Chapter 23

Grant

It was an odd sensation, being used. That was what happened. Kendra had, without a doubt, used me. It was odd that I didn’t realize it was happening until after it was done. I had gone into her bedroom to apologize. When it became clear that she wouldn’t accept my apologetic words, I decided to take matters into my own hands and show her how sorry I was.

And that, she seemed to accept. As I ate her out, I thought I felt her opening up to me. I thought it was her way of accepting my apology. When she asked me to fuck her, I was sure things between us moved back to a better place. She pulled me into the shower and had me take her, and I thought we were past our problem. But that hadn’t been the case. She’d made that clear.

I had to give her credit. She knew what she was doing. The moment she came, she left me standing there in the shower, dripping wet and frustrated. She went back into her bedroom, satisfied and spent. That had humbled me. When she told me I couldn’t spend the night with her, she’d humiliated me. When I laid in bed alone, thinking about what she’d done, I felt like a fool.

I guessed we were back to our old games. Well, if that was the way she wanted to play, I was more than happy to oblige.

The next morning, Kendra walked into my room bright and early. She clearly wasn’t kidding about wanting to go home as soon as possible. I was still brushing my teeth when she barged in. I walked out from the bathroom when I heard her, my toothbrush still in my mouth.

She shot me an annoyed look and planted her hands on her hips. “Are you ready?” she asked. Behind her, I could see her bag, packed and waiting.

“What do you think,” I said through a mouthful of toothpaste. I shook my head in irritation and went back into the bathroom to finish up. I wasn’t about to let her push me around. She may have gotten the upper hand last night, but it wasn’t going to last. It was my plane after all.

“I told you I wanted to leave straight away,” she shot back at me. She didn’t follow me into the bathroom, though. Maybe she didn’t trust herself? Or maybe she didn’t trust me?

“So sorry to keep you waiting, your majesty,” I yelled back from the bathroom. I spat the toothpaste out and rinsed my mouth. “How inconsiderate of me.”

“You know what I meant.”

I strolled out of the bathroom. “Don’t worry. We’ll go in a second.”

My bags were already packed, and I was actually ready to leave. But I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of thinking that she was in charge. I chose to take my time.

I picked up my suitcase and threw it on the bed. I reopened it and meticulously looked through all my packed clothes, making sure that everything was there. I then zipped it up and followed that with a thorough search of the room. Under the bed, behind the dresser, and back in the bathroom. I looked everywhere, careful not to leave anything behind.

The entire time, I felt Kendra’s eyes staring daggers at me. Her arms were crossed, and she tapped her foot up and down. If she were physically able, I was sure that she would have been breathing fire, too.

“Okay,” I finally said, after I was sure that I had wasted enough time. “We can go—”

Just then, the phone rang. Perfect. I smiled to myself as I strolled across the room to answer it. I didn’t know who it was, but I could see that Kendra wasn’t happy about it. Just another time waster.

“Hello,” I said as I answered the phone, putting it on loudspeaker. “It’s Grant.”

“Grant, darling,” a familiar voice spoke through the phone. It was Loren Pratt. This couldn’t have gone better if I planned it.

“Loren,” I beamed, making sure to look at Kendra as I did. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“I thought you might like it,” she responded, happily.

“Like it? I love it.” I made sure to look at Kendra, who was actively avoiding my eyes. “How did you get this number?”

“Oh, I have my ways,” she said, coyly. On the one hand, it was a little odd that she had sought out the number to my hotel room and called me, rather than waiting for me to get home. Especially after what she had been telling people about the two of us being together. But on the other, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect so I was willing to let it slide.

“Well, I’m glad that you found me. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“When are you going to be back in town?” she asked.

“I’m just about to head to the airport. So, I should be touching down in a few short hours.”

“Perfect!” she exclaimed. “Any chance that you are free tonight for dinner?”

Kendra was still doing all she could to not look at me. “I would love to have dinner tonight, Loren. And then maybe breakfast, too?”

“Oh, stop it, you naughty boy,” Loren giggled into the phone. Kendra gritted her teeth at the sound of it.

“How about this?” I asked. “I’ll call you once I’m back, and we can figure things out from there.”

“It’s a date,” she said, excitedly.

“That it is,” I responded. “Ciao.”

The tension in the room was so thick that I could have cut it with a knife. It seemed to hang between myself and Kendra like a blanket, threatening to suffocate us both. The dial tone of the ended call rang out through the room. I continued to look at Kendra, waiting for her reaction. I was beyond curious to see what she would do.

“Well, are we going?” she asked, casually. Too casually.

“Ready when you are,” I responded, careful not to look put off by her response. I had hoped for something a little more than that, but for some reason, she seemed totally unfazed. “Sorry you had to hear that,” I tried as I picked up my case.

“Oh, no problem,” she said in the same cool manner. She walked from my room into hers.

I followed her in, determined to get a reaction. It was childish of me, but after what had happened the previous night, I needed that. I needed to know that I still had the power to assert myself over her. I couldn’t go back to New York without knowing that she wanted me.

“That woman is so persistent,” I said, following her through the room as she picked up her own suitcase. “She won’t stop badgering me.”

“That will happen,” she said, simply.

She walked past me toward the front door, and I grabbed her by the arm. So much for subtle. It was a kneejerk reaction, but I couldn’t stop myself. I had to do something. I couldn’t let her leave that room without admitting she didn’t want me to be with another woman. I needed to hear her say it.

“Hey? Are you okay with it? With me having dinner with Loren? If you aren’t, all you have to do is tell me. Tell me not to have dinner with her, and I’ll cancel.”

“Do I really need to tell you that?”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Well,” she said, biting her lip as she spoke. “I remember you telling me that your cock wasn’t for Loren. That it was just for me. Those were your words, not mine.”

“Is that what you think?” I asked, smiling to myself. I could feel the tide turning. I had her. I was sure of it.

“Am I wrong?” she asked, holding my stare. She was acting confident, too, unlike how she had in the past. It was as if she truly believed that she had full domain over my cock.

“You want it? You’re going to have to prove it.” As I said this, my hand went to my pants and slowly unzipped them. The sound of the metal fly coming undone sounded loud in the silent room.

She looked down at my open fly then back up to me. For a moment, I was sure that she would drop to her knees and take me in her mouth. I was sure that I had won the day.

But she didn’t. She looked down at my open fly for a brief second before finding my eyes again. “I don’t think so,” she said.

And that was that. Without another word, she turned and walked from the room. As she opened the door, the butler was outside waiting dutifully. She handed him her suitcase and strolled down the hallway and out of view. The butler, seeing my open fly, raised an eyebrow at me before following Kendra.

I remained where I was for a moment, fly undone, suitcase in my hand. I really had no idea what to make of what had just happened. Who had won that exchange? I liked to think that it was me. I was sure that I had gotten under her skin with the call from Loren. But her rejection of me, so cold and unforgiving, had put her back in a position of power. I didn’t want to think about it. Things between us were always so damn confusing.

I followed her down the hallway and to the elevator. By the time I got there, she was already gone. When I reached the private car outside, she was already in it. We rode to the airport in silence, we boarded the plane in silence, and we flew back to New York in silence.

When we landed, she called a cab. She barely offered me a wave before climbing in and taking off. I was sure that she still cared and that it was all an act to try and throw me off my game. But actually, I wasn’t so sure. Even at her worst, she’d never been this cold and unresponsive before.

I hadn’t been able to get a rise out of her, even though I’d given her ample opportunity. The call from Loren should have had her fuming, but she acted like she didn’t give a shit. When I suggested that she suck my cock, it was the perfect chance for her to lay into me. Or at least, she could have shown some kind of reaction. Amusement, disgust, annoyance, she had a million possible responses to an unwelcome request for a blowjob. And I would have taken any of those reactions as a positive sign.

But she gave me nothing. She just walked away. Someone once told me that the opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s indifference. I never quite understood what that meant until now. For someone to hate you, they still had to care about you in some form or fashion. They had to care enough to feel that emotion, negative as it may be. But if they didn’t care about you at all, then they were simply indifferent. They didn’t give a shit about you. That’s how Kendra had been acting. It bothered me more than if she’d screamed at me and hit me.

Had I totally ruined everything?

I still wanted her. As much as I ever did. But I didn’t want to go crawling to her on my hands and knees, begging. I didn’t want to chase after her. I wanted her to come to me.

As I headed back home in the backseat of the private car, I decided that there was only one thing that I could do. I was going to call up Loren and go on a date with her. If Kendra found out, which I’m sure that she would, she might begin to realize that I had options, and that she wasn’t the be all, end all to me. Maybe then, she would apologize and we would be able to get our relationship back on track.