“So it's good?” Tori asked once they were seated in a tiny cafe, sipping at americanos.
“Yeah. Feels different, after all this time, but it's good. I missed it,” Katya responded.
“Good. That's good. Now we can talk about way more important stuff.”
Katya went still. Her roommate didn't know about her less than decorous behavior the night before. She hadn't seen Tori since the morning before, since the girl had gone to straight to work from downtown. Katya had left her room long enough to tidy up the crazy scene she and Wulf had left in the hallway, then she'd taken a second shower before going to bed early.
She most definitely didn't deserve dessert, not after the bad things she'd been doing with him. She was embarrassed with herself, that she'd caved so easily. That she'd been so desperate and needy. God, she'd begged him. Begged. It was a little humiliating. And then she hadn't said anything, done anything, to stop him from walking out the door.
“Like what?” Katya asked carefully. Tori started digging around in her jacket, then pulled a long piece of material out of a pocket.
“Like what the hell is this?” she asked, dropping it on the table.
Katya groaned as she realized what it was – Wulf's tie. The one she'd clobbered with the cupcake. It must have gotten tossed or kicked into the kitchen. She'd only cleaned up the hallway. She frowned and picked up the offending piece of silk, looking over the dried and caked on chocolate filling.
“Um, this is ...” she mumbled, trying to think of a plausible lie.
“That is sex,” Tori said loudly.
“Shhh!” Katya hissed quickly when a table of old ladies glanced at them. “It's a frickin' tie, Tori. That's it.”
“Yeah, okay,” her roommate snickered. “Just an expensive silk tie, that was probably ripped off in a fit of passion and thrown across a room, right before some brooding jerk boffed your brains out.”
“I will get up and leave, and you will never hear the story,” Katya warned her. Tori sighed and leaned back in her chair.
“Alright, alright. I'll keep it down. So what happened?”
Katya gave a watered down version of the evening – a surprisingly cozy dinner with Liam, cuddling on the couch. Waking up and being stalked by an angry wolf. She didn't give all the gory details, but enough to get it across that yes, some brooding jerk had indeed “boffed her brains out”.
“Please don't make it into a big deal,” she whispered at the end, rolling up Wulf's tie and wrapping it in a napkin before shoving it into her own pocket.
“How can I not!? For weeks you've been moping around about these dudes – now you're finally back where you were before. Isn't that a good thing?” Tori asked. Katya shook her head.
“No – before I was caught between two men. Now I'm back in that same position, only the men are much, much worse in my eyes. I still don't fully trust either of them, and Wulf still thinks it's a game. He just walked out afterwards, laughing about the whole thing. Laughing. I wanted to die a little, I was so angry.”
“Okay, so drop the jerk and go with Liam.”
“It's not that easy. I don't want to … how did this turn into a choosing thing!?” Katya suddenly exclaimed. “I was supposed to be using them. Torturing them. Now it's a contest for which prince can climb my tower and win me over.”
“Climb your tower, huh. That's a new one on me. Is that like when one of them eats you -”
“Tori.”
The other girl cackled and downed the rest of her coffee before sitting upright.
“Well, on the bright side, at least you're not angry at them anymore, right?”
“... well, I guess so … kinda ...”
“And a little sex never hurt anybody.”
“Wrong.”
“You look more relaxed, so there's that.”
Katya didn't feel relaxed. She felt hot and bothered. Caught between being raging pissed off at Wulf, and so incredibly turned on she wanted to drive to his work and fuck him right at his big desk. She felt worried and guilty, because while he was still playing some stupid one-up-manship game, Liam was pouring his heart out and making a real effort.
I have to tell him.
“I have to tell Liam what I did,” Katya sighed, rubbing at her temples.
“Are you going to sleep with him, too?” Tori asked. Katya barked out a laugh.
“I didn't want to sleep with Wulf, it just happened. I don't know. I don't think so? God, I don't know,” she groaned again.
“Look, it's like I said,” Tori sighed, climbing out of her chair. “Just do you. Keep doing what feels right, and eventually, it'll lead you where you need to be. It's how the universe works.”
“And what about you?” Katya asked, leaning back so she could look up at her friend. “How come we never talk about your love life? Who's boffing your brains out?”
“God, I wish. I'm all about that cash nowadays. Liam's promoting me to night shift manager downstairs, comes with a big raise.”
“That's amazing, Tori. Good for you!”
“Thanks. I've been working really hard for it. I know I'm still pretty new, but I'm the best he's got down there. And you know, I think it's better this way. Keeping busy, focusing on work. No offense, but I don't want your boy problems,” she laughed. “I went through all that before on my own, and no thank you. I think lil' Tori just needs to take a well deserved break from men.”
She was smiling and she was laughing while she spoke, but Katya got the feeling her friend didn't feel like doing either of those things. In fact, she felt like Tori almost seemed a little sad. Like she was covering something up with all the big grins and talk of hard work.
“Are you sure you don't have anything you want to talk about?” Katya asked. Tori shrugged and began wrapping her scarf back around her neck.
“Lots of things. Like bears. How weird is hibernation? Not peeing for months on end? How do they do that?”
Katya rolled her eyes.
“You know that's not what I meant. What's going -”
“Would love to talk, gotta run, gotta bar to manage. Kisses!” Tori called out as she strode for the door, blowing kisses over her shoulder. Then with the tinkle of a bell, she was gone, leaving Katya blinking in her wake.
Hmmm, I am going to have to tie her down and get the truth out of her, eventually.
*
She threw herself into her work for the rest of the day, ignoring her phone entirely. Liam was really back to his old self, sending her silly messages and pictures through the afternoon. Wulf texted once, just one line, like normal. Something vaguely smug and slightly dirty. Enough to piss her off even more and turn her on more.
Asshole.