CHAPTER ELEVEN — CHLOE
The next three weeks were my definition of a perfect life. After my first Saturday morning riding with Conner and Lucas, the three of us hanging out together became a thing. We spent every moment of the weekends on fun adventures and most weeknights playing games or watching movies at their house.
Since our relationship was still very new and we hadn’t discussed the details of it yet, Conner and I refrained from any displays of affection in front of his son and simply told the boy that I was around as a friend which allowed us to get to know each other on a more personal level. We talked about everything and laughed more than I did with anyone else in my life. With each passing day, we grew closer, and I fell a bit more in love with both of the Wilkes boys.
Although it was sometimes hard to find time in our busy schedules to be intimate, the sexual side of our relationship also continued to evolve. Now that my cherry had been popped—in the grandest possible way, I craved Conner all the time, and he was always happy to oblige. Every second of alone time we managed to find—whether in his house late at night or in my office—was spent naked and making love.
Everything was perfect and, for the first time in a long time, I was really happy. However, if there’s a universal truth in life, it is that things never stay perfect for long. Sooner or later, the shit always hits the fan, right?
In my case, that dreaded moment happened on a Wednesday morning, while Conner and I were locked inside my office, naked, and with me bouncing up and down on his cock. His hands were on my tits, my mouth was on his neck, the muscles inside my pussy were tightening with an impending orgasm. Everything was perfect with the exception of my damned phone that didn’t stop ringing.
“Don’t you dare,” Conner whispered in a stern tone as I looked over my shoulder toward the device.
As always, I followed his command and pushed the sound out of my mind as I returned my gaze to his gorgeous blue eyes. Focused on my pleasure, I continued to ride him with renewed strength. His fingers tightened against my skin, and my head lulled backward with the intensity of the pleasure building inside.
“I’m so close,” I told him when the phone finally stopped ringing.
He groaned. “Then, let go, baby, cause I’m there.”
As per usual, Conner’s request was my command. I crashed my lips against his to muffle my moans as we found our release together. Our arms intertwined and our tongues danced together, and the stupid ringing of a phone echoed through the room again, completely breaking the moment.
“Annoying little fucker!” Conner barked at the device as he helped me off of him so he could stand.
Since the current annoyance came from his phone and not mine, I made myself comfortable on the couch and enjoyed the delicious afterglow of my orgasm as I watched him walk deliciously naked toward my desk to retrieve his device. Honestly, the vision of Conner naked—with those muscles and that ass on display—was something I knew would never stop surprising me.
His face tightened into a frown as he looked at the screen. “Oh, shit!”
Worry gripped at my insides at his reaction, and I quickly sat up as he started to pace.
“What’s wrong?” I asked over the ringing of the phone.
Conner ran a hand through his hair and looked at me with a pained expression. “It’s your Dad.”
I raised a brow and took a deep breath. Obviously, we both knew my Dad would eventually return from his business trip, and we would have to deal with how his presence affected our blossoming relationship. However, judging by the frown on Conner’s face and the rapid beating of my heart, it was clear that neither of us was ready to deal with that.
Still, I knew there was no way around it, so I shook my head and said, “Just answer it, Conner. He knows you and Lucas kept me company over the last few weeks and probably just wants to thank you. Be normal and talk to him.”
With flaring nostrils, Conner closed his eyes, pressed the answer button on his phone and brought the device to his ear. “Hey, Alex! Back in town already?”
Although I couldn’t hear what my Dad was saying on the other side of the line, a pained expression took over Conner’s face as he listened. Then, he let out some forced chuckles and peeled his eyes away from me as he walked toward his discarded clothes and started putting them back on.
“No, man. Everything is fine,” he assured as he wrestled his pants back on. “We were going through financial projections and shit like that. You know I’m no good with numbers, so we put the phones on silent so I could focus.”
There was a pause where Conner tossed me my dress without even looking at me, then he forced yet another chuckle and ran a hand through his hair again. “You don’t need to worry about that,” he said. There was another pause, he hung his head and exhaled. Then, he nodded and said, “If you insist, there’s nothin’ I can say but yes, you pushy SOB.”
They exchanged a few more words as I got up from the couch and got dressed. I was zipping up my dress when Conner finally hung up, tossed his phone on the sofa and let out a long string of curse words while pulling at his hair like a crazy person.
“Hey, calm down. What’s wrong?” I asked as walked toward him.
As my fingers touched the sides of Conner’s abs, he pushed my hands away and took a step back. Without looking at me, he shook his head. “What’s wrong?” he repeated sarcastically. “Everything, Chloe. Every fucking thing.”
Despite the pain in my chest at his rejection, I tried to be understanding and took a deep, calming breath before replying. “What did my father say?”
“That he’s back and thankful that I looked after you while he was gone. He also wants to have Lucas and me over for dinner tonight, as a thank you.” Once those words were out of his mouth, Conner finally raised his eyes to meet mine. There was a mixture of pain and disgust in those blue eyes that broke my heart. “I took your virginity, fucked you every single day since, and he wants to thank me.”
Unable to help myself, I smiled at him. “You’ve been making me very happy, so maybe he should thank you.”
“Don’t be cute right now. It’s not the time,” Conner admonished me with narrowed eyes. “Don’t you see it? I’m fucking his little girl and he’s cooking me a goddamn steak.”
And that comment did it. As much as I understood Conner and loved his sense of loyalty toward my Dad, what was happening between us had nothing to do with my father and his excessive worry frustrated me to the point of nausea. I was nervous to tell my father about us too, but I knew that he loved both of us and he would eventually be ok with it in time.
“Just stop,” I blurted out in a stern tone I had never used with him before. “We’ve always known this day would come and that we would have to deal with it, but don’t make this a bigger thing than it should be. This relationship is about you and me, not my father.”
Although my tone was serious, Conner chuckled. “Sometimes I forget how young and naïve you are.” Completely offended by his condescending tone, I scowled at him and opened my mouth to give Conner a piece of my mind, but I never got a chance as he continued his rant.
“Honestly, I’ve put the thought of this day out of my mind and I sure as hell didn’t want it to arrive. He’s my best friend—my only friend, for that matter—so I’m not making it bigger. I’m just making it what it is. A huge fucking problem. Alex is the only reason there is a relationship between us at all. If it weren't for him I’d never have hired you, I wouldn’t even have interviewed you. You’re in my life and in my bed because of him. Because he trusted me with you. And now, I get to go and tell him that I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants and fucked his baby girl.”
Pain stronger than anything I had ever felt pierced at my heart. Conner raked a hand through his hair, and I could feel the anger and frustration pulsing from him. I was desperate to make Conner see what he had was not wrong, but in the same breath, I was furious at being considered ‘a huge fucking problem.’
“Well,” I started, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to spill—and failing. “First of all, I’m not a baby. I’m a grown woman who can make her own choices, which is what I did. I chose to sleep with you not because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants, but because I fell in love with you, because I’ve been in love with you half of my damn life. But maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe, my feelings, just like my qualifications for this job and how good I’ve been at it, don’t matter. It’s all on you, isn’t it?”
Seeing my reaction, he sighed and took a step toward me, “That’s not what I meant.”
I saw he was about to say something more, but I simply didn’t want to hear. Not right now, at least. Raising my hand, I stopped him and said, “This is just like last time, Conner. Everything was fine, we were happy, and then my Dad showed up, and you blew me off like one of those bimbos from Rusty’s. I don’t deserve to be hurt like that, and I won’t let you do it to me again.”
With my heart in my hand, I looked away from Conner and took a deep breath to level my voice and calm the raging pain in my stomach. “So, I think you should go away and think about what you want to do and who you can’t live without. I don’t want to be your secret. Either you’re in this with me, and we’ll face my Dad together, or you’re out.”
As much as I hate to admit this, there was a part of me that expected Conner to hear my ultimatum and say that he didn’t need to think, that he knew I was the one he couldn’t live without. I imagined him kissing me afterward and holding my hand as we walked into my Dad’s house for dinner tonight. After so many years loving him in silence, I wanted him to say he loved me too and fight for me. I wanted to feel like I was his world as much as he was mine.
But those were just fantasies of a young and naïve girl.
The reality was that after hearing my words, Conner didn’t say anything. He didn’t touch me. He didn’t comfort me. He simply turned around and walked away.
Once the office door closed behind him, and the proverbial shit hit the proverbial fan. A sadness like nothing I’d ever known descended on my and turned my stomach sour. I reached for the trash can at the side of my desk and emptied my breakfast into it.
I puked and heaved until my body was tired and aching. Then, I released the metal can and fell onto my chair feeling completely gutted and humiliated. I cried for a long time before I finally decided that no one, no matter how special they were or how good they made me feel, should have enough power over me to make me feel this way ever again.
Empowered by that thought, I wiped my tears, straightened my back, and reached inside my purse for my makeup and toiletry bag. I opened the lilac pouch and looked inside in search for my toothbrush and concealer, but instead, my eyes feel on the unopened container of tampons.
With a pounding heart, a racing mind, and shaking hands, I looked at my desk calendar and then closed my eyes as tried to convince myself that this was just a dream. I wasn’t seven days late for the first time in my life, and that my life wasn’t as sucky as it currently seamed. Unfortunately, as I opened my eyes the box was still there, and the date was the same.
Barely aware that I was moving, I put everything back in my purse, grabbed my car keys, and exited my office. I told the girls at reception I’d be right back and ignored their concerns about my running mascara as I rushed out the doors and toward my Jeep.
A single thought ran on a loop in my head raced toward the closest drugstore. Please, please, let me not be pregnant.