I pick up the dishrag and throw it at his face. “You’re an asshole! I’m going to shower, and then we’ll book our flight and my hotel room. Let me know if you want to join me, so I can book double beds.”
While I’m in the shower, I hear my phone ring at least three times. I rinse the shampoo out of my hair quickly and dry myself on my way over to it. Cole. Jesus Christ, what the heck does he want now?
“Aubry!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I wrap the towel tightly around myself.
I open the door and take a startled step back when I find him standing in front of me with his phone to his ear and a smug look on his face.
“She’s standing right in front of me, dripping wet with nothing but a tiny white towel on. I’m pretty sure I can see her nipples. Let me take a closer look,” he says into the phone. I hear Cole screaming at him that he’s going to kill him before he hands the phone over to me, snickering. I laugh and take it before I glare at him and close my door.
“Hey,” I say as I rest the phone on my shoulder.
“Are you really dripping wet and wearing a tiny white towel?” he asks in a raspy low voice.
“Yes, I just got out of the shower.”
“Good,” he exhales into the line. “At least I don’t have this raging hard on for no reason.”
My mouth dries and my insides flip as I feel my body reacting to his words. My nipples are hardening and the insides of my legs are pooling with warm anticipation. I let out a low moan and curse myself when I realize he can hear it.
“Jesus, baby. Don’t make that sound. I’m going to come in my pants,” he groans. I hold in a breath and clench my hands around my towel with my left hand to keep it from falling.
“Cole,” I warn hastily.
“Undo your towel,” he orders hoarsely. I don’t know why I am even considering this, but I play along and do as I’m told.
“Cole, where are you?” I ask breathily.
“I just got home. I’m about to run up stairs to my room. Hold on,” he says nearly panting.
As I wait for him to go upstairs, I close my eye and take a deep breath. I can’t believe I’m actually considering this after all this time. Then I remember him picking up the phone the other night, and suddenly I feel like a bucket of ice has been thrown on my libido.
“Does Erin live with you?” I ask with my eyes screwed shut, as if it’ll make a difference once I hear the answer.
He exhales harshly. “No. Can we please not talk about her?”
I stay silent unsure of what to say. I know if we continue what we’re doing, everything between us will change, and the more I think about it the more I want it to. I don’t want Erin in his life anymore.
“Baby,” he says hoarsely. “When I stroke myself, like I’m doing now, you’re the one I think about. I see your stormy gray eyes looking into mine, wanting me. I feel your small delicate hands wrap around my dick. I feel your plush pink lips wrap around me and your sweet tongue circle around it.”
His silky voice makes my eyes flutter closed and my lips part slightly. I’m laying in bed, chest heaving, heart stammering against my chest thinking about all the reasons I shouldn’t do this.
“Cole,” I moan. “We shouldn’t do this. This is wrong.”
“It’s not wrong. It’s you and me, baby,” he whispers. “Touch yourself. Please. Close your eyes and picture me looking down at you.” And I do. I picture his hooded green eyes looking at me as he positions his body over mine. “I’m cupping your breasts with my hands and flicking your nipples with my thumbs as I lick the shell of your ear. I’m nibbling on your earlobe the way you like.” His words make me throw my head back and let out a low moan. “I’m running my tongue down your neck to your nipples. I pull one into my mouth and nip it the way you like-”
“Cole, Oh god,” I pant as I follow my body with his words, replicating the beautiful torture he’s describing.
“That’s right, baby,” he husks.
Suddenly there’s loud pounding on my door.
I let out a frustrated groan. “I’m on Aubry’s phone. He’s knocking on my door. He might need it.”
“Fucking fuck,” he shouts. “Fucking Aubry and his ability to cock block even when I’m miles away from you,” he says, his breathing heavy.
I let out a strangled laugh as I get up and wrap the towel around myself again.
“What’d you need to talk to me about?” I ask remembering that he called to ask me something.
“Aubry says you’re not staying in my house when you come this weekend. I can assure you, especially after this conversation, that you’re not staying anywhere else.”
“Cole,” I start as I open the door and find Aubry with an eyebrow raised. I’m sure my flushed face has “guilty” written all over it. “I’d rather stay at a hotel. I really don’t want to see Erin after what happened the other day,” I say. I really don’t want to see her at all, but I’ll keep that to myself.
“We’ll see about that,” Cole says and I hand the phone over to Aubry.
Aubry gets it and greets Cole again. As he walks away I hear him say, “Don’t worry, Cole. I’ll pick up where you left off.”
I laugh and close my door. That night, I fall asleep smiling, and dream about Cole’s body over mine.
Chapter 8
Present
“It feels so good to be getting out of here,” Aubry says as we wait in the security line at O’Hare International Airport.
I was able to get out of staying in Cole’s house. Luckily, he didn’t argue when I told him I would prefer to stay in the city. His house is a thirty-five minute drive to the city, so I told him I’d rather stay with Becky and shop while he’s at work.
“Sure does,” I say smiling.
I still haven’t checked out the safety deposit box at the bank. I’ve gone and chickened out three times. I haven’t even been able to step inside the iron doors. I contemplated telling Mark about it, but I still don’t know how much I can trust him. Shelley did tell me to question everything, and even though she said he has my best intentions, she doesn’t know what happened that night. Since I can’t rely on the memory of my four year old self, I’ll just have to question his motives.
We arrive in New York at noon, and take a cab to the Waldorf Astoria, which is where Greg’s team is staying. He was assigned to room with a teammate, so that he would be less distracted so Becky, Aubry, and I will be sharing a two bedroom suite. I’m sure Greg will find a way to sneak in there as well, though. When we pull up in front of the stunning hotel, Aubry gets our suitcases out and tips the cabbie, who did not say one welcoming word to us during the ride. He did however, make sure to tell us three times that the credit card machine was broken. Somehow, I doubt the machine was broken, but thankfully we had cash.
As soon as we step into the luxurious lobby, we are greeted by a shrieking fiery redhead. We hug, kiss and examine each other’s outfits and faces a hundred times. The last time I saw Becky was during Christmas, so I’m glad for this weekend with her. She informs us that Greg’s coach is still being lenient and not enforcing rules yet since the real season hasn’t started. The Chargers are playing the Jets in a scrimmage game tomorrow night. So while Greg is in a team meeting, Becky is ready to shop.