Chapter 10
LEO
Ican see the wheels turning in her head. She’s confused.
I’m surprised she thought I’d change my number.
I’ll admit, I thought about it. It was easy to think about how it might hurt her, if she ever did reach out, to know she couldn’t contact me.
But hurting her wouldn’t change a damn thing.
So I kept the number. Occasionally, I’d change my voicemail message to be something ridiculous that only she’d understand, like that Blake Shelton song.
After a ridiculously drunk night two years after Ella broke up with me, I left a message that said, “leave a message if you love ladybugs.”
The one fucking time Luca decided to actually call me, he hears that, and he’s never let me live it down. Pretty sure he still has me nicknamed as Ladybug in his phone.
In any case, I’m surprised to receive a text from Ella later that night.
I left not too long after telling her to text me, even though Gia asked if I wanted to stay for dinner.
While Ella didn’t look opposed to that idea, and Oliver was certainly on board, I didn’t want to crash their dinner.
I was only there to pick up a takeout order and head back to my house.
Today was nuts. While Dom is the CEO of Everlasting, my dad still likes to go around and tinker with shit when he’s bored.
When I received a frantic call from my mother that Dad had messed with the reservations system, I knew I was in for a rough day.
Honestly, the system is outdated, and Dad barely understood it when it was installed years ago.
It needs to be updated, and he should be locked out of the computer system altogether.
Technology and my father do not mix, but I’m certainly not allowed to tell him that.
The problem with fixing the reservation system is I had to do it at the concierge desk.
That meant every guest who came in interacted with me.
I’m introverted to a fault, but when I’m forced to make small talk with people I don’t know, I get awkward and overstimulated really quick.
It was a very uncomfortable day, which culminated in me having to deal with draining and treating one of the indoor hot tubs because someone thought it would be a good idea to take a diaper-wearing child into it.
Regular diapers fill up, then sort of explode.
Swim diapers are different. Not only was this a regular diaper, but the child had an accident as well.
It was not my idea of a fun time, but the guy who usually maintains the hot tubs and hot springs had already gone home.
I’m basically the jack-of-all-trades for Everlasting, so I had to get it cleaned up.
I don’t mind the work. It’s better than doing something monotonous behind a desk.
But I certainly never thought I’d be part IT, janitor, groundskeeper, and front desk attendant all in one.
This isn’t the future I envisioned for myself when I became an adult.
But, frankly, nothing I thought about at eighteen ended up coming true.
As I’m cleaning up my dinner after watching a rerun of Criminal Minds, my phone chimes with a text.
Ladybug: Hi.
Me: Hi.
Ladybug: How are you?
Me: Okay. How are you?
Ladybug: Alright. Just got the kids down for the night. I’m hoping Violet only wakes up once.
Me: When do infants usually sleep through the night?
Ladybug: According to all the research I did, it varies. But she’s usually up two or three times during the night. My sister never talked about it, so I don’t know if she’s always been this way.
Me: I can ask my siblings, but I have to assume there’s a spectrum where they’ll say every answer under the sun.
Ladybug: Gia said Carter had waves where he struggled, so hopefully this will go away. I’ve learned to live with five hours of sleep a night.
Me: That’s not healthy.
Ladybug: I’m aware. It is what it is. I don’t have much of a choice. Certainly can’t let her scream, or she’ll wake the entire building up.
Me: That dipshit from upstairs give you any more trouble?
Ladybug: No. He glared at me the other day, though. I think you scared him.
Me: Good.
Ladybug: Anyway, the stove is a Frigidaire, and the model number is FEB556CESH.
Me: Jesus. It’s from 2008.
Ladybug: I knew it was old. It basically snarls at me when I turn it on.
Me: Are there any appliances in there that DON’T make an odd noise?
Ladybug: I plead the fifth, in fear that anything currently working might hear me and decide to break down in solidarity with its comrades.
Me: May the odds be ever in your favor.
Ladybug: LEO! Did you just make a Hunger Games reference?
Me: I have been known to have a sense of humor from time to time.
Ladybug: I didn’t think you paid attention when we saw it in the theater. You were definitely not looking at the screen at all.
Me: Yes, I believe I focused on you the entire time. It’s your fault you wore that cute, pleated skirt with the cherries on it.
Ladybug: I can’t believe you remember the exact skirt.
Me: Hard to forget. I’m pretty sure I dreamed about that skirt for quite a few years after that. And I remember a lot about that movie, because you made me come in my pants right at the end.
Ladybug: (blushing)
Me: You blushed that night too.
Me: When I licked you off my fingers.
Ladybug: Holy shit, Leo.
Me: I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry. You were wrapped around me a few hours ago, baby. It got me reminiscing.
Ladybug: It made me think about things too.
Me: Like what?
Ladybug: Shit. Oliver is up. I have to go.
I lean back against the couch as I adjust myself in my jeans.
Memories are flooding in, and I’m the most turned on I’ve been in years.
Every first time has been with Ella. My first kiss.
First time seeing breasts in real life. Feeling a woman’s pussy, and experiencing a blow job.
As cliché as it sounds, we had sex for the first time at our junior prom. It was enlightening to say the least.
Sex with Ella was unreal. Yeah, I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I can’t fathom anyone being better.
The connection we have — had — was untouchable.
Even after being apart this long, I haven’t been able to sleep with another woman.
We were broken up, but the thought made me feel like I’d be cheating on her.
She was always the one for me, and I know she’ll always be the one.
Our conversation tonight went off the rails pretty quickly.
I had no idea a Hunger Games reference would bring up that memory, but it did.
I was home on leave for a month, and Ella dared me to get her off in public.
Our small town doesn’t have a movie theater, thankfully, so we drove into Denver.
I figured we’d make out a little, I’d get her off, and then we’d focus on the movie.
Honestly, I’m not sure how I remember a damn thing about the film, least of all an actual quote.
As soon as I felt Ella clench around my fingers, whispering my name against my lips as she came, I became feral.
I couldn’t stop touching her. I lost track of how many times she came, including once on my tongue as I kneeled on the floor, desperate to drink every bit of her up.
At the end, all she had to do was squeeze my dick through my jeans, whisper in my ear that she wanted to give me a blow job on the way home, and I came in my pants for the first time since I was a teenager.
Closing my eyes, I let my mind drift back to that theater.
How Ella looked. The scent of the vanilla lotion she always used, and how her hair felt against my skin when she rested her head against my arm.
The sweet mewls and moans she’d make as she came, each time with a look of wonder, like she couldn’t fully understand how I’d played her body like a fiddle.
I knew every inch of her perfectly, and I bet I could still find each perfect erogenous zone that got her off the fastest.
Groaning, I palm my dick again. Jesus, I’m harder than I’ve ever been.
Unbuttoning my jeans, I slide my hand inside, hissing when I hit the tender tip.
A drop of pre-cum has already dripped out, and I drag it down my length, gripping it tightly.
I envision it’s Ella, riding me, her perfect tits bouncing in front of my face.
I drop my phone on my chest as I imagine gripping her hips, adjusting her so she rides me harder. Deeper. “Fuck, Ella, yes. Like that.”
If she were here, I’d reach up to grab a handful of her hair, wrapping it around my fist, dragging her down to kiss me.
God, I’ve dreamed about her mouth. Those exquisite dusty rose lips, perfectly pouting and best when wrapped around my cock.
I’d kiss her deeply, reveling in the feeling of her tongue circling mine.
“Missed kissing you, baby. Get on your knees and swallow.”
She’d scramble to her knees, sucking me down to the base.
We’d worked up to it, until she could take all of me in her mouth.
Every guy I’d ever talked to about sex had whined about his woman never giving him head, but Ella loved it.
She’d be mad at me if I didn’t let her. The vision of her on her knees, tears in her eyes, was one that got me through too many deployments.
That look was imprinted in my memory, and it still has the power to unfurl me.
“Fuck, yes,” I groan, coming harder than I’ve come in ages. I let out one last moan as I exhale, feeling sated for the first time in years. Until I hear a faraway voice say, “Leo?”
My eyes pop open, and I look down to find my phone, face up, with a connected call. To Ella.
It shows the call has been connected for two minutes, which means she heard the whole thing.
“Leo, I know you can hear me,” she snaps, irritation evident in her tone. I reach to the side, grabbing a takeout napkin to wipe myself off, then pick up the phone.
“Ella.”
“Did you seriously call me to jack off?”