9. - – Laura
CHAPTER NINE
-
LAURA
Waking up in my bed alone wasn’t exactly what I had expected, but neither was running into Drake and Claire laughing in my kitchen.
“Morning, sunshine,” Claire called out in an obnoxiously chipper voice, considering the number of shots we took last night.
My brain feels like mush, my knees are throbbing, and actually everything is throbbing.
“Nope,” I responded, turned right around, and went back to my bed. The scent of freshly brewed coffee eventually coaxed me out of bed again.
“Round two,” Claire whispered. “Your knight in black slacks is gone… for now. He did threaten to tie you down and feed you if you didn’t get up and eat or let him eat you. I can’t remember the details.”
Hearing Claire talk so flippantly about oral sex is new.
I must have woken up in an alternate universe.
Everything looks normal for a Sunday morning.
Irah Jean is lounging next to Claire on the couch.
She’s sipping water from her favorite water bottle.
Not at all, judging me for what happened last night.
My memory of last night ends with Drake on stage and me running outside.
The mention of Drake between my legs has those memories floating around my head as I pour a cup of coffee.
The rich scent of the seriously expensive local roasted coffee fills my nose, eliciting a moan from somewhere deep within.
Three sips later, I’m ready to ask about last night.
“Well, how bad was it?”
“Initially, not bad. After Drake carried you inside… well.”
Claire explained that I had screamed and fought Drake, claiming I was being kidnapped and that I needed help. She didn’t have any details of what happened in Drake’s office.
“You’ll have to ask him about that.”
A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. What had I done in that office?
Did I throw myself at him, continue fighting him, or have a mental breakdown?
Maybe I don’t ask him, just leave it where it is and pretend it didn’t happen.
The way Drake and Claire were laughing and getting along this morning tells me neither of them is going to let this go.
I need a shower and time to prepare for the conversation with Drake.
Little bits of last night present themselves as hazy flashbacks while I showered.
The club, too much alcohol, and Drake on stage with that woman.
Doing all the things to her body, I’d drop to my knees and beg him to do them to me.
Maybe that’s what I need to do, beg him to tie me up, to command my body and mind.
Would he tie me up? Spank me? What does a girl have to do to get a good spanking around this damn town…
Apply for a job at the new sex club! Ding, ding, ding… we have a winner. Or a terrible idea. The hours work well around my substitute teaching position. Bet. Time to find Jasmine on Facebook and wiggle my way into a new position. After I finish my shower and drink another seven cups of coffee.
Jasmine is tougher to locate online than I’d hoped.
Only knowing her first name sucks. But I do know Drake’s last name.
I opened my browser and reloaded the Fetlife tab.
Here goes nothing. Nothing is exactly what I got, too.
Fetlife does not have a real-name search feature, so I ended up filtering for men around Drake’s age in the Indy and Gas City area.
If Drake is on Fetlife, I can’t fucking find him.
Mid deep-dive, a text pops up from an unknown number.
Unknown: Make sure you hydrate.
Me: Lose my number, creep.
Unknown: Save my number as Sir.
I don’t remember giving anyone my number, so I block them and move on with my day.
Claire greets me from the couch, Irah Jean at her side.
Claire’s working on another one of her granny hobbies, crochet.
There isn’t a single hobby out there that Claire can’t master, unless you count teaching me how to crochet… she failed at that.
“Hey,” Claire said with a smile.
“Hey.”
She set her project aside and patted the couch beside her. As soon as my ass hit the couch, she punched me in the arm and scolded me for blocking Drake.
“Ouch. How do you know I blocked Drake? And I didn’t even know it was him!”
“Doesn’t matter. Unblock him. He’s an okay guy, despite the whole fucking you in a tent and leaving for like years thing.”
“Wow, Claire, way to be on my side.”
“It’s not about sides. It’s about the way he took care of you all night.”
I let her words linger for a bit before speaking again. Thinking through my plans to get hired at Midnight…