8
Athena
Wow.
All it took was the next day, and once more we’re naked. This time, in Malcolm’s bed.
I know I should be saying something smart right now, but let me just repeat that: wow.
All I can say is that we haven’t had sex.
Because I just stopped us.
This time it was Malcolm. Texting me around 10:30. Asking if I was still up. I’ve been around the block long enough to know a booty call when I see it.
So I responded. The truth was, seeing his message got me wet.
So I came over. And we messed around again. Limo part two. I never knew that messing around could be this intense, this good … and the thing is, Malcolm genuinely cared about pleasuring me. He wasn’t using me just so he could get off; he cared about what I was feeling, and that…
Well, that’s something I’m not accustomed to.
Which makes what I’m about to do that much harder.
“Where are you going?” Malcolm asks me as I swing my legs off the bed, sitting up and wrapping the sheet around my naked body. “We haven’t even fucked.”
“Home,” I whisper, looking back at him over my shoulder. He sits up on the bed and reaches for me, resting one hand on my waist.
“Stay here tonight,” he tells me, and there isn’t a smile or a grin on his face; his expression is one of certainty and serenity. He means it; he really wants me to stay here with him tonight.
“Very romantic of you, but I have to get up early in the morning,” I tell him off-handedly, even though what I want to say is the exact opposite. In fact, all I want to do right now is get under the covers with him. Seriously, what’s happening with me? We just fooled around, it’s not like something important happened between the two of us. We didn’t even fuck. And still … I feel a tightness inside of my heart, an urge to slip under the covers and hold tight to his naked body.
But I can’t do that, not when the future of my company is at stake. I have to be strong and focus on the end goal. I have to make Malcolm fall in love with me, whatever it takes. And if I have to be a cold tease in order to make that happen, that’s exactly how I’m going to behave.
“You’re choosing your job over me?” he asks me, cocking one eyebrow and trying to act as if it doesn’t matter whether I go or stay, although in truth, I can see a few wrinkles of disappointment showing around his eyes and lips.
Lucky for me, I know how to conceal my own disappointment.
“That’s right. As fun as this was, I have stuff to do,” I tell him as I pull my thong up and then squeeze myself inside my dress. Running one hand through my hair, I turn around to meet Malcolm’s gaze. “Goodbye, Malcolm,” I say and, without waiting for his reply, I leave the bedroom.
Each step I take through his apartment feels like a knife plunging deep into my chest, but there’s no way around it. I have to do this. As much as I enjoyed my time with him, I can’t forget what happens when you fall in love … you get used, abused, and hurt. And, after all, I’m not here to fall in love; I’m here to make him fall in love.
I reach for the door’s handle and stop for a couple of seconds before turning it. Deep down, I’m waiting to hear his footsteps as he follows after me and stops me from leaving, pinning me against the door and kissing me again… But I don’t hear his footsteps, and he doesn’t follow after me, and so I turn the handle and leave his apartment.
The moment I step inside the elevator and the doors close in on me, I lean back against the wall behind me and let out a deep sigh. Running one hand through my hair, I look at my reflection in the mirror and smile.
My hair is disheveled, and my makeup is slightly smeared, and still … I look so much better than what I did before. I look like someone just fucked my brains out (which, well, ugh. I know. I wanted to. But I need to hold out. But if non-sex orgasms with this guy are like that, then what is sex gonna be like, ya know? Maybe I should stop talking in the parenthesis).
But more than the amazing sex, I actually enjoyed the time I spent with Malcolm. He’s not the asshole I thought he was and, even though I once thought that Ben was a nice guy as well, I can’t help but trust my gut on this one.
Speaking of Ben … I hear my cellphone ringing from inside my purse, and something tells me that it’s my lovely ex-boyfriend. I fish it out and, to no surprise, I see Ben’s phone number plastered on my screen. Even though I don’t have his number stored on my phone, I still remember it.
“What do you want?” I ask him right away, and I even surprise myself as I notice all the aggressiveness in my voice.
“Oh, I like it when you’re angry, babe,” Ben chuckles from the other side of the line, and I feel my stomach lurching with disgust.
“Drop it. What the hell do you want, Ben? Because if you just called to annoy me, I --”
“I didn’t call to annoy you, Athena. I called to remind you of our little conversation… You’re on the clock, babe, don’t forget about that,” he tells me, and my fingers curl so tightly around the phone that I wouldn’t be surprised if I just crushed the damn thing.