I am really sorry. Damien had said he was sorry.For shame? Or was she sorry that the media thought we were engaged?He gave me a hug and walked towards the taxi stand.I looked at him, remembering the confusing mix of emotions that had hit me whenfirst saw the tabloid article. Shock and humiliation, yes, but also a stranger andpleasant pride. As if I enjoyed being engaged to Damien, and wishing theworld knew about it.“Theresa? — it was the reporter, invading my personal space. - How long..."Sorry, no comment." I gave him a pale imitation of Damien's smile.My father had moved to my side and I grabbed his arm."Let's get out of here," Dad said."Theresa, you could have at least told us that…" Merilee began."Later," I said.- She is right. “Dad put himself between me and the reporter. "Please leave myfamily at peace. We have nothing to say. ’ He loomed over the much younger man,looking bigger and almost fierce.“All I want is—” the reporter began .“You won't get it from us.Da
"What's new with me?" Simply everything! —Kat, Nav 's neighbor Bharani , widenedsharply her brown eyes. She dropped the laundry basket on the basement laundry floor.the building, then sat down on the dryer, clearly prioritizing gossip before chores.Nav smiled and leaned back against her machine, which was already doing Saturday's morning wash.“I saw her Wednesday night, Kat. "She had taken him to a friend's house to use hermuscles putting together a new bookcase and rearranging the furniture. "It couldn't have changed everything."in two days.Something very important had happened in his life just yesterday. Great progress inhis photographic career. He was anxious to tell Kat, but he would hear her news first.She rolled her eyes.“Okay, almost everything. My little sister is suddenly getting married.Even in the bad lighting, with her auburn curls still tousled andthe marks of the sheets on her face, Kat was so beautiful it made his heart sink.— Merilee ? I thought she and...
At thirty-one, Kat's luck with men has already proved far from positive. But when she invites her best friend and neighbor Nav to be her date for her sister's wedding, she has no idea she's about to embark on the biggest surprise of her life...Nav's dryer timer beeped, but he still hadn't made it back to the laundry room.He had agreed to go to M&M's wedding, and when she was thanking him he leftrunning, saying he had to do something upstairs.Well, first, he had given me that indignant look. Then he kissed me and I almostI thought... I almost wanted to... I touched my lips, still warm from the brief contact with his.No, that was crazy.What Nav and I had was perfect the way it was. I always had a lot of friends,but I've never felt as connected to any of them as I did with Nav. Other women saidthat boyfriends come and go, but it's the friends you can count on. I had never understood thewhat that meant, because he had never had a friend so close. Now that I had it, I wouldn't ri
How would she respond? If she said “Nav”, he would be flattered, but he hoped to hearPritam.Pritam. The name he had chosen because it meant dear, beloved. He would love to hear Katcall him by that name instead of referring to him as a sweetheart.She had certainly been attracted to and had interacted with him differently, but she had onlyspent an hour with Pritam. That wasn't enough to break a two-year pattern.When she thought of him as Nav, it was still just friendship.Nav needed this game. He needed her to opt for the fantasy world he was going to create.He wanted Kat to treat him like a man he'd just met. A manthat made her eyes sparkle, made her nipples prickle. Like the Nascar guy, or the actor.She had said that she was dazzled by style, good looks, charm, success, careers.exciting. So that's what he would give her.For Kat, he would do something he swore he would never do: use his wealth to create afacade.He had also lied when he said things would be the same when th
Motionless with the overwhelming orgasm, I gripped the sheet with both hands and surrendered to thewaves that swept my body.During all this time, he was hugging me.But what a rare and generous lover he was. Twice, with a hard-on cock, he hadput my satisfaction first."Hey." My voice came out hoarse. - Give a kiss.He lifted his head, a smile curling his full lips."I thought I was kissing."- Oh yes. And very well. But now, I want to…” I stopped at the thought of what I really wanted.wanted him."What do you want, Kat?" The dark, glittering eyes challenged me."I want to feel you inside me again." Is so good.For a moment, he closed his eyes tight, and the angles of his face were almostsevere, as if he had been overcome by a strong emotion. Then he moved, deftlyshifting from the retracted position it had been in.He had made tender love and he had also given me vigorous passion. in thatmoment, his affection had whetted my appetite for passion. I doubted he would complain.Pick
The male weight sank to the bed beside me.I buried my red face into the pillow. I had just had an orgasmunbelievable, provided by a man I hadn't even kissed.Or by an English-speaking version of Pritam.Or by my good friend Nav.What was I doing? Even if my brain wanted to work, I doubted it would.could. It was easier to focus on the sensation. I lay face down, instead of having to face him,but I savored the caress of his hands on my back.Those warm hands pulled my hips, bringing me to my knees.I dragged along the pillow that was underneath. By arching my back, my ass,still with her loincloth soaked, she was prancing towards him.Strong hands caught me. The head of his cock slid between my legs, withoutentering me, just sliding back and forth, rubbing against my sex. getting stillmore sliding, with my juice, the friction increasing my hard-on.As he slipped inside, he let out a groan of relief. It leaned down, curving inmy back, kissing my neck.“It's so nice in here, Kat. “
Nav spent the night frustrated that Kat wasn't there to share the double bed withhe. Why was she being so resistant?Or would your plan have failed? At first, he had been carried away by the excitement andhope and did not realize that his scheme had an inherent contradiction. When wanting to snatchKat and make her see him differently, he had created Pritam, then Dhiraj, typesof men she would fall in love with. It had worked, as far as she had let themseduce. But whenever she found herself thinking of him as Nav, she threw up a barrier.Even so, when he was playing Pritam and Dhiraj, he would tell her things thatI had never told you. Couldn't she see that honesty and intimacy were emerging?between her and Nav? Despite the pretense of the stranger on the train, he was the one she was approaching,more and more. Who was she making love to?Sighing, he figured he needed to give her some space. maybe shelook for. If not, he would seek her out one more time. I would remember the Kam
After I left the Nav booth, I spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in themy narrow bed. Outside, the sky was clear, showing the moon and stars. It was beautiful.Romantic. And it made me feel desperately lonely.On the way to my little sister's wedding, I hadn't just lost mine.escort to the ceremony, I might have lost my best friend.I thought I knew Nav, but now I felt like I didn't know anything about him.Or maybe I knew him better.Even though I had talked like Dhiraj or Pritam, he had told me things that I neverknew. About his family, his past lovers.And I had opened up to him more than ever. Partly because of the effect of the train, whichlowered inhibitions. But it was also the strange combination of having him as a friend, in whomI could trust, and a stranger who didn't really exist. For a stranger I've neverwould see again, I could tell anything.But the person I'd been talking to was Nav, and of course I knew that. I should beunconsciously looking for an e
The thought of eating breakfast sent an unexpected jolt of nausea through my body.stomach. Followed by another stronger one, and a moment later I was out of bed running to thebathroom.Leaning over the toilet, struggling to throw up, I cursed myself for eatinga lot the night before.Matt knocked on the locked door.— Merilee?“Go away.” Embarrassed, I sank to the cold floor. - Leave me alone."M, I want to come in." Let me help."No, I…" I stopped, the need to throw up again. When finally the stomachit was empty, I pressed the flush and scrambled to sit on the closed toilet seat.My stomach was settling, thanks... "Wait a minute," I said, my voice husky. —I am feeling better.Shakily, I got up to wash my face and brush my teeth, then opened the door tofind Matt, naked, leaning against the side wall.“I think I'm fine now,” I explained.Before I could walk towards the bed, he lifted me and carried me a few steps.Before I could walk towards the bed, he lifted me and carried me a
I remembered what Des had said when we were picking out clothes at the store. If youpick this one, girl, then show off in it!So I showed off, in a way I'd never had the courage or even the will.to do before. And the pirate strutted in response, his movements ever more brazen. Allit was so sensual that, yes, it made me think of sex. Dancing with Ray in his Zorro costume had beenfun until he got aggressive, but this time it was totally different.It was just because of the dancing, the music, I told myself as the music changed, umLatin number after another. The Latin dance was sensual. People danced like thatall the time, with confidence and skill. But I had never done that, and what the pirate and Iwe were dancing weren't the familiar steps, we created something of our own that seemed almost...erotic. My nipples were tight and sore and a warm, tempting throb continued topoke between my thighs.Not that I wanted to do anything about it. Not now, right afterMatt and I broke up
We used it for our joint calls was perched in the center of the table, next to avase of dahlias picked in the garden.Beside me, holding my hands, was Matt.Mom, who had rushed home from work earlier, sat down across from us andtook off his shoes. She rubbed her hands together.“This is going to be fun. James,” she said, impatient with Dad, who was rummaging around.in the fridge. - What are you doing?“Er, I forgot what I came here for.She rolled her eyes.“If he doesn't have a microscope, the man can't see.“I can see perfectly well. I just forgot what I'm looking for.“Milk,” she said. “For your grandson. Get used to it, you're going to do this to us a lot.next years.A few minutes later, he placed a glass of milk in front of me, touched the top of myhead in a brief caress, then sat down next to Mom. He examined it carefully.“You're not under a microscope, but you look pretty good for a grandma."Why, you..." Smiling, she gave him a gentle nudge. "Everyone here, and I hopeth
Merilee's voice invaded his fantasies.“Did I mention that one of the gifts at the bachelorette party was a pair of thong-type underwear withleopard print for you, wasn't it?It rocked his fantasy."For God's sake, there's no way I'm wearing a thong like that!""Coward." She straightened in her chair. "If I can, why can't you?"— It's just... I don't know... It looks ridiculous on guys...“Oh, so you've seen a lot of guys wearing this?- A few. In the locker rooms…” He grimaced, and lowered his voice even further. — the dickguy dangling and trapped by a strip of fabric and his ass popping out.Merilee's lips twisted upward as if she was fighting a smile.“My ass is popping out and you don't think that's stupid. And what's upwrong with having your, ah, dick stuck? The color rose in her cheeks. "Do you even have one?"beautiful dick...“Gee, thanks. ’ Knowing she thought so made him swell up again, and he wishedbe able to recover. “But, like, what if a guy gets hard? There's no plac
I told Matt that I wanted him to be honest. And how honest should I be with him?I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but this was important. I swallowed hard and said softly:“You are an easy going person. Most of the time that's fine, but it's like nothingtouched him deeply, you know? You don't show yourself passionate about things."I don't understand what you're saying," he said stiffly.— Yeah, when I was in that bad pain. You were so sweet, taking care of me, andsaid I should see a doctor. When I told you that my mother and mysisters said that colic was normal with menstruation, you backed off. Until at last, in the autumnIn the past, when I was dying, you got all initiative and practicallydragged to the doctor.Poor Matt, he looked so perplexed."Er... Are you saying this was good or bad?" I mean, I know well that a guy doesn'tmust push the woman around, but I was really worried, and I had reason to be,why...“Matt.” I held up my hand. “What you did was good. Yeah, you do
So that was what real betrayal tasted like. Matt left the pool area with a tastebitter in the mouth, feeling like you've been punched in the stomach. Well locked in yourIn his mind were images of the girl he had always loved, the one he was going to marry three years ago.days, laughing and joking with another guy. Going down a water slide with their bodies trapped, embraced,practically naked if it weren't for the wet bathing suits.His hands balled into fists and he wanted to dive into the pool and punch the guy. Butthen he remembered his mother saying: “Violence is never a solution. A strong man neverturn to her”. He was a better man than his father. And so the acidity that corrodedyour stomach.As he hurried back to the cabin, the images continued to race through his mind.and he couldn't erase them. That blonde girl he saw walking towards the pool calledyour attention for being very beautiful. He thought he looked like Merilee. Then he realized it was her,but in a tiny bik
Drinking coffee was better than lying in bed, so Matt got up early. At nightLast year, he had told his mother about the wedding and had to deal with fits of shock, anger andcompassion. She wanted to make him dinner, take care of him, but that was the kind of thing she couldn't do.could handle it, so he thanked her and said he needed to be alone.He thought about calling his friends, but there was no way they would sympathize. After all, alreadythey didn't understand why he wanted to stay with a single girl, much less get married so young.The only person he could talk to at a time like this had lost his mind.So, feeling very, very alone, he went outside and walked for hours, wandering the streetsas the afternoon turned into night. He was still walking when the kids came in.for dinner, while people watched TV or played games outside, and when peopleroom lights were turned off.When at last he felt his body exhausted, he went home and fell into bed, butmanaged to turn off the m
Hours later, after wedding chores, lunch, and morewedding appointments, Mark still hadn't called and I was seriouslydepressed. He'd done his best not to show it, but he knew he hadn't.achieved, because of the silent hugs of solidarity that my sisterscontinued to give me. As unhappy as I was, I enjoyed spending time with them.and feeling that rush of warmth and mutual support.However, I felt terrible about casting a gloomy mood in the last few days beforeMerilee's wedding. The visit to Grandma didn't help either. After her, M became almostas reserved as I am. We could take Grandma to the wedding, but would there beany hope that she was actually “there”?At the end of the afternoon, with the tasks for the day for the wedding completed, we send M toto her room to rest while Kat and I help Tree marinate the meat, potatoesand the onions from what she called “Damien's Aussie BBQ”. After that, wethree of us went to our rooms to have a moment of renewal and peace.I sat at the tab
Monday morning, before leaving for the symposium, Mark called Jenna atprivacy of your room. Nervousness quickened his breathing as he listened to thecell phone call.Has she told her family about Indonesia? How did they react? If they had triedconvince her otherwise, they might as well force her out of sheer perversity. At theHowever, he wanted her to make up her mind for the right reasons.Yesterday, he thought it would be good for the two of them to spend some time apart,step back and think carefully. For him, that time had only made him feelmissing her and even more sure that she should go to Indonesia. What effect did it haveabout Jenna?Finally, her voice rang in his ear, breathless.“Mark?“Good morning, Jenna. I woke you up?“No, I was in the shower when the phone rang.He imagined her naked, in a steam-filled bathroom, and felt the predictable reaction.“Ah, how evil.She giggled.“I'm just telling the truth, like you always do.He smiled and appreciated the fact that s