Chapter 31
Thirty One
Kaeli
Who knew Ezra Moore, the man who abhorred my very presence, could be so clingy?
I couldn’t believe it either. That morning, he took me back to the bathroom and had his way with me. Then he proceeded to eat me out on my bed and the kitchen counter again.
And when I was finally a bundle of loose limbs who couldn’t move a single muscle on her own, he gave me a shower, and this time I kept his mouth and dick as far from my assaulted and sore pussy as possible.
But now that he was nowhere in my vicinity as I worked in my office in the arena, I could accept that sex with Ezra Moore was not just about release or scratching an itch, which I initially wanted it to be.
Sex with Ezra Moore was a religious and spiritual experience. An experience which made you believe he was God in one good fucking. I was certainly a devotee. Of his monstrous magic cock.
My body burned aflame, remembering all the filthy things he said and how deep I could feel him inside of me. How he knew exactly how to use his dick, tongue, and finger skillfully to coax my release after goddamn release.
I have never come this many times in a week, let alone in under twenty-four hours.
The door to my office swung open while I marinated in thoughts not appropriate for the workplace, about a man being with whom is not allowed at my workplace.
Stacy rushes in and drops and sinks into the chair on the other side of me, calming down her hurried breaths with a hand on her chest.
Her gaze turns to me, and then in an instant her brows touch her hairline. Unnerved, I take a sweep of my table and myself. “What?”
“You got dicked down!” She squeaks, the finger of her outstretched hand pointing at me.
I do what a sensible person does when their boss talks about their sex life: lie. “What!? You’re crazy. No, I didn’t.” My hands fidget with the end of my ponytail as I bite into my lower lip, probably eating up my lipstick.
“Oh, you’re lying. Your face is redder than a beetroot right now. Tell me, who was it? Was it someone I know?” Her dark eyes shine with the excitement of a child riding their first bicycle.
How do I tell her he’s not just someone she knows, but someone she knows I have no right to be in a relationship with? Not that we’re in a relationship. It was just a one-time thing.
So, I again lie and hope that she doesn’t catch me this time. “No, you don’t know him. He’s my neighbor,” the last lie sputters before I can think better of it, and I instantly bite my tongue in regret.
“Oooo, that sounds scandalous. I bet he was huge with the way you’re grinning like a madwoman.”
I didn’t even realize I was, not until she mentioned it.
“Kaeli got a lover. Kaeli got a lover,” she sings at the top of her voice.
I lean and smack the table to grab her attention. “Shout for the whole world, why don’t you!?” I hiss at her.
Still laughing, she does a zipping motion in front of her lips and throws the imaginary key over her shoulder.
When Stacy has enjoyed her newfound happiness, she sits straighter in her seat. “Well, that’s not why I came here.”
Done with her antics, I slump in my seat. “Then why did you come here?” I ask in an exasperated breath.
“Because you, my girl, are going viral.”
My first thought is that they found out that I had sex with the captain of their NHL team. And that would mean the death of my career. “Why…” I clear my throat. “Why am I going viral?”
“For your performance in the Community event, duh.” She rolls her eyes at me as if that’s the most obvious thing.
Dropping the idea to mourn my now-saved career, I investigate further as a sigh of relief makes it out unbidden. “Okay, what do we need to do now?”
Shedding all playfulness and snapping into work mode, Stacy says, “You know how after Mullens was fired and blacklisted, we need positive media attention on the team.”
My teeth grind hearing his name so hard that speaking is an effort, “I do.”
Which Stacy doesn’t seem to notice and continues, “Yeah, so we’re already working on this segment you’re doing on Ezra. The entire senior PR team thought that with this rising attention on you, you could help us alleviate our image even more.”
My brows draw together. “Me? How?”
Her hands clasp together as she places them on the table and enunciates their plan for me.
“We wanted you to be included in this segment with Ezra. Instead of just focusing on Ezra and the players, we could focus on you, too, our staff. Mullens was a staff member, and we need to erase that side of negative prejudices he created, too.”
She looks at me expectantly, while I mull over what all this could mean for me and for my career.
Being away from the limelight is what I have done my entire life.
I don’t want fame, I just want to be treated right and be appreciated for my work.
Being in the eyes of the media means that they’ll dig into everything about me, and might discover my connection with Roman.
They might discredit all my hard work and achievements.
Staying behind the camera is where I find peace and keep the monsters of my nightmares at bay, too.
“You can totally say no, Kaeli. No pressure,” Stacy assures me.
But I wonder if there is no pressure. No matter what, if I deny, I would look like an ungrateful and uncooperative woman. And I do want to be the Social Media Director for the team someday, which means keeping my juniors happy and my seniors happier.
So, no matter how much I want to reject this proposal, I put on a fake smile and say, “Of course, I’ll do it. Anything for the team, right?”
Excited and happy with my answer, Stacy claps her hand once. “Yay! That’s great. Thank you. I’ll let the team know.”
With that, she’s gone as I nod at her disappearing figure.
The moment she’s out of view, I drop my head on the back of my chair and release a frustrated and tired groan. “Fuck me.”
“I could do that.”
That velvety-rich voice caresses my insides like a warm hug, but I’m too irked at the power dynamic in my life that I take it out on him. “Knock on the door before entering, for fuck’s sake,” I yell at him, glaring at him.
His playful smirk slips, and his lips set into a straight line. “What crawled up your ass and died? Because, as far as I remember, I didn’t go anywhere near it, yet,” his tone turns cold, immediately making me regret shouting at him.
But that’s what we do, isn’t it? We insult each other. We don’t care about how our words hurt each other. We hate each other. I need to remember that before I let myself be a complete prisoner to him and have my bruised heart shatter into a million little pieces.
“Get out.” I let the quiet words hang in the air for him to heed. When he doesn’t so much as move from his spot at the door, I yell, “I said, get out!”
Ezra’s hands curl into fists, the knuckles turning white as his jaw clenches, probably wanting to spew every kind of insult known to mankind at me.
And I think he’s going to do that, instead, he just stalks out the door, slamming it shut so hard behind him that I flinch as the glass walls of my office rattle with the force of it.
“Asshole!” I curse behind him, but he’s already gone, and the dam breaks loose as my chest shakes with the onslaught of sobs, tears spilling down my face like a perennial river.
I hate that I can’t help but agree to what the team asks me to do if I want my career to grow. I hate that I have feelings for Ezra that I refuse to acknowledge. I hate that everything feels like it’s out of my hands. I hate that I feel fucking cornered.
Whatever high I was enjoying after spending the night with Ezra comes crashing down around me, burying me under the weight of it. Now that I’ve poured all my anger on him, I don’t think he’ll come back again. No one ever does.
Loneliness embraces me like a long-lost friend.