by Cole, Fiona
Kent: Thursday night at 7pm. Room 1469.
Kent: Follow direction.
16 Olivia
My phone vibrated on the table, halting Oaklyn’s pen across the paper. My heart thumped hard like it had any time Kent’s name displayed on my screen in the last month. It’d been two weeks since he’d punished me for the whole Aaron debacle. He punished me so well, I almost wanted to try and make him mad again.
“Are you going?” she asked.
She knew I would. She just liked making me admit it. She liked making me face that I jumped whenever he called. I tried to be aloof, but her condescending smile called me out. Oaklyn spent the last couple weeks looking like she was a second away from patting me on the head and telling me my denial was cute.
“You know I am.”
“And why is that?” she asked, playing dumb.
“Probably something to do with the five orgasms a night he gives me.”
“Uh-huh. And nothing to do with the way you giggle when he calls or how happy you look the next day.”
“Of course I’m happy. Hello? Good sex.”
“I know a good sex smile, and then, I know a I’m falling for you smile. You definitely have the latter.”
“I do not. How can I fall for him if I barely know him?”
“That’s a good point.” She shrugged and went back to taking notes.
I opened Kent’s message and responded, letting him know I’d be there soon.
“Oh, hey, before you go, what was the name of that wine you were talking about the other week.”
“It’s a Tempranillo. It’s Kent’s favorite. He said it paired perfectly with steak. I swear he could eat steak every night. That and fettuccini alfredo.”
“That’s right. It was the same night you wore that sexy red lingerie we bought last year.”
“Blue.”
“Blue? I thought it was red?”
“It was, but I ordered another set because blue is Kent’s favorite color, and I wanted to surprise him.”
“Hmm,” Oaklyn leaned back, giving me a narrow-eyed stare, nodding slowly.
“What?”
“So, you don’t know him, but you know his favorite foods and drinks, and favorite color. And all of that was barely prompted. I could only imagine what else you have tucked away.”
“I also know what he tastes like. How he sounds when he comes and his favorite position. On top, because he likes that he can see every part of my body.”
“TMI, Olivia.”
“But that doesn’t mean, I’m falling for him. So what, that I know some of his favorite things. It’s all superficial. It’s not like I know about his family, or his traditions, or his past.”
“But you want to.”
“I—” I stuttered and had to swallow before I could get the denial out. “I do not.”
“Okay.”
Glaring, I shoved my books in my bag and didn’t justify her condescending okay with a response.
“Just admit it,” Oaklyn pushed.
“There’s nothing to admit.”
“Olivia—”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I needed to get out of that room. Oaklyn put me under a microscope, and I didn’t want to look that closely at myself. Superficial was safe. And she was wrong. I didn’t want to know if he was a mama’s boy. Or if he had any nieces and nephews. I didn’t want to know what he did for the holidays, so I could imagine me by his side.
I didn’t want any of that.
Repeating the words over and over again on the cab ride over, I tried to reclaim the excitement I had when I first saw his name flash on my screen, but Oaklyn’s words were like an annoying buzz, I couldn’t ignore no matter how hard I tried. By the time I made it to the hotel, I had it mostly under control.
At least, I thought I did until I stepped inside to find Kent’s hands clasped on a beautiful gazelle of a woman’s shoulders, smiling down at her with familiar affection. I almost choked in shock when she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, and he. Freaking. Let. Her.
I schooled my features into a blank mask, prepared to give nothing away if he looked over.
My expression may have been placid, but inside was chaos and turmoil.
I don’t care.
I don’t care if he’s with someone else.
All I care about is what he does to me in that room.
It’s sex. Just like with Aaron.
I don’t care.
But those thoughts were in a losing battle of wanting to know everything. It was like watching him with that woman shined a light on the box I shoved all my feelings in. I always knew it was there, but I put every ounce of fear of being hurt on top of it and denied, denied, denied. But each knowing smile from Oaklyn over the past week chipped away at the lock I kept it all under, and things were spilling out.
Questions I never thought I’d want to ask were bubbling to the surface.
I wanted to demand who the hell that was. I wanted to demand that he never touch another woman besides me. I wanted to demand he was mine always—that I was his. I wanted to demand it all.
Oaklyn’s words wreaked more havoc than ever as I tried to portray calm and cool. I walked right past Kent, not acknowledging him on my way to the elevator. I couldn’t face him right then. I needed a moment’s reprieve to collect my thoughts before he came up.
A hand snuck through the closing doors that slid open to reveal a smiling Kent. I didn’t return the smile.
“Hello, Olivia.” His voice was like smooth honey sliding over my skin, but I refused to reciprocate. I couldn’t—my mind wouldn’t allow it.
“Mr. Kent.”
I watched him reach for me out of the corner of my eye, but I jerked back before he could make contact.
“Who was that?”
He retracted and stuffed his hand in his pockets, facing the door. “A lawyer.”
“You’re awfully affectionate with your lawyer.”
“Olivia.” He sighed like he was tired of dealing with a whiney child.
I wasn’t being some petulant baby. This man had me every way he could, and I let him. I had every right to my questions. “Are we exclusive, or are you fucking other women?” I asked. My words snapped in the small space, along with any composure I pretended to have. And out came all the questions and desire to know him more from the box I’d refused to look at. “Hell, where do you even live? Do you have a family? Siblings?”
“I stay with my parents or here when I’m in the city.” For every bit of shrill, my voice was, his was equally calm, only spiking my irritation.
I threw my hands out and slapped my thighs when they fell. “See, I didn’t even know you had parents.”
“Everyone does.”
“But are you close? Do you hate them? I know nothing about your past, who you’re screwing. If you’re screwing others—nothing. For all I know, that could have been your wife. I don’t even know if you’ve ever been married.”
“I have been,” he said, calm like a placid lake. Like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb in the tiny elevator.
“What?!” I screeched as the elevator doors slid open.
He finally looked to me with a clenched jaw before grabbing my arm and dragging me to the room.
“When did you divorce? Do you still love her? Does she know about me? Are you still fucking her?” I pelted his back with questions.
When the door to the room opened, he jerked me inside and ground out, “I’m not fucking anyone but you.”
“Ugh.” I turned my back on him, storming further into the room. I almost laughed at the manic flood of need washing over me. Each wave hit me in the face, washing away any lie I had of wanting Kent to be just a fuck-toy like any other guy I’d known in college. Each wave grew bigger than the last, not letting me hold on to a single ounce of denial. I was raw and vulnerable, and it terrified me. “The thought of you with anyone makes me want to vomit.”
Apparently, privacy was all he’d been waiting for
because the calm, cool man who’d stood in the elevator exploded. “And you think the thought of you sucking that pencil-dick’s cock fills me with fucking joy? Huh?” I turned, unprepared for the torrent of shouts, flushed face, and clenched fists. “I’m not fucking anyone, Olivia, because I can’t stomach the idea of being with anyone else. I can’t stomach you being with someone else. So, whether it’s been talked about or not, I’m exclusive to you.”
His rant stole all the wind from my sails. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Fucking, oh.”
I swallowed, trying to find what to say next. He’d calmed the storm, but I still stood there with no armor for whatever came next. Clasping my hands, I tried to calm the tremble spreading through my body. What did I do now? Had I ever been in a position like this? All at once, I felt very immature and without knowledge. I’d never had anything like this with Aaron, and he’s the last guy I’d opened myself up to. What was I supposed to say?
“I’m not messing around with him,” I said, settling on the most honest thing I could admit in that moment.
“Good.”
“I just…” The words bubbled inside me, and I didn’t know how to express them—the real reason behind my outburst. I think I surprised us both when I opened my mouth, and a truth I wasn’t sure I was ready to share came out. “Ugh! I just care about you, and I don’t care if that makes me sound immature and naive. I just hate that I know nothing about you.”
Oaklyn would be gloating right about now, letting me know she told me so.
He took a deep breath and kept his eyes on me, the dark chocolate depths holding a gold mine of answers I wanted to scavenge through. “What do you want to know?” he finally asked softly.
Everything.
I settled on, “You were married?”
His hand dove through his hair, and he expelled a small laugh. “For a little while. Less than a year. We were young and didn’t realize our differences until it was too late. We married our senior year, and she thought I would be more serious after graduation. She assumed a lot. She pushed me to be someone I wasn’t.” He looked away, and by the muscle ticking in his jaw, I assumed it wasn’t an easy break. “She almost came between Daniel and me, and I promised to never let anyone control me like that again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. There wasn’t enough laughter anyway. I was too young to be so serious at twenty-two.”
I scoffed a laugh. “You’re not serious now at thirty-eight.”
The tension finally eased, only to be replaced with sexual tension when he slowly cocked his brow and tipped his lips. That look had me squeezing my legs. It made promises my body remembered all too well.
“I beg to differ,” he said, stalking toward me. “Just because I enjoy the lighter side of life doesn’t mean I’m not very serious when it comes to burying my cock in your ass.”
He was less than a foot away, and I was ready to let it all go and play. I didn’t get many nights with Kent, and I didn’t want to spend it arguing. I hadn’t sent him running with my confession of caring and freaking out. And somehow, I hadn’t sent myself running either. I was ready to let go of the anxiety flooding my veins and have it replaced with something only Kent could give me. I could dig through the now open box tomorrow.
I gripped the sides of my skirt and fisted my hands, tugging the material up higher and higher. “Show me.”
His smirk became a full smile. “Gladly.”
17 Kent
“So, tell me about your family,” Olivia asked without looking up from her phone.
I’d just stepped out of the bathroom after my shower and stopped dead in my tracks.
She sat with her knees bent and feet off to the side in a pile of fluffy, white down comforter in a white, silk and lace concoction that made up her bra and underwear.
And a large hotel towel wrapped around her head.
It was the epitome of Olivia. Sexy while being unapologetically her. No pretending to be something she wasn’t to lure a man in. She laid it all out there, and I loved it.
“Well?”
Pulling my gaze up from her breasts, I found her still holding her phone, but all her attention was on me.
“What was the question?”
Rolling her eyes and groaning, she dropped her phone and moved to the edge of the bed, holding her arms out for me to come closer. I happily obliged, already growing hard when she spread her legs on either side of mine and rested her hands above the towel hanging on my hips. Her thumbs stroked methodically along the ridge of my muscles, looking up at me with innocent eyes, and all I could think was how much I wanted to ruin her in the best way.
“Your family,” she said, bringing me out of my fantasy. “Tell me about them. We established you have them, but not much beyond that.”
Yeah. Once we began fucking, we hadn’t stopped. At least, not to talk. We’d eaten, rested, and woke up to do it all again.
Last night she’d stormed in, a ball of anger and demands. Demands she had a right to know. Demands I wanted to give into. I wanted to share my life with her, and that wasn’t a feeling I’d ever had before.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
“I can do that. But first, let’s replenish while we talk. I’m not done with you.”
I stepped out of her grip and tugged her out into the living room. Junk food, chips, drinks, and board games littered the room from our earlier activities. She’d talked me into a game of Clue and pouted when I kicked her ass, only to turn around and beat me in Ticket to Ride. I’d spanked her as punishment.
I took in her barely covered body when I noticed the bags of food on the table, I’d ordered before my shower. “Did you answer the door like that?”
“Pshh, he wishes. I put on a robe.”
“The silk one?”
She shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Jesus, Olivia. Let me answer the door from now on.”
Her teeth dug into her bottom lip, no doubt holding back her laugh as she stalked toward me. Resting her hands on my waist again, she pushed to her toes and nipped at my chin. “I like you jealous. It turns me on.”
Before her hand could undo the knot of my towel, I stepped out of her reach. “Jesus, woman. Give a man some reprieve to recover.”
She rolled her eyes and distributed the food.
Perched on a chair, her mouth full of cheeseburger, she went back to her demands. “Talk.”
“So, I have a brother, Jacob. He’s five years younger and married with a baby.”
“What’s his wife’s name?”
“Lily and their daughter’s name is Ava. My parents were high school sweethearts and have been married for forty years. My dad is the CEO of a PR company he started in his basement as a teen. Or that’s how he likes to tell it. It was more of an idea in the basement and didn’t take off until after college.”
“I can see where you get your confidence from,” she laughed.
“You could say it runs in the family. Now, my mom. She’s the CFO—a fucking genius with numbers.”
“It sounds like you have a good relationship with them.”
“The best.”
“And how is your relationship with your brother?”
“Well, Dr. Phil—”
“Shut up,” she said, throwing a fry at me. “Just moving the conversation along.”
Laughing, I ate the fry and threw a tater tot back, which she somehow caught in her mouth. Shaking my head, I continued. “Our relationship is okay. Nothing profound, but nothing bad either. I’m closer to Daniel, but I make a point to see Jacob as much as I can. Especially since they had Ava.”
“How old is she?”
“Almost one.” Snagging my phone from the table, I brought up a picture of Ava smiling to the camera.
“Oh, my gosh. She’s adorable.”
“And she knows it.”
“She must take after her uncle, or is your brother as arrogant as you?”
“I’m not arrogant. I’m confident.”
She rolled her eyes but laughed. She loved my confidence, and I loved knowing it.
“How often do you get to see them?”
“Mom is pretty big on doing dinners at least once a month but tries to rope us all in for more if she can.”
“It sounds very normal.”
“Ninety-nine-point-nine percent. It was nice.” My family was a lot like hers in a way, but I didn’t need to ask many questions about her life because I knew almost all of it anyway.
“Did they like your wife?”
A bark of laughter broke free. “No, not really. They knew she wasn’t right for me but never said anything until after the divorce. They’re big on letting us make our own mistakes.”
“You mentioned that she almost came between you and Daniel…”
“Yeah,” he breathed. “Honestly, I look back, and I’m not even sure how our relationship got started when I remember all the differences between us. Maybe because partying was the priority in all our lives in college. I asked her to marry me, and we did it the next week. Three months later, we graduated, and she went to law school. While I stayed the same, she became more and more reserved.”
I looked up, my mouth twisted to the side.
“What?”
“Are you sure you want to hear all this? Some of it includes Daniel.”
“You mean Daniel isn’t a virgin?” Olivia mock gasped.
“Hardly,” I laughed.
“Yes, I want to know. I asked, didn’t I?”
“Okay…Well, Daniel and I shared women in college, and on more than one drunken night, we shared Ivette. That was before we got married. On a desperate attempt to pull her out of her reserve, I set up a night with Daniel.” I dragged a hand down my face and huffed a laugh. “It didn’t go well. At the time, Daniel and I were in the beginning stages of Voyeur—just ideas. She said it was polluting my mind—that he was polluting my mind.
“After that night, she refused to have Daniel over. When we were around her law school friends, she’d ask me to lie about Voyeur—about what I was doing. She was embarrassed. It was only the beginning of the lies she asked me to tell, wanting me to hide parts of myself like she was ashamed of me.”