Hotel O

“You’re an asshole,” she grumbles, pulling up her dress and zipping it.

My lip twitches. I hate it when she calls me that. All I’m trying to do is protect this hotel. She should understand its importance.

“I’m doing what I think is best,” I reply.

“For you, yeah,” she says, clearly pissed off. “But I’m not the one with a compromising picture of you saved on my phone. Are you trying to blackmail me?”

“No. It’s just for safekeeping. That’s it.”

She crosses her arms. “Right, so I’m supposed to trust you, but not vice versa? Got it.”

“Trust? You wanna talk about trust when you’re the one stalking my ass?” I growl back.

“You know what? Never mind. I don’t even know why I came here in the first place.” She turns around, marches toward the door, unlocks it, and throws it open.

I follow her as she walks out on me. She doesn’t know what she came here for? Bullshit. She knew from the get-go … Fucking. That’s it. None of this emotional bullshit. None.

“You came here to be fucked!” I yell at her as she bolts down the hallway.

But she doesn’t turn around. All she does is stick her middle finger in the air before disappearing from view. And for some reason, it pisses me off more than anything.

Only when she’s gone do I notice all the people staring at me, co-workers and guests. I quickly turn around, grunting, and slam the door shut behind me. Some fucking peace and quiet—that’s what I need. Fuck.

Fuck that fucking Kitty Kat messing with my head.

Messing with my … feelings.

Why do I even have them? Why am I so fucking angry?

I march to my desk to get back to work and forget about it all, but something stops me in my tracks. Something I see lying on the floor on the way there.

Her ripped apart panties.

A stark reminder of how badly I fucked up.

Chapter 20

Kat

Who does he think he is? Fucking asshole, prying into my private life, trying to find out where I work and who I am. He actually tried to track me down online—like an actual stalker—and then had the nerve to reprimand me for doing the exact same thing. How is that not hypocritical?

I make a “tsk” sound even though no one here in my tiny little house can hear it. But I don’t care. I need to vent and cool down, and right now, this glass of wine just isn’t doing enough for me.

So I call up my best buddy, Flynn.

“Flynn? Where are you?” I ask the moment he picks up.

“I’m at work, Kat,” he responds.

“Right now? It’s night,” I say.

“Yeah. I don’t work regular hours.”

I groan out loud. “Fuck. I really need you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh … a certain asshole did something pretty shitty today.”

“That same asshole?” he says with a sarcastic voice.

“Yep.”

“Kat …” He sighs. “You’re better than this.”

“I know, but I can’t quit him. It’s like coffee, you know? No matter how many times you tell yourself it’s gonna be your last cup and you’re gonna go cold turkey … it always fails.”

“Only you can put coffee and sex on the same scale.”

“What? They’re both just as addictive,” I say, snorting.

“Then try a different blend.”

“A what?” I frown, confused.

“A different man. C’mon, Kat. You’re not stuck with him. There are plenty more fish in the sea.”

“Oh, I know, but this fucker has my picture now. What if he spreads it all over the internet? It’d ruin me.”

“What?” His voice gets louder. “What picture?”

I don’t like admitting this, but I know I have to. “Um … dirty ones.”

“How dirty?” he asks.

I close my eyes while speaking. “Naked … ass crack … and my face.”

“Kat …” There he goes again. “Really?”

“What? I didn’t know he was going to do that!” I grab a pillow and shove it in my face, groaning into it so Flynn doesn’t hear. When I move it away, I say, “I know I fucked up.”

“Big time,” he adds. “And you can’t get him to delete them?”

“No, I don’t think so. He’s keeping them in case I talk about him.”

“That’s messed up, babe,” he replies.

“That’s what I told him, but he wouldn’t budge!”

“Tell me where he lives or works. I’ll bust him up for you.”

I laugh. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I’m serious all right,” he says. “No one messes with my Kat.”

“Aww …” I sit up again and take another sip from my wine. “That’s sweet of you. But don’t.”

“Why not? The bastard deserves it.”

“No, it wouldn’t be right. We’d be stooping to his level.”

“Fine,” he grumbles. “But not because I couldn’t because I definitely would. Fuckers like that always take advantage of beautiful girls.”

“Aww …” Now I’m blushing from the compliment. “Thanks, dude. I needed that.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you need a little pick-me-up, we can go out tomorrow. I have to work tonight, unfortunately.”