Page 5 of Imperfections Seduced
“Why do you assume it was me who ended things?” She raises an eyebrow and puts one hand on her hip. We both laugh, and I take a drink of the beer in my hand.
Two hours later, when everyone is leaving, she asks me if I want to come over to her house since it was still early and I’ve never been to her place before. When we get there, she asks me if I want a beer, and she shows me around her newly built two-bedroom condo. I’ve been in the building before—Chris also has an apartment there—but I’ve never seen Kate’s. Where Chris’s style is dark mahogany wood, marble counter tops, and wood floors, Kate’s is more of a clean, sophisticated look. Beige leather couches, round glass tables, sheer white curtains, with tan carpets all through the apartment.
I’m enjoying her company, so when she suggests watching a movie, I quickly agree. I let her choose, and she chooses a romantic comedy, of course. She kicks off her shoes and tells me to do the same, and I settle at the end of the couch with my hand on the arm and one leg splayed out in front of me. She sits close to me, folding her legs so her knees are touching my thigh. Near the end of themovie, a slow song starts playing, and she puts her hand on my upper thigh. In a low voice she says,
“I love this song.”
I stop looking at the movie and look at her. “Yeah.” I don’t know if it’s because I had a little too much to drink, but she’s looking really good about now.
She gets on her knees on the couch, then swings a leg over my lap and straddles me. I’m stunned. This is wrong. I didn’t come here for this. I’m about to say it, and she presses a kiss to my lips and whispers in my ear.
“Nick, just for tonight, no strings attached. I want you. Please—just one night.”
I look into her eyes and I can’t reject her, and at that moment I don’t want to. She wants something, and she needs it for only one night, and I can understand that. No strings attached. Someone to fill the empty space for the person you really want.
I lie in Kate’s bed that night and dream of Cat. I’m not sure why but guilt would be a good guess. She wouldn’t approve of what happened, but we’ve both moved on in our lives. In the dream she touches my face, and when I look up into her smiling face, she tells me she missed me. I tell her I missed her too, and then it’s her straddling me and kissing me. The next morning when I wake up, Kate is already dressed.
“Good morning,” she says, standing by the foot of the bed.
Rubbing the heel of my hands into my eyes, I say, “Good morning.”
“Can I get you a cup of coffee or anything?”
I shake my head. “No, thanks. I have to go.”
I get up and swing my legs over the side of the bed to put my pants on. She puts her hand on my arm, stopping me briefly.
“I meant what I said last night, Nick—no strings.”
I look at her and nod my head in agreement.
She smiles. “Thank you.”
Hey, sometimes you need a warm body to fill the void. No apologies and no regrets, but I’m feeling really awkward about this in the light of day. “Can I use your bathroom before I leave?”
“Of course.”
I walk past her into the bathroom, look in the mirror, and splash water on my face. I’m about to ask her if she has an extra toothbrush when hear the doorbell ring. Shoot. I probably shouldn’t, but I take a quick look in the medicine cabinet as I hear her voice talking to whoever’s at the door. It’s got all the normal stuff: Advil, Midol, floss, face creams, and razors. The last thing you want to see in someone’s medicine cabinet the morning after is medication for a serious medical problem like mental illness or an STD.
Alas, no spare toothbrush, and I’m not using hers. Sure, we had sex, but I can’t use someone else’s toothbrush. That’s a little too up close and personal. I can work with floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash.
The last person I expect to see when I come out of the bathroom is Chris.
“Nick? What the hell are you doing here?”
Before I can speak, Kate answers him.
“None of your business. We’re both consenting adults. You don’t need to try and protect me from anything. He’s your best friend, and I’m not some random girl he picked up.”
“Lucky for him I know he wouldn’t treat my sister like a drive-by. We’re going to talk later, Nick.”
We did have that talk later, but I never defined to him or anyone else what was going on between Kate and me.After that night, as far as I was concerned, we were two people who on occasion would go out because neither one of us had or wanted a date to escort them to a function. We weren’t going at it all the time like rabbits, and we definitely were not in love with each other. It was more like a business arrangement between us, no sex involved.
Cat
Where am I? Oh yeah, I’m in my old bedroom, trying to forget the nightmare that was last night. Along with the nightmare wedding dream I’m waking up from. Some homecoming surprise party that was—more like a heart attack. I’m going to try to forget about last night. I’ll deal with it later. One thing I can’t ignore is that I’m really hungry. I totally lost my appetite last night after Kate’s little announcement.
Let’s see what I have to wear in the boxes stacked by my door. I’m so glad I sent my things before I came home. I’m even happier that all three boxes made it here and didn’t get lost. That reminds me, I still need to go shopping to replace the clothes that no longer fit after my health and fitness plan. I’m much happier with my body now since I’ve started doing Pilates and lightweight lifting. I have abs and muscles that I never knew I had before. Standing in front of this mirror in my bra and panties makes me happyI didn’t quit after my first two workouts that kicked my ass. I was sore for a week.
