“Oh that’s good,” he growls, his voice dropping lower with pleasure.
I let him take control, let him pull my mouth over the head, let him tug me back and forth by my hair as he fucks my mouth, his thrusts getting more urgent as I suck deeper and harder. I roll my tongue over the texture of his skin, squeeze it between my lips until I can feel the blood throbbing. His cock fills my mouth, head grasping for the back of my throat, choking me slightly, so that even the release of breath is suspended in my body. I cup his balls and squeeze them, just firm enough to push him further into his growling, pumping mania.
The music thumps and wails, filling my ears as I suck and lick and choke on Cole, devouring him hungrily, so ready to swallow him down that I don’t even care about catching my breath. I need this as much as he does.
When he comes I feel it as intimately as Cole, his desire and orgasm concentrated into a hot pulse that pushes across my tongue and into the back of my throat, a taste I suck down and lick clean as he slumps back against the wall and I rise up to face him. Then, as quickly as the urge took me, something snaps.
I pull back, and he looks concerned as I stand panting in front of him.
“Whoa, there. You okay?”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, feeling like I’ve slammed into reality—or like reality slammed into me. “I guess I just got carried away.”
“Guess I did too,” he laughs. “Do you want to—”
I feel a touch on my shoulder and jump, turning to find Asha smiling too-wide, her gaze flicking between me and Cole.
“Hey,” she says to me, before looking Cole up and down, and repeating in a voice much slower and more confrontational. “Hey.”
Cole acknowledges her with a nod. “Well-meaning roommate, I take it? I’m Cole. Pleasure to meet you.” He extends a hand and Asha takes it, her mama bear stance gone now, fluttering her lashes in the dark.
“Asha,” she purrs, “and the pleasure’s all mine.” She holds on a beat too long before letting go of his hand reluctantly. Then she glances at me. “Everything cool?”
“Yeah. We should get going,” I say, tossing a wave at Cole before locking arms with Asha and dragging her away.
Once we’ve disappeared into the crowd, Asha leans over to me and through her broad grin says, “You were in a hurry to get out of there, little miss naughty. Hooking up with the boss again? No judgment from me, but…”
“I don’t know what I was doing,” I say with a groan. “I mean I do know, and I wanted to do it, but now…I guess I don’t know if I really want to get involved with him if this is just gonna be some kind of bootycall situation. I thought I didn’t care, but…”
Asha nods in understanding. “You think you two’ve got something going on, though? Something that could be more than a one night stand?”
“I think…” my voice trails off as I try to get a grasp on things. Then I shake my head. “No. I think I made a mistake. One I won’t be making again.”
9
Cole
I can still taste her the morning after. It’s difficult to forget some things, especially when you don’t quite understand them. And Willow’s a mystery, even though it doesn’t seem like she has any self-awareness about it. A girl beautiful enough to coast through life on a sea of attention and obliviousness, yet who somehow developed a raw talent the likes of which comes very rarely, who also happens to have the determination and principles of an old hand, yet who can manage to talk to a girl of nine like she’s still a big kid herself. Speaking of which…
“I’m bored. You said you’d only be a minute. It’s been five. I was counting.”
I look up from my desk to see Chloe sitting on a wine crate, swinging her legs and pouting.
“Just one more second,” I say, finishing off the signing of a few more papers. Then I put my pen down and look at her. “Ok then.”
“Can we hang out with Willow?” Chloe says, after we regard each other silently for a moment.
Now I’m the one shaking my head.
“No. Her shift doesn’t start for another five hours.”
“Is she your girlfriend?”
I look at her, a little curious. Maybe it’s true what they say about kids—they can sense things.
“What’s with all the questions?”
Chloe smiles.
“I think you like her.”
I clear my throat and shuffle the papers on the desk. “She’s a good chef and she keeps my kitchen running smoothly. So yeah, I like her.”
Chloe smiles even more broadly now, hopping down from the wine crate to come closer. Now I feel like she’s the one playing games with me.
“You should ask her to be your girlfriend. She’s funny. And pretty. And smart.”
“You’re gonna be a hell of a ballbreaker when you get older, aren’t you?”
“What’s a ballbreaker?”
I stand up and move to the door, gesturing for her to go through it.
“Come on. We’re gonna get you in the kitchen today.”
Chloe goes stock still. “Really? You really think I’m ready?”
“I really do. You nailed that prep work last week.” I give her a high five and as she practically dances down the hall ahead of me, I start to feel like I might not be so bad at this kid stuff after all.
There’s nobody in there now, it being so early in the morning, and once we’re standing among the polished metal appliances and clean surfaces, I turn to Chloe—who stands wide-eyed with awe at all the gleaming tools and professional fixtures—and clap my hands, the closest I can get to creating a sense of excitement.
“So you’ve settled on a pasta dish for the competition, yes?” She nods. “Let’s cook some pasta, then. Have you figured out what kind you’d like to use?”
Without missing a beat, she says, “Ravioli.”
“Ravioli?”
“Yep,” she says, assured. “I even know what I want to stuff it with. Something cheesy…hmm. And mushrooms, maybe. Like the ones we got at the farmers’ market.”
I nod, feeling a little swelling of pride at her growing confidence.
“You ever made your own ravioli before?” I ask.
Chloe looks at me a little uncertainly.
“Kinda? I usually just use lasagna sheets.”
“Well then you’re missing out on half the fun, and on top of that, pasta out of a box can’t hold a candle to the kind you make from scratch. Quick: Pick a color,” I say. “Green, red, black…”
“Red,” Chloe says, responding quickly.
“Good choice,” I say, moving to the vegetable stores to find beets.