by Stella Rhys
“Who says I’m lying?” I quipped, but the very dry look I earned made it clear that there was no point in trying to keep up the act. “Alright, fine, I’m lying, but for the record, I don’t need to defend Caspar’s bedroom abilities to you and also, no woman actually wants a dick that big inside her.”
Adam lifted his eyebrows. “No?” he laughed. “And why not?”
I blinked. Because it would hurt? And if it was that big, you wouldn’t be able do it that hard?
But also you’ve never been with a nine-inch dick, so you don’t know that for sure, I considered, feeling a tiny rush of heat in my cheeks as I entertained a brief but very X-rated fantasy of what it would feel like to have a dick that big inside me.
“For the record, I’ve never had any complaints,” Adam said.
And coincidentally, my thighs clenched.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, AJ, I scolded myself.
But it was too late. I wasn’t even looking at Adam, but the smirk was audible in his suddenly wicked voice and out of nowhere, the heat in my cheeks flooded down to my neck. Bitch, are you flustered? I asked myself, so stunned that I forced myself to act quickly normal by tossing my hair back and giving a “pshh” as I picked up my wine.
“Yeah, if Caspar doesn’t have a nine-inch dick, Adam, neither do you,” I scoffed, though my eyebrows pinched together as soon as the words left my lips, and I stared unblinkingly forward as I drank my wine in frowning silence, taking a couple seconds to realize my grave mistake—which was that one, I had no reason to say what I just said so confidently, because two, Adam was probably that big, given what I’d seen of him under his basketball shorts at the gym and three, it was weird as fuck of me to act like he and Caspar were anywhere on the same level.
They weren’t anything close to the same kind of man.
Which was totally fine.
I’d always loved and appreciated Caspar for who he was, even if he got occasionally sensitive about the kind of guys I was constantly surrounded by at work—in his words, “Meathead jocks who only talk about money and sports and probably have dick-measuring contests.” Hell, if there was any one thing I found unappealing about Caspar, it was his insecurity over Adam, because it was always pointless and silly and totally unfounded.
Until now, apparently, because you’re fucking blushing your face off and wondering what a nine-inch dick feels like, and Adam can a thousand percent tell, so get your shit together, I scolded myself.
But it was most definitely too late, because from the corner of my eye, I could see Adam having the time of his life, his head tilted just so as he watched me suffer quietly through my inner turmoil.
But then with a crooked grin on his lips, he faced forward like me and took a drink from his glass.
“I think we both know I have a couple things your fiancé doesn’t,” he said, making my cheeks light on fire all over again.
Because he absolutely did.
Dick aside, he had the clout. The success. The respect. Every networking connection in LA that an aspiring filmmaker would kill for. Yes, Adam did have literally everything that Caspar wanted, and yes, it was exactly why my fiancé was constantly texting me to come home whenever I had to work late.
Because he was jealous.
That much had always been abundantly clear to both Adam and me. It just went mercifully unspoken of over the past five years, because it’d be painfully awkward for me to have to acknowledge that my boss’s mere existence managed to threaten my relationship in any way.
Doing that would be a slippery slope down a road where I’d also have to acknowledge that my boss was very, very attractive and appealing as a man, and that was a fact that I had happily forgotten many years ago.
Though it was clearly rearing its unwanted head right now.
For the love of God, AJ, what the fuck? I demanded of myself, taking a deep breath and facing Adam only once I knew the heat had drained from my cheeks.
“Not that I’m ever shocked by what a dick you are, but is there a reason you’re being the particular worst about Caspar today?” I finally asked, mostly as a long-winded way of saying “you fucking suck.”
“Am I?” Adam frowned. And for a brief moment, considering the slight falter in his smile, I thought he was about to be serious. To have an actual answer for me. But then the corner of his mouth twisted into a crooked grin. “Apologies. My intention is to go this hard every day, but I’ll be sure to pick up the slack.”
I groaned. “I’m going to do actual damage to my corneas if I roll my eyes any harder, so I won’t. But please know that your joke just now sucked.”
“Noted. Shall we get on with this meeting?”
“Please.”
And for the next forty-five minutes, we did exactly that, reviewing all the notes we’d compiled for tomorrow’s meeting with Knox. It wasn’t difficult. We’d been obsessively preparing for this presentation all month, which was definitely a good thing now, because as incredibly important as this potential client was to me, I couldn’t quite focus on him right now.
My mind was fixed entirely on two things:
Getting over the weird exchange I’d just had with Adam.
And getting ready to pull off this big surprise for Caspar.
Thankfully, the excitement of the latter soon overtook the former, so pretty much the second we wrapped on the meeting, I popped up from my chair, chugged the last of my wine and beamed as Adam handed over his extra room key while giving me the customary look of annoyance.
“Just don’t take too long, alright?” he said as I tucked the card into my pocket. “I need to shower and get ready for dinner once you’re done.”
“No worries, I’ll be fast,” I said, tossing back the final gulp of my wine. “Who’s your date tonight, by the way?”
“No idea. I’m still deciding between Jess and Danielle.”
“What, are they on call for you or something?” I snorted. But as Adam took a drink from his glass and gave me a blank stare, I realized they very much were. “Oh, gross,” I crinkled my nose, because five years later, I was still in awe of the amount of shit the man got away with. But as I slung my purse over my shoulder and weighed between the almost identical, model-looking blondes, I put in my two cents. “I say go with Jess.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because Danielle’s from NorCal and she says ‘hella’ so often that you kept saying ‘hella’ after spending a night with her last time, and it was in an ironic way, but I haven’t forgiven you for it.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “Jess it is,” he concluded as he whipped out his phone. “Now get your ass moving so we can get on with our nights.”
“Trust me, I’m gone,” I grinned, heading out. “But hey, cheers to us both getting laid tonight,” I called over my shoulder.
Adam didn’t look up from his phone. “Cheers to just you,” he corrected. “Since it’s a much rarer occurrence for you.”
4
AJ
Studying makeup tutorials on YouTube all week hadn’t been easy. I had braved probably a dozen videos’ worth of nasally teens welcoming me to their channel and urging me to “smash that like button,” but in the end it was all worth it.
Because what a killer smoky eye.
“Damn, should I do this every day?” I muttered to myself seriously despite already knowing that the answer was no. I definitely didn’t have the time or the energy to do this every day, but it was still an extremely valid question because holy hell, did I feel sexy.
Like super confident, it’s-not-just-the-lighting, should-I-make-a-sex-tape kind of sexy.
I definitely wasn’t going to make a sex tape.
That said, I did take about a dozen selfies and then opt to put my lingerie on ASAP. I had originally planned to complete the look after getting into Caspar’s room, but now I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to see the full get-up.
So unzipping my garment bag, I lifted out the lacy black set, hanging it on the bathroom d
oor before stripping off my clothes with my bottom lip trapped between my teeth, because admittedly, it felt a little weird to be getting fully naked in my boss’s hotel room. For all the personal boundaries we crossed on a daily basis, this was definitely a first.
And it felt especially weird since he’d just revealed the size of his dick to me.
Though in fairness, you could’ve guessed it was that big. Also, he’s six-foot-four, so it’s just proportionate to his height, I thought before pausing half a second, wrinkling my nose and whisper yelling, “Stop thinking about this!”
Which I promptly did.
It helped that I got briefly confused as to how the hell garters even worked. I’d definitely never put them on before, but once I figured it all out and everything was all fastened and fixed, I couldn’t help but stare again in the mirror, asking myself—while fully knowing the answer—why I didn’t do this every day.
I felt like a full-on bombshell with the absurd amount of volume in my hair and my boobs so spectacularly pushed up in the balconette cups of my bra. And of course, there was the lacy black garter just absolutely killing it. It accentuated the pinch of my waist and the flare of my hips, and I was so in love with the way it looked that I truly couldn’t wait any longer for Caspar to see me.
So hastily, I threw all my clothes back on over my lingerie, grabbing my luggage and my phone and shooting Adam a text as I headed out the door to Caspar’s.
ME: All done! You can head up now
ADAM: That was actually pretty fast.
ME: Well it was really just makeup. The hair was all set
ADAM: Right. I meant to compliment the hair this morning.
ADAM: You clean up slightly better than expected
ME: And you snored the whole plane ride but I didn’t say anything
I snorted, rolling my luggage down the hall as I watched him start typing then stop.
It was a total lie what I’d said, but it made me smile to imagine Adam staring into the distance of that bar, wondering for the first time in his thirty-two years if he was in fact a snorer. Even he knew that the girls he slept with were too eager for a second date to ever tell him if he did.
Of course, he did not.
It would’ve been a useful imperfection in terms of keeping that ego in check, but alas, God said nah.
“Okay, three twenty-two… three-twenty-two…” I whispered to myself as I closed in on Caspar’s room number on the third floor.
My heart skipped a beat when I finally got to it and upon letting myself in, I smiled.
Straight ahead, on the table next to the window, I could see Caspar’s trusty MacBook accompanied by a single lowball and the bottle of his favorite Japanese whiskey that I’d had waiting in the room when he checked in yesterday.
It gave me a clear picture of his first night in the room—wearing just his sweats while sipping on a nightcap and editing next to a view of the glimmering water.
Biting my lip, I pictured the way my fiancé looked at me after a few glasses of whiskey. I pictured that glazed but mischievous look in his eyes as I stripped down again. And as I slipped on a little black robe, I relived the last time Caspar had fucked me like he meant it.
Almost a year ago, admittedly, but that didn’t stop my neck from getting all hot at the memory.
Of his hands in my hair. His panting hot breath on my skin.
I was so starved for passion that all it took were those thoughts to get me quickly hot and bothered.
God, just get here already, I willed my fiancé, pouring myself a bit of his whiskey as I gazed again in the mirror.
Taking a sip, I let the warmth trickle down my throat then spread in my chest, my eyes following the sensation and my lips curling into a smile, because God, I was so ready for this.
I looked and felt like walking sex and at this point, I was just so damned eager to be touched and appreciated and looked at by Caspar the way I used to be. I literally couldn’t wait.
And luckily, I didn’t have to much longer.
Because within another few minutes, I heard footsteps approaching the door. Quickly, I put my glass down and leaned myself against the table, biting my bottom lip with both excitement because I could hear Caspar on the other side of the door, fumbling adorably with the key card.
“Goddammit,” he chuckled to himself, which made a full grin burst onto my lips.
But then I heard a breathy voice follow.
“Cas, hurry… please…”
I froze.
A chill fell over my body as the blood promptly drained from my face, but before I could even think to move or cover up, the lock gave a click and the door flew wide open to present me with an undeniable image.
Caspar’s face attached to the mouth of some girl.
And that girl’s hand shoved down his already-unzipped pants.
My stomach lurched as I felt my eyes light on fire. They stung with tears of betrayal that soon became disgust as she noticed me first.
“Omigodwhatthefuck!” she screeched, ripping away from Caspar and gaping open-mouthed at me.
My wet eyes burned into her. She was a short blonde wearing a band tee and her blue and green-streaked hair in two buns at the side of her head.
Blood roaring in my ears, I stared at her then Caspar, whose eyes were the size of saucers as he gaped at me, visibly trying to think of his next move.
“AJ,” he breathed out in shock.
And as our entire relationship flashed before my eyes, I prayed to God he’d have something better to say than what I sensed was coming.
But he didn’t.
“AJ, it’s not what it looks like,” he blurted.
God.
“So her hand wasn’t wrapped around your dick just now?” I hissed, marching forward and pushing furiously past him as he tried to hold me back.
“Goddammit, AJ, just let me explain—”
I flung his arms off me. “Do it then,” I seethed. Panting hard, I stopped firmly in front of him and stared. “Do it. Right now in one sentence or don’t bother,” I demanded, pausing exactly one-and-a-half seconds.
But all he did was stare in defeat.
So with a curl of the lip, I took off.
“AJ—what the fuck!” Caspar yelled as I furiously chucked my ring behind me.
I had no idea where it went. Didn’t even hear it land. All I heard was my blood roaring louder as I felt Caspar catch my arm, jerking me so hard I burst into tears as I used all my might to shove him the hell off and run.
And before I knew what was happening, I was sprinting down the hall, hugging my robe shut with my cheeks wet and my vision blurry. I could hear Caspar bursting out of the room to come after me, and my pulse spiked as he yelled my name.
But the next thing I knew, I was alone in the elevator and shortly after that, I was pounding on a door.
Adam’s.
Desperately, I called his name, my voice cracking and my heart racing as I rapped my knuckles over and over against the door till I heard his muffled confusion on the other side.
“Jesus, what the hell—”
And when the door finally swung open, I caught the split second of his irritation before he blinked at me in surprise.
“AJ, what…?”
He took one look at me then hauled me into the room, his eyes intense and moving all over my tear-streaked face, searching me for two hard seconds before he glared out at the empty hall and shut the door.
And only once it was shut did I hear the sound of the shower running.
I blinked, suddenly dazed and disoriented.
By Caspar. This moment.
By Adam staring at me as we stood a foot apart in his hotel room, silent besides the sound of the soft pitter-patter coming from the bathroom. His white button-down was undone and as my wet eyes locked on the deep-cut line between his chest, I remembered that he was about to shower. That he had plans to get to.
Fuck.
Suddenly, I regretted this but at the same time I k
new I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I was barefoot and crying in a little robe that barely covered my ass, and if that weren’t shitty enough, I had a cheating asshole chasing me down.
So staring at Adam, I mustered up the words to explain myself.
“He was with someone,” I blurted, watching the confused look in Adam’s eyes immediately flicker into something hot. And angry. “He came in kissing some girl,” I went on breathlessly. “I told him to explain and he had nothing, but he wouldn’t let me go, so I ran and now—”
I cut off when Adam’s hot stare dropped to my arm. And when I spotted the flash of rage in his eyes, I looked down myself to see what was there.
Caspar’s angry handprint wrapped around my wrist.
“Adam—don’t!”
I jumped in front of him as he lunged for the door, gasping as I felt the sheer weight of his muscle crashing against my front.
Grabbing hold of what I could, I flew backward, and before I knew what was happening, my face was inches from Adam’s—my body sandwiched between him and the door, and my hands pressed flat against his bare chest.
Holy fuck.
My heart leapt in my throat as I looked up at him.
His jaw ticked as he looked down at me, his blue eyes burning into mine. I’d seen him mad before. When deals fell through. When a rival agency once stole away our client. But even then he didn’t look as completely riled up as he looked now.
And it wasn’t even about work.
It was about me.
There was still fresh chaos swirling in the air, yet this one fact managed to stun me—as did the fact that I was touching my boss’s warm, hard chest. That underneath my fingers, I could feel his heart slamming.
Holy fuck, holy fuck.
What is happening?
My stunned stare stayed fixed on my Adam even as his fell with a fluttering reluctance.
Down the front of my robe.
Shit. Only then did I realize how much it had fallen open in my struggle to keep him in the room.