Sighing, I stood and put my shirt back on. I threw on some sweatpants and then quirked an eyebrow at Patrick who still lounged on my bed, thoroughly naked. “Are you going to sleep the day away, then?”He didn’t smile. His stare was intense and hypnotic. “It’s going to be okay, Nina. They’ll all forgive us. Just give it time.”My phone vibrated—I had a text. I had a good idea who it was from, and a glance at the screen didn’t prove me wrong.Chloe wrote, “Lunch at noon at the cafe around the corner.”I showed it to Patrick and he looked at it with confusion. “Well, I guess that’s good. At least she wants to talk, right?”I nodded silently, but I had a bad feeling about it. It was getting late so I started to get ready, not speaking another word to Patrick. He got up at some point and was waiting for me by the door when I walked over to go. He handed me my purse and pushed my hair back from my face. “I have to run over to my apartment for a little bit so I won’t be here when you get bac
“I wish I could feel sorry for you,” Chloe bit out. She started to cry. “You’re going to have a rude awakening sometime soon, Nina. And you won’t have your family to fall back on. You’ll have no one. You’ll be totally alone.” She grabbed her bag and stood up.She threw a couple of dollar bills on the table and gazed down at me for a moment. I looked up at her, forcing myself to meet her glare, and studied her face. It was the face of the sister who waited for me at the bus stop every morning and afternoon. She was the sister who kicked Tommy Parker in the balls for calling me ugly in the 7th grade. She was the sister I shared so many laughs with over the years, who let me borrow her favorite dresses, who understood me for all the times crappy boyfriends and screwy friends didn’t.“Was it worth it?” she asked quietly.Then she spun on her heel and disappeared out the door. At a loss, I sipped my coffee. It had gone cold.When I got back to my apartment, I felt my cell vibrate. The disp
We still hadn’t spoken. I didn’t know what to do. Since our last meeting went so poorly, it didn’t make sense to ask her to meet with me again. An e-mail felt insufficient. I rambled whenever I left her voicemails, hardly getting to the point. Text messages were totally out of the question.I called her every now and then, leaving her a trivial voicemail about how I ran into someone we used to go to school with, or about a sale going on at her favorite store. I wanted to show her how much I missed her, how important she was to me. I hoped to remind her the same about me, but who knew if that was true anymore.My mom sent me an e-mail, telling me she missed me and she didn’t want to be involved in the fight with Chloe. She said she was disappointed in my actions and that it was going to take a long time for her and Dad to get over it. She suggested it would be best if I didn’t come over for Sunday dinner. I thought it best, too. I was also sure Chloe would be over the house, and I didn
Nothing happened. Patrick came calmly out of his office a few minutes later, Karen wished us a good lunch, and we were out in the afternoon sun without incident. I promptly burst into tears.“What the hell is the matter with you?” Patrick asked, pulling me over to the side.I shrugged. I didn’t know, exactly. “I can’t deal with all of your, whatever. Your friends and coworkers. Not that I’ve really met any of them.”Patrick’s head tilted and he sighed. “Okay, so you’re upset I didn’t introduce you to anyone? I have to get back for a meeting and—”“No, no, it’s not that. I just mean that they all must know who I am, or if they don’t ... Well, they will, won’t they? It’s just embarrassing. What are they going to think of me?”Patrick’s eyes squinted at me. “I don’t know ... Who gives a fuck?”“I do!” I cried loudly. People paid us no mind as they walked by, but I felt foolish. “I do,” I said again in a quieter voice. “It just makes me look bad.”“Nina. You have to grow up. Yeah, it’s no
I dragged Patrick through the snow, clutching his gloved hand with my own. We were going to be late.“Are you sure we really have to be there?” he called from behind me.“Patrick!” A snowflake caught on my eyelash and I rubbed it away, likely smearing my mascara and eyeliner everywhere. “You are such a fucking devil.”“I’ll probably erupt into flames when we walk through the door.”“Probably,” I agreed. My boot stuck in a crack on the sidewalk and I nearly fell, but Patrick caught me just in time. “Thanks. Now maybe God will give you a minute before setting you on fire.”Patrick grinned and kissed me. I had to pull away after a minute.“Stop trying to distract me! We have to go.”We couldn’t be late for the wedding. Number one, I didn’t want to be late, and number two, I didn’t want to be a spectacle. People were already going to be watching for us. It had been a year, but we were still interesting specimens.It appeared Chloe could love again. She met Greg shortly after our whole ter
My mother drifted over to us. She tried to ignore Patrick but she failed, tossing him a reflexive smile. You couldn’t really ignore Patrick; I’d tried. “Will we see you at the reception?”“We’re going to come for a bit,” I said. “Chloe mentioned she wanted some pictures with us.”Mom swallowed. “Really? Good. I’ve missed you. It will—it’s nice to see you.”Dad walked over and took my mom’s arm. “They’re waiting for us in the limo.”He didn’t look at us. We didn’t exist.Mom looked back at me. “There’s room if you two...”Patrick stepped in. “We’ll take a cab and meet you there.”Mom looked at him with an almost thankful expression. She probably regretted her offer as soon as she made it, but I appreciated it.My parents disappeared and most of the relatives and friends had gone, as well. Patrick’s arm wrapped around my back.“You sure you want to go?”I took a deep breath. Chloe wanted me there, even if was just to take a few stupid pictures. “Yes.”And so we went to the reception. Ch
A few minutes later, Patrick’s hot mouth surrounded my breast. My nipple became excruciatingly hard when his rough tongue lapped at it. I shrieked and lifted my hips to his. He somehow settled deeper inside me. I was opening up; my legs spread wider and my pussy desperately grabbed at him.We didn’t speak. Words weren’t necessary. It felt like we were binding ourselves to one another, which was silly because I already considered myself bound.I clutched his back when I felt my orgasm careening towards me.“Oh, God,” I moaned.Patrick’s hips slapped against my own. He took his mouth off one breast to torture the other. My hands flew up to run through his hair and pull him closer to my chest.Then he pulled back to look at me, wanting to watch me come. I fell apart around him just as he kissed me. My body trembled and shook, and I grasped at his hips to hold on.Patrick sped up and fucked me through it until I nearly begged him to stop. His hands fisted the bedsheets harder and harder w
But she seemed to be okay with it now, or at least resigned, and in her last email she expressed some interest in wedding details.The gift was a picture of us—Chloe and Greg, Patrick and me—after the wedding. I looked at the photo for a minute, studying our awkward happiness with awe and fascination.Greg was staring at Chloe with tenderness, a content smile on his face. Patrick’s expression was calm and at ease. His arm was around my shoulders, and he looked like he had all he needed.My lips were curved in a half-smile, trying to stifle a laugh after Patrick whispered a dirty joke in my ear to cheer me up. It was odd, but I hadn’t taken a picture with Patrick yet. Not since we became a couple. We looked right together, I noticed. We looked happy.Chloe’s face was hard to describe. There was a sadness there, but also a sense of quiet satisfaction. Her smile wasn’t her usual wide and perfect smile, but her eyes shone with brilliant radiance. Patrick’s presence undoubtedly brought out