Page 34 of Be Your Anything
“Well,” I continue, “consider me a candidate to distract you any time.”
Her smile slips for only a fraction of a second, so quickly that I barely notice it. I wonder what it is about what I said that caused it, but before I can ask, she speaks again.
“I need to get back to work and handle this thing I was talking about on the phone before you distracted me with your food and your penis,” she says, causing me to choke out a laugh. Then she grins at me, something soft and tender. “But it was good to see you, Luke.”
Lennon’s the only one who gets away with calling me Luke. Normally, I hate it, but for some reason, out of her mouth, it feels like the endearment I know it’s supposed to be.
I nod, taking her desire to get back to work as a cue to head out.
“See you, Len. Thanks for the fun.”
“Bye.”
With one final wave, I spin around, open her office door, and then stride out into the main room, heading for the elevator I know is around the corner.
As I walk away from her, it takes everything inside of me to ignore the little voice that tells me to turn back.
Several hours later, I sit on my balcony, drink in hand, looking out over the darkened beach. The sun has long since set, and I’m trying to figure out why my head feels unsettled.
It wasn’t the sex with Lennon.
Every time we’ve been together, it’s been as amazing as it was tonight. She might have a penchant for role play—student and teacher, boss and employee being only two of the scenarios we’ve taken on in the dozen or so times we’ve had sex over the last six months—but it’s that goodeverytime.
So if it wasn’t the sex, it had to have been something else. Maybe the way her smile dipped right before I left.
But now, I can’t remember what I said…something about being up for distracting her any time.
I take a sip of my drink and fight the urge to play the interaction over again in my mind, wondering instead when I became this guy.
The guy who sits in the dark thinking about what’s wrong with some girl.
My nostrils flare at my own thought.
That was…harsh.
Lennon isn’tsome girl. She’s my friend, mygoodfriend, and I care about her. I care about what’s on her mind and in her heart. The last thing I want is for her to be upset or sad or…whatever emotion she felt tonight that caused her to look like that, even for a brief moment.
But if something was really wrong, she’d tell me.
I think.
My shoulders finally relax now that I’ve convinced myself that things are fine. Finishing off my drink, I head inside just in time to see my cell phone light up on my bed.
Picking it up, I see a message from Otto on the screen, so I click into my app to see what he has to tell me.
Otto: Wyatt was just as mad as you. I’ll talk to Ashlyn and my agent tomorrow about putting it back on the market.
Otto: Though I have to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever bought or sold something with such a fast turnaround. The ink isn’t even dry on the purchase!
I smirk, glad that whatever Wyatt said to Otto helped convince him that purchasing that building was a stupid idea.
Me: Glad to see you’ve come to your senses.
Otto: Well, it was easy to do when Wyatt let me know he has a friend who would buy the building for more than I purchased it for. Looks like my choice to dabble in the building manager’s pussy is going to net us 250K.
I let out an annoyed sniff and set the phone down, frustrated that Otto’s stupidity is going to end in a reward.
I mean, I wasn’t hoping he would lose money on it.
