26. Kelsey
Kelsey
Gone.
Kelsey couldn’t deny the disappointment swirling in her chest when she discovered the other side of her bed was empty. Sitting up, she sighed and tugged the blankets up around her achy body. She’d been thoroughly fucked. What further use did she have for Kev?
Pete wasn’t around. He seemed to prefer popping up when she was in public, so maybe she didn’t need Kev in her apartment to protect her.
Need and want were two different things.
Why would she want him nearby?
Another orgasm would be greedy at this point. There were women starving for an O, and here she was gorging herself. Kev did her a favor by leaving while she slept. Since he had, they didn’t have to have awkward small talk in the morning.
This was better.
Maybe if she repeated it to herself, she’d believe it.
As she swung her legs out of the bed, her phone chimed with a message.
Shifting her attention to the nightstand, she bit her bottom lip. Would it be him?
No. Impossible.
It couldn’t be. He’d put his number in her phone, not the other way around. He couldn’t reach out to her.
Besides, if he had any intention of having a conversation with her in the morning, he would’ve stayed. Clearly, they were nothing more than casual fuck buddies. Which was how it should be between them.
As kind as Kev had been to her, he was still a biker—capable of heinous crimes. They couldn’t be anything serious.
Did he want to be?
Kelsey might not know much about Kev, but one thing was absolutely certain. When he desired something, he got it. So, if he had any intention of communicating with her, he’d have asked for her number.
Besides, why did he need it?
He didn’t have any issues reaching her. He kept showing up in random places. Mostly, her apartment. That wasn’t so random, she supposed. But either way, if Kev sought to get in touch with her, he had his methods.
She tapped the screen on her phone to find a message from Carrie.
Great. She rolled her eyes and headed to the bathroom to conduct business.
There was no better place to read her friend’s message.
Carrie was a great person to be around. She was a riot, but when she got involved with dudes, she went screwy.
Her entire personality changed to conform to whoever she was fucking.
Someone with a higher degree than Kelsey would have to look into that, but they had been friends since the fifth grade, so she’d see Carrie through this phase and be there when it was over, because it always concluded.
Sorry about yesterday, Carrie wrote.
Which part? Kelsey fired back as she finished her business and flushed the toilet.
What do you mean? Did something happen?
To be fair, Carrie had her head so far up Mike’s ass, she most likely wasn’t aware the world existed outside the presence of his dick. When this ended, Kelsey was going to stage an intervention. Carrie needed therapy. Being so obsessed with a guy wasn’t healthy.
I meant ditching you. What are you talking about? Carrie’s text came in while Kelsey washed her hands.
Pete.
Kelsey didn’t want to get into too many details over text. This was a conversation to have in person.
What did he do?
This discussion had to happen and soon. Birds of a feather flocked together. If Pete didn’t value getting permission, Mike wouldn’t either. Though Carrie had been the definition of enthusiastic consent, so maybe she didn’t have the same issue.
Not now, but eventually, she might.
There would be a time when she got a headache or wasn’t in the mood.
Carrie wasn’t one for long-term relationships with men. No one could keep that level of intensity going indefinitely. Eventually, someone would lose interest.
Kelsey would put money on Mike. The two of them had nothing in common. Except for their love of sex apparently. The discussion wasn’t worth getting into now. There was no reason to make it a big thing if he, and Pete, wouldn’t be in town that much longer.
I just don’t want to be around him anymore. That should suffice.
You really need to give him a chance.
No, I don’t.
He’s not a bad guy.
Kelsey begged to differ. She wasn’t going back and forth with Carrie. Her friend needed to stop pushing Pete on her, so she tapped her screen and brought the phone to her ear as it rang.
“Okay, it’s bad if you’re calling,” Carrie answered without a greeting.
“You have to stop forcing this Pete thing,” Kelsey said as she walked into her kitchen and opened the fridge. “It’s not happening.”
“But why? He’s pretty good-looking,” Carrie said. “And he seems nice.”
Kelsey snorted as she popped a pod into the one-cup coffee brewer. “Yeah, he’s great as long as you don’t say no to him.”
“What do you mean?”
Kelsey closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Why was this so hard for Carrie to understand?
“I’m not interested in him.”
“But you haven’t even given him a chance.”
“He ripped my clothes off and forced himself on me,” Kelsey blurted.
Silence.
Kelsey picked at a sticker on her coffeepot, waiting for her friend to speak.
Why was she taking so long?
Was she still on the other end?
Before she could check, Carrie spoke. “He raped you?”
He would have if Kev hadn’t shown up. “Not exactly.”
“I don’t understand. When did he do this?”
Despite Kelsey’s best efforts, shame sprouted in the darkest recesses of her mind. She knew better than to blame herself for a man’s actions, but that didn’t change the fact that she picked up the slightest hint of judgment coming from Carrie.
No.
She wouldn’t do that. Her Spidey senses had to be off.
“He took your clothes off you at the thrift store?”
“No.” Kelsey shook her head. She didn’t want to have to spell it out for her friend. Why couldn’t Carrie just believe her? The details made her feel slimy. “At the bar. The other day.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know.” Kelsey reached for a mug. “I don’t want to see him again. That should be enough. Right? So, can you stop pushing the issue? Please?”
“I’m going to talk to Mike about it.”
“What?” Kelsey nearly dropped the mug. “Why would you do that?”
“Because they’re in the club together. That can’t be how they want things to be.”
“You don’t have to get anyone else involved.” Too many people knew about it already.
“He should be aware of what his friend did,” Carrie said. “He’ll get him to apologize.”
“I don’t want—”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Carrie!” Kelsey shouted. “Stop. Leave Mike out of it. Please accept that Pete and I aren’t happening and that will be the end.”
“They aren’t all like that,” Carrie offered softly.
Bikers? Kelsey was learning that. Kev was nothing like Pete.
“Mike isn’t.”
Kelsey surely hoped that was true.