Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Riley
I feel the warmth of Zeke’s body before I open my eyes.
His heavy arm is wrapped tight around my waist, my back pressed to his front.
From the steady rhythm of his breathing I can tell that he’s still sleeping.
I blink twice, my eyes adjusting to the light coming from the tall windows in Zeke’s bedroom, and the sudden wave of emotions washes over me as I remember last night.
I never thought I would have sex in a public place, but something about Zeke and whatever this thing happening between us might be, makes me want to try new and exciting things. Maybe I never got to know myself well enough because I never felt safe to just feel.
With Zeke that’s as easy as breathing. Like just being in his presence awakens a part of me that’s been dormant my entire life. And I would be lying if I said that I’m not liking every minute of it.
“Mhhm…” Still asleep, Zeke moves against my back, and suddenly I become a little too aware of his dick.
The memory of him fucking me in that movie theater last night flashes in front of my eyes and I have to remind myself that it’s a bad idea to ask him if we could stay here in this room for the rest of the day and have him make love to me.
“You’re awake,” his sleepy voice sends tingles between my legs.
“Yup,” I whisper, turning around to face him. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” his lips curve into a lazy smile. “Did you sleep well?”
I nod, reaching my hand to touch his cheek as if he might not being real and he’ll evaporate any minute now. “Your bed is a lot more comfortable than mine.”
“I know,” he laughs, still sleepy. “I had to get a full body massage after sleeping in your bed.”
“Now you’re exaggerating,” I roll my eyes playfully. “It’s not that bad. But yours is better.”
“Agree to disagree on the first part of that sentence,” He leans in for a kiss, my hands tangling in his messy hair as my body instantly arches against his when his grip tightness on my waist.
Big mistake.
When my bare skin brushes against his abs, I’m reminded in the most painful way that I’m not wearing panties and I pull away immediately. “I have an early shift…”
But now I can’t shake off the image of my ripped thong being thrown to the floor and the hungry look in Zeke’s eyes as he was controlling my rhythm when I was riding him.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a little late.
” His grip gets stronger and it takes all of my willpower to resist him.
In fact, I don’t. I let him pull me in for another kiss, this time his tongue sliding between my lips as I taste heaven.
Or the closest thing to heaven that I can possibly imagine.
My leg wraps around his waist, the instant touch of his bulge against my needy center feeling like a relief.
Zeke uses his free hand to slide under the oversized shirt that he let me borrow last night, tracing an electrifying line with his finger before he reaches my nipple.
He squeezes it ever so slightly but the brief contact sends me into an extasy, and I wish I could just ditch work and every other thing that doesn’t include staying in bed with Zeke for the rest of the day. Or maybe week. Month even.
A loud buzz coming from the nightstand snaps me out of my thoughts, distracting me from what Zeke’s mouth is doing on my neck.
“Damn it,” I sigh, pulling away just enough to take a look at the screen. “It’s Maria from the hospital.”
Maria is a nurse that’s been assigned to work with the interns this year. She’s in her late thirties and one of the friendliest and warmest people I’ve encountered. I’ve learned a lot from her about treating patients and making them feel safe and relaxed.
“Answer it,” he nods towards the phone. “It might be something important.”
“Hey,” I answer the phone on speaker. The moment is now ruined anyway and I’m back into the mindset of a responsible adult.
“Hi, Riley,” Maria’s tone is a little too cheerful for the early morning. “I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
“No, I was already awake,” I explain. “What’s up?”
“Remember that charity event next week?” She asks. “We’ve decided to include some textbooks and supplies for med students that can’t afford buying new books. Do you have anything that you can donate?”
“Hmm,” I try to remember what the world outside of Zeke’s bed looks like as I watch him slowly sit up.
He’s only wearing a black pair of boxers and I can’t help but stare at the ink of his skin.
It’s crazy how he looks as if he was born with it.
I couldn’t imagine Zeke without his tattoos.
“I have a few textbooks at home from last year, I think. I’ll check it out and bring them on my next shift. ”
“That’d be great!” Maria responds. “Thank you, Riley!”
“Sure,” I smile.
“See you later.” With that, we end the phone call and I find myself smiling like an idiot even after the conversation has ended.
“You really have a big heart, Riley,” Zeke has already put his sweatpants on and for some reason the grey fabric stretching over his crotch is even more distracting than him parading in his boxers a minute earlier.
He leans in over the bed, his lips claiming mine in a possessive, short kiss that ends with him gently biting my lower lip.
“I just know what it’s like,” I sigh. “Charity events like this often helped me get the things I needed for my classes. If I can help someone else in the same way, I’m more than happy to do it.”
“I stand corrected,” his lips turn into a proud smirk. “You have a great heart.”
And you have a big dick.
My eyes once again drift lower to his crotch and I have to cover my eyes with my hands and force myself not to look or even think about it.
“I’m going to be late” With a determined sigh, I get out of the bed.
“Shower first?” He raises an eyebrow in expectation.
“I wish.”
Because if I get into that shower with you, I’ll never leave.
“I’ll just drop by my place quickly to change and then head straight to the hospital,” I explain, leaving out the part about taking a shower at my place. Far from him and his distracting nakedness.
“In that case,” he bridges the space between us, grabbing my ass with both palms as he presses me against him, before placing a long, deep kiss on my lips, leaving me completely breathless. “Just so you’ll have something to think about while you’re working.”
The moment he leaves me and takes a step back, my skin feels oddly cold in the places where he’s touched me. I blink, trying to pull myself together, as I watch him throw a clean towel over his shoulder with a proud smirk on his face. He knows that kiss is going to haunt me for the rest of the day.
“Elliott is waiting downstairs,” Zeke adds. “He’ll drive you to the hospital after you grab your things at your place.”
“Okay,” I nod, too weak to argue because I already know arguing doesn’t work with Zeke. He’ll get his way no matter how much logic I try using.
The rest of the day passed in a blur and before I can blink, it’s already noon.
I struggled to focus on my work during the entire shift and couldn’t wait to see the end of it.
Maria approached me at one point asking if I was feeling okay.
I explained that I just hadn’t gotten much sleep last night and that I was feeling tired.
Thankfully, she bought it and didn’t insist further.
“Get some sleep when you get home!” Maria stops me as I walk out of the break room, on my way to the exit. “Don’t let your friend keep you out for too long.”
“I will, don’t worry,” I respond, the warmth around my heart spreading.
Maria’s way of treating me, touches me in ways I can’t quite put into words.
I guess it’s because I never had an older sister or a mother that cared enough to remind me that I needed to rest. “You too, make sure to get a nice rest.”
“Oh, I’ve got a spa date with my husband planned for tonight.” A wide smile spreads across her face. “I’m going to rest my peach off.”
I laugh at Maria’s peach comment. She always finds creative ways to refer to body parts and replace swear words. “Good, you deserve it more than anyone. See you next shift!”
As I step out of the hospital, the afternoon sun hits my face and I stop, closing my eyes and allowing myself to enjoy it’s warmth. The truth is, I’m exhausted. I’ve been running on empty for a while now, but with the exams being over, I can finally slow down a bit.
I find a nearby bench in the park in front of the hospital and make myself comfortable before I pull out my phone and dial Mia’s number. Today we’re supposed to meet up here after her meeting with her potential new boss.
I let the phone ring, and when she doesn’t answer I give it another try. But with each ring, the knot in my stomach grows bigger.
When she doesn’t answer on the third call, I decide to call her roommate. “Hello?”
“Hey, Camila,” I speak. “It’s Riley.”
“Oh, hi! What’s up?”
“I’m calling because I was supposed to meet Mia after my shift ended,” I start explaining. “She’s not picking up her phone.”
“That’s strange,” I can hear the surprise in Camila’s voice. “It’s unlike her to not pick up the phone.”
“So you didn’t hear from her either?”
“No,” she answers. “We last talked when she left to meet with that guy for the job interview. She was really excited, but we haven’t talked since.”
“What time did she leave?” It takes all of my willpower not to panic.
“At 11:00, the meeting was at 11:30.”
I glance at my new watch. It’s almost 1 pm now. “Damn it.”
“Is everything okay? You sound worried?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But if you hear from her, please tell her to get in touch with me, or call me yourself.”
“I will,” she replies. “You too, let me know that she’s safe.”
“I will, thanks.”
I don’t like this.
I don’t want to rush to any conclusion and I hope I’m wrong. But from the moment Mia told me about her and Cohen, I couldn’t shake this feeling that he’s bad news. And the whole job interview in this neighborhood was the last straw.
The coffee shop where she was supposed to meet with this mysterious boss is only a few minutes from the hospital, so I decide to walk over there and see if anyone might have seen her.
Before I leave, I send her a message, hoping that maybe I’ll have more luck with a text and she somehow miraculously responds.
“Hello,” The coffee shop is filled with people on their lunch break grabbing a quick snack. I scan the room for Mia but she’s nowhere to be seen. “Hi,” I approach the long bar, climbing into the tall stool. “I was supposed to meet with my best friend, she was here earlier …”
“Hi.” The bartender, a guy that doesn’t look much older than me, turns his attention from the coffee machine to me. “There are always a lot of people coming in and out of this place, I can’t really say if she’s here. You can look around.”
I raise an eyebrow, trying to ignore his offensive tone. “She’s not here,” I speak, keeping it cool. “And she’s not answering her phone.”
“Sorry,” he shrugs. “I can’t really help you, we don’t keep tabs on our customers.”
“Could you maybe take a look at her picture and see if you might recognize her?”
The bartender exchanges a look with someone behind me, and the next thing I know, a waiter in his early forties is leaning on the counter next to me with a polite and entirely fake smile on his face. “I’m the manager here. Maybe I can take a look at the picture?”
“Sure,” I pull out my phone and quickly find a photo of Mia in my gallery. “This is her, her name is Mia and she was supposed to meet with a guy for a job interview here. Have you seen her?”
Both men take their turns looking at the picture. A heartbeat later, the bartender shakes his head, while the manager is the one to speak. “I’m really sorry, we didn’t see this girl come in here today.”
“Are you sure?” I insist.
“One hundred percent,” The manager-slash-waiter continues. “Our usual crowd is much older, she would stand out in here.”
“We didn’t see her,” The bartender adds.
“Maybe you can take another look—”
“Miss,” the manager interrupts me before I get to finish the sentence. “We have not seen your friend, she never came through this door. I’m sorry, we can’t help you.”
I sigh, a feeling of despair washing over me.
None of it makes any sense. We exchange a couple of messages earlier today and confirmed our lunch date.
Mia was very excited to meet with this guy and she couldn’t wait to tell me how it all went.
It’s not like her to disappear like this, especially not if she has made plans.
“Okay,” I jump from the tall stool and head towards the door. “Thanks anyway. If you do see her, please let her know I’m looking for her.”
“We will,” The bartender responds and I shut the door behind me.