Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Teresa
18 months ago
A kiss had never hit me like that before. The moment his lips touched mine, a barrage of tingly heat poured in, melting every part of me, liquifying all things solid. The room spun and my heart pounded like it was supplying blood for ten people. He tasted of rum and Coke, with a woodsy scent that pulled me into a cabin-in-the-mountains daydream. Lying down on a sheepskin rug in front of a fire, devoured by the lumberjack who was out to win my heart.
The kiss grew hungrier, and he grabbed my waist, pulling me closer. My fingers curled into his One Direction shirt, crunching Harry’s face as I anchored myself against the storm stirring inside. My pulse settled lower, throbbing between my thighs. I squeezed them together, trying to control the overwhelming sensation. I couldn’t. Trevor’s tongue swept in to meet mine. Fire shot through me, and my body shivered with need. If he wanted to love me, I was here for it. At least for tonight. The bench didn’t look that uncomfortable.
But as I ran my hand down his chest to his thigh, Trevor pulled away. “I need to chill.” He blew a heavy breath.
“Why?” my horny brain demanded.
He took my face in his giant hands, sending confusing waves of warmth down my spine. “I’ve been thinking about ye constantly for weeks. I’ve dreamed about this, and our first time’s no gonnae be at Crypto-Gavin’s space station spa.”
My eyebrows gathered into a frown. “What does it matter?”
He coughed, looking flushed. “I want this to be right.”
“I don’t mind the location,” I insisted, smiling, trying to get him to smile. “We’re both adults, Trevor. We can hook up. Unless you don’t want to.”
He took a breath, as if hitting the reset button, and adjusted the crotch of his jeans. “Let’s play a game. Never have I ever…”
“Slept with anyone on the first date,” I said. “But I’d break my rules for you.”
“Appreciate it.” His voice was throaty. “But this doesn’t count as a date.”
I could see the battle behind his eyes, and it excited me. “ Why not?” I argued. “Drinks, a romantic walk, a bench make-out session—sounds like a date to me.And now we’re going for a night swim.”
“A what?”
“You heard me.” A laugh bubbling in my tummy, I unzipped my dress, then peeled it down to my waist.
Trevor stared at me, his mouth ajar, eyes glossed over. I’d never felt so beautiful. I stood up by the edge of the pool and pulled the dress all the way to my ankles. I wanted to feel like a queen and not care, but my eyes instinctively scanned the room, checking the entrance we’d used. What if someone walked in? Gathering my courage, I unfastened my bra and dropped it into the same pile as the dress, then jumped in.
For a moment, I heard and saw nothing, completely enveloped by the warm water. My hair would be wet, and I’d have to reapply my makeup, but that was a small price to pay for this sense of freedom. I let my full lungs pull me up to the surface. My feet didn’t touch the bottom, so I swam to turn around.
When I looked up, I saw Trevor standing by the pool in boxer shorts. I gasped at the sight of him. I knew he was a big guy, but seeing his thigh muscles flex, I could really appreciate how big. My gaze zeroed in between those thighs. Yep. Big.
His mouth stretched into a wicked smile, and I braced for impact. As his body hit the water, I dove under, approaching him from behind.
“Shit!” he yelled as I grabbed his shoulders. “Don’t spook me like that!”
He spun around to face me, and we both swam in place, wiping our eyes. “Never have I ever gone swimming on the first date.”
“Me neither,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone swimming with a… date.”
“Good. This is not what I had in mind, but as long as it’s memorable.”
“Are you worried about not being memorable?” I had to laugh.
Even without tonight, I would never be able to forget Trevor.
“I’m largely forgettable,” he insisted. “Most of my old friends in Scotland have forgotten all about me.”
“What about girlfriends?”
“They’re all happily married by now,” he said in a surly voice.
“Did you ever propose to anyone?”
“That’s not how you play.” He grinned. “Never have I ever…”
I rolled my eyes and splashed his face. “Never have I ever proposed to anyone.”
He turned away from me. “And if I have…?”
“Then I get a point, right?”
“You get a point.” His voice sounded heavy.
There was a story there, I thought, but I wasn’t ready for it. I swam toward the shallow end, and he followed. When my feet reached the bottom, I stopped and let him catch up to me.
He stood in front of me, close enough to touch, water lapping against his chest. I couldn’t stop staring at the dark, curly hair covering it. I was so much shorter that the water reached my neck, obscuring my body. A part of me wanted him to see me.
“Never have I ever kissed anyone in a pool,” I said.
I wondered if it was true, or if I’d momentarily forgotten most of my life, singularly focused on this connection with him.
“Me neither,” he replied.
“And you know anything that happens underwater doesn’t count?”
“Is that the case?” He smirked, raising one eyebrow.
“Yes. The case is… watertight.” I smiled, sliding my fingers under the waistband of his boxer shorts.
With our bodies hidden under the rippling water, it was so easy to misbehave. I pulled myself closer until I could feel his erection against my belly. His eyes were shiny, lips parted, and he wrapped his hands around my lower back, holding me against him. I felt his heavy breath on my forehead, his lips brushing my skin. I raised my chin to bring our mouths together. We molded together like clay, our tongues tripping over each other in a desperate frenzy. There was no hesitation in him or me. Only burning need.
Under the surface, my nipples grazed against his chest, sending sparkling desire down between my legs. The hard-on was growing between us, pushing us apart. I couldn’t resist touching him. But as I trailed my fingers down his length, he gasped and released me. I stumbled backwards, like carried away by an undertow.
“I’m sorry,” he ground out, a little out of breath. “It’s not safe… They’d have to drain the pool.”
My face felt warm. “Really? We haven’t even…”
He looked so torn my gut twisted. “You’re the hottest woman I’ve ever met. I… I can’t…” He dragged a hand down his face, letting out a groan.
Feeling flushed all over, I swam to the pool ladder as he pulled himself up to sitting on the edge. I couldn’t wrap my mind around having this effect on anybody, let alone someone as sexy as Trevor. I wanted to get close to him—so close that he couldn’t hold back.
I wondered who he’d proposed to. Considering he wasn’t married and, to my knowledge, had never been married, he must have been turned down.
“Do you think they have towels here somewhere?” I asked.
He stood up without a word and walked around the pool to a door that probably led to the showers. I noticed he’d folded my dress next to his clothes on the bench, outside the splash zone.
After a moment, Trevor returned with a fluffy white bath towel. I climbed out of the pool, and he wrapped it around my shoulders. I made no move to cover myself, enjoying the way his gaze dipped to my bare chest. The cool air pinched my nipples into hard peaks, and I bit back my smile. “Fuck,” he muttered, swallowing hard, and finally pulled the towel to cover me up.
Even if he didn’t want to sleep with me here, I knew he wanted to sleep with me, and the anticipation made my limbs feel like jelly. We’d both been playing this game for weeks.
He walked me back to the bench, holding my shoulders in a way that send trembles down my spine. We were finally touching. My work crush was turning into something real.
I dried up and after a while, I tried to offer him my towel.
“I’m happy to air dry,” he claimed, sitting down next to me.
The glowing lanterns reflected off the droplets of water on my skin. I felt beautiful and desired, even if I was aware of my nudity. “We should probably get dressed in case anyone comes.”
“Everyone’s at the party and I nicked Gavin’s key tag. Doubt it’s the only one, but it should keep him from barging in.”
My breath caught in my throat. “So, you know him?”
“We had drinks with a bunch of them last week.” His voice had an ominous tone.
“Do you not like him or something?”
He frowned. “I have a bad feeling about him. I can’t explain it. It’s?—”
“You think he’ll be a cringe client?”
He shook his head. “Not the way you’re thinking.”
“Not an indecisive, condescending dick?”
He took a moment to consider. “Not indecisive,” he said slowly.
I laughed, then swallowed. “I still want the job.”
“Me, too,” he admitted. “It’s a good gig. But if I were a woman, I might steer clear of him.”
“Why?”
“He’s already rated all the ladies at our office.”
“Rated, how?”
Trevor sighed, staring at his toes. “Face, ass, boobs.”
“What, like separately? Face five out of ten, boobs seven?”
“Pretty much.”
He wouldn’t look me in the eye anymore. My gut twisted at his words, but I’d worked on the art concepts for two weeks, and I felt more than a little stubborn. We sat on the bench, closer to each other than before.
“Okay. I appreciate the heads-up,” I said, securing the towel so it wouldn’t slide down. “I’ll carry mace to meetings and hide a spy camera between my five-out-of-ten boobs.”
Trevor didn’t laugh. “Ten out of ten,” he finally said, staring at the pool.
“What? My boobs? Is Gavin into B-cups?”
“He hasn’t seen them. I have.”
Silence filled the air for a beat. “Thanks for the top rating,” I eventually said, now feeling very naked under the towel.
He shook his head. “I don’t like the way they talk about you. Or I mean… any woman.”
“That’s okay. You should hear how I talk about your gender with my sister. We can really trash it out.”
“Fair enough.” He smiled. “Are you close with your sister?”
“She’s my best friend.” I paused, wondering how much I should share. If he cared. “She moved to Colorado Springs two years ago, but we call or text every day. She gives me an update on family life, and I have to tell her one thing I did that day that wasn’t work.” I smiled to myself, thinking of our conversation before the party. Today had been easy. Some days I was scrambling, talking about my lunch.
“That sounds good. Healthy.”
“We talk about other stuff, too. She did the whole marriage-and-kids thing. It’s perfect for her, and she’s really happy. I know she’s worried I’ll never get there, working the hours I do.”
I felt him tense a little. “Do ye… want to get there?”
“I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life. I haven’t thought any further than that.”
“So, ye have no plan? No two-point-five children, a dog, and a house in the suburbs… near the good schools?”
I smiled. “No plan. Honestly, I don’t see myself as a housewife. You build your whole life around a husband and a marriage with no backup. What if it doesn’t work? He carries on with his career and you do… what? I mean, my sister found a good one, so maybe it’ll work for her. But there are no guarantees.”
“Life no’ big on guarantees.”
I kicked my foot, making the towel fall off my knee. “I guess not.”
“People don’t make those decisions rationally, either. They fall in love.” His voice sounded wistful.
“Suze says I’m too independent to fall in love.”
“You say it like it’s a good thing.”
I jerked back at the suggestion. “It is a good thing, isn’t it? Kids are brought up to be independent. That’s like the main goal, right?”
“Sure. But I think independence is overrated.”
“Says he on Independence Day.”
He smiled at my joke. There was no judgment in his eyes. They were open and searching. “We’re a tribal species. Back in the caveman times, the worst punishment was being shunned by your tribe. It was a death sentence. And we’re not that highly evolved these days. Maybe ye can technically survive on your own, but that’s not how we thrive.”
I thought about Suze. She relied on her husband for so many things. She didn’t even know how to start the lawnmower.
“I guess you’re right, but it’s a huge risk, too. Every time you enter a co-dependent relationship of any kind, you’re risking a lot of hurt.”
“So, you never take a chance?”
I smiled, letting the odd, warm feeling gush through me. “I didn’t say never.”
We sat there for a long time, chatting. Most of it was innocuous and light, a stream of consciousness that would later fade from memory. But I knew I’d always remember the feeling of bathing in his undivided attention. I’d never felt so fascinating. I talked about my house-buying dream, about the suburbs I liked and the layouts I hated. I showed him my Pinterest board, featuring my absolute dream living room decor and other interior designs I couldn’t afford but still drooled over. He asked why my username was DragonflyDreams and I told him I loved dragonflies.
At some point, Trevor pulled on his jeans and T-shirt, but I was oddly comfortable under my fluffy towel, in no hurry to squeeze back into my tiny black dress and heels. I told him that.
“You’re adorable,” he said, straddling the bench.
I turned my back to him, and he pulled me into his chest, kissing my neck. My body vibrated from his touch, the rough of his beard scratching against my skin. “I love these curls.” He nuzzled his nose into my short, dark bob.
“I think they have more personality than I do.”
At the start of the evening, my hair had been sleek and straight, but after the impromptu plunge, the ends were curling again. I’d have to go back to my usual messy style. I’d never been the adorable one. The word didn’t seem to fit. It was something people said about my fairer sister. She was the embodiment of adorable. I was something between intimidating and sexy, depending on the day.
“Do you want to go somewhere?” he whispered into my ear. “I know I said we shouldn’t do anything here, but it’s becoming hard to control myself.”
“ Hard , you say?” I giggled. The way he pronounced the word, with the soft yet distinct Scottish ‘r’, was doing things to me.
“Very, very hard,” he rasped.
I felt something solid against my lower back, and it sent a zing through me. I wanted so badly to sleep with him, but now I knew it meant something. It wouldn’t be the grand finale of our weeks of flirting. It’d be the beginning of something, and the thought made my gut wobble.
“It’s not my fault,” he argued. “You’re basically naked. You stripped in front of me.”
“And I got wet,” I teased.
He shifted a little closer with a low growl, that hard-on now fully evident, pulsing against me. “Fuck. What are ye doing to me? Where can I take you?”
“I have a roommate and she’s having friends over. I couldn’t… Is your place disgusting or something?”
He shook his head, scratching his beard on my neck. “No… but I just moved, so it’s basically a pile of cardboard boxes.”
I sighed. “Well, it’s the only option. Unless you want to sneak into the office?”
He kissed my neck, sending thousands of tingles down my spine. “And do it on Rhonda’s couch?”
I laughed, wondering how serious he was. I knew he had the key fob for after-hours access, but it was the worst idea. “Recording a surveillance camera sex tape sounds like a spectacular way to leave our jobs.”
“You’re right, aye.” His voice rang with disappointment.
“Were you really considering that?” I laughed, enjoying the bubbly lightness in my belly.
He inhaled deeply and groaned, his hands around my waist, fingers digging into my hip through the towel. I imagined them underneath, slipping a little lower, and held my breath. Every part of me was agreeing now, my insides glowing like hot embers, waiting for him to stoke the fire.
“I was thinking a limo, a hotel room… the office is way down the list. I promised myself I wouldn’t rush this. I don’t want ye to think this is a hook-up. There’s something here, Teresa—something I can’t stop thinking about. You’ve been in my head for weeks, and now… now I can’t think straight. Everything about ye…”
My back arched without any conscious thought, and I let my head drop against his shoulder. I may have moaned. His fingers brushed lower, teasing the edge of my underwear, frustratingly distant through the fabric, like a beautiful song muffled by a wall. I placed my hands on his, guiding them lower. The growl of frustration rising from his throat was my reward.
“Teresa,” he rasped into my ear. “Not here. Not like this.”
Yet he made no effort to extract himself. Instead, his fingers brushed small circles on my lower belly, reaching a little lower each time. My breath hitched, and I tilted my hips to meet his touch.
“Then you better make sure you don’t accidentally slip under my towel.” I lifted the edge of it so that his hand could slide in.
It did. He groaned into my ear like a man torn between his best intentions and desires, and I loved it. My underwear was still wet from the pool, sticking to my skin.
“I thought my panties would dry on me, but I don’t think that’s happening.” I took his hand and inched it to the waistband.
“Oh, God. Teresa. You play dirty.” He sounded breathless, his fingers holding still. Not advancing, not pulling away.
I loved having this effect on him. It was intoxicating, and I would have found a way for us to go on. I would have done something stupid and gloriously enjoyable if it weren’t for the faint beep across the room.
Someone was at the door.
I sprung up from the bench, gathering my clothes, shoes, and clutch. “Where do I go?”
“Showers.” He pointed at the door behind me, looking far more relaxed than I felt.
I ran. To my relief, I found a large bathroom with a lock on the door. I could get dressed and make myself as presentable as possible before re-entering. The hand dryer looked powerful enough to dry my hair.
After fifteen minutes and using every bit of makeup in my clutch, I was looking good enough. I could only pray nobody noticed my hair wasn’t straight anymore. Guys hardly paid attention to that sort of things, I told myself, before stepping out of the bathroom and trailing past the showers and through a spacious changing room.
When I turned the knob on the door leading back to the pool, I heard laughter. Whoever had come in was still there. Multiple people. I recognized Trevor’s baritone chortle in the mix. It was the most distinct laugh I’d ever heard. The infectious kind you couldn’t help but join. He must have been with the other party goers.
I pushed open the door and approached them, hidden by a huge potted palm tree. I recognized Kyle, the guy who Trevor had led me away from and to his left, a dark man with an air of importance. It must have been Crypto-Gavin.
I almost announced myself, but something held me back. I had an opportunity. I was close enough to hear them without being seen. If Gavin really was as horrible as Trevor had made him sound, he’d reveal himself. This was my chance to gather evidence.
Gavin’s voice rang with confidence. “This thing will skyrocket like you’ve never seen. First, we build up the platform, get the gamers hooked, trading tokens, winning big. Then we go fully decentralized and listed. It’s going?—”
“To the moon!” Kyle bellowed.
“No one makes a move until we’re at hundred million market cap. We’ve got big backers on this—you have no idea. You’re gonna look back at this moment and think, shit, that was the seed of my first million. Trust me, nothing beats that feeling.” Gavin sounded both high and drunk, and like a giant douche.
“I’m happy to work on it,” Trevor replied mildly.
“Charlie vouched for you, so you’re in. But we still need a head designer.”
My stomach turned into a ball of fire.
“Well, there’s Boris and Teresa…” Trevor said, his voice careful.
My breath caught, heart pounding.
“The dark one? I bet she’s a firecracker in bed! Girls like that don’t hold back.”
I barfed in my mouth a little but held still. Okay, Trevor was right. The guy was the worst. I’d pack my mace, but I’d also complete the most brilliant, career defining artwork.
“The whole team gets in on the initial token allocation,” Kyle enthused. “They could be worth millions.”
“They will be worth millions,” Gavin announced. “We need the right guy on this, and Charlie thinks it’s Boris. But we wanted to get your take on this. I don’t know much about your kind of creativity, but I want to hit that magic zone. When the planets align, and we squeeze the pure essence of your sweet brain juice.” He made a squeezing gesture with his hand, and I quietly gagged. It’d be challenging to keep a straight face around this guy.
Trevor’s voice sounded strained. “I think Charlie’s right—Teresa isn’t the right fit. Boris has more experience with this sort of thing.”
The fire in my stomach turned ice. I could barely hear anything else they said. Something about how excited everyone was and how they were going to make millions.
Trevor had sold me out.
That was it. My biggest dream, down the toilet.
Tears stinging behind my eyes, I stormed to the exit, leaning my whole weight on the green button that made the sliding door open. I heard Trevor’s alarmed voice and footsteps, but I was faster—straight into the elevators. The door shut before he reached me, and the elevator plummeted towards the ground floor.
This was why I couldn’t trust anyone. Not Trevor, not anyone. My independence wasn’t just a choice—it was survival. And tonight, I’d been stupid enough to forget that.