Cage of Desire: (Cage of Design Series, Book 1): An Alpha Stepbrother Billionaire Romance

by Christina Clark

  After I had polished off over half of the pizza, I put the rest in the small fridge my mom had bought me and turned my thoughts to the envelope. Should I open it, and read whatever was inside? I struggled with it for a good twenty minutes, before I decided it was time to rip off the Band-Aid and be done with Eric Cage once and for all. Maybe he would tell me he had a girlfriend, or he was gay and just really unaware of the signals he was giving off. Or maybe he would tell me that he just wasn’t interested in me and my naked shower performance. I cringed at the thought of my big fat body swaying in the shower as I rubbed soap onto my boobs. Okay, Mia. This is it the moment of truth. I tore open the envelope and out fell a hastily folded note. I smoothed it out and started to read:

  Mia,

  I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel embarrassed, but Mia you were drunk. And drunk girls can’t consent. I didn’t wanna do that to you, cause I really like you and I hope we can start over. Please. I know that I should’ve stopped you or looked away, but I physically couldn’t. Please can we just start over? I’ll never bring this up again if you don’t want me to, just say the word.

  Love,

  Eric.

  I read it over again, and my spirits soared. He was such a good guy, a lot better than I had expected him to be at least. And he respected the fact that I was too drunk, and wants us to start over. What does that even mean? Does he want to be friends, does he want to date me? And when he said he liked me, what did that mean? He liked me as a person, or did he have a crush on me? The only person who could decipher New York college speak for me was Aria, and I had a nagging suspicion that she wouldn’t be too keen on the idea of me and Eric cage. So I called the only other person I could.

  Claire answered on the second ring, and I could hear Aria softly laughing in the background and from the sound of Claire’s panting voice, I realized that I had interrupted something. “Oh God, Claire, I’m so sorry, I know you were probably in the middle of something, I’ll just call you later, okay?” But Claire must have detected the faint note of panic in my voice, or she wouldn’t have shown up at my apartment half an hour later with a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

  Chapter Twenty: Eric

  The image of Mia naked in the shower was burned into my memory forever, but I kept pushing it aside and told my incredibly erect penis to settle down while I worried about Mia having received my note. Roberto had called as soon as he had dropped her off, and the pizza arrived minutes after. I struck a deal with the delivery guy and paid him to deliver the food and a note to Mia. I hadn’t heard from Mia and I had no idea how to contact the pizza delivery guy to see if he had actually done what I had asked him to. I was growing more and more impatient, calling Mia after every few minutes and texting her as many different ways to say I’m sorry as I could think of.

  I tried to keep myself distracted, and checked the emails I’d received from Naomi about planning the Fair. She was good at this stuff, being the control freak she was, and she could have whipped this whole thing into shape in just about five minutes. I told her that, as I replied to her email, and then logged off, still thinking of Mia. I called her again, but this time she answered. I panicked slightly, I hadn’t expected to her pick up and I had no idea what I would say. She spoke first, however, “Eric,” she said stiffly, “Thank you for the food, it was very kind of you.” She sounded like she had been crying, and I felt awful, but I asked quietly, “Did you read my note?” She sighed and then said slowly, “Yes, I did. And I’m glad you decided to respect my condition at the time,” she hesitated, and then started talking really fast, “But look, I don’t know if you’re telling the truth. I mean, yesterday you were mentally undressing me in school and now you want to eat pizza and hang out? I’m just confused and I’d never done any of this before. So, I just don’t know what you want. I’ve tried guessing, and it hasn’t worked. So just tell me.”

  She said so much so fast, that it took me a while to process all of it. “Are you- Mia, what do you mean it’s the first time? Are you a virgin?” I regretted asking that immediately after I did, because she sighed again, and then asked in a despondent voice, “Is that all you got from everything I said? Goodbye, Eric.” I scrambled to get my shit together, and fast, “No, Mia. Don’t hang up, please. Listen to me, everything I said in that note was true. And yeah, I was acting like an asshole yesterday and I was totally harassing you. Yesterday, I have just fucked you and then left. But look, I was with you today, and you were really drunk and instead of taking advantage of you I just wanted to- I don’t know, take care of you, and just be with you, I guess.” I waited for her to say something, and when she didn’t, I continued on, “I spent time with you, and I really like you. I also think you’re fucking hot and I wanted to just take you today, but I want you to be sober and willing if we ever get to that point again.”

  “How can you say you like me when you’ve known me for a day while I was drunk out of my mind? I don’t know, Eric.” She seemed like she was about to hang up again, and I said the first thing I could think of, “Mia, go out with me, please.” I was surprised to hear those words come out of my mouth, but I went on, “I want to get to know you better. You’re right, I’ve only known you for a day while you were drunk, and I would like to change that.” She hesitated, “Really?” I almost shouted, “Yes!” and she agreed to grab coffee with me tomorrow. I hung up feeling a strange happiness that I’d never felt before. I couldn’t believe it; Me and Mia Carter on a date. That’s something you don’t hear about everyday.

  Chapter Twenty-One: Mia

  Claire and I talked for a good two hours before I contacted Eric. She patiently listened as I half-sobbed the story to her, and gently coaxed the details out of me when the tears started coming in full force. After she heard everything, she sighed, and I said, “I know, it’s bad.” She shook her head, and said, to my surprise, “It’s not what you did, Mia, it’s how you feel about it. Yeah, you took your clothes off, so what? I know you’re a virgin, and it must be terrifying, but you can’t feel dirty or shameful for wanting something that’s so fucking natural.” I let her words wash over me, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. It’s just sex, I told myself, hoping that I could forgive myself for acting the way I did today.

  Claire bit her lip nervously, and asked, “Do you really like this guy?” And when I nodded vehemently, she said in a resigned voice, “So, thing is, I should tell you why Aria hates him so much. He’s a douchebag, and that’s like a giant understatement. He sleeps with anything that moves, and it’s like his aim to make girls into conquests.” I gasped, “Aria and Eric? Oh my God!” She waved her hand dismissively, “No no, nothing like that, oh God. Aria’s ex-girlfriend, Maisy. She was bisexual, by the way. She and Aria met in high school and they applied here together. They were really in love, and everyone knew that. This was freshman year, and Maisy suddenly starts to hang out with a bunch of sophomore kids. And Aria was a little concerned because these people were nothing like Maisy’s usual friend types.

  “So Aria ignored it for a while, but then Maisy would spend all her time with her new friends and it was straining their relationship. So Aria asked if she could hang out with them too, that way Maisy could see her friends and Aria could see Maisy, and that’s when Maisy told Aria flat out that there was someone else, and she was in love with this other person. It soon turns out that this other person was Eric, who had just been stringing her along. He slept with her and broke up with her the next day; adding ‘got a lesbian to hook up with me’ to his list of achievements.” I had turned pale, and my thoughts were racing. IS that hat he wanted to do with me? Pretend to like me just so he could dump me right after we had sex? Or was he leading me on so he could laugh about it later with his friends?

  Claire knew what I was thinking, and she said slowly, “This was last year, and God knows I’ve changed so much in the last year. I wasn’t even out yet; maybe he’s changed too.” I shook my head sadly, “Claire, I’m just so conf
used. I’ve had boyfriends before, one I dated for a year and I thought I really loved him. But even he didn’t make me feel the way Eric has in just two days. I really like him,” and then I said, building up speed, “I mean, if he just wanted to have sex and then leave, he would’ve done it today, right? I mean an asshole like the one you described doesn’t care about whether a drunk girl can consent.” Claire shook her head, “Waiting for consent doesn’t mean you’re good. It means you’re a fucking human being. But you’re right; the Eric I knew last year wouldn’t have given a fuck about that. He’d see a naked girl and bang her. And I mean, look at you, it would have been seriously difficult not to fuck a girl who looks like you.”

  I blushed furiously, and admitted, “I thought he didn’t want to fuck me because of the way I looked. I kept thinking of myself doing that thing in the shower and this image of my giant hips just shaking like that. I wanted to throw up.” I felt strange; I’d never talked about this with anyone so openly. And Claire’s eyes widened, “Mia, hold up. Do you have...do you have body image issues?” I nodded slowly. And Claire, who was lying on the couch, sprang up and sat down on the floor next to me. “Okay, Mia, I need you to know this: you’re gorgeous. Like absolutely jaw-droppingly fucking beautiful. I should know; I’m all about the ladies. I can’t believe you feel so bad about yourself. Have you talked to anyone about this, I mean professionally?”

  I shook my head and laughed, “No, it’s nothing like that. I just feel bad about the way I look, everyone does right?” And Claire locked her big baby blue eyes onto mine, “Yeah,” she said seriously, “Everyone has that one thing, like I wish my nose was smaller or my hairline wasn’t so weird, but Mia the thought of your own body makes you want to throw up. Those are some very strong feelings. The shame you felt, it wasn’t because you wanted sex, Mia. I think you were chastising yourself for thinking you deserved sex. Your body is beautiful, and you don’t need to feel ashamed.” Claire’s words hit home, and I started to cry again. She was right about everything. I didn’t want to feel like this anymore. We hugged it out and talked some more as we ate ice cream. Then Claire had to leave, and I walked her out. I returned to my living room and burst into tears all over again. I picked up the phone and called Eric, agreeing to a coffee date with him tomorrow.

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Eric

  I woke up at 7:30 am even though I didn’t have to meet Mia till 11. I just really didn’t wanna mess this up, and I hopped in to the shower, letting the cold water run down my skin and really wake me up. I consciously tried not to think about what had happened here yesterday. I needed a fresh start with Mia, and she was obviously very embarrassed. I wouldn’t remind her, and we could just pretend it hadn’t happened. I scrubbed myself everywhere, making sure I wouldn’t smell or anything. I hadn’t ever freaked out this much before seeing a girl. But I was suspecting that Mia would turn out to be much more than just a girl. Normally, this thought would have made me panic, but nothing about this situation was normal for me. Mia just had that effect on me.

  I got carefully dressed and decided to go for a walk so I could clear my head before I had to meet Mia. I had offered to pick her up now that Roberto already knew her place, but she said she’d meet me at the coffee shop, so I decided to just walk instead of taking the car. I smiled at the thought. I think I usually took the car because it would piss off my stepmother; I rarely ever needed it for just going to Savannah. I checked the time and it was 8:30, still two and a half hours to go and I was already close to the coffee shop. I circled back towards my house and passed a small florist on the way. I knew first date flowers were cheesy, but I guess this wasn’t a regular first date.

  I entered the little shop and a dark-skinned guy with curly hair looked up from the counter. “Hey, man, how can I help you?” I didn’t like him, he had the whole smooth charming thing going on that made me want to show off. “I need flowers for a date,” I said, and he smiled at me. “Sure thing, what kind are you thinking,” and I was about to answer before I noticed the hundreds of different kinds of flowers all around me. I didn’t recognize most of them, and I admitted, “I don’t really know flowers well, what do you think?” I hated asking him for help, but I wanted everything to go perfectly for Mia. “Well, if you’ve known your date for a while, I’d suggest roses, but if it’s new then you want to give a bouquet of mixed seasonal flowers- it’s sweet and not over the top.”

  I liked the sound of the second option, and said, “Yeah, seasonal sounds good, I’ll have a small bouquet of that.” He nodded and started picking out flowers from different buckets placed around the room; he trimmed the stems and started talking to me, and I started slowly warming up to the guy. He wasn’t getting into the little competition and wasn’t trying to show off like I was, so I decided to stop as well. He told me his name was Aidan and he had dropped out of an engineering school and wanted to study history and literature instead, but he was working for a year before he enrolled somewhere else, and I told him I was a junior at Savannah.

  He asked me about my date and I told him, suddenly describing her in all her glory. “She’s just perfect, you know? She’s beautiful and she’s smart and adorable, I really think I could fall for this one. I don’t usually do the boyfriend thing, but Mia’s something else.” He looked up from wrapping the bouquet, “Mia, from Savannah? Carter, was it?” I was surprised, and I dropped the sunflower I had been twirling in my hand, “How the hell do you know Mia?” my voice was suddenly aggressive. He didn’t take the bait, and continued on calmly, “She was in here yesterday, buying flowers for her mum. I’m just really good with names, that’s all.” I relaxed, remembering the pink flowers she had been carrying when she entered Dr. Carter’s office yesterday. I paid for the flowers, thanked him and left. It was just 9:30, and I still had an hour and a half to kill.

  I arrived at the coffee shop and had nowhere else to go, so I entered the quaint little place and ordered myself some breakfast. I felt too nervous to eat, but I should probably have breakfast if I didn’t want my breath to smell of hunger and toothpaste. I was lightly drumming my fingers on the table nervously, waiting for my pancakes when I saw Mia enter the café. That’s not possible, I thought, I looked down at my watch which said 9:45. She caught sight of me and looked just as surprised, but then she smiled and made her way over to me. She looked stunning and I told her so; she was wearing a loose white day dress with large pink patterned roses and her hair was pulled up high in a ponytail. She sat down across from me at the table, and said breathlessly, “I woke up early and I had nothing else to do so I just thought I’d wait here.” I laughed and told her I had done the same thing. I presented the small bouquet ad she accepted it, blushing prettily. The waitress arrived with my food and took Mia’s order; I thanked her and smiled widely at my pancakes. I couldn’t remember being happier.

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Mia

  I couldn’t believe that both of us had arrived with an hour and fifteen minutes to go. We were equally nervous and excited about this date. Maybe he really did mean what he had said. The whole time, he kept me laughing and he said the sweetest things. I cracked a few jokes here and there, and he laughed uproariously. I couldn’t remember being happier. There was hardly a lull in the conversation, and we just kept talking; it was easy, like I had known him a long time. He said, “Mia, I want you to know the truth; you told me you’re- you know, a virgin and I think you should know that I’m not. Not even slightly; in fact, I’ve been with a lot of girls.” He looked at me earnestly, waiting for me to respond, and I smiled at him, “I know.” He frowned, “How?” I laughed then, and said, “Eric, I’ve seen the death stares girls at school give you. And I also know about the unfortunate incident with Maisy.”

  He looked down sheepishly, “I was an asshole, it’s true. But Mia, not with you. This isn’t what I did with the other girls. I just really like you. You know, this is my first actual date. Normally, it’s hotel rooms for me not coffee shops.” I nodded, and then changed the subject. We ta
lked some more and ordered more food, smiling and laughing until Eric looked down at his watch and his raised his eyebrows. “It’s two o’clock,” he said, and I started laughing, “Have we really been here for that long?” He snuck a look at the waitress who was glaring at us, and we laughed again. He called for the check, and while he spoke to the waitress, I couldn’t help looking at him and thinking about how absolutely gorgeous he was. He wasn’t wearing his glasses today and I got a good look at his eyes; flecked green and hazel. He caught me looking and I looked away quickly.

  As soon as the waitress left with her tip, he leaned forward and clasped both of my hands in his. He looked straight at me and I could feel my heart beating faster until it was all I could hear. He looked into my eyes and said in a voice that made my neck feel very hot, “You are so very beautiful, Mia Carter.” I couldn’t look straight at him, and feeling my face turn bright red, I smiled and looked away. “Look at me,” he said, in a softly commanding voice, and I was suddenly reminded of my dream about him. I turned even redder than I already was, and he said, “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” Slowly, I nodded, biting my lip in anticipation. He reached out and released my lip from my hold, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he said, “Don’t bite. That’s my job.”

  He leaned forward and so did I, parting my lips to meet his. He came so close I could count his eyelashes, his forehead touching mine; he opened his lips and barely brushed mine before moving back. I let out a soft cry of disappointment and he smirked. “Do you want me to?” he whispered, and I nodded. “No,” he shook his head, “you have to say it.” I closed my eyes, and whispered, “I want it.” And I felt his mouth on mine, his tongue moved to meet me halfway, and then as he had promised, he bit down on my lip. Colors burst before my closed eyes and I could feel my blood rushing as every inch of my body seemed to be lit on fire. When he pulled away, I kept my mouth open. I couldn’t believe it was over. It had been the best kiss of my entire life. He pushed back his chair suddenly and got up, “We’re going for a walk,” he announced. I stood up, still dazed from the fireworks that were going off inside my mind and between my legs, and I let him lead me by the arm. He smirked at me again, that trademark Eric Cage smirk that made him so very difficult to read, but that was part of the reason why I had fallen for him.