43. Cole
COLE
My head hurt. Scratch that—my head killed . But that didn’t stop me from sitting up, making myself a coffee, and considering my options.
Jenny was in the shower. My Jenny. I’d gotten wasted last night, but I still remembered everything we said.
I love you, Jenny.
I still love you too, Coley.
There was also some sort of fight about the superiority of buttercream frosting. I winced as I sipped my coffee. My head throbbed. Getting drunk last night had been stupid, but at the same time, I didn’t regret it. At least Jenny and I had laughed.
At least we’d been close. At least Jenny said she still loved me.
We didn’t have to talk about it. I could pretend I didn’t remember anything. I could pretend I didn’t remember what I said. I didn’t have to be vulnerable or open up to Jenny again.
Still, I heard her singing in the shower, some sad ballad I didn’t recognize. Hearing her voice got me choked up. And, of course, imagining the water splashing all over Jenny’s luscious curves also got other things going. Hungover and half-dead as I was, I was still human. Jenny was the prettiest girl in the whole world. Knowing that she was in the next room, completely naked, had my cock stirring.
She might reject me. She might very well say no. Our contract stated this was strictly business, but I strolled into the bathroom anyway.
Without knocking, I opened the door and proceeded to brush my teeth. Jenny was in the shower stall, which was all glass and completely see-through. I glimpsed her luscious body, then tore my eyes away.
My cock strained against my boxer briefs. There was an ache inside me that far surpassed the pain of my hangover. I hurt. I hurt, and I wanted her.
It was torture.
“What are you doing, Cole?” she asked.
I just shrugged and kept brushing my teeth.
“Are you back to giving me the silent treatment?”
“No.” I spit out my toothpaste. “I don’t know.” That, at least, was the truth.
“Do you want to come in here with me?” Jenny sounded sad and hungover, but she also seemed a tiny bit hopeful.
“Only if you want me to.” I felt so fucking insecure. I was a grown man and a billionaire, but even I could admit I could be a real baby sometimes.
Jenny peered at me from behind the steamy glass. “Yeah. I want you to come in.”
I put my toothbrush down and took a deep breath. Then I stripped out of my underwear. I let Jenny take a good look at my erection, which was protruding in front of me. I was hard despite myself—despite my hangover, my heartache, my insecurity.
She was the only woman who had ever gotten me this hard. I didn’t even know how to explain it—I didn’t even know desire like this existed. It was inevitable, inexorable. She just had this effect on me, like I could not control myself around her. My whole body ached to reunite with hers. I wanted her, but it felt weird. I ached deep inside with a depth of longing that, quite frankly, scared the shit out of me.
But when this kind of fire started, there was only one thing to do: burn.