Authors: Jessica Gadziala
“Well
well well, the hussy returns,” Jake greeted me, still
completely awake, on the couch.
“I
fell asleep.”
“That
lie doesn't even work when you're a teenager. Try a new one.”
“No,
seriously,” I said, dropping my phone and keys on the table.
He
eyed me for a long minute. “Yeah, alright. There's no way you
got laid.”
“Hey,”
I objected, not entirely sure why the hell I would be offended by
that.
“Speaking
of laid,” I said, looking around curiously.
“She's
taking a nap,” he shrugged.
“Then
on to round two?”
“Two?”
he asked, scrunching up his face. “What is this? Amateur hour?
Try round four.”
“Impressive,”
I said, making my way to my room, intent on finding sleep before all
the noise started up again.
“You
alright?”
“You
know,” I said, turning around in my doorway to face him, “this
new and improved
'maybe
I give a shit about other people'
Jake is really growing on me.”
I
closed the door on his laugh, turning into my closet and picking out
a pair of pink and black pajama pants and a tight pink t-shirt to go
with it. I crawled into bed, turning on my side, cuddling into my
pillow like a lover. And I thought of him.
There
was really no way I wasn't going to.
But
it wasn't just his body. His magnificent, perfect freaking body. It
wasn't just the way my name rushed out of his mouth when he came. It
wasn't just the way he affected me. It was
him.
As a whole. As a person. The little bits and pieces I had gotten to
get to know.
The
dirty, hungry little boy watching his mother suffer and self medicate
which, eventually, led him into psychology. To understand her. To
understand the life he had needed to live through because of her
mental illness. The boy who clung to other kids who were damaged and
forged bonds that lasted until the present.
Then
there was Chase. As a man. Strong, capable, eloquent, sexy as fuck,
and so incredibly sweet I was shocked I hadn't blubbered all over him
at some point. Chase with his solid job. His appreciation for good
food and better wine. Chase with his amazing suits. His occasional,
and lovely spark of humor. His gentleness. His intuition.
What
did he do in his free time? Restaurants, obviously. But other than
that. Did he read? Listen to music? Go to concerts or museums? What
were his interests and his passions?
For
all I did know, there was so much I didn't. So much I found myself
wanting to know.
How
long had it even been since I allowed myself to even want to get to
know a man? Months? A year? Longer? It always seemed pointless to
even let myself get to that point seeing as I always knew it was
doomed to fail.
Which
was why my interest in Chase made no sense. Because what we had going
on was temporary. It would be over as quickly as it started. He would
become the man who changed my life. And I would be just another
client in his records.
I
fell asleep feeling such a strange, deep sadness that I felt tears of
unknown origins slipping down my cheeks.
The
slamming woke me up. Which was nothing new. I woke up to slamming at
least four times a week. And that was on a slow week for Jake. I
pulled my pillow over my head, letting out a groan. I was finally
able to catch up on sleep and the fucker was messing with it.
Then
I sat up, staring at our shared wall. And, yes, there was slamming
coming from there. But that wasn't the only slamming. There was
another sound, coming from the other end of the apartment. I got
groggily out of bed, my heart beating a little too hard as I opened
my bedroom door. And, sure enough, it was the front door. Someone was
knocking. No, someone was
pounding
on the front door.
I
looked at Jake's door, considering going to get him, but that would
only lead to a pissed off confrontation, blaming me for cock blocking
him. Or, worse yet, if it was yet another of his pissed off one-night
stands coming by to scream at him, he would scream at me for not
dealing with it myself. It was a lose-lose.
I
inched my way to the door, going up on my tiptoes to look out the
peephole.
What
the actual hell?
I
landed hard on my feet, going for the locks with suddenly clumsy
fingers, then pulled the door quickly open. “Chase?”
“Jesus
Christ, woman,” he growled, running a hand through his hair.
“Chase,
what are you doing here?”
“You
scared the fuck out of me.”
Wait...
what?
“What?”
“I
woke up alone,” he said, looking at me like I had gone dumb. “I
woke up alone and there was no note or anything. And my front door
was somehow locked.”
“I
fiddled with it with one of my keys until it finally clicked,”
I supplied, unsure why he
was
so worked up. I mean... we weren't dating. I didn't see why I would
need to leave a note.
“I
called your phone... I don't know... twenty-five times.”
“Oh,”
I said, glancing where I had left it beside the door, the indicator
light flashing bright blue into the dim apartment. “I didn't
have it with me,” I said, shrugging. “Chase, why are you
here?”
“I
got up. You were gone. No note. You didn't answer your cell...”
“You
were... worried about me?”
“Hell
fucking yeah I was worried about you,” he said, shaking his
head. “What did I say about walking around at night? Not just
at night. It must have been like... two in the morning. That was
taking an unnecessary risk. You should have woken me up so I could
walk you.”
“Chase,
I've been walking myself around this city alone, even at night, for
years.”
“Taking
stupid chances,” he said. “Looking like you do, you
should have someone on you all the time.”
“It's...
sweet of you to worry about me and I'm sorry I didn't leave a note or
answer my phone. I just didn't want to wake you.”
“I
can always get more sleep. I can't get another you.”
“What?”
I asked, my heart starting to pound in my ears.
“Nothing,”
he said, shaking his head and looking away, making me think I must
have misheard him.
“What
the hell is going on?” Jake's voice called, coming out of his
room. “Ava who is at the door at this... oh,” he said,
stopping short. “Dr. Hudson,” he said, inclining his head
at Chase. Apparently, Jake was still feeling very much like a
chastened boy around him.
“Get
back in here and finish fucking m...” a pretty black-haired
girl with a diamond pendant necklace, and nothing else on, said as
she came out of Jake's room.
I
felt my eyes go wide, my face snapping toward Chase who took in the
random naked girl (who was completely unashamed of her nudity as she
just kept standing there) with a vague sort of disinterest.
“Oh,
well...
hello
,”
the girl practically purred at Chase.
“Hi,”
he barked, looking back at me with a furrowed brow. Silently
screaming at me.
Do
something.
“Um,
Jake,” I said, shaking my head and looking over at him.
“Yeah?”
he asked, looking completely comfortable with the whole situation.
“I'm
pretty sure we agreed to a
no
naked in the main area of the house
rule,” I said, nodding my head toward his bed buddy.
“Yeah,
sure,” he said, looking between me and Chase. “Get back
in that room and get yourself started,” he instructed her and I
felt a blush creep up on my face, ducking my head to look down at my
feet. “You sure you guys are alright out here?” Jake
asked.
“Yeah,
Jake, fine,” I mumbled, head still bowed.
“Alright,”
he said, moving next to me and whispering in my ear, “Damn
girrrl.”
The
silence hung until Jake's door slammed and we could hear moaning and
slamming again. “This is an interesting place you live in,”
Chase said, sounding amused. “Ava,” he said when I didn't
look up. Then his hand went under my chin, pulling up until I looked
at him. “What's going on in that little head of yours?”
he wondered aloud. “You're blushing.”
“I
think it's polite to
not
say that to someone
who is, in fact, blushing.”
“Are
you blushing because of that comment your roommate made?”
“What
comment?” I asked.
“The
one where he told her to get started without him, ah,” he said,
smiling a little as my face got hotter, “I thought so.”
His finger stroked over the apples of my cheeks, rubbing at the
redness. “Are you embarrassed that I saw you touch yourself
tonight?”
“Shh,”
I said, wide-eyed, jerking my head away to check and make sure Jake's
door was still closed.
Chase
chuckled. “They sound like they're going to break through the
wall, they can't hear us.”
I
turned back to Chase, his eyes looked smaller, his brows lowered,
like he was considering something. Feeling uncomfortable, I cleared
my throat. “But, yeah, sorry again for making you worry...”
“It's
alright,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “I'm gonna
go,” he said, looking antsy. “Keep your phone by you.
It's a safety thing. And lock your door.” He paused, “What?”
he asked, watching my smile.
“You're
bossy.”
He
half-laughed, half-snorted. “Phone and lock, okay?”
“Okay.”
I agreed.
“Tomorrow
night,” he said, moving away from the door. “Seven.”
Then
he was gone.
I
watched his retreating form until it disappeared, shaking my head and
closing the door. I slid all the locks into place, grabbed my phone,
and went back to bed.
Well,
that was weird.
Like...
really weird.
I
got it that he worried. It was a little careless of me to not leave a
note. But still. I mean.. I was just a client. He'd actually freaked
out enough to go through my record, get my address, and come over
because I didn't answer my phone in the middle of the night?
Then
there was how... odd he was acting at my door.
The
man was an enigma.
I
had just started to doze off when my phone started screeching, loud
and insistent, from my nightstand. I picked it up, flipping it over,
and seeing Chase's name pop up on my screen. I hit the green button
and brought it up to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Take
your clothes off.”
I
shot up in bed, wide eyed, fully awake. “What?”
“Take
your clothes off, baby.”
“Why?”
A
low, chuckling sound. “How about you don't fight me on
everything?”
“Why
could you possibly want me to...”
“We
are going to masturbate together again.”
“Oh,”
the air rushed out of me. Over the phone? Why over the phone? That
was, in a way, so much worse than with him next to me. At least near
him, I felt the comfort that always overtook me around him. There
would be none of that. And, oh god, what if Jake and his guest heard
me? That would be humiliating.
“I
can hear those gears turning. Just take off your clothes and lay back
down, okay?”
“Is
this part of the... program?” I found myself asking.
There
was a short pause. “Yeah, baby.”
But
I didn't quite believe him.
Still,
I was slipping out of my clothes, flashing the light of my phone
toward the door to make sure I had locked it, then laying back
against my pillows.