Chapter 72 Cal
Cal
It’s Gen who corners me, discreetly but deliberately, in our kitchenette a bit later.
‘So,’ she says, smiling down at the spoon she’s using to stir her tea bag in her treasured Wolff Holdings mug. That woman is a total simp for her boyfriend. ‘Monogamy, eh?’
Ah. So this is where she’s going with it.
‘Yep,’ I say.
‘I have to hand it to you.’ She looks up at me through her eyelashes. ‘Aida’s… amazing.’
‘She is.’
‘I never thought, when…’ She shakes her head. ‘It’s really fantastic, that’s all. I strongly suspected you two would have chemistry, but I didn’t see you falling in love. I’m thrilled to bits.’
‘She’s very easy to love,’ I say, and she smiles.
‘As are you,’ she says quietly but firmly.
I smirk. ‘Obviously.’ I’ve been told I’m lovable all my life.
I suppose it comes with having always been a smiley kid and then a good-natured adult—people warm to me.
But that’s totally different from having a beautiful, mesmerising, intellectual powerhouse of a woman fall hook, line and sinker for me.
Nope. That’s a singular pleasure I’ll wallow in for as long as Aida bestows her love upon me.
‘Still,’ Gen muses aloud as she squishes her tea bag at the side of the cup, ‘it’s a big change in lifestyle for you. Going from Alchemy to a monogamous relationship.’ She fixes her big blue eyes back on me once she’s disposed of the tea bag, and I feel the weight of her scrutiny.
This is the part where I could get defensive. Where I could say Well, I’ve managed so far or You guys did it. Why not me? But I don’t, because I know exactly how she means it. There’s no snark intended. Just concern for, I suspect, me and Aida alike.
Because she’s right. I’ve ribbed all three of my mates mercilessly for dropping like flies this past year.
It’s been ridiculous, frankly, how fast and hard they’ve fallen.
Even if our little Alchemy family has only got better for having Belle and Maddy and, I suppose, even Anton, as part of it.
Even if I’ve never seen my friends happier.
So I’ve carried the flag for this glorious club and the particular delights it offers.
Beautiful strangers and a wonderful buffet of varied, kinky, endless sex.
I’ve partied and gorged and dreamt up events intended to thrill.
To arouse. And I’ve been the life and soul of every party we’ve thrown. I’m that guy.
I was that guy.
And I can see why my apparent one-eighty might give Gen whiplash. It shouldn’t—but I can see why it would.
‘Yeah,’ I tell her now. ‘A massive change.’
‘I just wanted to check in with you,’ she whispers, ‘to make sure you’ve really thought it through. I know it’s none of my business, but I feel responsible for Aida. I couldn’t bear it if she’d come here looking to gain confidence and she got her heart broken in the process.’
The mere thought of that happening is enough to make me feel sick to my stomach.
‘No.’ I shake my head forcefully. ‘No one’s getting their heart broken.
Definitely not Aida, anyway. Maybe me. Who knows?
And look. I haven’t necessarily thought it through in the way you mean.
I haven’t sat there and obsessed about how different my life will look every single evening—and maybe I should, I dunno.
‘It’s way more instinctive than that, you know? I’m kind of being led by my feelings here. I’m not explaining it very well, but it’s like I don’t even have a choice.’
I pause. I get emotional even thinking about her, especially when I’m not with her.
‘It’s like this fucking massive tidal wave of, like, love and lust and adoration has just swept over me, and I’m being carried along, and I have no fucking clue where I’m going or which way is up, but I can tell you I am happy as Larry to go along for the ride. ’
Gen’s staring at me, her face soft and her eyes teary. She sniffs. ‘Well, that’s absolutely lovely.’
‘So when you say monogamy, like it’s some sort of intentional decision or even a commitment? It’s honestly not. Like I said, I have no choice because I can’t even conceive of another option. I don’t want anyone else.’
I shudder, because the idea of being with any of the women at Alchemy now seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies. And if she’d wanted to use her time at the club to explore other options, I would have fucking died. Dead. No doubt about it.
Thank fuck I didn’t emancipate her that much, eh?
‘What I have with her is so…’ I can’t even find the way to describe it. ‘It means so much. It’s a totally different experience from fucking random women. Why would I want to go near anyone else when I can be with her, you know?’
Her. It’s a tiny word, but when I use it to refer to Aida, it feels like it should come with a capital H. Like she’s God, or something.
Because she is fucking everything. Everything.
Gen’s still staring, but she collects herself and puts her mug on the counter before closing the gap between us and wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. I reciprocate gladly.
You wouldn’t think Gen’s a great hugger, because she can come off as a bit of an ice queen if you don’t know her.
But she really is. First of all, her tits are amazing and cushiony, which always helps.
She smells incredible, and she only gives hugs when she really wants to, like right now. She’s squeezing me so tight.
‘Yeah,’ she whispers into my ear, ‘the boy’s got it bad. That’s definitely love.’ She sniffs again. ‘God, she’s a lucky girl. And our little Cal’s all grown up.’
‘Fuck off,’ I say lightheartedly, and she hugs me harder.
‘I’m so happy for you both.’ She releases me and kind of squishes my face with a little slap at the end. ‘Don’t fuck it up.’
‘I won’t.’ I have no intention of ever, ever messing this up. ‘Now, I have to go take my girl for a very public lunch.’