Kelly's Quest (NYC LOVE Book 2) (11 page)

Jewels clicks her tongue. “Really, I can’t understand why you wanted to stay here. This place is horrendous. You would’ve been better off with the rat-infested place in Chinatown.”

I poke her in the arm. “It’s okay to be jealous.”

“Who would’ve guessed a year ago these two Wisconsin chicks would be living in
New fucking York
? Doesn’t it blow your mind when you think about it?”

I turn my head to face her. “I’m sorry I dropped the news on you the way I did. I should’ve told you right away. It’s just after Adam’s surgery and everything, I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”

“Your problems are
not
a burden. You know you can always tell me anything, right?”

“Yeah, and I will. Eventually.” I offer her a weak smile. “Once I’m ready to come to term with things at my own speed.”

Jewels doesn’t stay much longer. By the time we say goodnight, I’ve convinced myself everything is going to work out the way it’s supposed to. She’s only gone a few minutes before Theo calls. I close my eyes, realizing I have yet to tell him I’m living with another guy.

“Hey, Cavenaugh.”

“Hey,” I answer, curling up on my bed. “How was your day?”

“Shitty. I didn’t get to see you.” His warm chuckles make my toes tingle. “You busy? Maybe I can stop over.”

“Actually, I’m just getting ready to clean my new apartment.”

“You found a place?
That
was fast. I thought the apartments you looked at today weren’t going to work out.”

“It’s not something we saw today.” Closing my eyes, I brace myself. “Adam’s brother offered me his spare room until I find something I can afford.”

He’s quiet for a beat, probably trying to decide how he feels about me living with another guy, especially if he’s heard Adam speak ill of his little brother. “Is it nearby?”

“It’s on the Upper West side, near Central Park.”

“Great neighborhood.” He’s quiet again. “Maybe I should’ve offered my guest room to you. I guess I figured you were trying to find a place on your own.”

“I was, but it turns out there’s nothing decent in my budget. And I probably would’ve turned you down anyway. Living together would’ve just complicated this thing between us, and I don’t want to screw it up. But I hope you’ll come hang out here soon. This place is pretty amazing.”

“So there’s no need for me to be jealous of this guy you’re living with?”

“Absolutely not,” I say too quickly. Lying to Theo feels all kinds of wrong, but I can’t have him worrying if we’re going to start dating. “The guy’s a major prick.”

“Good to know.”

We engage in small talk for a bit longer before I tell him I have to go. I don’t know how long I have before Erik returns.

“Sweet dreams, Cavenaugh,” Theo tells me, his voice soft. “I’ll see you soon.”

With my heart fluttering from our conversation, I quickly start cleaning. Up close the bathroom isn’t in the sparkling condition I first thought. The stone in the shower is cracked, and the toilet doesn’t sit squarely. At least Erik seems to hit the toilet and doesn’t leave a mess on the floor.

I finish in there before heading to his bedroom for the rest of the cleaning products. His closet is like a small room in itself, lined with multiple rows of hanging clothes, dozens of shoe racks, and a handful of cupboards. It’s every girl’s dream closet.

The way his clothes are arranged by season and color, Erik appears to be a total neat freak like Jewels suggested. If I weren’t so worried that he’d kick me out, I’d mess things up just to ruffle his feathers.

I start opening cupboards in search of what I’ll need. Some are filled with meticulously folded clothes, others random office supplies, picture albums, DVDs, just about everything. I didn’t see any closets in the rest of the loft, so this must be the only place for general storage. Curious to know Erik a little better, I run my finger across the DVDs and read the titles. A majority of them have the most outrageous titles. It takes me a moment to realize they’re
porn
.

“What a
perv
,” I say, rolling my eyes.

Moving on to the next cupboard, I gasp when I find furry handcuffs, whips, and an assortment of other sex toys. I take in each object with bewilderment, wondering how many times he’s used them and on how many different women. Some are still in their package, as if he’s waiting to use them on a random hook up.

Visions of Erik tying me up to his bed and doing things to me with the toys slam into me without the slightest warning. I picture his smooth, naked body perched over me, whip in hand as he—

Slamming the cupboard shut, I stumble away.

It’s going to take a tremendous amount of willpower to pretend I didn’t stumble across Erik’s fetishes.

SEVEN

I stir with the rich
aroma of bacon drifting through the air. I finished cleaning the loft after midnight, but Erik still wasn’t home. Obviously he did more than go to the gym, though I had to remind myself it really isn’t any of my business what he was doing. Considering our rather unique arrangement, I get the feeling it will be a whole new experience having Erik as my roommate rather than Jewels.

Crawling from the bed, I stretch my sore muscles. I’m unusually stiff from washing the massive wooden floors on my hands and knees. I quickly throw a bra underneath my tank top and run a brush through my hair before stumbling out to the kitchen.

Erik stands at the stove, shirtless. The toned muscles in his shoulders flex and turn with each movement he makes. I remember running my hands along the deep curve of his back, down to the smooth patch of skin just above his taut ass. I grumble under my breath when my hormones react to the pleasurable sight.

“Good morning,” he says without turning around.

“Morning.” I bite down on my lips when I realize I’m about to comment that he was out late.
Not my business
. I settle into one of the stools at the island. “Any recommendations on where to get groceries?”

He turns around with a plate of bacon and eggs in hand. “Two blocks south of here there’s a mom and pop store that should have everything you need.” He sets the plate in front of me, meeting my gaze for the first time.

I swallow down a sudden surge of excitement. “You don’t have to cook for me.”

“I know. So say thank you, and eat it.” He smirks before turning back to the stove.

“Thank you.” I take a bite of the eggs, cursing to myself. He’s even a pretty decent cook. “You have class today?” I brace myself, hoping the question doesn’t come off as too nosy. I’m simply trying to think of polite conversation. It still feels awkward considering he was inside of me less than 48 hours ago.

“Not until eleven.” He motions to the other end of the island with the spatula. “I set the want ads out so you could start looking for a job. You can take the subway virtually anywhere in the city, so apply for anything that sounds interesting.”

“Thanks.” I’m surprisingly touched that he’s being so helpful, even though he
is
acting a little cordial, all things considered.

“I was pleased with the way the apartment looked last night. Do that once each week, and you’ll earn your keep.” His steely blue eyes latch onto me. “Any problems finding what you needed?”

The tantalizing way he’s looking at me, its obvious he knows I came across his stash, and it pleases him. I almost choke on a mouthful of eggs, but catch myself before he can detect that his words jolted me. “Your closet’s huge, but it was easy enough.”

“If you ever find anything in there you want to borrow, all you have to do is ask.” He winks before shoveling a fork filled with eggs in his mouth.

Shit
. This is going to be much harder than I thought.

The day’s filled with calls
to potential employers, most of which have already filled the position or require a four year education. Frustrated, I visit the grocery store, then spend a few hours trying to make the plain bedroom feel more like
mine.
I eventually give in and flip the TV on, mindlessly scrolling through the channels and eating carrot sticks until I fall asleep.

I start with the sound of the front door slamming against the wall. High-pitched giggles pierce the air. I scoot up from the couch to see Erik embracing a rather curvy blonde sporting a strip of white fabric that doesn’t leave one to wonder what she would look like completely naked. Although she’s wearing a bit too much makeup, her blond hair is long and silky, spilling across her large breasts, and her skin’s a beautiful shade of olive. She’s gorgeous, and
way
too old for Erik.

They don’t seem to notice me watching from the couch as Erik lifts her by her impossibly small waist to perch on the edge of the island. Blondie wraps her legs around him, her bright red heels and matching manicured fingers moving around behind his back as they begin to make out. I can’t see her face behind Erik, but I can hear her heavy breaths and see her long, slender legs locking around him like he’s a fly caught in her web.

I become mesmerized by the way they rock together as they kiss—
dry humping
as my sister Megan would call it—their mouths every bit as insatiable as their wandering hands. About the time Blondie removes Erik’s shirt and begins to trace his smooth chest with her tongue, I decide I need to bolt. Still, I can’t move other than to grab a pillow and hold it in my heated lap. If I get up now, they’ll know exactly what kind of pervert I was to watch them this long without saying anything. My other option is to pretend I was sleeping, though I doubt they’ll fall for the lie.

The woman’s long fingernails disappear beneath the waistline of Erik’s jeans, grabbing onto his ass while he reaches down to open a drawer at his side. I duck my head behind the safety of the couch when her face suddenly becomes visible, though her eyes are shut as Erik runs his mouth up the side of her neck.

A few long, drawn-out moments later, Blondie screams with pleasure. When I gather the courage to look again, Erik’s looking down, watching himself slam into her as she rides him.

“You like that?” he asks between huffing breaths.

“God, yes. You’re fucking amazing,” Blondie answers, panting.

Clutching the pillow in my hands, I’m hit with an unexpected, raging surge of jealousy.

That could be me if I would just give in
.

Unable to bear watching them any longer, I lay back on the couch and cover the pillow over my head, drowning out their noises of bliss as I try to reason with myself. Just because I may have gotten a touch turned on watching Erik get it on with another woman doesn’t mean
I
want to have sex with him. He’s no good for me. If I’m going to continue being his roommate, nothing else will ever happen between us. It can’t.

Blondie makes one last screech that probably woke anyone in the apartment building who isn’t used to Erik’s trysts. Erik grunts loudly, and the slapping sounds stop. Once it seems safe to peek again, Blondie’s slithering into her dress with a wide smile as Erik zips up his pants. She pulls him in for one last, sultry kiss. Her lips are still lingering in the space between them when she says, “I had fun tonight. Maybe next time we can convince your roommate to
join
us
instead of just watching.”

Blondie turns to wink at me before grabbing her purse and waltzing out the door. By the time Erik regards me with one of his grins that lets the world know he’s completely full of himself, I’m seriously paralyzed to the couch, staring at him in horror.

Erik’s dark laughter follows him to his bedroom.

By the next day, I’m
convinced Erik asked me to move in with him as some kind of sick game to see how long it will take to break me, before I agree to have sex with him again. I wait until I know he’s gone to classes before sneaking out to the kitchen, wanting to avoid the awkward questions and explanations that will be coming next time we’re face to face.

But he’s waiting for me in the kitchen with a plate of his delicious eggs, shirtless once again.

I stop in place, the temperature of my face spiking through the roof.

He raises one dark brow. “Did you sleep well?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” I snap, refusing to step any farther.

“Not today.” When he realizes I’m not going to accept the plate, he sets it down with a devilish grin. “Look. If you’re embarrassed over what happened last night, don’t be. If you had only said something, Maura and I would’ve been more than happy to have you play along.”

“We’ve been through this. I already told you that I’m not having sex with you again, Erik. If you keep harassing me, this isn’t going to work.”

“You never said anything about having sex with
others
. Maura would’ve been more than happy to exclude me. She’s done it before.”

It dawns on me just how many women Erik has probably slept with before our romp in the alley. Suddenly I feel like the stereotypical notch in the bedpost. How did I get myself into this situation? I cover my face with my hands, moaning, and head back to my room.

The remainder of the week
I keep myself as busy as possible with my never-ending job search. My friends are all too busy with work and school to stop over, which is totally understandable, so I test my limits on how far I can wander from the apartment on my own. I become pretty skilled at figuring out the subway system thanks to an app Jewels recommended. It’s amazing how many things there are to see around the city without spending a dime.

I finally score an interview with a deli down the street late Thursday afternoon, but can only understand every other word the owner speaks in a thick Russian accent and have to withdraw my application. Otherwise the job hunting continues to look pretty bleak, even after I join a few websites that boast available opportunities in the city.