(Present Day)

San Francisco, California

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FORGET “GOING TO HELL.” I’m flying there drenched in gasoline.

I held Hayley’s hand as we walked into a secluded restaurant outside of the city, as a hostess ushered us into a private suite that overlooked the ocean. I’d wanted to take her on my yacht today, but her brother had blocked that idea at the last minute. He’d asked to take his fiancée on it for a day trip so he could “see what type of yacht she prefers for the long-term.” He’d even wanted me to come along, to show her everything the boat was capable of, but I couldn’t be around him for longer than twenty minutes these days. The guilt of keeping a secret from him, especially this type of secret, was becoming unbearable.

“What are you thinking about, Corey?” Hayley looked up at me.

“Nothing important.”

“You promise?”

“No.”

“But you’ll tell me eventually?”

“I will.” I kissed her forehead.

“Wow,” she said, leading me over to the windows. “We’ll have to come here again and spend a weekend in those villas near the shore.”

“Your brother owns those.” I laughed. “Those are vacation rental cabins.”

“Oh, yeah.” She shrugged. “I forgot about those. Why didn’t you try to tell him that I should live in one of those instead of living with you?”

“I did.”

She laughed and playfully hit my arm.

I led her over to the table that was set for two and pulled out her chair. The second I took my seat, the butler walked over and uncorked a bottle of white wine.

After pouring two glasses, he set out the menus without saying a word, and then he stepped out of the room.

“Something is really bothering you, Corey.” Hayley moved her hand in front of my face. “Tell me.”

I sighed. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“You don’t want to do what anymore?”

“Take you on dates outside of the city,” I said. “Constantly cancel good plans to settle for shitty ones.”

“I’m not upset about the yacht.” She smiled. “You know I’m not into the super wealthy stuff anyway.”

“I’m not super wealthy.”

“You make fifty million a year.” She rolled her eyes. “And that doesn’t include the seventeen million you make from private clients, or the small millions you make whenever someone hires you for investigations.”

“Did you hack into my financial file?”

“I learned from the best.” She smiled, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I need to ask you something,” I said, clasping her hand atop the table.

“Anything.”

“Why did you stop answering my calls years ago? It seemed like we were fine as friends, and then you went off to college and you just stopped answering my calls.”

“It’s because you stopped being a good friend,” she said, her voice soft. “And I was mad at you.”

“For what?”

“For not being a good friend.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Did I do something? Say something?”

“Both.” She shrugged. “But I was pretty naive then because I thought you liked me when I was a senior in high school. Like, as more than a friend.”

“When you were eighteen?”

She nodded. “Yeah. But I always forgot that even though the two of us were a few years apart, Jonathan was older than you, and you always hung out with his friends since you were on the same level as him. And then you laughed at me when I told you that I liked you, so...”

“Hayley, you never told me that you used to like me until I took you back to your suite the night of the rooftop party.”

“What?”

“The rooftop party,” I said. “That night when I took you back to your suite. Remember?”

She sipped her wine and smiled. “I don’t think that memory is ever coming back. I don’t remember.”

“Well, take my word for it.” I caressed her hand. “I didn’t know.”

“You did know.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “And you laughed.”

“Okay, Hayley.” I didn’t want to argue. “I’ll take your word for it, if you take mine.”

“I will.” She stood up and walked over to me, sitting in my lap. “The secret dates don’t bother me, but I understand why you feel the way you do.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” She kissed me. “I once felt the same. It hurts hiding a secret from your best friend.”

“It does.”

“You know what also hurts?”

“What?”

“Going out on a date with your boyfriend while he’s thinking about your brother. Hell, I’m willing to bet he might think about my brother more than me throughout the day.”

“He definitely doesn’t.” I kissed her lips before gently pushing her off my lap. Then I stood up and walked over to the door, locking it.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to show you exactly who and what I think about all day.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the window. Not giving her a chance to ask questions, I spun her around so she was facing the ocean, and I lifted up her dress from behind.

Spreading her legs apart, I tore off her panties and let them fall to the floor.

“Are you all ready for the first course, Mr. Walters?” Someone knocked on the door.

Ignoring it, I slapped Hayley’s ass—again and again, groaning each time she let out a throaty gasp. I positioned her so she was slightly bent over, and then I pushed her hair over one shoulder.

“Put your hands on the glass,” I whispered into her ear, and she slowly obliged—letting her fingers touch the window. “Not right there. Move them up higher so I can fuck you better.”

She nodded and slid them higher, moaning loudly as I bit the back of her neck.

I slid a hand between her legs, smiling at how soaking wet she was for me. “You’re always so fucking wet for me...”

Unbuckling my pants, I put on a condom and gripped her hips—thrusting every inch of my cock inside of her all at once.

“Ahhhh, Corey...” She dropped her hands from the window and I slapped her ass.

“Put your hands back up there. Now.”

“Ahhhh.” She moaned again and returned her hands to where they were.

I kept her waist tightly gripped, as I pounded into her without mercy—as she screamed my name louder and louder with each and every thrust. 

Trailing my left hand against her stomach and up to her chest, I palmed her breasts and teased her nipples—softly pinching them to drive her closer to the edge.

She tried to control the pace of our sex by moving her hips, but I slapped her ass until she gave in to my rhythm.

“Corey...”  She breathed. “Corey...”

I didn’t answer. I thrust into her harder, ignoring the second round of knocks on the door.

“Corey, I’m going to...” Her hands started to slip from the glass as her pussy throbbed against my cock, as she started to slowly fall forward.

Her body started shaking against me, and I held her still so she wouldn’t hit the floor—kissing the back of her neck as my own release came seconds later.

“Fuck, Hayley...” I held her tighter as my muscles tensed, and her body went completely limp against mine.

Slowly moving her off my cock, I picked her up and carried her back to our table—using one of the silk napkins to wipe between her thighs.

“I think about you all day, Hayley.” I said, kissing her lips. “The other shit crosses my mind, but not as much as you do.”

She was still trying to catch her breath, but she managed to whisper, “I believe you.”

I pulled her dress back over her legs and smoothed her hair, keeping my eyes on hers until her breathing returned to normal. Then I tossed the condom away and readjusted my own clothes.

Walking to the door, I started to unlock it, but Hayley was suddenly behind me—grabbing the back of my arm.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“No,” she said, smiling. “But, can you show me what you think about all day one more time before we start dinner?”

I smiled. “Put your hands on the glass again.”