Mocha Me Crazy

by Kristen Flowers

  “Geez, at least stop to breathe,” she told him scornfully.

  He turned around and the two exchanged pissed off looks. The atmosphere in the kitchen instantly became even more awkward. Hunter took it upon himself to change the topic. “So, what are we going to do about Mrs. Christianson?”

  “I’m going to take picture of her car,” Cal said with his mouth full of food, “And then we’ll have some evidence.”

  “You’d better do it now that it’s in the shop,” Hunter suggested, “Or else that woman will hand you your ass for trespassing.”

  “Plus,” I added, “After it gets out of the shop all evidence will be gone.”

  Everyone turned to look at me. The one who looked least surprised that I actually had input on the subject was Hunter. I knew it was because he was the only one who had seen an entirely different side of me. I figured that if that were to happen, it would have been Alice to experience it first. But if last night was any indication, things happen in unexpected ways.

  “Good point,” Cal said.

  “You really should’ve thought about it yourself,” Alice mumbled.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?”

  “No, because my friend was here to save your ass by pointing out the obvious.” Alice piped up.

  “Oh, the obvious? I don’t recall you making the brilliant discovery.”

  Hunter cleared his throat loudly and started to clean up. He purposely wiped down the counter space between Alice and Cal first. Probably to create at least a temporary physical barrier between them. I was taken aback at how nasty they were being with one another. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the story than just regret.

  “So how can we get the photos? We can’t just walk into the shop and start snapping away,” Hunter pointed out.

  “We can pretend to be customers,” Cal said.

  “That might work.”

  “And there’s a perfect window of time for you to do it,” I told them.

  “There is?” Alice finally spoke up without being snappy.

  “Mrs. Christianson comes in every day at 11am for her extra hot soy latte. There’s no way she’d see either of you go in the shop.”

  “I’m going to nail that cunt,” Cal said smugly. The rest of us just rolled our eyes.

  Despite asking Alice to just drop me off at home, she invited herself into my apartment. It wasn’t exactly surprising, but I wasn’t thrilled about it either. Even though I had quite a good time the previous night, I was exhausted. I was looking forward to a warm bath and some quiet time to myself, especially since I didn’t have to go to work that day.

  “You’re so lucky,” Alice complained, “You get to stay in today. I have to go into work.”

  “What time?” I asked, hoping it would be soon.

  “Not until the late afternoon, so at least I have that,” she grumbled.

  I masked a sigh with a yawn. I had the sinking feeling I wouldn’t be getting rid of her any time soon. All my plans for the day were dashed. Still, I could at least take a shower.

  “Alice,” I said weakly. I cleared my throat and spoke up, “Feel free to watch TV and if you’re thirsty or hungry, help yourself. I really need to shower.”

  Her eyes sparkled and she cocked one of her eyebrows, “Oh, you need a shower, huh?”

  “Not this again,” I said tiredly, even though this time Alice was actually onto something. She laughed and fell onto the couch, lying on her side and turning on the television. It took her two seconds flat to make herself at home.

  I went into my bedroom, but didn’t bother to lock the door. I leaned against it and shut my eyes for a moment. I couldn’t believe what had happened the previous night. I was confused about it all. If I was falling for Hunter I’d be stupid. There was no way he could be good for me. I thought of how he’d offered me a chance to shower at his place. How was it that I hadn’t felt comfortable taking him up on that offer just because I didn’t have any of my own toiletries there, yet I was fine to have sex with him? Sometimes I confused myself even more than he confused me.

  Maybe the biggest reason was that he would have seen my completely bare face. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I wasn’t ready for him to see me without makeup. From a young age, I had made up my mind that no proper lady ever went without makeup. My mother always tried to instill in me that it was antiquated and sexist to think that way, but I didn’t care. I liked it and that was what I was going to do. My mother and I were butting heads from the moment I was old enough to have any opinion of my own.

  My stomach knotted up. Did I want to look good for Hunter?

  I shook my head and started to undress, neatly folding my clothing and placing it in the hamper like I always did. I took in a deep breath and padded into the bathroom, sliding the door shut behind me and turning on the hot water to let some steam build up. If ever there was a time that I needed to relax, it was then.

  I had just finished washing out my hair and was enjoying the quiet, when I heard Alice burst into the bedroom. I silently cursed myself for not locking the door.

  “I know you guys did it!”

  I froze. I was in the shower, I had at least that length of time to ignore Alice– or so I thought. I cried out in shock when she welcomed herself into the bathroom. I instantly covered myself before turning to the side. I looked at the shower glass door and saw it was all fogged up from the steam. I was silently thankful that at least I wasn’t showing Alice every part of my body. But I couldn’t help but remember the little romance my mother shared with me about another woman. I wondered if things between her and Janine started like this.

  Before I had time to think about how awkward it was to even have that thought cross my mind, I realized I had missed her usual nightly call last night. I knew I would have to pay for it later. There was no way I could miss her call again. Of course, it was partly that she worried constantly about me. But I knew she also got so worked up when I didn’t talk to her. She was clingy.

  “You can’t just ‘silent treatment’ your way out of this,” Alice said loudly.

  My thoughts about my mom were derailed from Alice’s complaining. Once again, I felt panic well up inside of me. I didn’t want to have this conversation, least of all while trying to shower. Maybe we were friends now, but that didn’t make the situation any better.

  “So, spill. Don’t even try to deny that you had sex with him.”

  “Alice,” I said, as if just saying her name would cease the questions. I took a deep breath as the shower continued to pitter patter on the top of my head.

  “All right, let’s start with the basics. How big is his cock?”

  “Alice!”

  “What? Oh, come on. You can’t play the prude card anymore, Cass. You fucked Hunter! Hunter, for crying out loud! So, was he big? Like, really big?” I didn’t have much time to scramble for an answer before she rambled on, “And how was he? Was he good in bed? Was he just a great lay? Cal is average. I mean, his cock. It’s average sized. That’s not really a bad thing, that’s not what I’m saying. But, for fuck’s sake, he is not good in bed! He really needs to bump up his skills in that department. It was just, I don’t know, kind of sad. It was kind of like having sex with a drunk, eager college guy who hasn’t gotten laid in a while—a freshman college guy at that.” Alice laughed, which covered up the sound of my own quiet laughter.

  I couldn’t help but remember what Hunter told me about his first time now that Alice shared way too much about her drunken encounter with Cal. I heard her ramble on, but it became background noise. I thought Hunter had made a marked improvement from his first time with a girl. He was good in bed– and, yes, he was quite big down there. But I wasn’t going to divulge any of that information to Alice. It was exactly the sort of thing that would make her squeal with delight, but I wasn’t into that sort of gossip. I especially wasn’t into it when it involved my own life.

  I let Alice ramble on without paying much attention to her
until I was finished showering. It was clear she wasn’t going to leave the bathroom, so I just stuck my arm out and grabbed my towel. I pulled it around me before stepping out onto the mat. I froze. Alice was standing in the middle of the bathroom; stripped down to her bra and panties. Not quite knowing what to say or how to react, I simply reached out for a smaller towel to wrap around my head.

  “I figured I should shower myself.” Alice said with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

  As I made my way out of the bathroom, I heard the water turn back on and the glass door of the shower close. I marveled at how easily she made herself at home, as if the two of us had been best friends for years. I sat down on the edge of the bed, but not before setting down an absorbent cloth. I hated it when I got my bed wet. I grabbed my phone and took a deep breath before looking at it. Sure enough, there were five messages from my mom. There was no way around calling her back at this point. I drew in one more deep breath before pressing the call button. I always had to ‘center’ myself before talking to her.

  “Finally!” My mother shouted into the phone before I could even speak, “I thought you’d fallen off the face of the Earth or forgotten you have a mother!”

  “Mom, it was one night.”

  “You always have an excuse! Do you know what it’s like to wait and wait? I don’t know why you insist on putting me through this! I am your mother, Cassie!”

  “Yes, mom, but I’m also an adult on the other side of the country. I have things to do and sometimes I don’t have time for calls or messages. I don’t need to be mothered all the time.”

  Maybe it was futile, but I had to point out to her that she had to calm down about the calls. I felt like I was a teenager who needed to report in all the time. I also didn’t quite get how she wanted me to ‘go out and experience life,’ but still be treated like a kid. It didn’t make any sense. Then again, nothing about her made a lot of sense to me.

  “I will never stop mothering you, Cassie! You’re my daughter, no matter how old you are.”

  “I didn’t say to stop being my mother,” I replied with a long sigh.

  “Well, you might as well have said it. Cassie, you need to understand what’s important in life. My darling, don’t you understand the significance of having a close relationship with your mom? It is just awful to be distant, but you’re always pulling away from me.”

  “I’m not pulling away, mom. I’m just trying to grow up and have my own life.”

  “And having your own life means cutting communication with your own mother?”

  This was not the first time I heard such disbelief in her voice. It also wasn’t the first time I was subjected to such an overreaction. And I knew it was far from the last. I wished I could just make her understand my point of view.

  “Not calling you constantly is not cutting communication with you, mom,” I said rather snidely.

  She drew in a deep breath before softly saying, “You don’t need to talk down to me, Cassie. Sometimes it really is like you forget who is the parent.”

  I shut my eyes and rubbed my temples with my free hand. No matter how many times I heard it or how strong I felt going into the conversation, my mother always managed to make me feel guilty.

  There was a knock on the door.

  I looked over at the clock, worried. It was 10 pm and I was just about to get ready for bed. I had work the following morning. But now I had someone knocking on my front door. I gulped and tried to keep calm. For all I knew, it could be a neighbor who had a question or needed a hand. This was a quiet and safe building. Then again, the entirety of Vail was quiet and safe. I doubted even Alice had the nerve to show up unannounced at this hour. I stood up and tiptoed over to the door, as if whoever was on the other side of it would hear my footsteps otherwise. I looked through the peephole and quickly covered the little gasp that came out of my mouth.

  Hunter was standing outside my door, waiting patiently for me to open it. I was shocked. How did he even know where I lived? Maybe he could have remembered the building from when the Uber driver dropped me off, but I was sure I never mentioned my actual apartment number. I clenched my teeth, trying to think of what to do.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “Open the door and find out,” Hunter said louder than I would have liked.

  I held my breath for a moment, debating whether I should let him in. There was no way to get out of this. I didn’t want him to cause a scene, so I slid the safety chain into place before cracking the door open.

  “Yes?”

  My voice was serious and my eyes looked as far down the hallway as possible. When I finally glanced at him, I saw he looked deflated.

  “Umm, I….”

  I didn’t think I had ever heard him stumble over his words like that. It was clear he hadn’t expected this reaction. I sighed and told him to hold on for a moment as I unchained the door. I looked down the hallway and then stood back.

  “You’d better get inside before the neighbors see you,” I said in a hushed tone.

  Hunter stepped inside, but his voice was puzzled, “Why does it matter?”

  “I don’t want a reputation of having men come here at 10 o’clock at night, Hunter,” I told him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  I quickly shut and locked the door. My mind was too focused on who could have seen him to pay attention to the fact that I had just upset him. When I turned to look at him, I wondered if he was angry because he felt rejected. I didn’t really have any interest in nursing his ego, especially not when he was the one who made the surprise visit. Sure, we spent one night of Earth shattering passion together, but I hardly thought that put us on terms where he could just drop by whenever he pleased. Still, I said nothing. I just stared at him silently. Hunter took matters into his own hands to test the waters. He pushed my back against the door and pressed his mouth to mine, hard.

  I didn’t fight it. I didn’t want to.

  I could feel the blood pulsing through my body until it was nearly deafening in my ears. The exhilaration of something so spontaneous coursed through me. Once again, I was drawn to something different with him. There was something thrilling about being taken so suddenly, almost forcefully by him; even though it made no sense. Hunter pulled his lips away from mine and moved his kisses to my ear

  “Tell me you want it” he whispered gruffly.

  “I want it,” I panted without hesitation.

  “Tell me you want me to fuck you,” he practically growled against my neck.

  I hesitated. Dirty talk was something I never did. Even admitting to him that I wanted him was bold. I felt my cheeks burn.

  Hunter pulled his head back and looked into my eyes. They were dark with desire. I gulped as his hand landed on my lower stomach. He tugged at the waistband of my pajamas before undoing them and easily sliding his hand underneath. I took in a shaky breath when I felt his hand slip under my panties, his finger sliding over the middle of me, touching me.

  “Tell me,” he repeated, holding back now.

  I needed more and I knew it. I needed more of him. I needed more excitement. The thrill of being with him was unrivaled. It wasn’t until I had experienced it that I realized what I had been missing out on. It was unique. He was unique.

  “I want you,” I said in a shaky voice, “To fuck me.” My heart pounded the moment the words left my lips.

  Hunter smirked and slipped the tip of his finger inside of me. I let out a small whimper and felt my face flush red. I could see his mind working and knew he was coming up with more things for me to say.

  “Right now?” I nodded. Hunter’s smirk grew and he slipped his finger in a little further, making me moan softly and press my breasts against him.

  “Say it.”

  “I want you to fuck me. Right. Now.”

  Hunter slipped the rest of his finger inside and moved it in a circular motion. I felt the heat from my face spread over my entire body. My skin felt like it was fire from the inside. I tri
ed to remember if I felt like this the first time we had sex, but quickly decided that if ever there were a moment I wanted to turn my mind off, it was this one. I wanted to savor every second with him.

  Hunter slipped a second finger inside and kissed my neck. I whimpered and clenched my eyes shut, my head falling back against the wall. My breath picked up along with my heart rate as I felt him work me from the inside with his fingers, smiling as he watched me tremble and moan. I could feel the heat and moisture between my legs, coating his fingers and his hand. It wasn’t long before I felt it hot and sticky on my skin. I moaned a little louder when a pulse ran through me the moment his thumb pressed against my clit.

  “Oh, fuck,” I gasped.

  “You like that?”

  “Yes,” I panted, “Oh, yes, it feels so good Hunter.”

  He pulled his fingers out and drew his hand out of my panties. I whined and looked at him, almost resentfully as my body immediately felt empty.

  “Why did you stop?”

  He looked smugger than ever, “You want more?”

  “Of course I want more,” I said quickly.

  “What do you want more of? Tell me,” he said, as he pressed the palm of his hand against the crotch of my pajamas.

  “Oh,” I breathed, “That. I want more of that.”

  He ran his hand up to grasp my shirt. He pulled it off me and then made quick work of removing my bra. His gaze fell down to my breasts. They were heaving with each breath I took and my nipples peaked the moment the air kissed them. He ran his fingers over them, playfully and lightly at first. He circled around them before leaning forward,

  “What about this?”

  He ran his tongue in a circle before taking the hard nub in his mouth. I moaned when he gave a pert suck and then flicked it. He looked up at me and I could see the question written all over his face.

  “Yes,” I told him, “That. I want that too.”

  Hunter closed his eyes and his mouth around my nipple. I relished the warm, wet feeling against my breast, but was soon distracted by him removing my pajamas. He kissed down my stomach as he knelt in front of me. He pulled my panties down with a smile as I trembled. I shivered when his hot breath touched my center. He was teasing me and my heart was pounding so hard I was worried it would short-circuit and stop. He panted against my skin and looked into my eyes, but didn’t kiss or lick or touch me where I ached the most.