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All Chapters of Illicit Affair: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

“West!” I called from my bedroom. “Have you seen my car keys?” He walked through the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and an amused expression on his face. “Really?” I continued digging in my purse. “What? I swear they were right here. I don’t want to be late to dinner. Wren’s coming home and we haven’t seen him in ages.” Correction: I haven’t seen him in ages. After high school he decided to go away to college. I was partly the reason for that, even if he denied it. We’ve texted regularly and have spoken on the phone. But I’ve only seen him a handful of times. Now, we were graduates and he was coming home. Finally. “Catherine, please tell me you’re joking.” With a frustrated sigh, I looked up at him. “What?” He nodded in my direction. “

Chapter 2

Illicit Affair/Maven

We weaved our way through the dining room until we were led onto the terrace. I had to admit, West’s parents had style. They also had money. A shit ton of it. Even though they were wealthy, they didn’t let it get completely to their heads. For example, they still treated me exactly the same as they did before they had all that money. I saw West’s parents wave at us from the table. As we approached them, West gave his mother a hug as his father embraced me. After a quick moment, West and I switched and I greeted his mother. “I’m glad you guys could make it,” his mother, Lynette, said with a happy smile. We were worried you would cancel.” “Of course not,” I answered and looked at the empty seat at the table. “Where’s Wren?” “He called and said he was running a few minutes late,” West’s dad, Dean, answered. “

Chapter 3

Illicit Affair/Maven

“What?” I asked again. What did he say? God, why couldn’t I think? Or concentrate? That’s when I felt him place his hand on my thigh. Oh, that’s what he meant. My leg was shaking under the table. Since he was on my left side, he would have felt it. My breath caught when he lightly stroked my skin with his thumb. “Are you okay?” he asked again. I needed to get out of here. At least to compose myself. “West, can you order for me? I’ll be right back.” I didn’t even wait for his reply. I got up and walked straight for the woman’s restroom. My heart was thundering in my chest, I was shaking, had chills…oh, God. It was happening. Again. I pushed my way into the woman’s bathroom and leaned against the wall. I needed to try to breathe. Breathe, Catherine. Come on… “Cath?”

Chapter 4

Illicit Affair/Maven

“You’ll see,” he quipped. After another few minutes, he poured whatever it was in a bowl and sat it in front of me. I looked at the contents in the bowl and back at him with surprise. He smiled sheepishly. “I remember you always like it when you didn’t feel good. You used to have your mom make it.” I looked at the bowl of tomato rice soup again. My chest tightened and I smiled at him. “Thank you.” I started sipping the soup and I instantly started to feel better. I glanced over to Wren who was watching me intently. “You’re staring.” He smiled and a chuckle escaped him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. It’s just—really good to see you, Cath.” “You, too, Wren.” It was the truth. Now that I thought about it, if we had our reunion in a not so public place, I probably wouldn’t have had an attack. I h

Chapter 5

Illicit Affair/Maven

“You too,” I replied as I got in my car. I stayed in my parking spot for a moment and took a few deep breaths. I closed my eyes and rested my head against my seat. I didn’t know what request my boss was talking about, but it had to mean time off. What was West planning? And why didn’t he tell me about it? Chime-chime At first, I didn’t want to even look at my phone to see who had texted me. But I was also kind of hoping it was West so I could rip him a new one. I glanced down at my phone and was pleasantly surprised. Wren: Hey Cath. What are you up to? As always, my heart did that little flutter thing. Me: Hey. I just got off of work. How about you? Wren: Not much. Bored haha I was thinking about going out and getting a drink tonight. Want to come? I’m going to our usual hangout. I

Chapter 6

Illicit Affair/Maven

“Do you want your usual?” Wren asked with a charming smile as I sat down next to him at the bar. “Or are Cosmos not your thing anymore?” I laughed as I sat my purse next to me. The crack of a pool stick combined with the winning music of a dart machine sounded behind me. “Cosmos are still my thing,” I told Wren with a laugh, “but I’m feeling something a lot stronger tonight.” “Bartender!” Wren called as he held up two fingers. “Can we get two shots of tequila, please?” “Coming right up!” The bartender called. “Yes!” I exclaimed. “I’m starving. I don’t feel like making any decisions tonight, so you can order for me. You know what I like.” Wren ordered our food and I was counting down the minutes before the bartender brought us our shots. Maybe this night ou

Chapter 7

Illicit Affair/Maven

“Another round for you two?” “Yes.” Wren and I answered at the same time. I cleared my throat and Wren looked away. “Your turn, Cath. What’s going on with West?” I tried to think of the best way to describe it. “Well, I told you about the stunt he pulled at my office. I was planning on calling him when I got home and tearing him a new one.” Wren and I both laughed before I continued. “But when I got home, he was there waiting at my door.” I kept my eyes on the bowl of bar nuts. I felt like if I looked at Wren, I wouldn’t be able to keep talking. “And then?” he asked when I didn’t continue. “Before I could even ask about him calling my office, he was pissed that he didn’t have a key to my place.” “He doesn’t have a key to your a

Chapter 8

Illicit Affair/Maven

I massaged my temples as I waited for the Keurig machine to make my coffee. When I woke up this morning, I remembered why I didn’t like tequila. The aspirin that Wren gave me last night barely did anything. It wasn’t his fault. I tended to be a lightweight when it came to hard liquor. I definitely felt it this morning. I woke up with a pounding headache, grogginess, and a strong urge to call in sick to work. But I pushed that aside and came in anyway. Well, first I had to take an Uber to go pick up my car, then I came to work. After all, I couldn’t very well call in sick the day after my boss approved my mysterious days off. One other thing that started my morning off unusually, were the missed calls from West. I really should have taken his call last night, but I was drunk and I didn’t want to say something I would regret. I was still pretty mad at him. Which is one reason I was glad I ended up m

Chapter 9

Illicit Affair/Maven

“Catherine?” My mind came back to the present when I heard West’s voice. He was walking over to my table at the café and I waved in his direction. “Hey!” “I called your name a few times. What were you thinking about?” he placed a soft kiss to my cheek. “Oh. Uh, nothing. How are you?” He had a guilty look on his face. “I feel like shit. I’m sorry, Catherine. I shouldn’t have called your office and I shouldn’t have reacted that way about the key. Or you moving in. I know how you feel about that.” “Then why were you accusing me of cheating on you?” That’s what really ate at me about this whole thing. He ran his hand through his hair. “That’s not what—I wasn’t doing that. I know it seemed like it, but I was just upset.”

Chapter 10

Illicit Affair/Maven

He pulled a slice of pizza from the box and leaned back in my dining room chair. My eyes were drawn to the way his muscles flexed beneath the black shirt he was wearing as he took a bite. Thank God I was chewing my food, or else I would probably be drooling. “It’s okay. My mom keeps constantly inviting me over for dinner. I think she’s overcompensating.” “Yeah,” I laughed lightly, “your mom was always a little overbearing. But only in the best ways.” He scoffed at me playfully. “My mother has always loved you. More than I think she loves me and West.” I shook my head as I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “She’s not going to like me when I show up to this family trip with barely anything nice to wear.” Wren’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?”