I Hate You, Love Me

by Jamie Knight

  I hear a knock on the door and the signature call-out: “Room service.”

  I get up from the table and go to the door. I double check that Robert is all covered up – I don’t want to force some unfortunate hotel employee to see his naked body, even if he is gorgeous.

  When I’ve made sure that my husband is not exposed, I open the door, and our food is carted in. The concierge helps me set the table and I give him a nice tip before saying goodbye.

  I sit back down at the breakfast table and inhale the scent of the food I ordered. I got a typical breakfast of bacon and eggs and waffles with some other stuff on the side.

  As I’m pouring myself a glass of orange juice, I hear some shuffling over by the bed. I turn to see that Robert has finally woken up. He sits up in the bed and looks over at me.

  “Good morning,” I say to him.

  It’s clear he’s still a little sleepy, so I give him time to wake all the way up and adjust.

  “Did you order breakfast?” he asks.

  I nod.

  He gets out of bed, still naked. I know that I don’t have to, but I avert my eyes while he puts on some clothes. I guess I’m still a little shy around him – or I’m shy in general.

  He joins me at the table and looks over the food I ordered. He seems displeased for some reason, and I can’t put my finger on why. I can tell it’s because of the food, though, since that is what he is looking at.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s just – I usually eat a lot healthier than this. I only really ever have fruit and granola for breakfast,” he admits.

  I smile because it’s kind of cute. He doesn’t want to fall off his meal plan wagon.

  I pick up a piece of bacon and hold it up to him.

  “Come on, it’s a special occasion. I’m sure your body won’t kill you if you eat bacon today.”

  He looks like he’s thinking about it and then takes it from my hand by biting down on the bacon. I yelp and let go.

  “If I feel like shit later, I’m going to blame you,” he says.

  I shake my head and make myself a plate. Then I hand Robert a mug and make myself a cup of coffee.

  “Huh?” I hear Robert mumble.

  “What is it?” I ask, while I’m making my mug of coffee.

  “It’s just, well, we have our coffee the same way. It’s… interesting.”

  We make our coffee the same way? I make mine in a way that’s basically a hint of coffee with a whole bunch of creamer.

  “What a fun couple fact about us,” I respond.

  I’m realizing I don’t know a lot about Robert. We’re going to have to tell one another facts about our life. It’ll be weird if we’re supposed to be married but we don’t have any knowledge about each other.

  “Is there anything else you want to tell me about yourself?” I ask him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, now that we’re married, we might need to know some things about each other.”

  Robert looks suspicious for some reason, but I can’t think of why.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “I don’t know. What do married couples know about each other?”

  It must be easier when this kind of thing just happens naturally.

  Robert shrugs.

  “Do you have any siblings?” I ask him, deciding that that’s definitely something we should know about each other.

  He nods.

  “I have a sister named Lindsay. She’s married to my friend Brent that you met. They’re about to have their first child.”

  That should be something I know about, probably.

  “What about you?” he asks me.

  “I don’t have any siblings. I’m an only child. I don’t really know what else to ask. I’ve never thought about something like this. Maybe after I’ve had more time to reflect, I’ll be able to think of more questions,” I tell him.

  I know we’re going to have to meet with my dad and I don’t want Robert being caught off guard. I don’t want to be caught off guard, either.

  “I’m sure you will,” he smirks.

  I don’t know what that could possibly mean. I know it isn’t supposed to be anything mean, since he’s smiling at me, but I wish I could read him better.

  We continue eating and I remember the other thing that was on my mind – that thing I had thought about at the wedding. I’m just not sure how to bring it up. I don’t want to upset him, but I’m sure – no matter how I say it – that it won’t be pleasant, so I decide that I’ll just go for it.

  “Um, I did have another question for you?” I start out.

  Robert nods and waits for me to ask.

  “I just need to know; did you actually cheat off my exam?”

  I can see Robert getting annoyed already.

  “I already told you, I didn’t cheat. I mean, come on, Savannah. Why can’t you just admit that it was you. Especially now?”

  I’m starting to think that my initial theory might actually hold some weight.

  “Wait a second –” I try to interrupt Robert and tell him what I’m thinking.

  “Like, I get not wanting this to go on your record, but I thought you could at least fess up to me in private, especially after you’ve asked me to do this big favor for you and I have.”

  I want to speak, but Robert keeps going on and on.

  “Robert, I’m trying to tell you something.”

  “I just thought we had moved past the lying. I know I’ve been –”

  I can see he isn’t going to stop talking. I’ve brought out the beast in him and, now, it’s clear that he wants to get through whatever long-winded speech he has prepared.

  I get out of my seat, something that Robert barely notices. I go over to him and put my arms over his shoulders.

  “What are you –”

  I stop his talking with a kiss. It’s deep and passionate.

  Once I break it, I say, “Are you ready to listen to me now?”

  “Yeah, just.”

  He kisses me back and I think I’ve awoken his desire. It looks like we might get back off track again.

  Robert pulls me on to his lap and I can feel his growing erection. I grind down on him as much as I can, but there’s limited movement that can be had in the seat that we’re in. I wrap my arms around him, so we can be even closer.

  His lips move from my mouth and down along my neck.

  “Your skin is so soft, you know that? I could touch you for hours.”

  His lips move to my collarbone.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I could get lost in your body.”

  His hands slip under the shirt I’m wearing. I didn’t put my bra back on, so his fingers brush over my nipple.

  “I want to feel you.”

  I can’t run my hands over his body in this position. I move off of him, so we can go to the bed, but Robert doesn’t seem to have the patience to make that walk, as he goes to the ground and pulls me down with him.

  “Come here.”

  I’m back in his lap, but there’s more freedom to move down here.

  I push on Robert’s chest so that he’s lying on the ground. I pull his shirt up a little bit, so I can explore his chest. I let my hands wander around his body. I lean over and bring my mouth around his nipples. He draws in a sharp intake of breath as my tongue explores his skin.

  I scoot myself off some, until I’m down by his compression shorts. I rub my hand over the fabric. The tension in Robert’s muscles is very apparent.

  I pull his shorts down and bite my lip when his cock escapes. I’ve been thinking about tasting him ever since our first night together. I bring my hand up and down his shaft. Some precum comes out and I use my tongue to lick it off.

  “Jesus Christ,” I hear Robert mumble. “Yeah. Like that.”

  I bring my lips all the way around his head and then down his shaft. I go as far as I can, taking in as much of him as I can. I use my hand and mouth to go up and down his dick
. I moan around his cock, feeling his tip hit the back of my throat.

  “Your mouth feels so good, baby.”

  My heart tingles a little at the fact that he’s calling me ‘baby.’ I let his dick fall out of my mouth and make my way back up his body.

  “How did that feel?” I ask him.

  “Fucking amazing.”

  He grabs the back of my head, pulling at my hair. Then he presses his mouth into mine. I want to get his dick in me. As he hurries to put a condom on, I stand up, so I can take off the underwear of his that I had borrowed.

  I get back to straddling him and slowly lower myself on to him. His dick slowly slides into me and, at this angle, it feels amazing. I love how it fills me up and crams me full. I put my hands on his chest and go down, until I’ve gotten Robert fully buried inside me.

  “Dear God, Rob.”

  I dig my nails into his chest and squeeze my walls down on his shaft.

  “Fuck, Savannah.”

  I don’t move for a few seconds, letting myself revel in this new angle. I feel Robert’s hands come up and settle on the top of my thighs. They move up and down slightly, softly massaging my flesh.

  I begin to move up and down, digging my fingers deeper into Robert’s chest as I feel his dick sliding inside of me.

  “Robert…” I moan.

  He grabs my hips and violently brings me down. I throw my head back and let him use my body the way he wants to.

  He slices into me over and over, until I’m teetering on the edge of oblivion. My breath keeps catching as I try to hold on. I fall forward again, stopping myself from fully collapsing by putting my hands out.

  “Come on, Savannah,” he eggs me on.

  I ball my hands into fists, letting my nails scratch up my palms. I shut my eyes tight as the first wave rushes over me and I scream Robert’s name.

  My senses come alive and I can’t hold back every wanton sound that rips through my throat. My body takes me further than I’ve ever gone before.

  I feel Robert grow inside me before he spills into the condom inside me. He lets out a roar that has my body pulsating at how primal he sounds.

  After some time, I start to come down from my high, my breath returning to normal. My arms feel like noodles and I can no longer hold myself up.

  I fall forward on to Robert’s chest. I can hear his heart beating and it’s going rather fast. I wait for him to relax before I roll my pelvis off of his.

  I’m sitting up next to his body, looking down at him. I can’t help but smile a little as I look at the man I just married. I wouldn’t say I love him or anything; I don’t think I’m there yet, but I’ve definitely grown very fond of Robert.

  I’d thought that this fake marriage wouldn’t get too messy, but I might have been wrong in my initial assessment. I have a feeling – however this whole thing goes down – that we’re going to have to wade through some shit.

  I want to be closer to Robert, so I lay my head on his chest and draw lazy circles on his skin. I really do love touching him – I could do it for hours. I feel him kiss the top of my head and I maneuver myself so that I’m still resting on his chest, but also so that I can see his face.

  “Hey,” I say to him.

  “Hey,” he says back.

  There’s a small smile on his face.

  It looks like he might be relaxed enough to actually listen to what I have to say.

  “Remember earlier, when we were talking?”

  He nods.

  “What I was trying to say was that I don’t think you cheated off my test and I really didn’t cheat off you.”

  I hope he can believe me. The only way the two of us will ever be able to sort through this mess is if the two of us actually believe the two of us.

  I can tell he’s confused, though. And I can’t say I blame him.

  “What are you saying?” he asks.

  “I’m saying that neither one of us cheated and someone is trying to manipulate us.”

  I don’t have much else to go off of for that hunch, except for the fact that Robert seems to be too much of an honest person to be a cheater.

  From the moment I heard that Robert had cheated off me, I was suspicious. At first, I just went along with it, because there seemed to have been no other explanation, but we’ve been spending so much too much together and it’s obvious that he’s not the type of person to cheat like that.

  “Why would someone want to do that to us?” he asks.

  “Well, that’s the kicker. We need to figure out exactly what happened and why anyone would want to do this to us.”

  There’s no one I can outright think of who would have a problem with both of us. We didn’t know each other well before any of this happened, so it seems strange that someone would target both of us at once. But maybe if we put our heads together, we can figure this out.

  Robert seems to be thinking of what to say next, but before he can say anything else, my phone rings. I pick my head up off his chest and see that my phone is on the nightstand by the bed.

  “Um, let me just see who that is.”

  I get up off the floor and check my cell.

  I see that it’s my father calling.

  Great.

  I turn and find that Robert has sat up. I have a feeling that my dad calling can’t be a good thing, but I know that ignoring him won’t solve anything, so I answer the phone.

  “Hi, Dad,” I say, knowing that my voice is uneasy.

  I know, deep down, that I don’t have a reason to feel this way – I’m doing this because he’s being unreasonable – but that doesn’t help with the fact that I’m being deceptive and that fact isn’t making me feel very good about myself.

  “Savannah.”

  He doesn’t say hi, just my name is a very alarming way.

  “I’m calling because I want to see you and your new husband right away,” he says. “I’m sending my jet and you will come home immediately. I expect the two of you to come to the penthouse the moment you touch down.”

  He hangs up before I can say anything, before I can argue that he’s being unreasonable. I’m angry, but I can also kind of understand why he’s upset.

  But still, he put me in this position, so I don’t know how to feel. And then, I begin to worry that I may have pushed my father too far.

  He had pissed me off beyond comprehension, but maybe I should have tried to talk to him again. Usually, I can get him to come around to my way of thinking.

  Either way, I know I’ll need to go home, and Robert will have to go with me. I turn to look at him again and he’s regarding me from the floor. I bite my bottom lip and tell him the news.

  “We’re going to have to leave a little earlier than expected.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  I look down at Robert and take in a deep breath, because he is still gloriously naked, which reminds me that I’m not wearing any clothes. While I’m talking to him, I pick up the articles of clothing that I was wearing right before everything devolved into sex.

  “I’m not sure. My dad just called, and he wants the two of us to fly back home as soon as possible. He wants to meet you,” I tell him.

  I pull on the clothes I borrowed from Robert. Then I go to sit down next to him on the floor. I know we’ll have to leave soon, but I don’t mind looking at him just a little while longer.

  “I see,” he responds. “Did he sound upset?”

  I nod. My dad has this way of acting when he’s mad, which is to just boss me around and get all extra serious.

  “Well, then we’d better get out of here.”

  Robert gets up and starts getting dressed. I call downstairs and find out that the clothes I ordered are at the front desk. I ask the concierge to bring them up.

  I had bought enough stuff to last us a couple days – just in case the two of us wanted to maybe have fun in Vegas – it was a little ambitious of me. I should have known that something would come up.

  I get my clothes, get dressed, and Robert a
nd I make sure that we’ve got everything cleaned out of our room. Then we leave it and head downstairs to get checked out.

  It appears our hour of reckoning is near.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Robert

  I’m still thinking about that interesting theory that Savannah dropped on me. But now that she got that call from her dad, we’re on our way back home and there’s not much time to think of much else just yet.

  I can’t believe her dad sent a whole ass private jet to get us. Savannah seems a little nervous, but from the moment we left the hotel, she’s been silent. It looks like she’s thinking over things on her own end.

  When we get to the plane, there isn’t any more talking. We sit across from one another, but Savannah just stares out the window.

  I think about what she told me – the fact that maybe we’re both being manipulated. It sounded a little crazy to me when she first said it – why would anyone want to do something like that? – but with some time to think on it, maybe it isn’t so crazy.

  The only reason I thought Savannah was lying was because I knew I hadn’t cheated, so it was a process of elimination. But, in terms of her personality, she never seemed like the type to cheat, so her theory could hold water.

  The only problem is that I can’t think of anyone who would want either one of us thrown out of school. Is there anyone who hates us that much?

  Getting us kicked out – that would have taken a whole lot of time and effort. Who would go to all that trouble?

  We touch down and, when we get out of the plane, there’s a limo waiting for us. God, the Kings have so much money.

  It feels kind of weird, being so close to all this wealth. The way the two of them just throw around money… it’s very different from my usual life.

  We take the limo to a very nice apartment building. I assume this is where Mr. King lives. Savannah still hasn’t said anything, but, once we’re in the lobby waiting for the elevator, I start to see some real fear on her face.

  I don’t like that she’s so scared to see her dad. I can’t say much, since I don’t know anything about her relationship with her father, but it isn’t the greatest thing that she’s had to fake a marriage in order to keep her dad from forcing her to marry someone else.