Page 35 of Storm

Pushing away from the table, I watch, confused that he’s standing. “I’m not hungry. I’ll check my schedule and let you know if there’s a conflict, otherwise I’ll follow you up there.”

“You don’t want to want to finish eating?”

I feel as though I’m miscalculating his agreement to participate, but Kevin is nothing but sure with his words, so I don’t think that’s it.

Dropping his napkin to the table, he pulls out a couple of twenties and sets them on the table. “Not particularly. I’ll see you next week.”

With that, he turns and leaves me to dine alone.

I have no problem eating by myself. I’ve done it plenty of times, so I turn to my meal and enjoy the steak, alone with my thoughts. Only this time, the more bites I cut from my steak, the more infuriated I become at Miriam.

Why couldn’t she have been like all the others?

Had she just followed the rules, not taken off in the most immature way with insults, then blocking all contact, I don’t think it’d have taken long for me to be on board with inviting her out again.

She really was the best.

Coming inside her was more fulfilling than it ever has been before. I’ve tried to identify my need for it, ‘cum fetish’ or ‘breeding kink’ as the internet calls it, and I’m fairly certain my need is driven by a wish for connection. A kind of intimacy I don’t feel safe enough to get from an actual romantic partner.

Well, that and I love the primality of it as well. There’s nothing more raw than knowing I can have control over creatinga life with someone, but the idea of raising a child terrifies me. It didn’t used to, but all things change as we get older.

I have Kayla and Josephine to thank for that.

Kayla was my college girlfriend and fuck, she was wild. We met when I was a junior and she was a senior. I never knew what mood she was in, whether it be adventurous, romantic, distant, playful. But she was exciting to me and I was immediately infatuated and hooked from the excitement that was her.

While both of us had goals of going to law school, she was already accepted into a really great law program, so I followed her there. One year of long distance was fine with me since we made an effort to see each other on breaks and holidays, throwing in a random weekend here and there, but she took her freedom from me and ran with it.

When I showed up to surprise her, I found her having a study session with a classmate, only they weren’t pouring through pages of textbooks. Instead, she was getting fucked from behind and biting her pillow to keep her cries muffled.

Like the fool I was, I waited in the living room of her shared apartment, and felt shocked when I saw her roommate walk out of her room a few minutes later, using his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow. All I got was a chin lift as he walked by and shut himself in his room.

Kayla took another few minutes before she found me. There were no tears or fear, just a sheepish expression at having been caught. Not even an apology, just ayou had to know this wasn’t going to be foreverexcuse.

It hardened me. That betrayal was fucking awful, so I knew the next time I entered a relationship with someone, I would have a tighter mental list of requirements before I’d give my trust to them.

IthoughtI found that with Josephine. She was gorgeous, sweet, and innocent. She was the receptionist at the first firmI was hired at after graduating. It took months before I was comfortable asking her on a date, which I cleared with the company beforehand. The last thing any of us needed was a lawsuit, and we signed a stack of documents stating we would act appropriately.

My relationship with her lasted three years before I finally realized she was looking for an easy ride through life. It started slowly after she met my parents and saw what I would eventually inherit. She’d drop comments about wishing she could have something small, inexpensive, so I’d buy it thinking I was treating her. Those “wishes” grew heavier in price over the course of a year until I came home with a diamond bracelet for her.

She had a friend over to our shared condo I bought for us, squealing and excited when I handed over the box tied with a ribbon. What I didn’t expect was for her face to fall when she saw it, with a comment that the color won’t match the other jewelry I’d bought for her.

I was perturbed but assured her I’d exchange it for the correct color metal and received a warm kiss in thanks. Then she bounced off with her friend to continue gossiping. When we moved to this place, she quit her job at my firm because she claimed she wasn’t comfortable there any longer since she couldn’t kiss her “love” whenever she wanted.

She never got a new one. The day of the bracelet, I offered to run out to grab us all dinner since she and her girlfriend were already on their second bottle of wine, and when I returned, I overheard gloating that I’ll buy her whatever she wants. Then they giggled, and she continued with explaining that while I had many annoying traits, she could tolerate it for the bank account and never having to work again.

Those words broke me, forcing me to add extra requirements to future relationship requirement list, includingbeing financially independent, a hardworking business woman, mature, and we’d live independently until it came time we’d agree to marry.

I left the apartment after giving her a week to pack her shit and leave. She took everything she could get her hands on, but I didn’t care. I just wanted her gone.

That’s what scares me about Miriam the most. She’s everythingnoton my list. She’s wild, untamed, young, not financially stable from what I can tell considering the number of jobs she has, and one I didn’t add on the list, but she’s got a temper. The only problem is, I find her inability to curb her words fucking intoxicating.

So, I have to stay far, far away from Miriam Delgado.

CHAPTER 17

EZRA

Pulling out my lock picking kit, I shift my phone to my shoulder so I can be hands free.

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