Page 56 of Affliction

“Ouch,” he said into the line.

“Don’t, you’re not wounded. Your ego is not that fragile.”

“No, you’re right, it’s not,” he admitted with a laugh.

“All right, I gotta go. I need to shower and get some sleep. I’m so tired.”

“You still smell like me?” he asked. “That’s so hot.”

“Have you showered?” I countered.

“No, I haven’t.”

“All right, then,” I said with a giggle.

“So what happens when I see you tomorrow?” he asked.

I sighed, thinking it over for a minute. I was going to be bold Mia. “Whatever you want to happen. Just nothing inappropriate in front of my staff.”

“Got it,” he replied. “But remember, you were the one who said no more games.”

“I know. And you won’t get those from me. I can promise you that.”

“Get some rest, pretty girl,” he told me.

I laughed into the phone. “You too. Have a good night.”

“Oh, I already have,” he said in a sultry tone. “This was the best way to end the day ever.”

I laughed.

“I’ve missed that sound,” he told me.

“Good night, Terry,” I said in reply.

“Night, Mia,” he said, and for a minute I thought he had hung up. But he hadn’t. “No more games,” he reminded me.

“No more games,” I repeated back before hanging up.

I wasn’t sure what I had just done. Maybe given Terry a license to be my fuck buddy while I figured things out? But I wasn’t sorry. I’d enjoyed this evening and his company over the past few days. The time we spent together had been wonderfully familiar. I wanted a little piece of that normalcy we used to have. More importantly, I wanted Terry to know this version of me.

I would eventually have to tell Ally about this little arrangement that I’d struck up with him. That seemed to be titled ‘No Games,’ even though it felt like a big game. A potentially dangerous one, too, but I wasn’t backing out of it now. I wanted this. I also wanted to apologize to Ally. After all, she had been the one who’d held me up when he left, picked me up off the floor when I’d been at my lowest, and was my biggest supporter when I started my company. She deserved a better apology because she had always been the rock I’d needed.

Gathering myself and my dishes off the couch, I headed for the shower. I wanted to relive the moments in the Art Room while I showered and washed his scent from me. Then a good night’s sleep was in order.

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