Lexi

 

Walking into the room after my shower and finding him gone was a surprise. I kept thinking he’d be back, that he just ran downstairs for coffee or something. But finding all his stuff gone was a shock. Realizing that he left me here without saying goodbye was a stab to the heart.

HE LEFT ME HERE.

I text Melanie while I pack the new suitcase that I bought yesterday.

What do you mean?

I went to shower, and while I was in there he basically packed his shit and ran out without saying goodbye.

STFU! Are you sure?

Considering that I’m standing here in the room, he’s gone, and none of his things are here, I’m fucking sure.

ASSHOLE!

The phone rings in my hands. Melanie’s smiling face flashes across the screen.

“Hey,” I say softly.

“Are you okay?” she asks, even though we both know the question is rhetorical.

I’m not okay, not in the least, not even a little bit. The tears I’ve been keeping at bay finally let loose.

I don’t say a word and neither does Melanie. She just listens to me sniffle.

“That motherfucker. I know where he lives,” she threatens. “The SPCA is giving away cats today. I can get a couple or ten and put them all in his apartment as a constant reminder of what a huge pussy he was!”

“What did I expect?” I ask, sitting down on the bed that he just made love to me in not even an hour ago.

This whole week, it felt like we were slowly becoming more. Well, at least I thought we were. But I guess that wasn’t the case for him. I guess I was just a convenient, warm body to fill his bed for the week.

“You expected him to have the common fucking decency to not just take off on you without saying goodbye. Seriously, who does that?”

I sit back because she’s on a roll now. I know this since she has started to yell.

“I mean, hello, you used a butt plug for him! That’s not one-and-done activity! That says commitment! That in itself shows you care!” she lashes out angrily.

I shake my head, laughing at this whole thing. Oh, the tears are still stinging my eyes, but Melanie is my best friend for a reason. She can make me smile during even the worst of situations, like right now for instance. “I have to go, or I’ll miss the plane.”

“Want me to pick you up? We can kidnap him and take him to Jersey. Do him Sopranos style.”

“No, thanks, Mel. I’ll call you when I get home, okay? Love you.”

“Safe trip. Love you, too,” she says right before she disconnects.

I shake the memory from my head as I look at the apartment building in front of me. It’s not a typical New York apartment building or brownstone. It’s a high rise. My neck gets sore just looking up at how high it goes.

We walk to the front door where we are greeted by the doorman. “Good afternoon, Mr. Fitch. You’re back?” He walks ahead of us to the elevator and presses the button.

“Hi, Harold. How are you?”

Harold nods and smiles at us.

“Lexi, this is Harold. Harold, this is my girlfriend, Lexi.”

I smile at the man, taking the hand that he holds out for me to shake.

Holy shit! He just labeled me as his girlfriend. I know the past week has been leading up to this, but I didn’t think about what would happen if we did take this step.

He leads us up to his apartment, unlocking his door and ushering us inside. I walk in, stopping dead in my tracks, and whistle.

“Okay, so you were actually slumming in Vegas then.” I walk farther into his apartment, taking in the far wall that is floor-to-ceiling windows. I look around, noting all the white, white everything. Everywhere. Sterile white, like a hospital, nothing inviting or welcoming, nothing warm or homey that says someone lives here.

“It’s nothing,” he says, turning on some lights and ducking behind a wall that holds a huge ass kitchen, all stainless steel, and of course, white.

“Do you actually cook in here?” I ask him, running my hand over the countertop, where there is not even a single fleck of dust.

“Not yet. I’m more of a take-out kind of guy.” He smiles as he opens up his enormous, stainless steel, commercial refrigerator. “Want me to order something? Pizza?” He pulls open a drawer full of menus and fishes one out.

“Oh, Chinese sounds good actually,” I tell him, taking the menu from him and giving him my order.

Once he hangs up the phone, he walks over to me and says, “Come see the bed.”

“Seriously? That’s the best you got?” I follow behind him down another hallway. There are two closed doors, one on my right and one on the left.

“That’s the guest room and this is my home office.” He walks past them to the end of the hall where there are two more doors. “That one”—he points to the open door—“is the bathroom and this”—he opens the door—“is where the magic happens. Well, where it will happen.”

I follow him into what can only be described as a dream room. The floor-to-ceiling windows showcase a view of the New York City skyline as well as the Brooklyn Bridge. The bed sits in the middle of the room angled toward the corner of the windows. The room is decked out in rich browns and light blue. They are definitely bachelor colors, but they’re warm and inviting. I bounce on the bed, and it’s almost like sinking into a cloud. I fall back on it, moaning.

“Told you, magic,” he says, dropping my bag in a walk-in closet that is to the right of the bathroom across from his walk-in closet.

I lean against the closet door, watching him putting away his things. “I think this right here is the same size as my whole apartment.”

He throws most of his clothes in the basket in the corner.

“I’m taking it that you don’t do your laundry, either?”

The front door buzzer stops him from answering my question. “Love, the food is here.” He walks out to the front door while I go into the kitchen and get out some plates. His kitchen is a chef’s wet dream.

His plates make me smile. They’re blue. I shake my head, laughing at him. This is him. There are little pieces of him here and there.

I walk into the living room area. “Where do you usually eat?” I ask him, assuming he uses his dining room.

“On the couch.” He points to the living room.

“Okay, so how about we actually sit at a table to eat?” I smirk at him. “We can sit and talk.”

“Sure, anything you want.” Just like that, he gives in.

“Perfect.” I carry the plates to the table while he carries over the food, and then he goes back into the kitchen to get us some wine.

We both serve ourselves a bit of everything, “So, um. You called me your girlfriend.” I come right out with it.

He nods his head while he digs into his chicken and broccoli.

“So, are we calling you my boyfriend?” I ask him, looking down at my plate, pushing the food around, suddenly not hungry.

“I fucking hope so.” He puts more food into his mouth.

“What about my brother?”

His fork stops midway to his mouth as he looks at me.

“Yeah, the big elephant in the room.” I point out to him.

“I have no idea.” He sighs, then starts talking. “I mean, I don’t want to keep us a secret from him, but I don’t want to jump in...” he trails off.

“I agree. I don’t want to be a secret either, but I think we should just wait and see if this thing is going to work.” I stutter, “I mean, we know that we”—I motion between the two of us—“are good on vacation. Obviously, we’re sexually compatible given how fantastic our sex life is.”

“It is,” he cuts in, looking at me as he leans back in his chair. “The best I’ve ever had.”

I smile at him, shrugging my shoulder. “What can I say? I had a great partner.”

He grabs my hand and pulls me out of my chair and over to him. I straddle him in his chair. “We’ll do this slowly.” He kisses my chest. “We play it by ear. Let’s just get to know each other, try this out between me and you, and when we’re ready, then we’ll tell Sterling.”

I nod my head at him. “We are going to make sure he’s drunk first, right?” I look at him. “You know, when we finally do tell him that we are together.”

“We can ply him with drinks, yes.” A kiss lands on my cheek. “Now, let’s go shower. I have to be up at six-thirty.”

I climb off him and start clearing the things off the table. “Does that mean I have to leave at that time? Because I start at ten tomorrow.”

He puts the containers back in the bag, carrying it to the kitchen. “No, you don’t have to leave until you’re ready to go.” He turns off the lights in the kitchen.

He heads straight to the shower and starts the water as I unload my bag of toiletries. I take out my phone and set my alarm. I take a shower while he shaves and does his man things.

I get out of the shower and start moisturizing while he kisses me and walks out into the bedroom. I put on some shorts and a tank top and walk out, shutting the lights off behind me.

Bradley is sitting in bed watching television. I flip the sheet to get into the bed when he asks, “What the hell are you doing?” His question surprises me.

“What do you mean?” I’m confused and starting to look around.

“Are you wearing that to bed?” he asks while he points to my pajamas.

“I was planning on it,” I tell him as I get in the bed.

“Naked,” he says, till I look at him. “The only thing on you when you climb into my bed is me, love.”

I laugh out loud. “No. I only sleep naked on vacation. I wear pajamas at home.”

I don’t even have a chance to argue with him because in two seconds flat he has me completely naked and he’s sliding into me.
“This is why you come to bed naked. Easy access.”

I don’t reply. I just lock my legs around him and let him take me.