Page 32 of The Tempted

“I could say the same to you,” he replied. We stared at each other for a moment. He was probably wondering where I came from or if I had been outside long enough to hear his conversation.

“Victor’s been looking for you,” I said as I studied him.

He grinned at me. “Yeah, well I don’t think he’d like to know the reason I’m late.” He said with a laugh and then patted me on the back.

“What’s the reason?” I asked balling my fists inside my pockets knowing that I was going to regret my question.

“Well, I can’t tell him I had a late start because his daughter wouldn’t let me leave the bedroom if you know what I mean,” he winked slyly. I wanted to punch him in the face and poke his eye out with an ice pick. “I doubt daddy dearest wants to hear his daughter is a tiger in bed.”

“Word to the wise?” I said, leaning closer to him. My voice dropped to a grave whisper. “I don’t want to hear it either.”

“Duly noted,” he said evenly. He looked at me sizing me up before he stepped around me without uttering another word. He walked into Temptations with an arrogant swagger leaving me to plot all the ways I was going to make him suffer.

There is something to be said about the guilt that consumes a person after they cross a line. It’s as if the guilt has a life of its own taking over your entire being. Everything that you were once sure of no longer exists leaving you in a state of uncertainty. I am not the type to cope with uncertainty well. I like having the upper hand in life, but after last night, I had no idea what to feel anymore. I have no idea how my actions will affect my friendship with Mikey and I am too much of a coward to find out.

That’s why I hightailed it to my sister’s house, hoping that she would be able to make sense of what I had done. I’ve been here for two hours working up the nerve to tell her that I baited Mikey into phone sex. I told myself that my intentions last night were to talk to Mikey about the attraction we have for one another and establish a way to get passed it. If we were going to remain, friends, he couldn’t look at me as if I was his last meal and he would savor every bit of me. I also planned to lecture myself that I wouldn’t enjoy the way he looks at me. I wouldn’t enjoy being on the receiving end of those devastating stares. Problem was, I liked the way he looked at me and I’d be lying to myself if I said a part of me didn’t wish I had the balls to end things with Rico so I could explore my options with Mikey.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re sulking all day or are we going to continue to sit here and pretend that you’re not torn up about something?” Adrianna asked as she poured me a cup of coffee.

I looked up at my sister taking the cup of coffee she offered. “I’m not torn up about anything.”

“Okay, so we continue to pretend,” she said treating me to an eye roll as she sat in the chair across from me. “Did you have a fight with Rico?”

“I thought we were pretending,” I said hopefully as I stirred the creamer into my coffee. She shot me a warning look to give it up. “Fine… things are a mess between me and Rico and I am afraid it’s my fault.”

“What happened?” she asked giving me her undivided attention. I loved how attentive my sister was with me so eager to help me unravel my problems. I hope that one day she will allow me to return the favor.

“Mikey,” I started, taking a sip of my coffee. Closing my eyes, I silently damned Mikey with his good looks and bad boy tendencies to hell.

“Mikey?” she raised an eyebrow pointing an accusing finger at me. “Spill.”

I cringed taking a deep breath before I spilled the whole sorted story to my one and only confidant. “Ever since Mikey came home, I’ve been a disaster. I don’t even know if I love Rico because all I can think about is Mikey. How can I love him if it’s that easy to forget him? I can’t control myself around Mikey. I look at him and my body goes haywire! One minute his eyes get to me looking all sad and tormented. All I want to do is make him feel better to take him in my arms and make it all go away. The next minute it’s his muscles. If he wears a T-shirt I become a blithering fool and all I can think about is holding onto his arms as he screws my brains out,” I gasped as the words flew out of my mouth. Adrianna’s mouth fell open, forming a perfect O as she stared at me wide-eyed.

“Nikki!” she covered her mouth to hide the laughter that threatened. Sure, laugh it up, Sis. I stared daggers at her, forcing her to pull herself together.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me!” I warned. “I’m so out of control that… oh god. I can’t even say it.” I threw my head into my hands shamefully.

“Okay, big deal,” Adrianna said calmly. “So, you’ve got the hots for Mikey. I for one am not surprised you’ve had a crush on him since you were ten years old.”

“This is far passed just a crush,” I said, muffled by my hands.

“Well, it’s definitely inconvenient because of Rico,” she said before sighing. “You might not want to hear this, but Nikki maybe you and Rico should take a break.”

I lifted my head to meet her gaze. I was so not expecting that from my sister.

“Hear me out. Mikey isn’t going anywhere and the crush you have on him doesn’t appear to be either. I mean ten years later and you’re still pining away for him. I know you care about Rico so before you are tempted to do something you might regret— “It’s too late!” I exclaimed. “I may have coerced Mikey into phone sex,” I coughed, trying to cover my words.

“You had phone sex with Mikey? Wait a minute, how exactly— “

“Don’t ask for details please,” I begged. “We sort of kissed, but Anthony walked in.”

“Anthony caught you two kissing?”

“Well, we were about to I mean he completely walked in at the wrong time killing the mood. Anyway, I left after that and went home. I thought Mikey was calling me to say it was a mistake and to apologize for kissing me. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want him to say he was sorry for doing something we both wanted. He said it wasn’t a real kiss he baited me really, so I let my curiosity get the best of me and I kind of asked him to describe what it would’ve been like if he had really kissed me,” I felt my face flush just thinking about it. I could still hear Mikey’s gruff voice telling me he’d fuck my mouth. I looked at my sister noticing her mouth was agape.

“Well don’t stop there,” she said swallowing as she leaned her elbows on the table resting her chin in her hands giving me her full attention as I continued with my sorted tale.

“It just sort of escalated from there we started telling one another what we would like to do to the other. I mean they were just words, but hearing him say them knowing he was just as affected by them, it turned me on. I could hear the control slip from his voice as he started to pant. I couldn’t help myself.”

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