by Layla Wilde
Darla laughed. “My God, Steph. I can’t believe you did it. You actually did it! I honestly had no idea you had it in you. I mean, my friends and I assumed you’d had enough and gone home. But then we heard that Damian had taken a blonde in a robin’s egg blue shirt home. I’m not kidding, I just about fainted right there on the spot. Didn’t I tell you you’d look hot in that shirt?”
“Yeah.” I swallowed hard as my stomach lurched again. “I really did it.” My nerves hovered around the edges of my consciousness again, but I did my best to ignore them. “I really do need to go, Darla. I’ll tell you everything when I get home, okay? Promise.”
“You better!”
“I will, I will!” I hung up, laughing despite the situation I’d put myself in. I was relieved that Darla wasn’t furious with me and slumped against the nearest wall.
As my stomach surged again, I realized that I probably needed some food. At the very least, I needed water. Maybe some kind of carbonated drink would settle my very unhappy gut. As I slid fingers through my hair, I looked one more time for my underwear before leaving the room. Not seeing Damian in the area we’d been last night, I opted to head downstairs. Maybe he was already gone. I hoped so. Part of me was relieved that he wasn’t around. All I wanted to do was go home, curl up on the couch, and watch movies. Hiding away from the world at this point seemed like a great idea. A sane idea.
I smelled pancakes and fruit salad when I closed in on the kitchen below. My heart did a few flip-flops, and I paused in the hall. What if he was in there? In order to get to the front door, I had to go through the kitchen, so if he was in there, he was probably going to see me.
I tried to smile as I walked into the kitchen, my heart pounding while my stomach twisted. When I saw him, the breath caught in my throat. He was still just as gorgeous as he had been last night, and still—to me—just as scary.
“Morning.” I spoke softly, shyly. I had no idea what to expect.
Damian offered me a brief glance and gestured to the stove. “Pancakes are in the oven. I need to go.”
I stood in shocked silence as he grabbed a coat off his chair before sweeping past me without so much as a kiss or a touch. He didn’t even look at me, and I felt a sense of confusion and dread.
When I heard the door slam, I flinched, looking slowly in the direction of the front door. I couldn’t process Damian’s attitude. He had been so dismissive, as though we didn’t even know each other. As though he didn’t even like me. That age-old anxiety made my heart flutter, and my chest tightened. Breathing deeply, I fought to keep the tears at bay, but they dribbled slowly down my cheeks, causing my eyes to sting.
I walked over to the oven. My stomach was in knots, and even though I had been hungry earlier, I wasn’t now. I just stood in his kitchen for the longest time and stared at the oven door. Sniffling, I felt more tears slide down my cheeks, and my face burned with humiliation.
I must have been awful in bed, I thought. Damian was a man who’d probably had hundreds of women. I’d only had sex a number of times, and it had never been good.
As my hands trembled, I called Darla. It was a struggle to keep my breathing under control.
“Hello?”
When I heard my best friend’s voice, I knew I wouldn’t be able to swallow the emotion in my tone. “Hey. Do you think you could come get me?”
“Steph?” She sounded worried. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I paused for almost ten seconds before I swallowed the lump in my throat. “No. Just come get me. Please? I’m at Damian’s house. I’ll be waiting at the front door.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there. Hang tight, hon.”
“Thank you,” I managed to choke out.
My stomach hurting, aching, and uncomfortable, I walked to the front door, opened it, and waited on the doorstep. It would be at least fifteen minutes before Darla arrived. While I waited, I tried to understand why Damian had been so indifferent and cold this morning. Maybe it hadn’t really been me. What if he had just been in some kind of hurry? Maybe something had happened at work, and he hadn’t had time to have breakfast with me.
I swallowed hard and felt the tears sliding down my face even faster. There was no sense in trying to figure out what had happened. In all likelihood, I was never going to see him again anyway. Drawing in a deep breath, I sat down at the top of the steps and tried to reason with myself that crying wasn’t going to help anything. As soon as I told myself I was fine, my breath hitched in a sob.
I just couldn’t believe it. The one time I thought I was in for a really good time had been ruined for reasons I didn’t understand. When I felt myself starting to crumble, I just let it happen and leaned my shoulder against the railing. My arms folded across my chest, hugging my body, and I closed my eyes, the tears cascading out of control down my face. They dripped off my chin and onto my legs, and the sight of them made me cry harder. I was being so stupid right now. Who sobbed uncontrollably after a one-night stand?
“Stephanie? Steph?”
When I heard Darla’s voice, I looked up in surprise. It felt as though no time had passed. After I rose from the stairs, I rushed to her and hugged her without saying a single word. Her arms closed around me in return, and I cried harder, burying my face in her shoulder.
“What happened? Where is he? What did he do?”
“He…” I swallowed as much emotion as I could, my body trembling. “We had such a great time last night, but this morning, he barely talked to me. And then he left.”
“He just left? Seriously? No good morning, no breakfast, he just left?”
“Yeah.” I tried to control my sobbing, hiccuping a little. I felt so foolish. “Why would he do that? What did I do wrong?” The tears started again.
“Nothing.” Darla’s voice was clipped and angry as she took me by the elbow and guided me to her car. “You did nothing wrong. Come on, let’s get you home. Then you can tell me everything.”
Nodding, I felt numb as I slipped into her car. I looked at Damian’s mansion, and I couldn’t help but feel a pang. I wished—really wished— that things had been different.
*** THE END ***
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