by Nikki Ash
Georgia
I wake up to the feel of a hand gliding down my side. Remembering I fell asleep in Chase’s arms last night, I don’t bother opening my eyes. He reaches around and slides his hand under the material of my panties and cups my mound. I move my top leg over and hook it around his leg, eager for him to make me feel good again. He gave me multiple orgasms last night and I’m addicted.
Chase chuckles and kisses my neck, parting my folds and inserting a finger inside me, then another one. I moan, feeling full, and wondering if it’s possible to take my virginity like this.
He moves me to my back, and while fingering me, takes a nipple into his mouth. I don’t remember falling asleep topless, but I’m definitely considering never wearing a shirt again in bed if that means giving him easy access.
“This orgasm is going to feel different,” he murmurs, lifting his face to kiss me. I consider warning him that Robert once tried to finger me, but it went nowhere. But then, his fingers move inside of me, eliciting pleasure I’ve never experienced, and any thoughts of Robert are gone. As Chase expertly strokes my insides, working me into a frenzy, I remember what he said last night: nobody belongs in this room but us. He was right. It’s just me and him in this room, in this relationship.
He curls his fingers inside me, his thumb massaging my clit, and within seconds my orgasm is ripping through me. His mouth crashes against mine, swallowing my moans of pleasure. We kiss for several minutes, until his alarm goes off, reminding us both that he needs to get ready for his shift.
When he breaks the kiss and climbs off the bed, I pout. “Wait, what about you?” I nod toward the obvious hard-on he’s sporting. “Come back here so I can… do you.”
“Do me?” He laughs. “You sure you graduated from college?”
When I glare, he laughs harder. “I have to get ready for work.” He leans over me and kisses me again. “But now I have something to look forward to when I come home.”
He walks toward the bathroom and stops. “I can’t wait to come home, so you can do me.”
I chuck a pillow at him and miss, causing him to bark out another laugh.
After he leaves for work, I go for a jog around the neighborhood, make myself breakfast, and then get started on my work for the day. My mom sends a group text to Lexi and me, asking to do lunch one day this week, and we both respond that any day works. Which reminds me that I haven’t eaten since breakfast.
I’m heading toward the kitchen, when there’s a knock on the door. I open it to find a beautiful woman—in a fake, plastic, Barbie sort of way—standing in the doorway.
“Can I help you?”
When she eyes me up and down like I’m the gum on the bottom of her stiletto, I know she’s here for Chase. This isn’t the first woman to stop by, but I have to say, it’s been a while. It used to happen a lot when he would bring a different woman home every night. It slowed down after he agreed to take things to their place, and it’s only happened a couple times since Alec and Lexi moved out and I moved into the master bedroom—telling Chase he could go back to his extracurricular activities here, since we were no longer sharing walls and a bathroom.
“I’m looking for Chase. I left something here the other night.”
The other night… That’s a lie. Chase hasn’t brought anyone home in a long time. But I’m not going to point that out. “He’s not here, so whatever you left, you’ll have to come back for another time.”
I’m about to swing the door shut, when she places her hand on it. “I’ll only be a second.”
I sigh. “What is it you left?” Maybe I can find it for her and then send her on her slutty stiletto way.
She smirks. “My dildo.”
It takes everything in me to keep a straight face. “Your dildo?” I heard her the first time, but I’m hoping she made a mistake.
“I’m sure you know how kinky Chase is…” She winks. “If I could just grab it, that’d be great. It’s expensive and my favorite.”
A lump forms in my throat. Too many times I heard the noises through the too-thin walls, so I know how sexually active Chase is, but it’s hard to hear about it from the mouth of one of the women he’s been with, knowing I’m not active at all.
“You’ll have to ask Chase for it.”
“I would, but I lost his number.”
Or he didn’t give it to you…
Grabbing my phone from my back pocket, I call him.
“Hey, butterfly,” he says when he answers.
My heart pitter-patters in my chest at his nickname for me, and for a moment I forget why I’m calling. Until the woman clears her throat at the same time Chase says, “Georgia? Everything okay?”
“Yeah. There’s a woman here for you, named…”
“Charleigh,” she says.
“Charleigh left her dildo in your room and would like it back because it’s expensive and her favorite.”
“Fuck,” he curses. “Georgia…”
“Do you want me to go into your room to get it, or give her your number?”
“Do not give her my number,” he says quickly. “I never gave it to her.”
I didn’t think so…
“Fuck, umm… fuck!” he hisses. “Can I talk to her?”
“Okay,” I tell him, handing her the phone, while mentally patting myself on the back for remaining calm, cool, and collected.
She says hello in the most obnoxious, nasally way, and I have to force myself not to roll my eyes.
“But, Chase, it was a hundred dollars,” she whines. “How about if we meet up and—” He must cut her off because she stops talking and glares at me. “Okay, fine,” she says with a huff before handing me back the phone. “He said I can go in his room and get it.”
“Go for it.” I open the door and let her in.
I hear Chase’s voice, so I put the phone back up to my ear, realizing he didn’t hang up. “Hello?”
“I’m so sorry. I told her she can grab what she left. Fuck, I’m—”
“It’s okay,” I say, not wanting to argue in front of Ms. Dildo. Not that there’s anything to fight over. Chase has a past. I knew that.
A moment later she comes sauntering out of his room, holding a bright blue huge-ass dildo. She doesn’t say a word, just glares, and then she’s out the door.
“Georgia,” Chase says. “You there?”
“Yeah, she just left…”
“I hate that I’m at work. Can we talk when I get home?”
“Chase, stop,” I tell him, trying to shake the image of him shoving that huge dildo inside her. “It’s okay. There’s nothing to talk about.” And then, because I’m awkward as fuck and can’t stop talking, I add, “But maybe if you’re holding anyone else’s sex toys hostage, you could give them back. Maybe put out an ad for them to come get them…” It’s meant as a joke, but it totally falls flat, making me sound jealous and petty. “I’m just kidding. I have some work to do. I’ll see you later.”
He says okay, sounding sad as hell, and then we hang up.
Since cooking has become something I really enjoy doing, I look up my bookmarked recipes I haven’t made yet and get to work making a creamy chicken pasta.
While I’m cooking, I can’t stop replaying what happened in my head. When I think about what exactly is bothering me, I come to the conclusion that it’s not because he’s been with other women, but because he hasn’t been with me. And since my plan was to wait until I’m in love, he’ll be waiting some time. I don’t believe he would cheat on me, especially not after having been cheated on himself, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to be left feeling unsatisfied.
When I finish making the food, there’s way too much, and it’s then I realize I doubled the recipe, making enough for the guys at the station, like I often do. I consider whether to bring them the food. I don’t want to distract Chase at his workplace. I also don’t want things to be awkward, but maybe showing up there with food will be like a little peace offering. “It’s okay you shoved
monster-size dildos into your one-night stands…” Oh geez, I seriously need to lay off the jokes, even if they’re only in my head.
When I arrive, I see Alec first. He smiles and walks over to me, taking the pan of food from me. “We were about to do a run to the store to pick up food for dinner,” he says, kissing my cheek. “Chase didn’t say you were coming by.”
“Shoot! I forgot to tell him.” My mind was just so scattered. “I should’ve asked him first if I could come by.”
Alec eyes me. “You don’t have to call or ask before coming here, Georgia.” Maybe not before, but doesn’t that change once you’re in a relationship with one of the guys who work here?
“Damn right she doesn’t,” Chase says, pulling me into a searing kiss that makes my legs feel like Jell-O. “Fuck, I missed you,” he murmurs against my lips as he lifts and carries me toward the station.
I faintly hear Alec grumbling something about getting a room, but I’m too distracted by Chase’s mouth on mine.
I assume he’s just carrying me to the kitchen, so I’m confused when he keeps walking through the station and out another door.
When we finally stop, he pushes me against a wall. I don’t know where we are, but my only focus is on Chase. The way he kisses me like he can’t get enough of me. The way he makes me feel special and wanted and beautiful.
“Does this mean you forgive me?” he asks.
“There’s nothing to forgive.” And that’s the truth. I refuse to be that insecure woman who gets mad every time her man’s past gets brought up. He’s thirty years old. Of course he has a past.
Gently, he releases my legs so I drop to the ground. His fingers slide up my bare thigh toward the apex of my legs, but before he makes it up the inside of my shorts, I cover his hand with my own.
“You gave me three orgasms last night and then one this morning. It’s your turn…”
Chase’s face contorts into a look of confusion. “This isn’t a tit for tat…”
“I know, but I want to make sure you’re taken care of.” It’s the least I can do since he’s going without sex because of me.
He steps back and tilts his head slightly to the side. We’re both quiet for a beat before he speaks. “This is about that woman…”
“It’s not about her, but yes, her coming by and me seeing that giant dildo reminded me how different our sexual experiences are.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that.”
“You say that now, but you haven’t gone a long time without sex yet.”
“A night of being with you the way we were last night means more to me than a thousand nights of meaningless sex.” He cages me into his arms and kisses me softly. “I’m falling for you, and I don’t give a fuck how long it takes before we have sex. Days, weeks, months, years. I. Don’t. Care. I just want to be with you. Understood?”
Warmth spreads through my chest. “Yes.”
“Good. Now let’s go eat before the guys take all the food. I’m starved.”
After we eat, Chase walks me out to my truck, where we make out like teenagers for several minutes before he reluctantly lets me go, only because the tone goes off and he rushes to get the information so they know where they have to go.
Instead of going home, I head to Lexi’s, calling her on the way to make sure she’s up for company. Since Alec is at work, she’ll be alone with Abigail and it’ll be the perfect time to have a sisterly talk. But first, I’ll go by the coffee shop and get us a couple coffees.
“Like, how big?” Lexi asks.
“Big.”
“Show me with your hands.”
I spread my hands apart and her eyes go wide.
“Holy shit, I don’t care how much I love Alec, you won’t find me sticking a fake dick the size of an eggplant inside my cooch.”
“It’s not about the size of the dildo…” I tell her with a laugh.
“Okay, then what is it about?”
“I don’t think I want to wait anymore.”
She raises a brow. “You are not changing your mind about waiting until you’re in love because Chase screwed some dumb skank with a giant squash.”
I’m in the middle of taking a sip of my drink, so it all comes out, all over me and the table. Abigail giggles, thinking I’m a riot.
“Things have changed,” I tell her, wiping down the table. “I’m going to be twenty-two next month and Chase is thirty. We’re both grown adults.”
“You’re right,” she says. “Just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Because you like him and want to be with him, and not because you think you have to keep up with the parade of women he had coming in and out of his room.”
Chase
I walk through the door of the condo, both mentally and physically drained. My eyes are barely able to stay open, but I force them to long enough to find Georgia, who is still asleep and cuddled into her blankets. I peel my clothes off me and then drag myself into her bed, wrapping myself around her body like a human burrito.
She squirms slightly, adjusting to my intrusion, and then turns over so she’s snuggled into my chest.
“You smell weird,” she says, her voice gravelly from sleep. “Like soap and… something else.”
“We were putting out a fire all morning.” I hold her tighter, thankful she’s alive and safe. I love my job, but days like today suck. “It was out of our zone, but station 116 called for backup.”
“Everyone okay?” she asks, her arms encircling my torso.
“The fire started in an apartment on the seventh floor. Everyone got out, except for two. A four-year-old and the babysitter. Parents were out and came home to find their child dead.”
Georgia gasps. “I’m so sorry, Chase.” She pulls me down to her and kisses the corner of my mouth.
“The babysitter made it… Admitted to smoking and leaving it lit.”
“Oh no.” She holds me tighter. “That’s horrible.”
“I’m so damn tired,” I tell her, hearing the slur in my words. “I know I said we’d talk when I got home but—”
“Shh,” Georgia murmurs. “There’s nothing to talk about, Chase. We’re good. Just go to sleep.”
My eyes meet hers and my heart clenches in my chest, recognizing how different being with Georgia is. I just had a shitty night, the entire time questioning why this world is so fucked up and God is so cruel, but the moment I’m in her arms it’s as though everything, even just for a brief moment, is perfect. I know it’s only an illusion, and everything on the outside is still there, but maybe that’s how it should be when you’re with the person you love—as if the entire world, every shitty part of it, fades away while you’re together.
I wake up to find Georgia sitting next to me, typing away on her laptop. When she feels me shift, she stops typing and glances down at me.
“Hey,” she says softly.
“Hey.” I drag myself up and lean against her headboard. “What time is it?”
“Five.”
Shit, I slept the day away. Then I remember why and my stomach sinks. Losing someone in a fire always sucks, but a child… Fuck.
Georgia closes her laptop and sets it on the nightstand, then takes my hand in hers. “I wish there was something I could do or say…”
“You’re doing it.” I lean over and kiss her. “Why don’t we get out of here? Go grab something to eat.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” It will do me some good to get out and be distracted. Especially since I’ll be back at work at eight o’clock tomorrow and will need to be in my right mind.
“All right,” she agrees.
After we’re both showered and dressed, we head out. We’re in my vehicle, trying to decide where to go, when my phone rings over Bluetooth, alerting me that my mom is calling.
“Hey, Mom,” I say, answering.
“Hey, baby. What are you up to?”
“Nothing. About to grab something to eat. You?”
“I wanted to see if you�
��d like to go to dinner… You know since it’s your birthday.”
Georgia gasps. “Today is your birthday?”
Shit, is it? “What’s today?”
“Chase, don’t tell me you forgot your own birthday,” Mom chides. “Is that why you ignored all my calls this morning?”
“I was sleeping. Was up all night putting out a fire.”
“It’s your birthday?” Georgia repeats, glaring at me.
“Who’s with you?” Mom asks.
Georgia’s eyes go wide, as if now realizing my mom can hear her.
“My girlfriend,” I tell my mom, grinning at Georgia.
“What?” she shrieks. “You have a girlfriend? And she didn’t know it’s your birthday?”
Georgia’s back to glaring at me. “He didn’t tell me,” she says. “Would you like to join us, Ms. Matthews?”
“Oh, please call me Sharon, and I would love to meet you. Have anywhere in mind?”
“Well, since it’s Chase’s birthday we should go somewhere nice.”
I hold my breath, knowing it’s going to be somewhere expensive. Georgia is from a different world than my mom and me.
“Oh! How about Zavarelli’s in Venice since you love Italian. Have you guys ever been?”
When Mom doesn’t say anything, I do. “I don’t think either of us has been, but I do love Italian.”
“Perfect!” Georgia beams, completely oblivious to the tension in the car and over the phone.
Mom clears her throat. “Okay, I’ll, umm, see you guys soon.” I know she was planning to pay since she always does for my birthday, but I have no doubt this restaurant will be out of her budget.
When we arrive, my suspicions are confirmed. The place is expensive. While we wait for my mom to arrive, Georgia puts our name down for a table and I glance at the menu. Shit, over fifty dollars a plate. There’s no way my mom is going to be okay eating here.
