The Contest

by Dawn L. Chiletz

  “Are you going to see him tonight or tomorrow morning?”

  “Tonight maybe,” Madi replied as she leaned back to see the clock.

  “You’ll have to promise me you’ll do exactly what I say and not change a thing okay?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure I want to even try to get his attention. He’s not interested. He made it clear.”

  “I didn’t ask you if he was interested. The question is are you?” Kendra persisted.

  “More than I want to be.” Madi felt better just admitting it out loud.

  “If you do what I tell you, how I tell you to do it, I promise you, you will see more of him quickly. Do you trust me?”

  “Yes but…”

  “No buts. Do you want him or not?”

  Madi sighed, “I want him.”

  “Then here’s what I want you to do…”

  Jake

  Jake got caught up at work again stressing over details and before he knew it, it was eleven o’clock. As soon as he realized the time, he left. He’d planned on staying for an hour and then maybe checking in with Madi on how her last couple of days had been. It had been a while since they really talked and he kind of missed having someone to share his day with. He was driving home when his cell rang. He answered it on Bluetooth.

  “This is Jake.”

  “This is Gina.”

  “Hey baby sis, how are you?”

  “I miss my brother. Mom said you were coming for dinner on the third?”

  “Yep. How’s the new job?”

  “It’s good. Just spending a lot of time training with this annoying girl. All she does is ask me if you’ll be stopping by to see me.”

  “Awww, you poor thing. I’m sorry I make your life so difficult.”

  “No you’re not. Anyway, is Madi with you?”

  “No, she went home hours ago. Why?”

  “I had to cancel our lunch date this week and I wanted to see if she could do dinner some night instead.”

  Jake gritted his teeth making a hissing sound as he said, “I don’t know. You might want to check with her boss to see if she’s free.”

  “I like her by the way. I can’t believe she thought we were dating. Ewww.”

  “Is that what she told you?” Jake tried to act less interested than he was.

  “Yes, she told me she had felt a twinge of jealousy but then she got over it quickly when she thought you were being crude. I told her you were always crude.”

  “She got over it, huh?”

  “That’s what she said. Why? You don’t believe her or you don’t want her to get over it? And she’s living with you? How did that happen?”

  Jake explained the whole story to Gina but she didn’t buy that Jake opened her home to her out of the kindness of his heart. Just when she started to ask questions Jake didn’t want to think about, Jake pretended he was getting another call and had to go. He loved her but he didn’t want to go there. He reminded himself that he had to be careful around Madi. He didn’t want her to think that anything could happen between them. He didn’t know where Gina was headed with her questions, but she was way off base. He didn’t feel that way about her. She was just a nice girl. She was a friend. That was it.

  Jake opened the door and the lights were off. Murphy came running with his usual heart-lifting greeting. He was surprised that he felt a little disappointed that Madi wasn’t still awake. It was still kind of early. He flipped on the kitchen light and checked his watch- 11:47. She must have been exhausted. He tossed his keys and his wallet on the counter and walked toward her door. Not a sound. He leaned in and listened closely to see if he could hear her when her door suddenly opened. Madi bounded out of her room and ran into him. She had an empty bottle in her hand and she was wearing… Holy fuck, what was she wearing?

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you come in. Is everything okay?”

  Jake managed to nod his head.

  “I was just going to grab another water before I went to bed. Did you eat today?”

  Madi leaned up against the doorframe and that’s when Jake got a full view.

  Madi was wearing a semi-transparent pink baby doll sleep shirt. It was unbuttoned slightly and she wasn’t wearing a bra. When she leaned on the doorframe the light behind her gave him the perfect view. He could see through her shirt to a light blue thong and she was obviously a little cold. Her nipples were perky and calling him to attention. He could only see the outline of them but there was enough cleavage to make him want to see more. He felt pressure in his jeans.

  “Um, what?”

  “Did you eat today?” she repeated.

  “Eat what?” He considered a few things he was interested in eating.

  “Food, dinner? Do you want something?”

  “No... I’m, I’m good,” he stuttered.

  Madi yawned, smiled, said okay and slowly walked to the kitchen.

  Jake couldn’t take his eyes off of her. As she passed him by, the light from the kitchen caught her shirt again. He could see it was definitely a thong. The light accentuated the space between her thighs as she walked. He felt himself getting hard at the sight of thighs and ass through the shirt. He ran his hands through his hair and leaned on the door, mostly for support. He could see her in the kitchen and as she bent down to pick up a bottle of water, her shirt rose. Jake had a perfect view of her ass. He could feel himself start to sweat as he gaped at her. My God, she is hot. She is fucking hot! His thoughts were all over the place. He considered having her on the island and how quickly he would remove the flimsy piece of clothing she was wearing. Hadn’t he thought about her like this before? She was right there in front of him. He wondered if she would be surprised if he touched her. He imagined his hands on her silky skin and his mouth on her breasts. What was she doing? Did she not realize he could see her body through that shirt? Or did she? Did she know exactly what she was doing to him?

  Jake leaned back further, adjusted himself, and pulled his shirt down to cover his growing erection. He had to give her props. She was good, very good.

  He stood there and purposefully stared at her as she walked back toward him, making sure she saw him leisurely glare at her from her feet to her eyes, pausing at the significant areas.

  “Well, goodnight Jake.”

  Jake slowly inched up to her, licked his lips and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I’ll turn the heat up. I can see you’re a little chilly.” He strutted away from her and to the thermostat. He could see her out of the corner of his eye and she looked a little dismayed. He turned, walked toward the kitchen, put his hand up in the air and said, “Goodnight, Mads,” without even glancing back in her direction.

  He heard her door close. He gripped the breakfast bar for dear life and stifled a laugh. She was feisty, unexpected, and fun. If she was going to play these games with him, he’d come home earlier every night to match her point for point. It would be difficult to resist her. He could feel himself wanting her more and more. Then he stopped himself. There was a nagging feeling inside him that reminded him that he couldn’t have her. It would never work. He wasn’t good for her. He needed to focus on that fact to keep himself away. But he couldn’t help the high it gave him knowing she might want him too. It was getting more and more difficult every day and he could feel himself starting to fall for her. He would never allow it; he wouldn’t hurt her. But what harm would it be to give her a taste of her own medicine?

  Chapter 24

  Madi

  “I don’t know what I did wrong. At first it seemed like everything was going just the way you said it would,” Madi said, whispering into her phone as she tried to get ready for work.

  “Well, you must have done something different. Did you ask him if he was hungry like I told you to? That’s total code for oral sex, you know.” Kendra asked impatiently.

  “He couldn’t even speak to me at first,” Madi giggled into the phone. “Even though he walked away from me, it was still worth it to see the look on his face wh
en I leaned on the doorframe.”

  “Oh, I bet it was. I can’t believe he didn’t jump you! He’s better at this than I thought. I have to give him credit where credit is due.”

  “Well Ken, I wish I could talk longer but I’ve got to go. Ang is going to be here in a few minutes.”

  “K, love you bitch. Keep those tits perky!”

  “Love you too, bitch. Bye.”

  Madi was trying her best to be quiet. She opted for jeans and a t-shirt today. Yesterday she ran her ass off between Caleb, Jake, the sound guy and the stage manager. The t-shirt was snug, but comfortable. She grabbed a sweater, tied it around her waist, and put her hair up in a ponytail.

  Last night had not gone as expected. When Kendra told her the plan, Madi freaked out. She insisted there was no way she could strut half-naked in front of Jake, but then Kendra reminded her that he needed an incentive to make another move. Madi envisioned having sex with Jake the whole time she waited for him to come home. She couldn’t believe all the time she spent on lighting alone. She was smoldering when she finally saw him. He looked so good. It had been a long time since she had been with someone and she desperately wanted Jake to take away her ache. She slapped herself mentally every day for not letting him kiss her. She might be waking up with him if she had. Then Madi had another thought and stopped herself. What was happening to her? Was this a job or a contest between her and Jake to see which one caved first? She knew the answer to that. Aside from occasional touches and platonic kisses, Jake was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t want her and she needed to just come to grips with it and move on. She also knew that when Jake was near her, all sense of reason went out the door. He made her excited and scared to death all at the same time. He was like a magician casting spells. When he looked at her with his sexy blue eyes, Madi froze and she hated that she wasn’t stronger. No more of this! Madi thought.

  She straightened out the sheets on the bed she’d just made, grabbed her purse and phone and headed out the door. Just as she opened her door, Jake opened his. He was dripping wet from the shower and was only wearing a towel.

  He ran his fingers through his wet hair, flexing his biceps, then smiled at Madi and said, “Good morning.”

  Madi was at a loss for words. She looked down but that wasn’t a good place to look. Jake had a small amount of hair on his chest and just the right amount below his belly button. It seemed to be a map and she really wanted to see where it went. His abs were chiseled into one, two, three, oh hell. She had to look away. She could see slight veins in the muscles of his arms. He was an exceptionally beautiful man. She noticed the V his waist formed as if there were an arrow pointing down to where she could find the pot of gold. Madi looked up, then left and right, then closed her eyes. She could feel her skin blush as she considered ripping off his towel and surprising the shit out of him. She could tear it off and fall to her knees in front of him. What would he say? Would he be shocked or let her put her mouth on him? Was this an invitation or a game? Nope, she couldn’t do it. He was so… Jake.

  “You’re up early, I mean…” Madi said as she closed her eyes and shook her head.

  “Yes I am up, Madi.” Jake grinned. “Lots to do today.”

  “Uh huh.” Madi almost ran quickly into the kitchen and Jake followed her.

  “Could you grab me a bottle of water?” he asked.

  Since when did Jake drink anything but coffee in the morning? It was a game. Was he making her re-en-act last night? He was good.

  “Sure,” Madi said with a smile. She pulled her sweater off from around her waist and tossed it on the island. Then she bent over to grab a bottle and stuck her ass high in the air, just as she had done the night before.

  Jake turned his head to the side and laughed. “Madi, really, can you hurry? I need to get ready.”

  Madi grabbed two bottles of water, handed one to Jake and opened hers. She licked the tip of the bottle slightly before taking a drink, noting the sharp intake of air from Jake.

  She sauntered up to him slowly, came inches from his ear and whispered, “You may need another cold shower.”

  She smiled at him and he smiled back before she grabbed her sweater and purse. As she walked out the door she said, “See you at work. Nice towel by the way.”

  Jake

  Jake hadn’t expected Madi to do anything more than blush and run. When he saw her taking him in, it really did something to him. She was quick and she challenged him. He liked that about her. He could never count on what she would do next and he liked the fact that just when he thought he knew her, she pulled the rug out from under him. Did she want him or not? He had thought she was into him, but after today he thought maybe she was just messing with him. Jake wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt like he needed Madi to want him. That was so messed up. Madi was important to him and he wouldn’t hurt her. Jake reminded himself that being with him was a one-way ticket to pain. He would never do that to Madi. She was different. She was… special.

  It was a Saturday and Jake was exhausted. He was sure everyone else had to be feeling it too since it had been a long and grueling week. Madi and Ang were hard at work on the phones. He was glad they managed his life. He had so much going on, he was relieved when they just told him where to go. Madi started to walk toward him. She looked like a college girl today. She looked her age.

  “Hi. Is this a bad time? I need to ask you a few questions.”

  “No, I didn’t take another shower after you left.”

  Madi glared at him and turned her head. She brought her pen to her mouth and looked like she was studying him. “Why do you suppose that your subconscious mind believes all my questions have to do with your body? Are you feeling insecure?”

  Jake turned his head back to her and mimicked her actions. “Why do you suppose that you find my body so fascinating?”

  “Hmm… that’s curious. Not only did you answer my question with a question, but you also, once again, were able to bring your body back to the forefront of the discussion.”

  “It’s really quite simple, Madi.” Jake leaned in closer to her and whispered, “You see, I know how uncomfortable it makes you to think of me naked and I love to see the blush on your face when you know I know you are thinking about me. It’s okay, I know you think I’m hot.”

  Jake could see Madi’s blood start to boil before his eyes. Her face twisted and he could the other side of her. She was quite pretty when she was feisty. Jake loved the challenge.

  “As a singer, songwriter, and businessman, I will admit that I believe you are very talented. However, when it comes to women and especially me, you really don’t have a clue. The blush you see is the embarrassment I feel for you when I know you feel you are getting to me. The truth is, I really don’t think you’re very good-looking.”

  Jake smiled. She was so unexpected. “You don’t find me attractive, huh?” He did find this conversation extraordinarily entertaining.

  “Is it so hard for your ego to believe?” Her hands sat firmly on her hips.

  “If you don’t find me attractive then why were you staring at me this morning

  as if you wanted to be my towel?” Jake inched toward her as she took a step back.

  She placed the tip of her finger into his sternum and pushed him away as she said, “I wasn’t staring at you. As a matter of fact, if you actually paid attention to me instead of your ego, you would have noticed that I couldn’t look at you because I felt sorry for you.”

  “You felt sorry for me?” She was good. He almost believed her.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Do you know who I felt sorry for, Madi?” he said sadistically as he crossed his arms.

  “Who?” She rolled her eyes.

  “The girl who went to bed all hot and bothered the night before.”

  “I was not hot and bothered. I didn’t expect you to be home. Not my fault you couldn’t speak.”

  “Oh, I could speak. I just didn’t want to.”

  Madi’s hands journeyed
back to her hips. “Oh really, Jake, and why not?”

  “Truth be told… Because you were too beautiful for words.”

  She froze.

  “When you can think of a smart-ass response to my honesty, let me know.” Jake grinned and strode away from her. He turned in time to see her huffing her way back to Ang.

  Chapter 25

  Madi

  “Does he know he has a fitting Monday at three? Did you ask him if he wanted to meet with WJOL? Did you tell him that they wanted to play his new song and promote the tour?”