Playing with Power - Book 3: New Adult Office Romance (7 page)

“Ummm, let’s see...because I’m dirt poor? The last time I had one my electric bill shot up to $200. It was either that or food and I’m kind of addicted to eating. Sweating is good for the skin, so quit your bitchin’,” Ali replied. “Of course, I have to shower three times a day or I’ll smell like a sweat lodge, but that’s neither here nor there.”

The two girls were hanging out on the fire escape just outside Ali’s window, trying to grab whatever breeze decided to float their way. Lauren sat a couple steps up the stairs while Ali leaned over the railing, watching the traffic roll by on the busy street below. The still, humid air was pregnant with the promise of storms. The patches of cloudy sky visible between the buildings told the same story. It was nearly September and the city had been gripped by a scorching heat wave for eight days. Summer just didn’t want to let go and Lauren yearned for the crisp autumn air.

“Oh wait! I forgot, I did get something for us,” Ali declared, stepping her long legs through the open window. A minute later she stretched her arm out from the void, extending a glass of cold white wine. “Take it!” Lauren happily grabbed the glass and took a sip. “Now take this,” Ali declared, her disembodied arm waving up and down.

“What the hell is it?” Lauren asked once she’d reemerged, looking dubiously at the device in her hand. It was about five inches long, rounded, and made of a smooth, white plastic.

“It’s a fan, look.” Flicking a switch on the side, the object came to whirring to life. The fan was small but powerful, making Ali’s hair blow back to something Farrah Fawcett-esque. “And then if you press this button, it mists.”

Lauren switched hers on and was granted temporary relief. “Whew. I thought you were handing me a dildo,” Lauren giggled.

“Seriously? This tiny thing? Oh honey, we need to have a talk if—”

“No, that’s quite alright. I’m all set in the dildo department,” she said, taking another big gulp. The cold liquid felt great running down her throat.

“No really, I’ve got a few you could borrow if you needed,” Ali said, thumbing back inside.

“You are
so
disgusting. I’m perfectly happy with mine, thanks. He’s all I need right now.”

Ali chewed her lip as she studied Lauren’s face. “Still not banging Nick?”

She shook her head. “No. It just complicates things. We did once, a couple weeks after we got back together, but it wasn’t the same. I kept picturing...”

“Landon.”

“Yeah.” Lauren’s nerves spiked. She wasn’t an adept liar and here she was, walking that fine line again.

After a moment Ali spoke. “Did I ever mention how big Dane’s cock is? I mean...whoa.”

“God, yes, you’ve told me!” Lauren laughed. “This heat is doing something to your libido woman! I don’t need to know.”

“No, you do. The whole world does cause I should be getting a medal or something for the things I did with it. I wasn’t kidding about walking bow-legged.” She leaned back against the railing, her eyes flashing and a devious smile spreading across her face. “What about Landon?”

“Oh come on.”
If I keep drinking to avoid her questions I’m gonna be hammered in no time.

“You come on! It might help to talk about it, get it out of your system. We haven’t had a decent sex chat in forever.”

Lauren was surprised to hear herself speaking. Between the frustrating sexually charged day with him yesterday and the overwhelming heat, it was probable her internal filter had melted. “It was good. It was
really
good,” she said with an embarrassed grin.

“Yeah? Go on, what about his—”

“Nice! Thick, not too long, uncut surprisingly, which was a first!” Ali grinned at that but stayed quiet, silently urging Lauren to continue. “It was different than with Nick. Like, sex with him is just...sex, ya know? Good, but just sex. But with Landon...there was genuine passion and feeling. We only had that one night at the beach but everything leading up to it had that same connection.”

“Right...”

Lauren gazed off to the far distance, her eyes unfocused as she remembered. “It was the way he looked at me. You know that night in the hot tub? After you guys left and we were in the pool, we almost did it but I freaked out and stopped. He was such a good guy about it. Didn’t pressure me, didn’t make me feel guilty, nothing like that. It’s probably just because what I have with Nick is so familiar and Landon is new, but I felt an instant attraction to him that I’ve never felt with anyone else. He could make my heart race with just a glance from fifty feet away and when he touched my back...ugh, seriously.” She went quiet, remembering the look in his eyes as he stood in her bedroom the night before. Taking a fortifying drink, hoping the flush in her cheeks wasn’t obvious, she looked to her friend. Ali stood nodding appreciatively.

“Well then...” A low, faint rumble echoed strangely against the buildings. Their eyes met and looked to the sky. “Just a big truck, stay put.”

“Doesn’t that mean something? I felt more emotional connection with someone I’d known for a day than my boyfriend of four years?”

Ali shrugged. “That’s up to you to figure out. Maybe you’re right. It was just the novelty of it that made it more intense. I suppose the only way to know for sure would be to see him again, but that’s not going to happen.”

Lauren’s heart lurched. It had been just as intense, if not more. Thinking in silence for a moment she continued, “Alright, your turn. If Dane was so big, how is it you were so quiet? I thought you were a screamer.”

It was Ali’s turn to blush. “He, uh...he liked to used accessories.” Lauren’s eyebrows shot up. “He must’ve seen it in a porno or something but he actually took my panties off and...stuffed ‘em in my mouth. Before you judge, I know it sounds weird, but it was really hot. Really, really, hot.” Ali’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fake swooned.

“No judgment here, lady. I’m thinking of sending him a thank you card cause I was able to sleep both nights you two were together.”

“If it weren’t for that, I would’ve kept the whole mountain awake.”

A bright pinkish white flash illuminated the darkening sky. Both girls screamed in surprise. As they stared at each other wide-eyed, a much louder rumble followed, a low rolling thunder.

“Yeah, that was lightning. Let’s go in,” Lauren said collecting her glass and fan.

“Aww, it’s not even raining yet! You aren’t gonna get hit. You do realize how many tall buildings there are in Manhattan, right? You’ve noticed them?”

“Don’t care. I’m going in, you can join me if you want,” she said stepping through the window, planting her foot on the step and then the floor. The studio apartment was still stifling but it beat possible electrocution. Lauren curled up in the blue papasan chair in the corner after adjusting the oscillating fan. Ali flopped on the double bed and set her wine on the floor. She looked thoughtfully at her friend.

“How long do you think you can go not sleeping with Nick before he goes crazy?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“You can’t keep punishing him.”

“I’m not punishing him!” Lauren gaped. Ali made a face as if to say,
are you sure about that?
“Alright, maybe a little, but he did break my heart.” She looked sullenly at her lap. “If we start sleeping together again, he’ll move in. When he moves in, we’ll fight again. When we fight, I end up crying all the time and I’m really tired of crying.”

“All I’m saying is you two might want to figure things out sooner rather than later. Either split or get back together.”

Lauren squinted at her. Where Lauren wasn’t a very good liar, Ali was terrible at keeping secrets. “What are you talking about? What aren’t you telling me?” Ali sighed and buried her face in a pillow. “Come on Llama, you can’t keep doing this to me!”

“Fine, but it’s not like I know anything for sure! I’ve just noticed...things. I see this girl at the Pony all the time now. You’d even recognize her, she’s been coming in for a while with friends but now she’s coming in alone. She sits at the far end of the bar in the corner and just...flirts. All night. Nick seems to just eat it up.”

“It’s probably nothing. He’s always flirted with girls to get tips.”

“No, this is different. Like, every chance he gets he’s over there talking with her, doing shots with her. There’s something more to it
but
I have no idea how much. It could just be flirting and that’s it but my Spidey-sense is tingling.”

“Come on. You expect me to believe he’d be doing all this while you’re in the bar? It’s not that big of a place. We know everyone there and everyone knows he’s with me.”

“But you haven’t been around much lately, have you? It’s not like he walks around with his relationship status stuck to his shirt like a name tag. People just assume you’ve split so they don’t think twice about him flirting with another girl. Besides, I haven’t always gone in,” she said sheepishly. “I walk past there to come home, right? So if I see she’s in there, I’ll just kinda...hang out on the sidewalk.”

“You stalker!” Lauren joked. She hoped by making light of the situation that sinking feeling in her stomach would go away. “It’s fine. I appreciate your concern but you know Nick. He’d never take it too far.”

Ali shrugged. “I just think something’s gotta give. You can’t expect him to handle some hot, flirty chick when he isn’t getting laid.”

“He’s still got hands and an internet connection, right? Remember, I’m not getting laid either and I’m doing alright.”
Sort of...barely...

“And you’ve got this,” Ali said waving the small fan around playfully.

The streets were soaked and nearly flooded from the downpour but the storm had provided little relief from the heat. The air was now hazy and thick, the streetlights casting a yellow glow through the humidity. As Lauren walked back to her apartment she thought about what Ali had said. It hadn’t occurred to her that she was withholding sex as a punishment but once confronted with the idea, she couldn’t deny it. More than a twinge of jealousy had jolted her when she heard about this mystery girl. It felt wrong to confront him about it given everything she’d done, both months ago and recently. Her mind fuzzy from the wine, Lauren resolved to figure out how to fix the situation.

For the first time in months, with the lights off and blankets kicked to her feet, Lauren stared at the ceiling and realized she felt alone.

August 27th

I’m so sick of having to keep secrets from everyone. I never realized how tiring lying can be. It’s like I have to run through a dossier of what each person in my life knows or doesn’t know. And then I have the panic of trying to control conversations when two people with different sets of knowledge are speaking to each other. I’m always on edge, anticipating a slip, just waiting for someone to say the wrong thing.

Ali - Knows I slept with Landon and had feelings for him but doesn’t know I’m working with him and still communicate with him on a near daily basis. Doesn’t know anything about my business or what I’ve been doing professionally.

Parker - Knows I know Landon professionally but doesn’t know anything about our personal relationship, though I get the feeling he’s starting to suspect. Of course, he doesn’t know anything about MyBFC.

Nick - Doesn’t know anything about anyone or anything. That’s the worst part. The one person in my life that I should be able to share everything with and I can’t tell him anything! How the fuck am I supposed to repair our relationship?

Landon - Ironically, he’s the only one who knows everything...and he’s 3,000 miles away...and he’s the one person I
shouldn’t
be close to.

Damon - No comment. The man could probably take one look at me and figure this all out in an instant. I’m glad he’s been mysteriously keeping his distance.

I’ve managed to paint myself into a nice, tight little corner and I hope it’s all worth it.

Screw this stasis shit. Ali’s right. I’ve gotta take control of at least one part of my life. I need to stop asking Nick to work around me. I need to start making some sacrifices of my own.

10.

Lauren pressed save and checked the time, for once happily running ahead of schedule. She’d messaged Nick the typical, “I’m working late” text but was actually going to surprise him at work. Grabbing the bag she’d packed earlier, Lauren planned to save time by getting ready at the MyBFC office. The shower was so much better than the one in her apartment, making it difficult to pry herself from the amazing water pressure. As she got dressed in her bedroom she thought,
It might be good to have this extra space at first. That way Nick can move back in but I have a place where I can go if things get too tense. Something to think about I suppose.

Skin still damp from the shower, she hopped up and down trying to squeeze into the a pair of skin-tight jeans she knew Nick loved. All the effort caused a fresh layer of sweat to pop out, an uncomfortable sensation Lauren despised. Patting herself dry with the towel, she spritzed herself with perfume and stood in front of the AC to cool down. Finishing the outfit, a thin tank pulled over her dark bra with a mess of necklaces and bracelets. Quickly tying her white Chuck Taylors, she was almost out the door when she realized she hadn’t turned off her computer.