the time. It was late and we were both going to be late to work, but I didn’t care. I wanted her again, knowing that I would never be sick and tired of Kendra. One night was never going to be enough. All of the feelings that I had of her all of those times in the past were coming up with a vengeance and there was nothing I could do about it. I felt it all rush back and knew that this was because she was to be mine. It was meant to be or I wouldn’t feel this way. While Kendra wanted to say that she didn’t feel the same way, her body doesn’t lie and I just know that she wants us back together too.
“Wake up Kendra. I need you. I don’t want to wait anymore so I am going to get started without you.”
She made a sound and then moved to her other side, away from me. I wanted her badly and I started to kiss on her neck and shoulders. She whimpered with the touch and it wasn’t long before I was moving her to her back. I had to have her again and Kendra was ready for me already. She wasn’t awake yet, so I set about kissing her and climbing on top on her. Her eyes opened and met mine. “What are you doing?”
“Waking you up, baby. We are late for work, so we might as well make it worth our while to be late.”
I hoped that she would play along. She always had before, telling me that she liked to be awoken this way. If I woke her up and asked she would be upset, but if I had her body ready, the rest of her was far more willing.
This was not the case this time around. She shot up and pushed on my chest to get me off of her. I didn’t want to back away, but I was left little choice. “I have to get up and go. I can’t be late for work lying in bed with you. I have a lot that I am supposed to be doing today.”
“I think your boss will be okay with it. I only need a few minutes.”
She waved me off and told me that I didn’t know her boss. And that she didn’t understand women if I thought that the statement was going to help me any.
“Come on Kendra, you can’t be serious. I don’t know why you work there anyways. It is beneath you to work in such a place. That neighborhood is dangerous.”
This wasn’t going as I wanted it to and I could see by the expression on her face that I hadn’t won any awards for saying that to her. It was literally the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the state of the place she was working at and the neighborhood in which it was in. If it was for the money, I could remedy that quite easily. I couldn’t understand why else she would be working there. I know that Kendra had a rough background, but that didn’t mean that she was meant to work in such a place.
“Don’t say that Dennis because I don’t want to hear it. My job means a lot to me and I don’t really care what you think. Those girls depend on me and I am not going to let them down for another romp in the sack with you.”
She was mad and I didn’t want her like this. I pulled her to me and tried to kiss her to make her see that this was just a silly spat, but Kendra’s hands were on my chest, trying to stop me from changing her mind. What just happened? The temperature in the room should have gone down ten degrees with the sudden frost I was feeling from her.
“I have to go Dennis. Thanks for a good time. It was nice to do it one last time. It had been a while.”
She was getting dressed and I looked at her as if she were crazy. I don’t know what the hell just happened, but I wanted to fix it before it got worse and snowballed into something that I couldn’t talk my way out of. I didn’t like her mad at me and I had thought everything had gone so well. She had come all over me and been thoroughly satisfied many times last night. So I know that I had done my job, very well if I do say so myself, so why was she leaving in a huff? What changed?
I just didn’t understand it and I tried to stop the madness before she left me there alone in her apartment. Maybe she would see reason.
“Wait Kendra, don’t you think we should talk about this?”
She turned back to me, my hand on her arm. She looked down at the connection and shook her head that we didn’t need to talk about it at all. She shrugged me off to break the contact.
“It was just the night. It was great, you know it was. You have always known every button to push Dennis. Nothing has changed though. It was just for the night and it was good to see you again and to get together like that.”
Kendra left out the door before I could say anything else. My pride was wounded and I didn’t know what to say to her to make her see that she had this all wrong. But then she was gone, saying something about locking up if I could before I left. I was left sitting on the side of the bed, asking myself what had just happened, again, not sure at all. Kendra hadn’t even given me a sideways glance before she walked out of my life.
My cock was still hard and I still wanted her, but after a cold shower I knew that I was going to have to figure this all out. I was still stumped on the sudden change in her attitude, but I was going to get to the bottom of it before we had a repeat of before.
I went to the social media site that we had been talking on and I left her a quick message. What was so weird was the fact that if she was any other woman, I would have liked her even more for just walking away. It meant that I didn’t have to worry about clinging. But that just wasn’t so with Kendra. I wanted her to stay in my arms. Again I was wanting more than ever before and of course, Kendra didn’t want to play along.
Kendra never did message me back. I checked my phone several times an hour just to make sure that the ringer hadn’t been bumped to vibrate. I felt like I had been reborn and finally given another chance at the one regret I had, but now I started to wonder if it was all I my head. It was becoming clear that Kendra didn’t feel the same way. It hadn’t been the sex. It was perfect as it always was. So what was holding her back from me? Did she really not feel the same way that I felt about her?
When I got into work, I will be the first to admit that I didn’t want to be there. I had a mean mugging look on my face that I couldn’t wipe off. Peggy steered clear of me once I got snappy with her. I could tell that I had hurt her feelings. It seemed to be a theme today and I didn’t even make it to lunch before I was done with the whole thing. I had Peggy hold my calls and I told her I wasn’t sure when I would be back. It looked like I had some thinking to do.
***
I found myself in a bar, one that I went to a lot more before Kendra had popped back into my life. I was surrounded by beautiful women, many working there and I didn’t feel the same excitement as before. Nothing that I enjoyed before was the same. Kendra hadn’t taken away the joy of life. She was just such a bright new light that Kendra seemed to dim all of the rest of the things around me. I didn’t want to admit it, but part of me still couldn’t figure out what I had done without her all of these years. I had a feeling though, she wasn’t filled with the same warm sentiment. She had been upset this morning and I wasn’t sure why.
I tried to call her again and she didn’t pick up. I tried to tell myself that it was because she was working, but I had a feeling it was something else. To say that I always understood what was going on in her head was a lie. Before we were together most days and I didn’t get her sudden mood swings. Either she had a bad dream or she was thinking about it all a bit too much.
I left her a text. It was a little dirty. I hoped that when she saw it she would smile. Drinking the last bit out of the first glass, I left the bar. The establishment didn’t hold the same power and allure to me as it had before. There was nothing for me here, so I instead went back to work and threw myself into it. I had a lot that I had been putting off and it helped take my mind off of last night. It had been great to be with her, but for weeks I had been neglecting work because of Kendra in my brain. It was good to have her out of it a bit so that I could get some work done.
I was so busy with everything at work, calls, meetings and deals that I didn’t hear the sound for the text message. When I saw that it was Kendra, it was my face that broke out into a grin. I had wanted to hear from her all day and I waited a m
oment before I opened it to see what she said.
“While that sounds good Dennis, I don’t think we will be doing that again. It was good to see you, but that was a one-time thing. Talk to you soon.”
Floored, I reread it several times, trying to find a clue as to why she said such things. I tried to call her and when she didn’t answer, I knew I was going to have to go down to her apartment and see her. I wasn’t going to let this stand. She was going to have to give me a reason and quite frankly, I was ready for her again, had been since this morning.
So when it was time to knock off for her, I made my way across town to her apartment. I had brought dinner from a restaurant I thought she would like, a bottle of wine from my cellar and flowers from a local florist by her place. I had to see her, but I didn’t want to come empty handed. I knew that some pasta would keep her from wanting to push me away, at least until she wasn’t hungry anymore.
When I got there, her car was parked out front, but it had condensation on the windows like it had been sitting there all day. Her job wasn’t far from here, so she could have walked. I had a feeling that she wasn’t going to be at home though. None of her lights were on and I knocked, not expecting much to happen. I wasn’t surprised when there was no answer. She didn’t know I was coming. Would she have been here if she would have known?
I decided to wait. I wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on anything, anyways. I just didn’t know that it was going to be such a long wait. And I certainly didn’t think that she was going to have someone with her when she got home.
At first when the car pulled up, I was checking messages on my phone and wasn’t paying too much attention. I saw the vehicle that wasn’t Kendra’s and I half-thought that it was going to be Callise. They were together a lot, Kendra talked about her a lot, but I was wrong. Instead she was with a man and I instantly felt my face getting red and my heart pounding in my chest. We had just been together the night before. How could she just go with another man so soon after?
Every part of me told me to stay in the car, but I wasn’t listening to reason. I was listening to the voice that told me to find out what was going on and to make sure that whatever man she was with did not think that she was available. She wasn’t. Kendra was mine, had been for a long time and I wasn’t going to let her slip through my fingers once more. I just couldn’t.
Opening the car door, the two didn’t hear me. Kendra was giggling in a voice that I didn’t like when it wasn’t directed at me. Something he said was funny, but it had my teeth on edge. Who the hell was this guy? Didn’t she feel anything from last night?
Chapter 13
Kendra
“Dennis? Is that you?”
I squinted into the darkness as I saw a man walking up. It was too dark to see him really, but it was the way he walked that made me think of Dennis. Dennis has the same slow cantor. He had this look on his face that I didn’t quite understand. He looked upset, but I wasn’t sure why.
Craig said something next to me, asking who it was, but I waved him off. He didn’t matter. We had just gotten back from grabbing something to eat after work. He wanted to come in for a drink and since I figured it was too early to call it night, I had agreed to just one. Craig was a good friend and he was always good to help me forget about life’s problems for a little while. Dennis was the problem right now and I didn’t like the way that Dennis was looking at Craig.
“Yeah, I was waiting for you. I thought we were going to have dinner tonight and see what happens. I didn’t know that you were going to be with someone else.”
I almost corrected him to tell him that me and Craig were just friends, but I didn’t like the assumptions he was taking like it was a given that I was going to spend my evening with him. If I remembered right, I had texted him and told him that I wasn’t going to be pursuing anything else with him. Did he not get it? I thought I had made myself quite clear.
“Well I didn’t know that we had any plans…” I didn’t want to have to explain myself because I shouldn’t have to. He should have just get the picture, but that didn’t seem to be the way of him. He was still eying Craig and I could tell that my colleague was getting nervous. Craig was not a very aggressive man. Dennis was nothing but aggression at the moment. It didn’t bother me of course, I knew he was harmless to me, but I was starting to get a little worried about him being around Craig. Dennis was known to fight when he felt jealousy as he was feeling now. It didn’t bode well if he kept eyeballing Craig that way. I didn’t want the two getting into a fight because of a misunderstanding.
I got the door open and I told Craig to go in and grab a beer out of the fridge. I would be in after a minute, but first I had to square things away with Dennis. He was upset and I knew that look better than most. He was about to lose his shit and I didn’t want him to take it out on Craig. The man had done nothing wrong.
Letting Craig get inside, I finally looked up at Dennis and I could tell that he was even madder than before. I was mad as well. He didn’t have any say in what I did and who I saw. Dennis was way out of line.
“What are you doing here Dennis? We already talked about this. I thought you understood what I was saying. You can’t be here.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are looking at the guy I work with like you are going to skin him alive or something. We are just friends and you don’t own me, so why are you here acting like you are going to start something?”
“I didn’t say I own you Kendra, but you are mine. Don’t forget that.”
I was exasperated with him. Dennis was a very smart man. He had to see what he was doing to me and how awkward of a situation he had put me in. It was hard to not be a little irritated with him, though I had known Dennis a while. This is just how he was sometimes. While it was hard to deal with and I wanted to screw his head off, I should have seen it coming.
“Dennis, we had sex one time in a decade. I don’t think that constitutes as me being yours.”
He moved towards me and pulled me against his chest. His hand cupped my chin and pulled me in for a kiss. I couldn’t get away from it and I don’t think that I wanted to. I heard a soft mewl and I knew that it was me. The front door was still open, but I didn’t care that Craig could see us. He really wasn’t my type and I didn’t look at him that way, at all.
Dennis pushed me against the side of the building and his hands moved to roam over my body. He knew exactly what he was doing and before I knew it I was dying for him again. Right here, right now. When his hands moved between my legs, I had to stop him panting.
“We are outside Dennis.”
“So, invite me in and we can go upstairs to your bedroom.”
I giggled at him before I remembered that he wasn’t supposed to be here. “Seriously Dennis. You have to call before you come over. You can’t just pop up and expect me to drop everything. I have someone over right now.”
“Are you dating him?”
I gave him a look and shook my head that I wasn’t. “Like I said, we are just friends. Is that why you are here? To make sure that I am not dating anyone?”
“I was here because I got us some dinner and I wanted to see you. I got that text earlier and I figured you were just messing around. If not, I wanted to know why you were willing to write us off so quickly after the amazing night we had together.”
I really couldn’t believe him sometimes. It was times like this where Dennis showed his true colors. The last thing that I wanted to do was have to explain it. But I guess I was going to have to. The man never was told no, but I didn’t have that same problem.
“We aren’t really together Dennis. You wanted to come by for the night and we had a really good time, we always do, but that doesn’t mean that we are back together. Nothing has changed between us. You can’t just show up whenever you want to. I think Craig was about to piss his pants. There was no reason for that.”
Dennis smiled with the comment, but I could tell that he wasn’t very happy. The expr
ession didn’t meet his now hard eyes. I thought he was going to kiss me again and I took another step back to give us some room.
He chuckled and said something about marking his turf. I didn’t like the idea of being turf to anyone.
“Dennis I got to go. If you want, I will call you tomorrow and we can set something up. I work all week though.”
He agreed, but there was a big part of him that didn’t want to. I could see it in the way he opened his mouth and then shut it again, thinking better of whatever it was that he wanted to say. He was still mad, but he left and I took a deep breath before I went in. Craig had this look on his face like I had some explaining to do, but I didn’t want to say anything to him. I didn’t want to explain it. But I wasn’t going to have a choice.
“Who was that? He looks familiar.”
“It’s an old friend of mine from high school.” I didn’t tell Craig what his last name was, in fear that he would have heard of him. It was a bit more than I was willing to do right now.
“Yeah, but he looks so familiar. Does he live around here?”
While Craig was trying to place him, I had a feeling that he had seen a magazine cover with him recently on it.
“No, he doesn’t live on this side of the city.” I wanted to leave it like that, but Craig started pressuring me and I finally just came out with his full name. Then the connection was made and he was looking at me in a way that I didn’t want him to. I didn’t want him to look at me like that. Craig was a friend and now he was wondering out loud why I never told him about Dennis.
“Me and Dennis were together years ago, long before he took over his father’s business and became so rich. When we were in school, he had an after school job because his dad made sure that he had work ethic, which Dennis has in spades now.”
Craig nodded his head, but he was still stumped and I was stumped as well. I didn’t know what else to say, but I noted the way his eyebrow went up when I said something about us dating. I had wanted to keep it just about us being friends.