14.
Lex
After they broke apart he shuffled to the very back of the cave and stood so that he could stretch.
“Pervert,” he muttered when he caught Petal staring.
“Damn straight. It’s not every day I get to sleep with a Insta-model-worthy male.”
He frowned. “A what?”
“It’s the kids,” she replied, not speaking to him. “It’s the kids who are out of touch. Not me.”
“Pardon?” He was confused.
“Nevermind. You’ve got an amazing body, is what I was trying to say.”
“Oh. Thank you.” He flexed his abs.
“Showoff.”
“Wanna come touch?”
She laughed. “No, but if you come over here, maybe I’ll let you more than touch me.”
“Maybe I want to look only. You’re pretty gorgeous yourself, you know.”
Her fingers reached out to touch his chest and stomach as he drew close enough, sitting down. They traced the outlines of his many tattoos.
“What are these all for?”
“Oh boy. Um, some of them are mistakes of youth. Others are things I’m not ready to tell you yet. Some are just interesting designs. He pointed to the one on his right shoulder. Like that. It’s not really anything, but it’s neat.”
“And this one?” she asked, moving her hand lower, to the one on his right side.
“Remember when I said mistakes of youth?”
“Really? You’re positive?” Her hand started to touch the body of the half-naked woman covered in vines and nature.
“Quite,” he said deadpan.
Then he reached forward and grabbed his boxers, pulling them on before moving to his shirt and the rest of his clothes. Eventually he realized that Petal was still sitting next to him, completely naked, unmoving.
“Something wrong?” she asked, eyeing his fabric-covered body.
“Nope. But this show ain’t free, and your allotted time is up. Please insert another quarter to continue.”
Her face turned wicked. “Lex, I’m so sorry. I thought I was satisfying you. I didn’t realize you wanted me to insert something into you as well. I could have used my fingers.”
Quickly considering his response, Lex went with the most energetic one. “I might hold you to that. Don’t make promises you aren’t willing to keep.”
She laughed. “Never be ashamed of your fetishes. Good for you.”
He winked. “As long as you aren’t either.”
Petal went quiet, which made him grin. Then he started pulling the last of his clothes on.
“Was it really that bad?” she asked, sounding mildly serious.
“What? What do you mean?” It hadn’t been bad at all. In fact, it was incredible. Amazing, really. He wished he could do it again right then and there.
“Well, you’re getting dressed already. That’s usually not a good sign. Most times people cuddle for awhile, have sex again, whatever.”
“Ah.” He smiled.
Petal waited for perhaps twenty seconds before shaking her head in question. “What?”
“Listen.”
She fell silent, and as she did, the sounds of movement from outside the front of the cave reached their ears.
“What’s that?” she asked, her hand slowly reaching for the pile of discarded clothing.
He grinned. “Sounds like our rescue. I bet Vince is out there right now!”
Petal yelped and started dressing. She paused at one point and pinned him with a stare that was cold and distant, like the woman he’d first seen in Vince’s office. This was someone totally different. “You can’t tell anyone about this!”
Lex smiled through the cascade of emotions that filled his mind.
“Of course.” He forced a laugh. “I wouldn’t dare dream of letting anyone know that the corporate bigwig was slumming it by sleeping with a lowly grunt worker. Your secret is safe with me.”
He tried to play it off, to make a joke of it, but it was obvious that his remark had gone home, stinging her. Part of him didn’t care, even as their sudden bonding fell apart. The way she’d spoken to him while commanding him to keep his mouth shut had hurt a lot more than he’d expected something like that would.
It was as if now that there were other people around, she had dropped right back into her old persona. She was the boss, and that was it. Feeling embarrassed that he’d fallen for it, believing that she’d truly changed and opened up to him, Lex shuffled up the slope to the cave entrance. He considered pulling the sheet down out of spite, so that anyone looking in with a flashlight would see her trying to get dressed, but decided against it.
He exited into the open air, waving happily at his two rescuers as they killed the engines to their ATVs and came over to him. Lex didn’t recognize them, had no idea who they were, but he was just thankful they were there. In minutes both he and Petal were mounted behind one of the riders and headed downhill, back toward Surrey. It felt rather odd for him, as he easily outmassed his driver by sixty pounds or more, but he was just happy that the ordeal was over.
And everything with it is over too, you know. Look at her, staring straight ahead, not even glancing over here. As soon as you’re back in Surrey she’ll probably take a shower and pack up her things and go. You’ll never see her again.
Lex sagged as the truth of his thoughts weighed down on him. He’d thought for sure that she was a soul he could spend his life with. That Petal was that person to him. He didn’t want to use the word, for fear of jinxing any remaining hope he had, but his mind had been thinking it while they were lying naked together in the cave. Everything had felt right, then.
Did she not feel a thing for him? Had it all been an act? Or was this now an act, a persona that Petal didn’t know how to drop? Feeling a sliver of hope that maybe that was the case, he spent the rest of the ride looking over at her, waiting for her to look in his direction and give him a smile, or a wink, letting him know that underneath it all, she truly did care.
The entire ride back, she never looked at him once.