Epilogue
epilogue
W here are my stupid keys? The apartment is in such disarray from moving, but I’ve been so busy this week with onboarding at work that I’m too exhausted to unpack much when I get home. There are boxes in every room still waiting to be situated, and I need to hurry up, especially if this person works out as a roommate.
My phone rings on the kitchen counter, and I run to see who it is. I only get phone calls from two people, my parents. The rest of my contact list understands that a text works just fine.
My keys sit beside my phone, and I snatch both up, answering the call.
“Hey, Mom. I don’t have much time to chat. I’m heading out to meet that girl I told you about, who might want to rent the other room.”
“Oh, honey. Are you sure you want a roommate? Why don’t you let us make up the difference? We’d feel so much better if you were living alone.”
“Mom, I just left four years of having someone else in my space. It’s fine. Plus, you and Dad don’t need to waste the money. You two need to go on a nice vacation.”
Seattle has been a breath of fresh air compared to the tiny town of Pullman, but the rent here is insane. I wanted something close to the office. That way, I didn’t have to worry about traffic and parking, but that comes with a hefty price tag. Especially, when the building I fell in love with only had a two-bedroom apartment available when I needed it.
My starting salary is more than enough to cover rent and expenses. Still, when I added my student loans and everything else that comes with being an adult, I didn’t want to live paycheck to paycheck. So, roommate it is.
Mom’s still yapping on the line, trying to convince me otherwise, when my eyes land on the clock.
“Shit, mom. I have to go; I’m running late to meet her. I’ll let you know if she’s a fit before I let her up to the apartment to check it out. Love you, bye.”
I rush downstairs and out of the building onto the busy street. The coffee shop we agreed to meet at is diagonal from the apartment, which has already started a costly habit.
The door chimes upon my arrival, and I scan the typical crowd milling about for the face in the photo on her profile. When I don’t see her, I let out a relieved breath. Maybe she’s running late too. Stepping up to the counter to place my order, I shoot off a quick text to make sure she’s still planning on coming.
With my order in hand, I sit at a table away from the front door that keeps letting a draft of cold air whoosh through every time someone walks in. Fifteen minutes pass, and she’s still a no-show. I check my phone, but there’s no response.
I guess this one’s a bust. At least I’ll have more time to set up and unpack before someone else brings in more chaos. Scrolling through my phone, I enjoy my delicious iced coffee, sucking down the last of it and pushing the empty glass to the edge.
A shadow falls across the table, a large frame my brain assumes is a worker coming by to clear the table. I nod as if they asked me a question, letting them know they can take my glass.
“Hello, little liar.”
His deep voice curls around my body, sending a tingling sensation across my skin. My phone clatters to the table, and my gaze jumps to his. The entire coffee shop fades away when I get lost in his dark eyes.
Holy fucking shit, he’s here. I’ve seen this man in everything from snow gear to a tux, but the casual Saturday morning, post-workout look he has going on is sentence stealing.
His lips tip up in a knowing grin after I still haven’t responded. His fingers grip my chin, and his eyebrows arch.
“How?” Is all I manage to press out.
“There she is.”
He lets go and pulls the other chair around the table to sit beside me. His leg presses into mine, sparking a need I haven’t scratched since Christmas, almost nine months ago. School was crazy with graduation looming, and then I had to figure out the move and who has time to date when you’re starting a new job. I was back to getting myself off, which kept the ache away but never fully satisfied the need the two of them stoked to life that night.
“How?” I repeat.
“You’ve been keeping up with Zach. Zach’s been keeping up with me. But this was a nice little accident. You’re in my favorite coffee shop. I live around the corner.”
“No.”
“No? Where’s my girl from the mountain? I know you have more to say than that.”
His asshole ways snap me out of my shock. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me? Why?”
His hand lands on my thigh under the table, squeezing tightly. “You’ve been under my skin since Christmas,” he whispers, leaning in far closer than is socially acceptable for a coffee shop.
Likewise, I think. My core pulses at his hand’s nearness. If he just shifted slightly, the pressure would dull the budding ache building there. “Why didn’t you call me then?” I ask with a stilted breath.
“You didn’t give me your number. And I remember telling you.” He pauses, and that finger shifts, finally pressing in between my thighs against my slit. “To give me a call if you ended up here in Seattle. So, where was my call, little liar?”
“Cole,” I whine. He must see the need dancing in my eyes.
“My place is around the corner, let’s go.”
He shifts and grabs my hand, pulling me from the table and through the busy coffee shop. We get a few odd looks from customers at our hasty exit, but my feet scramble after him anyway. I halt at the crosswalk and yank on his hand.
“I live across the street. Let’s go to my place.”
He motions for me to lead the way, and the next thing I know, my body is shoved against my front door. My keys fall from my hands as his lips attach my neck from behind.
“Behave, I don’t know my neighbors yet. That’s not the impression I’m trying to give them.”
He doesn’t listen. His hand wraps around my waist, and I fumble, trying to get the key in the lock, as they shake with excitement. His fingers slip through the band of my workout leggings and find my bare pussy.
“Fuck, woman, you’re soaked already. Open the damn door before I kick it down.”
The key finally finds its place, and I crank the lock open, shoving the door into the wall while stumbling forward.
I shuck off my jacket, throw it to the floor, and kick off my shoes. I don’t drag Cole with me, but I know he’s hot on my heels. I run into a box in my rush to my bedroom, and it crashes to the floor.
My room is the only spot in the apartment that is fully set up and clean. I’m grateful for it when he shoves me around and pushes me onto the mattress. His hands quickly peel off my leggings, and I lift my sports bra over my head.
I’m naked and waiting for him to make the next move. Cole takes his time removing his clothes, and my pussy pulses with a desperate need to be full of something that isn’t silicone.
“Look at you. The images in my head from that night don’t compare to having you spread out in front of me again.”
My thighs shift at his words, trying to alleviate some of the ache, but his firm hands slap against my thighs and shove them back open. He drops to his knees at the edge of the mattress. Without warning, a warm tongue traces up my slit, and my head crashes back against the soft bed, a moan ripping from my throat.
“That feels so good. Don’t stop,” I beg.
He nips at my sensitive flesh, sucking and licking to make the sting balance with pleasure. It drives me wild and works me up so quick I don’t expect the first overwhelming wave of my orgasm to take me out. I can’t take his attack on my clit anymore and wiggle underneath his attention.
“You’re delicious, little liar. Tell me, has anyone else tasted this pretty cunt since December?”
His voice is raspy, but the tone is desperate for a specific answer.
“And if I have,” I tease, propping up on my elbows to look down at him between my thighs.
His teeth sink into my inner thigh, but this time, he doesn’t soothe the pain away.
His pupils are blown, completely blacking out the warm mocha color I’m used to. “Want to try that again?”
“It was only a couple of guys before I left school,” I taunt.
This time it’s not his teeth but a firm slap to my pussy to punish my insolence. I pull in a hiss through my teeth, but I refuse to back down now.
“They loved the way I taste, too.”
He shoots from his place on the ground, clapping a hand over my mouth. His body is heavy on top of mine, but I can feel his hardness behind the thin layer of fabric keeping him from sinking into me.
“Stop trying to piss me off, little liar. You know I don’t believe a word out of your filthy fucking mouth, anyways.”
I tilt my hips and grind my pussy against his cock. My eyes roll back, and a languid moan rolls past my lips. I need him inside me right now. Since I can’t tell him, I shove my fingers into his briefs and push them down until I can feel his cock pop free.
I’m so blinded by lust that I forget about a condom, but Cole doesn’t. He pulls back, shoving his briefs to the ground, and grabs a foil packet from somewhere. He rolls the latex down his hard length, jacking himself before moving back toward me.
“Cole, please.”
“Don’t worry, little liar, we have all the time in the world now,” he promises before sinking home.