Page 27 of Exactly What I Needed
Dipping her hand in her pocket, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through it for a moment. Once she’d found what she was looking for, she slid it across the table. “I was suspicious when he showed up last night and his reaction to Sydney saying you play piano. As if he should’ve already known that tidbit of information. Then he kept staring at you, and you two disappeared together for a bit.”
“I was trying to convince him not to come to my birthday, Tera,” I stiffly replied. “Void showing up at my party won’t do anything but hurt my parents.”
“Right.” She pointed to her phone.
Cautiously, I glanced down and snapped my teeth together. Guilt wrecked me like a crumbling castle wall, split in two and torn between what was the right thing to do and what I absolutely longed for. She’d paused a video on a single moment where it was very clear who Asher was looking at. It was probably the only clear moment in the whole video that captured this, but it was undeniable.
“Please, don’t say anything to Sydney,” I whispered, knowing that I couldn’t get myself out of this. Tera knew and had evidence. Nausea curdled my stomach.
“I never expected you to do something like this. Katie, yeah, I could see that. She doesn’t exactly think before she acts. But you? Cosi, you never do anything without complete thought and control over it.” She shook her head, disappointed.
“I know, Tera. I honestly don’t get it either.”
“Then what happened?”
I shrugged my shoulders. Finding my bottom lip with my teeth, I chewed, staring at Asher. At his undeniable desire bleeding toward me.
“What happened?” she asked again.
“I don’t know.” Tears brimmed in my eyes, the weight of the penitence spilling the words over and loosing my tongue. “He slipped me his hotel room key, and before I knew it, I found myself there. With him. Things happened, we fell asleep after, and then I left his room before he’d even woken up. I’m so ashamed because I didn’t even think about Sydney until after I was driving home. Please. I am begging you not to say anything. It was a mistake. I… I…”
“I’m not going to say anything to Syd, unless you do it again. This is so out of character for you. Sydney’s always come first to you, and I can see how sick it’s making you,” she said, and I nodded fervently.
She studied me intensely, a warning scowl on her face as her gaze seared through to my soul.
Then she suddenly leaned forward, a wicked grin slipping across her features, and she glanced over her shoulder toward the hallway. “Is he as good as I imagine him to be?”
I bit my lip, unsure if I should answer. Wouldn’t this make things worse?
“So, he’s not?” She gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth. “Did you even, you know, finish…?”
Was that even a question?I nodded slowly, uncertainty still swirling within the guilt.
Her squeal jolted me out of my nerves. “I need more details!” she quickly said. “Please tell me he’s better than Danny.”
“Girl, in one night, Asher got me off more times than Danny did in our entire relationship,” I spilled, and then slapped a hand over my mouth.
“I knew it! He’s kinky, isn’t he? Wait.” She paused and sighed. “You wouldn’t know, would you? Danny was all you’d ever had before Asher.”
“I didn’t have to know,” I muttered, my mind drifting toward Asher, and she squeaked again.
“Oh my goodness, so he is kinky!”
I sighed and leaned forward on the counter, lost in all the delicious desire that he’d given me.
“I bet he gets off on getting you off, doesn’t he?” she asked.
I furrowed my brows. “Yeah? I mean, I guess most of the time he does?” Other than the bike ride, most of his arousal and even a few times he’d finished had come from watching me. And last night, while between my legs, that sight of him, absolutely lost in his own world of pleasure while taking care of me…
“I knew it. He totally seemed like the pleasure-dom type, and he actually is.” She let out a deep breath of admiration and then reached forward, snatching my hands.
Warning crossed her face, all exciting gossip gone. “Cosi, you really can’t be with him again. Once is a mistake and easily forgivable, especially knowing you. But are you really willing to risk your relationship with Sydney? You two knew each other long before we all showed up. Before he showed up.”
“I know that.” I shook my head, confused. “I just can’t seem to control myself when he’s around. I’ve spent my entire life making sure that I had everything just as it needed to be because if I hadn’t, who knows what would’ve happened to my family.” Pausing, my shoulders sagged in defeat. “So, why is it when I’m with him, I can’t seem to?”
She chuckled. “Because he’s everything you’ve never let yourself have. You can let your guard down and not worry about losing that control when he’s around because he has no issue taking charge. There’s no pressure for you to be in control.”
Groaning, I bumped my head against the counter. “Tera, I’m a horrible person.”
