As she dances with Martin, I smile at the friendship that the two of them share. I have grown fond of Martin in the short time that I have known him, and I feel awful for the way that I have treated him at work recently. I have apologised to him for my behaviour, and he was understanding, just brushing it off. Stacey told me that Martin and his partner have called time on their relationship and that she wants to support Martin as much as she can. She hasn’t told me what Martin said about us during our time apart, but I have a feeling that he was rooting for Stacey and me to work it out, and for that I will always be grateful to him.
Lydia is working at The Den tonight, and I made it my mission as soon as we arrived to apologise to her. She, like Martin, brushed the whole thing off like I had done nothing major to affect her life.
Paul however is a different matter. I haven’t seen or heard from him since that fateful day. I know that he stayed with me initially, to make sure that I didn’t do anything stupid, but that was the last time that I saw him. I have tried to call him, but he has been ignoring my attempts to contact him.
Paul is my best friend, and one of the only people that I have trusted through my adult life, and I feel like a complete wanker for the way the news about Lydia’s pregnancy was broken to him. Lydia has assured me that Paul is just busy with work, but I think that she is trying to spare my feelings. Why she would bother, I really don’t know. I deserve to have them raging at me. I know that when I do eventually see Paul, that he is going to want to have his say on the matter. I expect that, and a part of me welcomes it. I almost feel that I have gotten away with my actions far too lightly.
When Stacey walked back through the front door yesterday, she didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to go over what happened. All she wanted to do was immerse herself in me, and I wasn’t about to stop her. We spent the whole day in bed together, switching between making love and fucking like animals. It has to be one of the best days of my life. My cock stirs at the memory of her body against mine, her lips against my skin, her legs straddling me as she rode me to release. I lost count of the amount of times I made her come.
“Hey, bro.” I turn to look at Brad, almost scowling at him for interrupting my thoughts. His voice next to my ear acting like a cold bucket of water being poured over my cock.
“Hey,” I say as I swig my beer. “You made it then?” I had invited Brad along tonight, seeing as he wanted us to go out for a beer anyway.
“’Course I did.” He sips his drink and his attention turns to the dance floor. I follow his gaze, and I find his eyes watching Stacey and Martin, just like I was only seconds ago. “So, you guys all good now?” he asks, nodding his head towards Stacey.
I am wary of answering his questions. I still don’t trust Brad, but he did help me when Stacey was gone, so I suppose I should cut him a little slack.
“Yeah.” That’s about as much slack as I am willing to give him, but it’s more than he would have got out of me a few days ago.
My attention moves to Stacey as she saunters towards me, her eyes glittering.
Jesus Christ, she is fucking stunning.
Her gaze drifts to Brad and she smiles at him to acknowledge that he is standing there. She doesn’t let her gaze linger on him for long though, returning her blue eyes to lock with mine.
As she reaches me, she places her hands on my chest and lets them slide up to the back of my neck. She brings my head down and places her lips by my ear, licking my ear lobe before speaking.
“I hope that you haven’t had too much to drink, Mr Waters. I was hoping that we could pick up where we left off this morning.” Her voice purrs in my ear and sends signals straight to my cock, who has decided to wake up again since she walked over here and pushed her tight little body up against mine. She pulls her head back and brushes her lips against mine, before pushing away from my body and turning towards Brad.
“Hi, Brad,” she says before I can respond to the words that she whispered in my ear.
“Hey, Stace,” he replies, completely at ease around her. I feel a pang of jealousy that he got to know her a little whilst I was out of the picture. I push the feeling down and clench my jaw.
Relax, Waters. They have barely said two words to one another. Stacey has no interest in Brad, in that way.
I try to reason with myself, but I don’t fail to notice the look in Brad’s eyes as he looks at her appreciatively. His gaze flicks to me and I give him a cold stare, silently challenging him to look at her like that again. He shrugs his shoulders at me and turns away as Martin comes over.
“Hi, dolls,” Martin says as he bumps his hip into Stacey’s making her giggle. “Where are those drinks, baby girl? I am fucking parched.”
“I’m just about to go and get them.” She turns back around to look at me and Brad. “Do either of you guys want another?” I shake my head and Brad says that he would love another beer, proceeding to down the contents of the one that he is currently holding. It is at this moment that Martin seems to realise that we have an addition to our group. He looks at Brad and I stop myself from laughing at what I imagine it about to happen. If my first proper meeting with Martin is anything to go by, then this is going to be a fucking treat.
I slide my hand around Stacey’s waist and bring her to my side. She looks up at me and smiles, knowing as I do that Martin is about to unleash his personality on Brad.
“And who do we have here?” Martin asks as he runs his eyes up and down Brad.
“Martin, this is Brad, Jake’s brother,” Stacey says. “Brad, this is Martin.” She leaves it at that and goes silent to watch the show that Martin is about to put on.
“Hi, Martin,” Brad says as he holds his hand out for Martin to shake.
“Well, well, well, aren’t you a treat,” Martin says as he takes Brad’s hand and shakes it. Brad’s face changes to one of shock and I bite on my lip to stop myself from laughing.
“Let me ask you something, Brad,” Martin says as he moves towards Brad and leans in to whisper in his ear. I can’t hear what Martin has said, but from the look on Brad’s face, it has clearly rendered him speechless.
Brad stands there and splutters as he tries to form words, and I can no longer hold back my laughter. My body starts to shake, and I can feel Stacey’s doing the same.
“Uh…”
“Oh relax,” Martin says, letting Brad’s hand go. “God, he’s just as prudish as you, Jake.”
“Hey, I am no prude,” I say through my laughter.
“I beg to differ. There was a time when you had the same look on your face as he does right now,” Martin says smirking.
“Yeah, okay.” I concede defeat as he is absolutely right. I was shocked as shit when he first offered me the ‘Martlove.’
“Come on, baby girl,” he says, taking Stacey’s hand in his. “Let’s go and get the drinks. Brad looks like he could do with a beer to cool down.” He winks at Brad and then him and Stacey walk off, heading to the bar.
“What the fuck was that about?” Brad says, still looking shocked.
“That was the whirlwind that is Martin.” I take a swig of beer, chuckling away to myself.
“Fucking hell, I don’t think I have ever met someone who is so forward.”
“Really?” I find that very hard to believe, knowing what some of the women were like that he used to bring home.
“Seriously, bro. No woman has ever said what Martin just said to me.” He sees the look on my face and then bursts out laughing himself.
We stand there, roaring with laughter, and it feels good. I know that I am still wary of Brad, and I don’t completely trust his intentions, but right now, for the moment at least, it feels good to be laughing with my brother.
Stacey
I carry mine and Brad’s drink back over to where Jake and Brad stand. Martin follows behind me, carrying his cocktail. Lydia informed me that Darren has been a godsend over the last few days. It seems that my choice to hire him was a good one. She doesn’t men
tion Stephanie, but from what I can see, she seems to be holding her own.
I assure Lydia that I will return to work on Monday, which I think that she is grateful for. She has been a rock for me, running this place, but I can tell that she is tired. I feel bad that I am here having fun whilst she is working, but when I said as much to her, she just waved off my concerns and told me to enjoy myself.
As I reach Brad, I hand him his drink which he thanks me for. I place my drink on the table by Jake and am about to speak to him, when I hear “Starboy” by The Weeknd start to pump through the speakers. Martin’s squeals behind me, grabs my hand, and drags me onto the dance floor. Ever since the song came out, Martin has said that it is his jam. I laugh as we both shake our hips to the music, people around us making room for Martin and his flailing arms. I enjoy the beat of the music as it pumps through the system, making the dance floor vibrate.
My back is to Jake, but I can feel his eyes watching me. As the song winds down and the DJ remixes in the next one, I feel my inhibitions leave me. Nine Inch Nails, “Closer,” starts to play, making me very aware of Jake and his eyes roaming over my body. I turn to face him, his eyes filled with heat as I move to the beat. I feel Martin come up behind me, and I swear, he is the only guy that Jake would ever let me bump and grind with.
Martin’s hands hold onto my hips and I move my ass in time with his, all the while keeping my eyes on Jake. He looks like he wants to pounce on me and rip my clothes off. I turn in Martin’s arms, allowing Jake a view of my ass writhing to the beat. Martin grabs my ass, making me squeal from his actions.
“Martin!” I shout at him over the music.
“Oh relax, baby girl. Jake won’t mind. In fact, I would say that our little dance is turning him on, if the bulge in his trousers is anything to go by.” I gasp at his words.
“You shouldn’t be looking at his bulge,” I say playfully.
“It’s kind of hard to miss.” I laugh at him and we continue to dance to the song. I feel another pair of hands on my hips from behind and Martin lets go of me, giving me a wink before he turns and starts to grind up on some unsuspecting male.
I keep my body moving to the song, and I feel my hair being moved away from my neck. Lips graze my earlobe, and Jake’s masculine scent swirls around me. Jake speaks the lyrics of the song, his voice low and filled with heat. My hand flies up to his neck, and I bring his lips down so they connect with my skin.
As he begins a delicious assault of kisses on my neck, everything around us disappears. In my mind, it is just Jake, me and the music. His hands grip my waist tighter as I grind my ass against his crotch. I don’t fail to notice the low groan that he emits.
I close my eyes and enjoy the feel of him against me. As the song continues to play out, I can no longer hold onto my need for him.
I move my lips to his ear so that he can hear me when I speak. “I need you, Jake, now.”
He moves quickly, jolting me back to reality in the process. He grabs my hand, pulls me off of the dance floor and in the direction of my office. He opens the door, and slams it shut behind us, pushing me up against the door and devouring my mouth as if he hasn’t tasted me for days. I groan and claw at him, my hands roaming everywhere, and it still doesn’t feel like it is enough.
I bite his bottom lip and our actions become frenzied. We pull at each other’s clothes, our hands clumsy with our desperation for one another. I free Jake’s cock and run my hand up and down it, feeling that his tip is already wet.
He pushes my shorts down, sliding my thong to the side and I lift my leg and hook it around his waist. I place his cock at my opening and take in a sharp breath as Jake slams into me. I cry out, grabbing his ass, needing more friction from him. He begins a punishing rhythm as he grunts into my mouth. My back is slamming against the office door, but I don’t care. All I care about right now is what this man is doing to me. Over and over again he plunges into me, and my grip on his ass tightens as I barrel towards my release.
“I’m coming, Jake, I’m coming,” I say breathlessly. As I feel myself free-falling through my orgasm, Jake tightens his grip on my thighs and I feel him burst inside me.
“Fuck,” he shouts as I tighten my muscles around him, determined to ride both of our releases to their full potential.
I place my hand over Jake’s heart and I bring his hand up, so that it is placed over my heart too. I want him to feel how hard it is pounding. His is pounding just as much and he stares at me, questioningly. I lick my lips and take a few deep breaths before speaking.
“It’s all for you, Jake,” I say as I answer his silent question. “My heart beats for you, and only you.” He rests his forehead against mine and, if it’s possible, his heart beats even harder.
“I love you so much, Stace,” he whispers. “I never thought that I would be lucky enough to find the great love of my life that people talk about.”
He pulls his head back, and my eyes search his as he puts his feelings into words. “The very first time that I laid eyes on you, I knew that I had to have you. All those months ago, I watched you from across the dance floor. I was mesmerised by you back then, and I still am today. I used to laugh at those blokes who gushed over their partners, but that was because I didn’t understand what they had.”
He takes a few deep breaths before continuing. “Now, I understand. You are the reason that I understand.” I let my hands come up to his face, placing my palms on his cheeks. “When you agreed to go home with me that night, all those months ago, I knew that it wouldn’t be the end of us. I had no idea when I was going to see you again, but I knew that it would happen.
“When I saw you at the Bowden Hall six months later, my heart beat so fast that I was sure that you were going to be able to hear it. You looked incredible in your red dress.” He closes his eyes, obviously picturing me in the red dress, and I am captivated by his words. “I can picture everything about that night as if it happened yesterday. That was the night that you stole my heart. I had no idea that I was going to fall for you so hard and so fast.”
Tears well up in my eyes as I swallow down the lump that has formed in my throat. Jake opens his eyes and they are glistening, just as mine are. “I promise that I will love you, cherish you and worship you until the day that I die.” A tear rolls down his cheek and it breaks me. I let a sob escape my throat as this man declares his love for me. I never realised that his feelings ran just as deep as mine do for him.
I press my lips to his, our tears mingling together, our breathing shallow, and our bodies heaving against one another. As our lips break apart, I wipe my thumbs across his cheeks, taking away the wetness that our tears have left. “You are my life, Stacey. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“I am,” I say, no hesitation in my reply. He smiles, and it makes my insides melt. I will never take our love for granted, and I know that we will always do everything that we can to make our relationship work.
Jake places a light kiss on my nose and pulls himself out of me. I pout at the loss of him inside me, and he chuckles. Guiding me to my private bathroom, we both clean ourselves up and then make ourselves presentable to return to the main room.
I go to open the office door, but Jake stops me.
“You know, if you had danced with any other man the way that you were dancing with Martin earlier, there would have been some serious punishments in store for you, lady.” I raise one of my eyebrows in challenge to his words.
“Is that so?” He nods his head at me, making me want to behave badly just to see what punishments he might have in store. “Well, you could always give me a taster when we get home of what those punishments might be.”
“You’re a bad girl, Miss Paris.”
“And you love it,” I say as I open the door and start to lead Jake from my office.
“More than you know.” His words bring a smile to my face as we enter the main room and proceed to spend the rest of the night dancing, drinking, laughing, and having fun.
&nbs
p; Chapter Twenty-Three
Stacey
Monday has been a bitch of a day, and I still have another five hours before I can finish up and go home. I have been at The Den since nine o’clock this morning, catching up on everything that I have missed over the last week.
Lydia came in at ten o’clock to bring me up to speed with what she had done in my absence. It is now six o’clock, and The Den has just opened, students filtering in already after the start of their week at college or uni.
Darren and Susie are working the bar at the moment, but I am on hand for when it starts to get busy. Lydia sits at the end of the bar, waiting for me as I pour us both a drink. Non-alcoholic of course.
As I finish pouring our diet coke’s, I walk around the bar to Lydia and sit down beside her.
“Listen, Stace, I had a thought,” Lydia says, grabbing my attention. “Why don’t you and Jake come round to mine for dinner on Thursday night? I think it’s about time that we got Paul and Jake in the same room together and let them sort their shit out.”
“I don’t know, Lyd.” I’m wary of her idea as I know that Jake has tried to contact Paul, resulting in Paul ignoring him.
“I feel like we need to do something. I know that Paul misses Jake, he’s just too stubborn to admit it.”
“Is Paul really still that mad with him?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” Lydia shrugs her shoulders as she speaks. “I have tried to get him to talk about it, but he just shuts down. I think that he is just pissed at how the whole situation turned out.”
“I know that it was bad, but if you and I can get past it, then why can’t Paul?” I don’t really understand why he seems to have a bigger issue with it than the rest of us.
“I think it’s more to do with how Jake handled it all. Jake went from being angry, to trying to hurt you, and then he took it out on everyone around him. In all the years that Paul has known him, he said that he had never seen Jake act that way before. Paul was mad on my behalf because I was mad at how Jake had treated you.” I process what Lydia is saying, but it still confuses me that Paul is having difficulty with it all.
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