“Don’t be like that, Cupcake, talk to me. Don’t you miss me?”
Audrey’s heart skipped a beat at the name he had for her. He used to always call her his little cupcake when she would be busy in the kitchen, working hard to make something good for him. That was when baking was most fun, when she had someone to bake for. Levi didn’t eat sweets much, but when he did, they would have a blast stuffing their faces. Those were the early days, when she mattered and when he was just with her, well, as far as she knew, anyways.
Moving away, she folded her arms across her chest. “Even if I do, it ain’t like you miss me. I saw you with her, Levi. Y’all looked really happy.”
Levi shook his head, moving on his knees to get closer to her. “I don’t want her. It’s a convenience, Cupcake. You’re the one I think of all the time.”
“No, I’m not,” Audrey scoffed.
Levi gave her a sweet shy smile, his eyes bright as he slid his hands down the backs of her calves to the five-inch coral suede Jimmy Choo heels that were killing her feet. He slowly slid her shoes off, taking her aching feet in his hands. Moving his skilled fingers along her arches, Audrey was basically in heaven with the devil knocking on her heart.
“Remember how good I make you feel, Cupcake? Remember?” he whispered against her bare knee. Closing her eyes and letting her head fall to the plush backing of her chair, she let out a long breath as he continued to move his fingers in just the right way to make her putty in his hands.
“Yes, but there are also times, I can very vividly remember you being a huge ass to me too.”
“But there are more good times than bad, you know that,” he whispered.
Levi was right, there were more good times, and they were great, but the bad times were worse. Opening her eyes, she sat up, removing her foot from his grasp. She couldn’t think straight when he was doing that. Looking into his deep brown eyes, she shook her head.
“You hurt me, Levi, countless times.”
Levi moved up on his knees, leaning over to cup her face softly. He skimmed his thumb along her bottom lip, while still holding her gaze with his. “I want our good times.”
The next thing she knew, their mouths were connected and his hands were in her hair, pulling her closer. His lips were thin but efficient. As his tongue swept inside her mouth, she felt her heart stop. She had missed his lips and his kisses so much. She found herself drowning in them when she knew she shouldn’t. But it seemed that no matter how far away she was from him, she could always feel him near. She wanted nothing more than to drown in his love and be his forever, but she knew this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He was just ready to get laid again.
“No, you don’t,” she said, moving away, “you want to have sex with me, that’s all.”
“Well yeah, but, Audrey, that’s not all. I miss your laugh, and I’ve never missed someone’s laugh before.”
Audrey shook her head. “Levi, I want more, and you know that.”
He rolled his eyes. “I can’t give you the husband, kids, and white picket fence, but I can give you a good time, and maybe in the future I’ll change my mind. Damn it, Audrey, I’ve missed you. You’re my number one girl.”
“Out of how many?” she said in disgust, moving away. There needed to be distance between them. She was doing a good job withstanding him. She couldn’t stop. Not now.
“Don’t be like that, Cupcake,” he said, pulling her close to him. She didn’t know how he did it again, but she found herself in his arms, looking deep into his eyes. “Let’s start over. Let’s not jump into a domestic relationship where you cook, clean, and take care of me. Let’s just try to be friends that, you know, fool around.”
“So you want me to be a convenience fuck? I’m not her,” Audrey said, referring to Janet.