Nothing Is Left, page 15
part #11 of Forever and Ever Series
At all.
After the last time I saw Ward, I didn’t despise him so much. He didn’t seem to care that Skye was with me. He was supportive rather than jealous or put out. And he seemed professional.
But then I found out he saw Skye’s tits.
Those were mine.
I was always weird when it came to her chest. I had an inexplicable infatuation with her rack. It was sexy for obvious reasons, but I was extremely territorial over it. Perhaps it was because every guy who had eyes checked out her rack. Maybe it was because I knew how insecure she was about her appearance.
Or maybe it was because I was just psychotically possessive and jealous.
Whatever the case, it didn’t make me look good.
I stopped by her office every chance I could get. I was always there for lunch, and when she worked late, I would stop by. I trusted Skye not to betray me. If she wanted Ward, she would have picked him. But knowing he was with her nearly all the time rubbed me the wrong way. I needed to exert my presence somehow, let him know he couldn’t pull anything because I’d kill him.
I’d actually kill him.
I brought a pizza to her office then knocked. There were times when I just wanted to barge in to keep Ward on his toes.
“Come in.”
“Hey, baby.” I placed the pizza on her desk.
“What’s that?”
I scanned the room for Ward. He wasn’t around. “Pizza. I figured you were hungry.”
“Oh, that was sweet,” she said. “But you didn’t need to do that.”
“You’ve been working late a lot. I wanted to see you.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “I’m almost done.”
I kept scanning the room, wondering if Ward was hiding behind a chair or something.
“He went home a few hours ago,” she said in a bored voice.
“Who?” I said coolly.
“Don’t play dumb, Cayson. You know exactly who I’m talking about.”
“Well, why did he leave?”
She gave me a smug expression. “He had a date.”
My heart leapt in joy. The tension left my body. But I still played it cool. “Well, he moved on quickly.”
“He was never in love with me, Cayson. You made everything a bigger deal than it really was.”
“I don’t like men hitting on you. It’s reasonable request.”
“He doesn’t hit on me,” she argued. “He’s totally professional.”
I kept imagining his reaction when he saw her tits. It probably looked like Christmas morning.
“Seriously, you need to chill out,” she barked. “If that’s the only reason why you stop by and see me, then don’t bother. He’s leaving next week for a while so I won’t be seeing him. Now you can save yourself some time.” She shot me a glare then focused on her work.
“That isn’t the only reason, Skye.”
“You’re full of it,” she hissed.
“It’s not. I come by because I miss you.”
“The second you walked through that door, you looked for Ward. Then when you realized he wasn’t here, you looked at me.”
“Well, if I worked one-on-one with a beautiful woman who wanted me, you wouldn’t be so cool about it.”
“I trust you,” she continued. “I don’t need to monitor you. She can hit on you all she wants.”
Her faith made me feel guilty. “I’m sorry. I just…I don’t like the fact he’s seen you.”
“Well, Zack has seen me too.”
I shot her a deadly glare. “Don’t say his name ever again.”
She let the argument drop.
“I didn’t realize how jealous I was until we got together. I’m sorry. I wish I could be different but it’s hard sometimes.”
She twirled a pen in her hand. “It’s okay. I was weird around Jasmine too.”
“You were,” I agreed. “You were always prejudiced against her.”
“But, again, you slept with her.”
“Seeing you naked and kissing you is just as intimate to me.”
She sighed. “I’m tired of discussing Ward every time we’re together. I feel like I’m having a relationship with him instead of you. He’s all we ever talk about. Can we just forget about him?”
I knew she was right. “Okay.”
She got back to work. “I just have a few more things to do. You can go to my apartment and shower. By the time you’re done, I’ll probably be home.”
“I’ll just wait.”
“It’s okay,” she said.
“I insist.” I opened the box and took a slice.
“Okay.” She got back to work.
I stared at her tight-fitting blouse and noted the curve of her tits. Her long hair was behind her shoulders, and her glasses sat on the bridge of her nose. She looked like a bombshell. “Who else is here?”
“Just me,” she answered. “Everyone went home.”
I nodded. “You don’t have an assistant or anything?”
“Not yet.”
I finished the pizza then wiped my mouth with a napkin.
She kept making notes.
I stood up then came around her desk.
She was so absorbed in her work she didn’t notice.
I pulled her chair out then scooped her in my arms. Then I placed her on the desk.
“Cayson, what are you doing—”
I lifted up her skirt then pulled her ass to the edge of the desk. Then I kissed her hard on the mouth, wanting to take her right then and there.
She fought my kiss initially, and then melted like usual. Her hands moved to my slacks and she unzipped them.
I unbuttoned her blouse and revealed her bra and gorgeous rack. I snuck a peek then kept kissing her.
She unbuttoned my shirt with anxious hands then pulled my pants and boxers down.
I moved her underwear over and slid inside easily.
Skye moaned for me then gripped my forearms.
I took her hard and fast on her desk, wanting to claim her in her office. Whenever she looked at her desk, she would remember the way I pleased her. The way she liked it. She wouldn’t be able to forget about me all day long.
Skye was just as enthused. She grabbed my ass and pulled me into her over and over, quiet screams coming out of her pretty mouth. She fucked me harder than I fucked her.
Breathing hard, we both grabbed onto each other and pulled, needing more than the other could give. When she said my name louder and louder, I knew she was hitting her climax. I slammed into her harder to make it feel as good as possible.
Her body relaxed around mine and her head rolled back. Her hands held onto my forearms gently, no longer savagely grabbing me.
Knowing she was finished, I released myself inside her, moaning the entire way. The sensation spread throughout my body and brought my head into the clouds. I missed doing this with Skye every night. I missed it more than anything.
I leaned over her when I was finished and kissed her gently. Her hands moved up my back and massaged the areas where she scratched me. My lips moved to her neck and sprinkled quiet kisses.
“Sex and pizza,” she whispered. “Deadly combination.”
“I know how to get into your heart.”
“And between my legs.”
I gave her a final kiss before I pulled away. “Hurry up and finish work. I want to go home with you.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
Chapter Seventeen
Slade
It didn’t make sense for me to get my own place when I was with Trinity all the time, but she didn’t seem ready to move in together. I suspected it was because her dad wouldn’t approve. It irritated that she cared more about what other people thought than her own happiness, but I couldn’t sway her no matter what I said.
To make my life easier, I found an apartment as close to her as possible. I was just one building over, and I got the cheapest place I could find since I knew I would never be there. It was pretty much a hole in the wall and I could barely fit my stuff inside.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Trinity walked inside with her arms across her chest. “I know you can afford a better place than this.”
“But it’ll be more of a storage unit than anything else. I’m usually at your place.”
“Yeah, but you still want to be comfortable. What if Cayson wants to come over?”
“We’d just go to his place,” I said. “His place is nice.”
“I assumed he was going to move in with Skye.”
I shrugged. “I think they’ll wait a while. It’s not like they were broken up for a short period of time. It was a whole year. They need to get to know each other all over again.”
“I guess,” she said.
“Have you talked to Skye about their fight?”
“Yeah,” she said. “They’re fine.”
“That’s good. If they broke up again, that would be shitty.”
“It would.” She sat on my couch then looked at my TV. “Where’s your room?”
“In that corner,” I said as I pointed.
“Oh…I thought you just left the mattress there for now.”
“No, it’s a studio.”
“Well, if you like it, that’s all the matters.”
I sat beside her on the couch. “Are you ready for the really good news?”
“Sure.”
I put my arm around her shoulders. “I found the remaining members of my band.”
“Who?” she asked.
“Razor has a friend who’s awesome on the bass. And that guy has a friend who’s sick on the keyboard.”
“Wow,” she said. “It looks like everything is ready to go.”
“Yep. We have practice tomorrow.”
“What’s the name of you band?” she asked.
“Alligators Down Under.”
“Why did you call it that?” she asked.
“Because it’s awesome.” Duh.
“Do you like alligators or something?”
“Yeah, they’re cool.”
She raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject. “I’ll make you guys t-shirts and picks.”
“That’d be awesome, baby. And you can be our first groupie.”
Her eyes narrowed in threat. “I’m only your groupie. And I’m your only groupie.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Well, you know what I meant.” I kissed her ear playfully until she relaxed. “So, where should we do it first?”
“Do what?”
“We need to defile this apartment. Where will we mark our territory?”
She shrugged. “On your bed.”
“Nah,” I said. “It’s got to be somewhere cooler. How about on the kitchen counter.”
“You make food there.”
“I eat your pussy. What does it matter?”
“You sure know how to get me in the mood,” she said sarcastically.
“Oh, I know how to get you in the mood.” I lay her on the couch then positioned myself over her. She couldn’t get free. My lips sought her neck and my hand moved into her pants. I rubbed her clitoris while I sucked her neck. Soon, she was clinging to me, wanting me. “Works every time.”
***
Band practice went better than I expected. Getting to know each other and learning the different songs took skill and patience. Fortunately, they were such good musicians that it wasn’t a problem.
I already had twelve songs written. I’d written at least a hundred in my lifetime, but over the past year, my sound had completely changed. My lyrics had become emotional, and instead of mentions drugs, sex, and partying, I sang about the one person in my life I could never stop thinking about.
“Damn,” Razor said. “Is that about Trinity?”
Did I make that really obvious? “Yeah…”
“Shit, you’re totally sprung on her.”
I tried denying it for a long time but I realized how pointless that was. Every time I tried to act cool and detached, people didn’t buy it. “A little.”
He laughed. “You are pussy-whipped—hard.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m in love.”
“Who knew Slade would grow up and be a big baby?” he said with a laugh.
I didn’t care if people teased me. If they had what I had, they wouldn’t make fun of me for it. Trinity and I butted heads a lot, but that only made us love each other more. I’d never been so jealous in life as I was with her. The idea of her even looking at Reid sent me into a rage. I was hooked on her hard. I always teased Cayson for being obsessed with Skye, but I was pretty much the exact same way with Trinity. My life had changed so much since she walked into it. I couldn’t even remember who I used to be.
“So, when are we going to play our first gig?” Zigi asked.
I shrugged. “When we get good. We don’t even know all the songs yet.”
“But do you have any ideas?”
“A few,” I said. “We’ll probably have to play for free a few times, but then after that, we might get paid. It’ll be nice to have some extra cash.”
“And it’s a great way to hook up with chicks,” Zigi said. “Chicks are into musicians even though they know we aren’t the boyfriend types.”
I used to dream about being a rock star and having women throw themselves at me. But those days were over. There was only one chick I’d go home with. I hoped she would be in the front row of every show, singing every lyric.
Now that would be hot.
Chapter Eighteen
Roland
I just left the office with Heath when my phone rang.
It was Cayson. “Yo.”
“Hey, man. What’s up?”
“I’m just about to go look at an apartment. Can I call you back later?”
“I just called you to tell you Jasmine gave me her number to pass along to you.”
She did? “Oh.”
“So, I’ll text it to you. She said she’d love to meet up.”
Jasmine? She and I hung out and we had a great time, but I didn’t know she wanted to see me again. And was Cayson cool with that? He seemed to be if he was passing the message along.
Cayson seemed to read my mind. “Do whatever you want with her. I don’t care.”
“Are you sure? You were pretty mad last time.”
“Seriously, it’s fine.”
“Okay. Well, thanks.”
“Good luck with the apartment. Hope you find something nice.”
“Thanks. Bye.”
“Bye.” He hung up then texted me the number.
“Who’s Jasmine?” Heath asked as we rode the elevator to the lobby.
“Oh, this girl I used to hang out with.”
“Hang out as in…?”
“Well, I slept with her once. But we became friends afterwards.”
“That’s cool.” He dropped the subject. “So, the apartment in my building is probably going to look identical to mine.”
“Then I’ll take it,” I said. “It’s close to work and at least I know I can borrow a cup of sugar from you.”
He chuckled. “Good selling point.”
We headed to his building then entered the vacant apartment. It looked the same as Heath’s. It had the same view of the park, but it was on a lower level.
“It’s got two bedrooms. You can make the spare a sex dungeon.”
“Do I look like Christian Grey?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know what kind of stuff you’re into.”
“No sex dungeon. I’m fine with doggy style.”
Heath looked around at the apartment and checked the lights and the dishwasher. “Everything looks good. If you want it, I’d go for it now. You know how quickly apartments go in the city.”
He had a point.
“I asked him to show this to you first since we’re friendly.”
“You and the landlord?”
“Yeah. We exchange sweets every year for Christmas,” he said. “No big deal.”
“Well, everyone seems to like you.”
He shrugged. “I’m a likeable person.”
“You’re just a kiss-ass,” I mumbled.
“What did you say?” he demanded.
“Oh, nothing.” I smirked as I shrugged my shoulders.
He came over then stood close to me. A teasing glint was in his eyes. “No…you definitely said something.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said as I stepped away.
His fingers pried into my pits and he tickled me everywhere, including the skin over my ribs. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I laughed and tried to get away.
“I don’t think so, bud.” He kept tickling me. “What did you call me?”
I kept laughing. “The coolest person ever.”
He dropped his hands. “That’s what I thought.”
I rubbed the tender muscles of my sides and caught my breath. “Geez, don’t piss off Heath.”
“That wouldn’t be wise.” He headed to the front door. “Now let’s go get this apartment.”
***
I texted Jasmine a few days later. I heard through the grapevine you live in the city.
Roland?
Yep. Cayson gave me your digits.
Yeah, I cut hair now. I work in a salon in Manhattan.
Cool.
What are you doing here?
I’m an editor for a magazine.
Cayson told me. That’s awesome. Let’s get together.
I didn’t know what we would do since we hadn’t seen each other in over a year, but I didn’t want to be rude. Sure. Sounds like a good idea.
You want to go for a drink?
I’m thirsty like a camel.
Alright. I’ll see you at Rogers in an hour.
Cool.
***
After work, I showered and got ready for my meeting with Jasmine. I was moving into my new place later that week, so I was stuck with my parents for the time being, unfortunately. My mother was growing sadder the closer my move out date approached.
Just when I got into my car, Heath texted me.
Come over.
Sorry, man. I got plans tonight.
