25. Anthony
CHAPTER 25
anthony
“Mr. Hughes, your girlfriend seems like a very kind person,” said Hugo, one of the new guys on my team.
“What?” I answered, slightly taken back.
Hugo’s dad, Ramiro, and I grunted as we lifted a stainless-steel sink onto the counter and into its rightful place. It looked magnificent paired with the beige marble countertops. Monique and Shane, my clients, were going to be ecstatic when they saw it.
“Your girlfriend—the one who brought us iced tea the other day,” Hugo said innocently. He was a young kid, just working part-time with us for the summer before he went back to college in SoCal in the fall. “She’s nice.”
My girlfriend. He was talking about Shoua . I hadn’t planned to tell my team about the details of our fake relationship since it was supposed to end in a few weeks.
I wondered why she stopped by our project site the other day with a few iced teas. I knew she was just on her way back to town from a showing, but she hardly dropped by any of my project sites. So, this was the first in a long time.
Ramiro let out a deep chuckle. “She’s not his girlfriend, Hugo!” he said. “They’re just friends.” He added air quotes to emphasize the friend part and I laughed.
“O-oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Hughes!” Hugo said, blushing bright red. “I thought she was your girlfriend!”
“No! It’s fine. That happens a bit,” I said.
Ramiro laughed out loud at my response. He nodded at his son. “You’re good for today, Hugo. It’s lunchtime,” he said. “You can head home now, son.”
The young man turned to me, and I nodded. Once Hugo was out of earshot, Ramiro turned to me with a curiously raised brow. “Are you going to head out to see her for lunch again?”
“I’m just dropping by her workplace to see if there’s a new property she may have for us to buy together,” I answered, lying through my teeth. “We’re interested in getting another one.”
“For every day of this week?” Ramiro flashed me an unconvinced smile.
“There’s been an influx of new properties on the market, and we’re interested in buying another one,” I said and shrugged, acting nonchalantly.
“I guess that’ll make sense why you’ve been so distracted lately, boss!” chimed in Logan, another man on my crew.
I let out a laugh, and then blurted, “Yeah, Shoua and me have been thinking a bit about getting an empty lot together.”
That seemed to draw in their interest instead of deterring them away. “So, what are you going to do with it? Build a house for her?” Logan asked.
Before I could stammer out a stupid response, Ramiro quickly spoke up. “Sounds pretty romantic to me.”
“I-it’s not romantic. It’s a business endeavor,” I managed to say.
My two workers cast me looks of amusement. They clearly weren’t buying my answers.
Logan shrugged with a smirk. “Our wives would say otherwise. Right, Ramiro?”
They burst out laughing as if Logan had told a joke. I held back the urge to roll my eyes as if I was speaking to my brother and Jonathan. I shook my head instead.
“I’ll be heading out for a bit for business. I should be back by one. Tell the others you can all take your time with lunch,” I said, glancing at the time on my phone. “I’ll see you all later.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Logan said with a laugh.
I quickly texted Shoua to let her know I was heading over.
Me
I’ll be getting some food and coming over to see you soon
Shoua
Again? Don’t you have work to do?
Me
BUT I WANT TO SEE YOU
Shoua
You saw me this morning
Me
So? I want to see you
I truly did. I desperately wanted to see her. I had been thinking about her every single second of this week and all I wanted to do was to be with her. When she swung by on Wednesday afternoon, I couldn’t deny how happy that made me. Logan was right when he mentioned that I had been distracted lately. It was because of Shoua.
The moment I arrived with lunch, I called her to come out. It wasn’t long before I caught her walking towards the truck, looking breathtaking in a simple white blouse and black slacks.
“Where’s your company truck?” she asked as she climbed in.
I shrugged. “My dad would kill me if he found out I was using the truck for personal reasons like I did when I had lunch with you last time. It’s against company policy. It was best if Ramiro just drove it instead.”
“Are you all right?” she asked slowly.
With the AC on full blast, her heavenly coconut perfume mixed with her sweet natural scent wafted lightly in the air around me. My mouth watered, but not for lunch.
“I’m perfectly fine,” I chirped, watching her.
An unreadable look crossed her face as she tossed the biodegradable food container she was using into the plastic bag I brought our takeout salads in. “You sure? You came to see me for lunch practically this entire week. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I can’t drop by to see you? You came by on Wednesday to see me,” I answered, frowning.
My eyes flicked down to her lips for a split second. When I glanced up, I caught her mirroring me—staring at my lips in return. Ever since we slept together . . . most of everything had been normal between us, except for moments when we look at each other like this .
Our mornings have been usual with just us, our coffee, and breakfast. But one glance from her with a certain glint in her eyes, either at me or my lips, would make my gaze dart to her lips as well. Sometimes, the same look would be from me, and we would just stare at each other with thick swallows. Neither calling the other out nor making a sly remark.
It would be too much to topple the world we had built up around our friendship and the clear lines we established after last Saturday night.
And yet, these last few days I have been consumed by a profound longing to just be with Shoua. She’s my best friend, but my brain reacted as if I had never laid eyes on any other woman before whenever she was around. Wherever she went, my eyes followed. Whatever she did, I wanted to do it with her. Wherever she was, I wanted to be with her.
“I just wanted to see you,” I said again.
“But we see each other all the time.” She finally looked into my eyes with raised brows. Upon seeing my frown, she let out a small laugh. “Why do you look so down, Anthony?”
Shoua reached out to touch my shoulder, but I wanted her hands all over me. There was so much I wanted from her, as my heart pounded harder. The smile on her lips pulled a little bigger. Her finger reached up to ghost over the corner of my lips. I almost leaned in just to feel her warmth on me again. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”
I blinked. I was smiling?
“I’m excited to head up to the lake this weekend,” I said instead of telling her why I was really smiling.
“Me too,” she said, nodding. “I still can’t believe you lied to me about us staying at a cottage miles away from the lake. I was expecting all eleven of us to squeeze into a three-bedroom house.”
I snickered. “Gotcha! And Jonathan! Don’t tell Julie that we’re staying in a house, though. She still thinks we’re going camping.”
Shoua let out a laugh. “You’re such an asshole.”
“You know me! I always try my best when it comes to Julie. But it’s not my fault her boyfriend’s in on it too.”
Andy and me grew up close to Julie and I’ve always loved joking around with her. She was very much my little sister and, as an older brother, I couldn’t pass up the fact that I could still get under her skin as an adult.
“You two are so annoying. You’re both lucky Julie loves you too much and puts up with your crap all the time.”
I could hear her crunching the mint she popped in her mouth earlier as she relaxed even more into her seat. I chomped down on mine too as she quickly responded to a few texts.
“You better not tell her,” I warned, glancing at how fast she was texting.
She glanced at me with an inquisitive, raised brow. “Or what?”
My mouth twisted into a smirk. “I’ll think about it when we’re sleeping in the same room at the lake house.”
She blinked slowly in my direction. Amused, but undeterred. “No, we’re not. Julie and I are going to sleep in the same room as we always do. So, you’ll be stuck bunking with your brother.”
I let out a low chuckle. “Nah, from what I could recall, Andy said that they’re sleeping together in the same room. He can’t live a day without Julie now that he’s got her.”
“Well, he’s going to have to because I want to stay up late and talk with Julie.”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that. Andy’s bound to room with her even if you two start off rooming together. You know how slick he can be at times.”
“You and your brother are unreal,” Shoua scoffed.
I snickered, leaning close to her. “But you know you love me.”
“A little too much, to be honest.” She shook her head at me as she glanced at her phone. “Anyways, I should be heading back inside. Your lunch break is almost over, so you should head back too.”
My jaw dropped in disbelief. I had barely seen her for twenty minutes and she was already telling me to leave? She could at least give me another ten minutes before she shooed me away. I frowned again.
“Why does it feel like you don’t want to see me at all when you’re at work?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” she said. “I just don’t want my colleagues to assume anything from what they already know about us. We’re friends, Anthony.”
“So?” My jaw started hurting from how tightly I clenched my teeth. I crossed my arms over the expanse of my chest, slightly irritated. My lips pursed into a thin line as she let out a long sigh. “What about what they think? Who cares?”
“They think we’re together now since you hardly ever come by with lunch and now you’ve stopped by every day of this week so far. It doesn’t help you brought me flowers yesterday as well. I just don’t want them to assume. That’s all.”
The flowers were meant as a sweet gesture. I wanted to do something nice and different for her, so I picked up a small bouquet at a flower shop nearby to surprise her. I didn’t expect people to read it wrong or even read into it at all. It was supposed to be friendly.
My jaw relaxed and I snorted, amused. “That was just something nice I’d thought you would like. I’m just a friend giving some nice flowers to another friend. They’re reading too much into it.” I paused when I realized that my co-workers might be on the same page. “Funny enough, Hugo thought you were my girlfriend as well. He said you’re kind.”
Shoua smiled softly. “All I did was bring over iced tea.”
“I guess he thought you’re in love with me. And that was why you used iced tea as an excuse to drop by to see this handsome face.” I sent her a teasing wink and she shook her head at me again. She looked cute as hell with happy, glittering coffee-colored eyes paired with smiling, juicy lips.
“Sure. I suppose you’re also in love with me, which is why you always want to see me.”
“You bet, baby.” My eyes dropped to her lips again, but I wasn’t shy about it. Instead, I made it obvious. But I was disappointed that she didn’t look at my lips the way she had earlier. “You’re my girlfriend after all.”
“ Fake girlfriend,” she easily corrected me.
I scoffed with the roll of my eyes, but a wide grin stretched across my face. “True, true.”
“You should get going. Your team’s waiting for you.” She quickly gathered her things before I could stop her.
“If you’re forcing me to leave already, at least give me a hug first,” I practically begged. That made her pause.
“But you’re always so hot. Hugging you is going to make me sweat even more in this blistering heat,” she said as she sighed.
“Oh, so you think I’m hot?” I laughed and leaned into the palm of my hand as I rested my elbow on the divider. I slowly blinked at her, making sure to flutter my lashes.
“You know what I mean, Anthony.” Her voice was laced with slight amusement. She placed her things back down.
I hummed, happily. “Sure, I do.”
A moment of silence passed between us as I continued to observe her. My heart thumped strongly while her soft eyes passed over me.
“Will you just hug me already?” She let out a little huff, drawing a snicker out of me.
“Demanding, aren’t you?”
I reached out and pulled her into me when she mumbled something. I could hardly hear her as the sound of my pounding heart became louder and louder. I wrapped my arms tightly around her as her face rested on my shoulder.
We were chest to chest, and I bet she could feel and hear my heart race. But she made no mention of it as I took in a long inhale of her enticing scent.
“You smell so fucking good.” I sighed, burying my nose into her hair to find the main source of where her perfume was. It wasn’t long before I found the soft spot behind her ear and took in another long inhale.
She let out a little giggle as she tried to push me away. I didn’t budge, my arms still locked behind her. “Anthony, you’re tickling me with all the sniffing you’re doing.”
“I can’t help it. You smell like I should eat you up.” I chuckled as I nuzzled my nose against her skin again, and she shuddered sexily. Her nails raked across my back as if she was asking for more.
A shaky whimper was her response to me.
“I want to take a bite out of you, baby. But you need to tell me when to stop. If you don’t, I may just eat and lap you up whole as dessert.” I pressed my lips into that little expanse of skin behind her ear.
Her nails clawed my back seductively again. I smiled and brought out my teeth, making her breath lightly hitch again. The blood flowing to my brain began to redirect south, making my cock twitch. I grazed and lightly nipped my way down the curve of her neck as she let out a tender moan, and I instantly hardened.
No more twitching. No more teasing.
I was sitting there with my dick hot and thick as it sat tucked into my left pant leg, throbbing and pulsating with every hammering heartbeat. I wanted Shoua to see what she had done to me as I lapped the base of her neck and she moaned softly again. My mouth opened wider, ready to go in for a bite of her luscious and tempting flesh.
“Anthony,” she said, breaking free from our hug and putting her hands on my chest. They traveled over my pecs and down my torso, and I Iet out a light, shaky groan of my own. Those simple movements made my cock pulsate harder for her. “We?—”
Our breaths were surprisingly labored, as if we had been up to other extraneous physical activities when all we did was hug one another. I swallowed thickly as my dick continued to throb and my body started buzzing all over.
I wanted Shoua.
And that wasn’t good.
It was wrong . All wrong.
“It was meant to be only for one night,” I heard myself whispering.
An unreadable emotion flashed across Shoua’s eyes, but the moment she blinked, it was gone. “Y-yeah,” she said, unconvinced.
“I should get going,” I forced myself to announce.
“You should,” Shoua agreed.
She quickly collected her things again, and before she slipped out of my truck, she turned to me. Her cheeks were flushed and her skin was covered in a thin film of sweat. I couldn’t help but think back to Saturday night when she had that same look as she laid under me. My chest and dick ached at the memory.
“I’ll see you at home, Anthony,” she said.
“Yeah, see you at home,” I repeated.
She left, but she didn’t take her delicious scent with her. It lingered in the car, in the air, and in the upholstery. With each inhale on my way back to my project site, my breath became shakier and strained. I quickly pulled off on an old road and parked haphazardly. No cars were around, and I quickly unbuckled my pants with one hand.
I pulled my hard, pulsating cock out with a low groan. It throbbed angrily at me as if it was my fault it was in this state.
“Fuck,” I said as I reclined my seat back. I pulled my T-shirt back and started stroking.
My mind traveled to the events of Saturday night with Shoua and the way her body quaked under each thrust I made. But the memory of her was immediately replaced by a fantasy my mind conjured up out of thin air.
Shoua leaned over me with one of my hands holding up her beautiful, long black locks in a ponytail. The smell of her mouthwatering perfume was thick in the air, filling my lungs with each heavy breath I took. A moan escaped my lips as her burning, soft lips wrapped around my tip and her tongue flicked.
I envision her slowly taking me in as my hand around the base of my cock tightened. “Baby,” I called out as I continued to pump. Her slick mouth made wet sounds as her tongue swirled around my shaft. “Don’t stop.”
Her jaw relaxed and she started bobbing up and down as one of her hands stroked me from the base of my shaft to her lips. I threw my head back and she continued to pump me into her mouth as if she was milking me. Her saliva mixed with my precum and slowly dribbled down my shaft, slicking her hand wet and making it easier for her to pleasure me.
I moaned loudly again. “Fuck,” I said, squeezing my cock.
Shoua pulled off me with a lewd, loud pop, and smiled up at me. Her lips were wet and glossy. She kissed my cock with long strokes of her tongue, lapping me up and down as she blinked up slowly at me.
My lower stomach tensed as I groaned again. I was on the verge of coming.
“You’re this hard from just a hug? Imagine if we had kissed,” she teased before taking me back into her mouth. Her tongue swirled around my tip and then her cheeks hollowed into an intense suck.
I swallowed thickly as my hand shifted up to focus there, pumping harshly. All it took was for my mind to imagine her smile with my cock stuffed in her mouth. Jets of my release hit my lower abdomen with a deep groan reverberating from my chest. Some of the cum sprayed onto my shirt, and I would’ve cursed if I didn’t come as blindingly hard as I did.
I sat there dazed and out of my mind as I continued to pump every last drop of what Shoua had done to me out. I needed to get rid of this longing and lust I had for her, and the best way to do that was this— me, jerking off to my sick fantasies of her.
After tucking myself in, cleaning up my mess, and disinfecting my truck with materials I kept in the glove box, I let out a long and exasperated sigh. How the fuck was I going to survive the rest of my life now that I was looking at my best friend as a woman I wanted to be with?
“We’re best friends,” I whispered out loud, feeling a deep ache in my chest.
Yeah, that was what we were still supposed to be.