by Renee, DC
“Shit,” I said, realizing I hadn’t thought this through. “I don’t have a condom,” I told her. “I haven’t needed one in a while,” I admitted.
“I’m clean,” she told me. “It’s been a while for me too,” she said. “I’m on the pill, and I got checked after the last time…like a year ago,” she muttered the last part as if she were embarrassed. I got momentarily jealous of thinking who that fucker was, and at the same time, happy that it had been a while for her too. Not like me, but a while nonetheless.
“I haven’t been with anyone since Tracy,” I told her even though I’d already said that before, and she knew it herself.
“Then I’m yours,” she told me.
“Are you sure?”
“I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d want to share this with.” Her words made me realize this would be the first time she would have sex without a condom, and fuck if it didn’t do something to the caveman in me to know that. To know I was giving her a first, to know she was sharing something truly special with me. I didn’t know that I deserved her, but I couldn’t stop myself now even if I wanted to.
I moved over her and pushed inside, hard and rough. She cried out and arched her back. I couldn’t go slow. I couldn’t. I needed her too much.
“Shit, Hadley, you feel incredible,” I told her.
“Yes,” she said as I moved in and out.
“I’m sorry,” I told her in advance. “I’ll make it up to you later.”
“For what?”
“You feel too good. I can’t…I’m so close.”
“Let go,” she said.
I did. I came hard. “I’m sorry,” I told her after I had enough brain cells to climb off her.
“I’m not,” she said. “That was incredible,” she said with a goofy smile.
“Yeah,” I said with a giant smile of my own. “It was. But I’ll make up for the quickness later. I’d go for round two now, but you have to leave soon.”
“Oh crap,” she said. “I forgot about that pesky thing. Darn work.”
“If it wasn’t for your work, we’d have never met,” I pointed out.
“Okay, fine. Work isn’t pesky. But it’s a major cockblocker right now.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say something about my cock not being blocked, but I had a feeling now wasn’t the time for a joke like that. “Tonight,” I told her. “You, me, nothing between us, no work calling our name.”
“Sounds like heaven,” she said. Being with you was heaven. Can’t wait for you to take me there again.
I was tempted to offer to take a shower together, but I had a feeling that would lead to no good. Instead, I led her to the bathroom, started the shower for her, and walked out.
“You’re not going to stay?” she asked.
“If I stay, you’re going to be late for work.”
“Ah, gotcha, Doctor,” she said.
“I wish I could stay,” she said when she exited the shower, “but alas, work.” She gave me a quick peck.
I watched as she got dressed. It wasn’t meant to be sensual, but everything Hadley did was sexy. I was so lost in her that I almost forgot to tell her she had missed a call. “Your phone rang while you were in the shower,” I told her.
“Huh, wonder who would call this early? Shit, I hope it’s not an issue with work.”
“Am I the only one you visit personally?” I asked, suddenly realizing how we had started and feeling an unnatural jealousy.
She looked up, aware of the emotions I was unsuccessfully hiding. “You’re cute when you’re jealous,” she said. “I did meet with some of the candidates, but there is only one grumpy sexy doctor who I spend all my time with,” she told me as she made her way to her phone.
“Huh, that’s odd,” she said as she looked at the phone.
“Everything okay?” I asked, instantly worried.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s no big deal,” she said, waving me off. I was about to ask if she was sure when she made her way to me, silencing me with a kiss, one full of promises of what was to come.
I kissed her back with my own promises.
And I couldn’t wait.
Hadley
“OH MY GOD, you slept with him,” Sidney said the minute she saw me at work. I’d gone to grab a cup of coffee, having needed it after the early morning wake-up call. Best wake-up call there was, if you ask me, but coffee couldn’t hurt. Sidney walked into the break room right as I was adding creamer.
“What…how…how the hell did you know?” I asked, finally deciding not to bother trying to hide it.
“I didn’t actually,” she said with a raised eyebrow. “Well, not until you confirmed it,” she added with a chuckle. “I just saw you smirking, humming, and moving ever so slightly to your own music. I knew that meant you were in an extra-good mood. I was just messing with you at first.”
“I didn’t even realize I was singing.”
“Technically, it was humming. Speaking of hummers, spill.” Oh, I spilled all right. I spilled my coffee after that sentence. It was just a few drops since I’d picked up my cup right as I laughed at her choice of wording. “Humming, giving hummers, see the correlation?” she asked for good measure.
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh and a nod. “I got that part, thanks.”
“So you got laid, huh?” I couldn’t help but smile wide in response. “That good, huh?”
“Better,” I told her.
“Finally!” she exclaimed, and I gave a look full of questions. “I didn’t even need to be around you two to know it was bound to happen. From everything you’ve told me, you guys were inevitable. How’d it happen?”
We walked to her office before I spoke. “He wasn’t at the hospital when I was there with Jacob yesterday,” I told her. She knew I visited him. “So I texted him. He never answered. I called, and he didn’t pick up, so I got worried something had happened. After work, I went to him. And it was a good thing I did because he was a mess. It was the anniversary of his wife’s death. I gave him a shoulder to cry on and an arm to hold him up. Stayed with him so he wouldn’t be alone.”
“You guys had sex on the anniversary of his wife’s death?” Sidney asked, a little shock coloring her tone.
“God, no, that’s just…no, just no. What kind of person do you take me for?”
“I mean, some people cope with grief by needing to feel close to someone. It’s not the weirdest thing to happen, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he needed to feel you to feel alive, especially on a day filled with the memory of death. It’s just…that would suck if that was your first time together. Needing you to make it better is one thing if you’re already together, but your first time together deserves to be your own. Nothing between you two.”
“It happened this morning,” I told her. “He asked me to stay the night but not in a sexual way, so I did. When I woke up, something was different between us. It was in the way he was looking at me.” I realized I had to send Bella an email with details the minute I got back to my desk. She had told me I better call her the minute it happened. “Time difference be damned,” she’s said, but I knew she was overworked and tired, so I wasn’t going to wake her up. She’d kill me, though, if she knew someone else knew before she did. I just wouldn’t tell her I’d told Sidney.
“You being there for him made him realize you weren’t leaving. It’s like he was waiting for the confirmation that he wasn’t going to lose you too before he allowed himself to get more invested,” she mused.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding in agreement. She was right. I hadn’t realized at the time, but her rationale made a lot of sense. “I think you’re right. And then…it just happened. I’m going to his place again tonight,” I added sheepishly.
“Look at you, you little nymph,” she said with a chuckle.
“Oh, please,” I said. “I’ve seen Grayson. You want to tell me you don’t climb him like a tree every chance you get?”
“Guilty,” she responded with a wide smile and a
bit of a faraway look as if she was thinking of doing just that.
“I guess I have to step away, right?”
“Sorry, Hadley,” she said, a look of pity crossing her face. “I know how much it means to be able to lead this, but there will be other assignments that you’ll own. I promise. Don’t forget who’s the boss around here. And as the boss, I can safely say you’ve been on top of your game this entire time. I’ve been very impressed with how you’ve handled everything. You definitely showcased your leadership and management skills as well as your interpersonal skills by dealing with all the readers and contestants. You have a big career ahead of you.”
I could literally feel my body puffing up like a proud peacock. Words of praise from my role model—especially those words of praise…man, I couldn’t even describe how I felt. Such a high. But it still sucked I had to step away from my baby.
“You could always ask him to bow out, but we both know you won’t do that,” she told me.
“No,” I responded, a firm shake of my head following. “He needs this. He needs to see what others see. I’m hoping the same thing his mother-in-law thought when she entered him—that if he wins, it will be a big step in alleviating his guilt for not saving his wife, despite the fact there was nothing he could do. And therefore, he is a good person. No, not just good, a great guy, a hero.”
“You know your face lights up when you talk about him?” she asked.
“Oh?” I asked. “I didn’t know.”
“Well, you blush when you talk about his body or sex, but you light up talking about him as a person. I’m just going to point that out and let you think about what that means. But if it helps, you don’t have to step away from the contest just yet. There is one more round before the finals. You only have to walk away if he makes it to the finals.”
“He’ll make it,” I said confidently.
“Well, then, it’s your choice if you want to walk away and work on something else now, or if you want to wait and see. You don’t have to answer me now. Think about it.”
“Okay,” I told her. “I will.” I got up to leave but stopped and turned before I reached the door. “Sidney, thank you.”
“Of course.”
“For everything,” I told her. “For mentoring me, for this opportunity, for trusting me, and for the encouragement. But most of all, for being a good listener.”
“That’s what friends are for,” she said with a shrug. “You’ll be there for me when I need it too.”
Friends. Huh…I guess we were. And I was truly happy about it. “Yeah,” I said. “I will.”
“Good, now get back to work and don’t daydream about Dr. Hottie too much, alright?” she said, but her smile gave away her teasing.
“No promises,” I teased right back.
It was still morning, and today had been one of the best days already. And there was still so much more of the day to go. I couldn’t wait.
Noah
THAT MORNING, ALBEIT meaningful, was impulsive. I didn’t give Hadley the time and attention she deserved, which is why I wanted a do-over tonight. But it wasn’t just about sex, although, dear Lord, I couldn’t stop thinking about her creamy thighs or pretty pink nipples. Thoughts of being inside her again made it really freaking hard—pun intended—to plan the night for her. I wanted to give her a night she wouldn’t forget—and not just like that.
At first, I wasn’t sure what to do. I debated on taking her someplace nice, but I realized that I wanted to be at my home with her, wanted the intimacy, wanted the close contact, wanted the ability to have her for dessert. So I cooked her favorite dish. Yeah, I knew what it was—lasagna. I hoped to God it turned out okay because it was my first time making it, but the YouTube chef made it seem easy, so there was that. Call me a pussy if you want, but I even found a video on how to make the table all fancy and shit like they do in restaurants.
Although I wasn’t joking about having her for dessert, I drove across town to get her favorite ice cream. Was she worth me driving around all day and figuring out how to make lasagna and appropriate sides—from scratch, I should add—along with cleaning and setting up? One hundred percent worth it.
Hadley had given me something when I thought I was incapable of it—healing, hope, and heart.
I knew it was early, but I didn’t see an end to her, to us. But if that day came, she still would be worth it.
“Is that lasagna I smell?” she asked after she walked in like she owned the place. Well, after I kissed her first.
“And garlic bread, sautéed green beans, and a Caesar salad,” I flaunted. Of course, I was looking for brownie points. You think I did all this trying not to woo her? “And I have a surprise for dessert,” I added.
“What? What? Tell me, tell me,” she said as she jumped up and down like a kid. I laughed and pointed her toward the freezer. She literally squealed when she saw the container. Oh yeah, worth it.
“Well, Dr. Hottie, I do believe you are getting laid tonight,” she said as she sauntered over to me with a smile playing on her lips.
“I thought I was already getting laid,” I countered before she reached me.
“True,” she said with a nod. “But now you’re getting double laid.” I laughed, and she smirked. “Okay, but seriously, you already got the girl. What’s all this about?” she asked when she was standing so close to me it took everything in me not to say, “screw dinner” and then screw her.
“It’s about you. About you deserving the best. When you gave me you, you gave me your trust and belief in me, and that’s something special. I wanted to show you that you are something special. You deserve someone to pay attention to you and what you like and give them to you. For some reason, you think I’m that guy, so I’m going to damn sure do my best to live up to that. This is nothing big, but I hope you know I’m trying.”
A tear escaped her eye. I caught it with my finger, brushing it away. “You are that guy. This proves it. I’ll keep knocking that into your head until you open the damn door to your mind and let those thoughts sink in. But for now, trying is enough. Thank you.” She grabbed my shirt and pulled me to her. We didn’t kiss; no, we did more than that.
“Dinner,” she whispered against my lips.
“Fuck dinner,” I growled, pulled her closer to me.
She chuckled before pulling away. “No way, mister. You made all my favorites. We’re enjoying them first, and then we can enjoy each other,” she added with a wiggle of her eyebrows. That was her specialty, though, making every situation light—just like her.
While we ate, we talked about our days. I listened to her stories about work, and she laughed as I told her how I spent time going down the YouTube rabbit hole before I found myself in front of rows and rows of tablecloths and napkin rings at the store. The funny part? I had started picturing Hadley splayed out naked on the dining table, her nipples poking through those damn napkin rings while I ravaged her. Needless to say, I’m pretty sure a few of the ladies shopping nearby thought I had a hard-on for tableware.
“Oh God, I can just imagine the looks you got,” she said through crying-tears after I told her that little story. “But maybe we can make your daydream a reality,” she said after we’d both calmed down.
“Fuck yeah,” I responded. Real classy, Noah. Real fucking classy. Hadley’s fault. She made my big head take a back seat to the little one. And he was by no means little…just had to point that out.
After dinner, we had dessert, but my wicked girl had a damn good idea. She wanted her ice cream, and I wanted her…so we compromised. What does that mean? We ate ice cream off each other’s bodies. I’ll be honest, as hot as it was, it was sticky as fuck. We ended up laughing and jumping in the shower together. That was when I was actually able to make up for my quickness that morning. I lathered her with soap, washed her down, allowing my hands to linger in places and stroking her, making her so wet that even the shower water couldn’t compete.
We didn’t get much sleep that night, b
ut at least she’d brought an overnight bag and didn’t have to rush out to go home before work.
It was the start of something great.
Despite my work schedule, we managed to see each other every day for the next week. Half the time, we stayed in, at my place or even at hers, eating, watching TV, and then going to bed together. The other half, I managed to plan a few kick-ass dates, if I say so myself. I took her to a carnival one night, and we reverted to being kids. It was the most fun I had in a long time, but let me tell you, those damn spinning rides or the upside ones? Yeah, not for anyone over the age of twenty. Our heads hurt after those. But the amount of smiles Hadley gave me that night was worth it. Another night was a food and wine tasting night. That was different and fun. And one night, I took her to a movie in the park. Who knew I still had it in me? Or maybe it was Hadley. Hadley brought it out in me.
And yes, after each date, we spent the night together. She was just as insatiable as I was. You could call it quick if you’d like, but it didn’t feel quick. It felt like we’d known each other for a long time, and maybe that was because we were friends first, or maybe that was because we were comfortable with each other, or maybe, just maybe, it was because when you found the right person, there was no such thing as “quick.”
I couldn’t imagine tiring of seeing Hadley each night, and I sure as hell hoped she couldn’t either.
Hadley
“ARE YOU KIDDING me? Friends is way better than Seinfeld,” I argued in bed with Noah. And no, you didn’t even have to ask. Of course, we were naked, of course we just had sexy time, and of course, it was spectacular.
“Are you even old enough to remember Seinfeld?” Noah asked.
“Oh, shut it, you,” I countered.
“Case in point,” he said with a chuckle.
Today, we had a night in, and this time, it was at my place. The first time Noah had been to my place was before we started this dating thing. He’d come by a couple of times when we were friends. My cozy one-bedroom apartment was more than enough for me. Of course, his big house was more comfortable, with more amenities. We tended to hang out there more often. But I couldn’t just constantly be at his place. He had to compromise and come to my home too, and he didn’t seem to mind at all. It had been a little over a week since we’d taken that extra sexy time step, and all he cared about was being with me.
