Chronicles of a Serial Dater - Book 4: A New Adult Romantic Comedy (2 page)

“You know, you think you’re such a
playa?
That you’re just running around playing the game?” I asked, throwing air quotes up at the last part. “You’re not sexually liberated. You’re terrified. You use sex as a way of keeping your emotions locked away, hiding behind random hookups with men you know you’ll never develop feelings for.”

“And what about her?” she spat, pointing at the front door. “You know I’m into her.”

“Which is why you should be on your knees thanking me for scaring her off. You were about to turn a girl you actually care about into a one-night-stand you wouldn’t be able to recover from.”

“No, instead I didn’t get to have sex with her and she thinks she just caught us in some lover’s spat. And if I can’t get laid, you can’t get laid. You have to stop this whole thing with Zach.”

I thought I sensed an opportunity to convince her things were actually okay. “It’s not even like we’re in a relationship. Sometimes you get an itch that needs to be scratched and that’s just what we’re doing right now. No strings, just sex with someone who respects and cares about me. That’s it. You should be happy I’m having the best sex of my life, regardless of who it’s with. I’m enjoying myself and so is he. The end.”

Apparently she didn’t see the chance to reconcile. “You do realize when most people feel an itch, it means they have an STD? Put some fucking ointment on that shit and stop fucking your best friend. Can’t you see he cares about you? Why the hell would you choose Zach if you’re doing this whole thing just to find someone else to have sex with? That’s crazy, selfish and fucked up. You’re using him and that’s foul as hell. The only thing that’s gonna come from this is hurt. I’m not interested in being stuck in the middle as you two try to put the pieces back together. Because it will fall apart, you know that right? That’s
exactly
what’s going to happen, Talia.”

I stared at her, blinking in disbelief. “You know what? I can’t. I’m done with this shit.”

A few moments later, I stood in my room seething.

I’ve never felt simultaneously right and wrong. I guess I’d been so wrapped up in the excitement of hooking up with Zach, of finally getting laid, I hadn’t thought what Anette might actually think. And then sending that blog post… maybe on a subconscious level, I wanted to get caught. It wasn’t like me to hide things from my friends like that.

At the same time, I was an adult. I could screw and write and do whatever the hell I wanted without checking in with another human being. The fact she felt entitled to that pissed me off each time I thought about it.

I don’t want to hear, talk to, see, or even be in the same apartment as her,
I thought.

“Fuck it,” I muttered when I finally made up my mind. I checked the time and figured he wouldn’t mind me showing up unannounced at any hour.

I stormed into the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush, slamming the door behind me. Anette stepped from the kitchen into the living room just as I was about to reach for the front doorknob.

“We need to talk about this,” she started. Her attempt at playing peacemaker was too little, too late.

I clenched my teeth. “You’ve made yourself abundantly clear.”

“I’m only looking out for you. I don’t want you to…” She trailed off, a realization holding her tongue. She glanced at my hand, then the door, and put it together. “You were going to go up there, weren’t you?”

“No,” I said, turning to face her. “I
am
going up there.”

She pressed her lips together and looked to the ceiling. “You are just a seven-layer-dip of stubborn, aren’t you?”

“Ha!”

She shook her head and stomped into the kitchen, rifling through a drawer before banging it shut.
Snip. Snipsnipsnip.
With a pair of scissors raised above her head and pointed at me, she cut the air.

“What the hell are you doing?” I sneered.

“Cutting the strings. That way you can’t use them to find me when you want to come crawling back.”

“Good!”

“Good.”

I couldn’t believe how much I hated her in that moment. It was like a pod-person had taken over my best friend’s body.

I wrenched the door open and heard her call out. “Tell your little fuck buddy I said, ‘What’s up?’”

I slammed the front door and plodded barefoot up the stairs. I imagined stomping on Anette’s smug face with each footfall. Still fired up, I pounded my fist on Zach’s door. A moment later, he flung it open, looking panicked and half-awake.

“Wha-what’s wrong?” he blinked, wiping his face with his palm. He held a sheet around his waist and looked up and down the hall.

“Nothing,” I snapped, pushing my way into the apartment and closing the door behind.

“What time is it? Are you okay?”

Somehow my anger had morphed into desire, a fiery rage turned heat. “I will be once you’re inside me,” I purred. I casually pulled my top up, exposing my bare chest as I took another step forward. I hid the toothbrush in the discarded clothing and dropped it to the floor.

Zach’s eyebrows shot up as his gaze fell to my breasts. “That can be arranged,” he smiled, dropping the sheet.

I pushed him back against the wall, stepping out of my shorts with a quick movement. I felt like a woman possessed, dirty talk falling from my lips like it was the most natural thing in the world. “I want to taste you,” I said as I pinned him with one hand.

His mouth fell open as he leaned his head back. “Again, I’m happy to oblige.”

With a deliberate gesture, I made a big show of gliding my hands down his torso. I traced the line of muscle at his hip down to the dark patch of hair, teasing, testing. I looked up and met his eyes as my hand dipped further. Avoiding the now throbbing issue between us, I felt the soft skin on the crease of his thigh. Watching his reactions was hypnotic. I wanted to make more.

I kissed a line down his body until I sank onto my knees. Without touching him, I peered up and gave him a seductive smile.

“You can wake me up like this any time,” he breathed.

I smirked and took him into my hand. After a few strokes, a tiny glittering drop of precum emerged on the tip. Eyes locked on his, I dipped my tongue forward and gave it a long, sweeping lick. Zach slammed his head against the wall with a long moan.

That sound was an auditory aphrodisiac. It made me feel like a powerful goddess, a woman in the prime of her sexual glory. Zach was the lucky mortal I chose to service.

I took him fully into my mouth, my hands, lips, and tongue working in unison. His groans fueled my need.
I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m completely in control here,
I thought as his fingers threaded behind my head.
Anette can just fuck right off.

I wasn’t thinking about Anette while blowing Zach, not exactly. Nor was I having sex with him just to spite her. But I can’t deny there wasn’t an element of that involved. I was pissed off at her and myself for rising to her provocation.

To be fair, I was probably more distracted by the argument than I’m letting on. I missed a down stroke and accidentally grazed a tooth along the sensitive ridge on his cock.

“
Ahhh
,” he cried, bucking his hips away. His painful cry was most definitely an anti-aphrodisiac.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” I said as I jumped to my feet.

“It’s all good.” The wincing expression and gritted teeth told another story.

I kissed his chest, running my fingers down his side back to the hardness between his legs. After a few test strokes, I knew he was ready to continue.

I took a step back and pointed to the bedroom. “Get in there, on your back, condom on.”

Zach’s eyes widened and glittered with amusement. “Yes ma’am!”

I’m pretty sure if he’d called me ‘mistress’ the whole mood would’ve been killed on the spot.

I gave him a couple seconds head start and followed in after, stripping bare along the way. I found him obediently waiting on the bed.

Without a word, I climbed on top and guided him inside. Balancing myself on his chest, I closed my eyes and lost myself in the sensation. I’d never experienced the combustible blend of anger and lust, but I was fully engulfed now. Fingernails dug into his flesh. I slapped his hands away when he grabbed my hips, pinning them above his head.

Dipping my head low, I nibbled at his skin, maybe biting a little too hard on one of his nipples. I wanted to fuck him so hard Anette’s bed would be rocking downstairs. I wanted to make him cum so hard the sound would wake her up.

With a growl, Zach physically picked me up and slid out from underneath. “You want to try rough?” he asked as he pushed me onto my hands and knees.

I was panting with the effort of riding him, my thighs trembling. He slid a careful hand along my back and gathered all my hair in one fist, giving it a test tug backward. My back curved in response, ass rising to him.

After another growl, I felt him at my entrance again, other hand at my hip. Up until now, our sex had been mostly fun and explorative. I’d stormed in fiery but there was something about Zach taking charge that made me burn white hot.

With my head pulled back, my moans became loud and uninhibited. He dipped his hand around my waist to rub my clit, his thrusts shallow and urgent. It only took a few moments before I crashed against him, my cursing orgasm buried in the pillows. The pain at my scalp coupled with the pleasure between my legs in a way I’d never experienced before. I fell to my elbows as he held me by both hips.

After I took a moment to recover, I turned my head to watch over my shoulder. The second our eyes met, Zach’s mouth fell open in a silent groan. His body stiffened, fingers digging into my hips, as he finished.

We collapsed in a sweaty heap, silent until our breathing slowed. A tension in my body had loosened, but my mind was still churning. As we relaxed in his bed, Zach sensed my unease.

“Are you okay?” he mumbled.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Did I… I didn’t mean to take over like that,” he said, sitting up on one elbow.

“No, it’s nothing like that.” I didn’t want to go into the whole thing, but I couldn’t lie to him. “Anette and I had a fight. A big one.”

“Really?” he frowned. “That’s not like you two.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “I know. It’s just… I really don’t want to see her tonight. Do you mind if I just stay here?”

“That’s breaking one of our rules, you know,” he gently chided.

I groaned. “I know, but I don’t think I can…”

Zach bent and kissed me tenderly on the forehead. “I’m just messin’ with you. Of course you can stay.” He settled in beside me for a moment before lifting his head off the pillow again. “Unless…”

“What?”

“Did you sleep with me just so you could spend the night?”

I laughed and gave him a little shove. “No!”

He dropped his head again and nodded. “Okay, just checking.” He let a few moments pass before adding, “For the record, I’d totally be okay with that.”

I poked him once more and rolled over. “Go to sleep.”

And as easy as if we’d been doing it for years, Zach and I fell asleep in the same bed. His arm draped over my waist, our bodies slotted together as naturally as any other couple. I know it’s wrong, but as I drifted off, I allowed myself to pretend that he was my boyfriend, a loving partner who would be there for me when I woke up in the morning.