Two
PEARL
I put down my work phone on the dresser next to my bed and lay flat on my bed. The shivers from the man’s voice on the phone slide up and down my body.
Colton’s voice.
I knew it was Colton’s voice from the first phone call.
I’ve had a crush on my dad’s best friend since I was a teenager.
He came around the house a lot when I was younger.
It wasn’t until I turned eighteen that he stopped visiting.
My dad and him still hang out, but it was at a tennis match, not having dinner with the family.
I’ve been working for Red Velvet for a year now.
I needed a job that’d allow me to focus on my schooling, and a job I worked at home for seemed to be the right choice.
I wasn’t expecting to become a phone sex operator, but they were hiring, and I thought it was sexy.
I never would have thought three weeks ago that I would be having phone sex with my one and only crush.
The magnificent Colton Jameson, university teacher of law and certifiable sex god.
I take my vibrator out of my panties and head to the bathroom to clean up. Every time he calls, I get so hot that I can’t wait until the end to get myself off. Colton’s voice oozes sex and gets me all hot and bothered. Plus, it’s sexier if a man hears a woman moaning on the phone for him.
My parents don’t know I’m a phone sex operator. It would be creepy if they knew. It might even be worse if my dad knew I was talking to his best friend. Colton’s and my age gap never bothered me. I like him the way he is, and age is just a number.
I take off my panties and step into the shower.
The warm water against my skin is lovely.
The ache I feel every time I hang up the phone with him sits on my skin.
I yearn to have him hold me. To be inside me.
For him to call me baby and make me dinner.
I dream about it every night. But he and my dad are such close friends that I know it’ll never happen.
Even if he likes me like I like him, Colton will never betray my dad.
I get out of the shower, dry myself off, and put on some PJs. It’s nine pm, and I’m getting ready for bed. I hear a knock on my door, and my mother asks if she can come in.
“Honey, may I come in?”
“Sure, mom,” I say, and my bedroom door swings open, and my mother walks in.
“Going to bed?” she asks, and I nod.
“Okay, I just want to tell you Colton is coming over for dinner tomorrow night,”
My heart lights up, and I try hard to appear less excited than I am.
“Great,” I say, holding back a grin.
“Cool,” my mom says and gives me a kiss before walking out of my room and closing the door.
My phone chimes next to me, and I pick it up to see that it's my best friend, Cassie.
Cassie: How did it go?
Me: How did what go?
Cassie: You know. Don't hide it from me, bitch.
Me: I'm not hiding anything, jerk.
Cassie: Pearl Rosemond Carter, tell me what happened with you and Colton.
Damn. I forgot I told Cassie about my crush on Colton and that I talk to him on the phone at work. I mean, at some point, she would’ve figured it out. She sees all, the jerk.
Me: It went well.
Cassie: Well? Did you tell him you know who he is and who you are?
Me: Fuck no! Are you crazy? The last thing I need is for my dad to know what I do for a living. They think I work in sales.
Cassie- You do work in sales. The sale of your pussy!
Me: I’m not a prostitute. I'm a sex phone operator. I don't have sex with anyone.
Cassie: I know. You’re saving yourself for him.
Me: Cassie!
Cassie: Calm down. I meant it as a joke. It's not as if anyone but you is going to look at your phone.
That's true. Leave it to Cassie to rile me up, then calm me down.
Cassie: You ever going to tell him?
I contemplate the question. On the one hand, I’m hopelessly in love with Colton. On the other hand, he might not like me as much as I like him, and if I tell him, I could ruin my only connection with him.
Me: I don't know. He's dad's best friend. This isn't going to be simple. Maybe dad could get over the age difference or the fact that I’m only 21. But that they’ve known each other since before I was born is the complicated part.
Cassie: Don't you deserve to be happy?
Me: Sure
Cassie: Then be happy
I huff out a breath and type
Me: Easy for you to say. It's not like you’re in love with your dad's best friend.
There’s a pause from Cassie, and I start to worry I offended her. I wouldn't know why.
Me: Cassie. You still there?
Cassie: Yes, I’m here.
Cassie: Can you keep a secret?
My breath hitches, and I sit up in bed.
Me: What are friends for? Shoot.
Cassie: I might be in love with Dax.
Holy shit! Dax. As in Cassie's stepfather, Dax. The one who married Cassie's mother, Dax. I mean, her mother and him are divorced. Her mom left with some rich guy and left Dax with Cassie. But...
Me: Are you sure?
I only ask to make sure it's love and not revenge or desperation to be loved. Her mother wasn't exactly mother of the year.
Cassie: Yes. No. I don't know. I just feel things for him. That's all.
Me: Well, nice to know we’re in the same ‘in love but can't say’ club. Lol
Cassie: ;) Nice to know I can count on you for anything. I gotta go. TTYL. Let me know if anything happens with Colton. ASAP.
I laugh.
Me: Sure thing
Cassie: Night, slut.
Me: Night.
I turn my phone off and put it on the dresser.
Cassie is in love with Dax, and I’m in love with Colton. Now I know why we’re such good friends. Wanting the only people in the world we can't have.
I lay on my pillow and pull the sheets to my face. I smile when I think about Colton again. I can’t wait for tomorrow. I turn off the light and imagine my Colton. His brown hair, glasses, and tanned skin. I close my eyes and slide into an amazing dream about Colton and me.