All Chapters of Asking for a Friend: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

MARISSASeeing Layton sitting down to dinner with all of us was a little surreal. When I first met him, I never would have been able to picture this scene. I wouldn’t even have been able to picture him in my home.He seemed too big for it. Both in physical stature and in presence.And yet—it felt right that he was here. I’d been thinking that way a lot lately, but somehow everything about him just felt right to me. I took it as a sign that we were both exactly where we needed to be and tuned back to the conversation happening around me.Denise had been drilling Layton since—oh, pretty much the moment he set foot in the house, but it didn’t look like he minded it. He kept up with her and worked through it all, question by question, and seemed to be enjoying himself in spite of the inquisition she was putting him through.Before he arrived, Denise and I had talked about all the questions she had for him. I asked her to take it easy on the poor guy, but evidently she had decided against

LAYTONMarissa arrived at my apartment fifteen minutes after we left the office, which told me she’d headed right over since I only got there seconds before she did. For some reason, I was relieved to know she hadn’t wasted any time in getting here.I was already nervous about her reaction when she saw the video. I wanted to get it over and done with, but I was also worrying about what she was going to think about me when she did see it. The video didn’t exactly show me in a great light.It was the way my father saw me and I knew that, contrary to what Marissa might’ve thought his views of me were. The thing was, I didn’t really want her to see me the way he did. A part of me was afraid that showing her this video might make her see me the way he did—a good for nothing disappointment who couldn’t do anything right.Vulnerability wasn’t something I felt often, but knowing she was about to see that video left me feeling like I was about to flay myself wide open. Marissa smiled when I op

MARISSAWhen Layton got going, he really got going. Every. Single. Time.The man was a machine in bed, against a wall or, as I was fast learning, on a desk. He kissed me with purpose, burrowing his hands into my hair and touching me like he wanted me. Really, really wanted me.It sent heat rushing through me, pooling right between my legs. By the time I started aching there, he was already there making me moan and rub up against him.“God, Marissa. You drive me crazy with those noises.” He hissed between kisses, punctuating his words with thrusts of his hips that made me let out more noises—which was probably the reason he did it.Hands trailing up and down my sides, he reached for the buttons of my shirt and started sliding them out. The heavy breathing got deeper and every time he brushed his hands over one of my nipples, I sucked in a gasp that momentarily broke our feverish kisses.My hips arched, pressing me harder against him. Layton hissed, rolling his hips to brush against me

LAYTONWhenever I spent the night with Marissa, I woke up feeling like a billion bucks. She had that effect on me, making me feel sated and wanted. After everything she heard straight from the horse’s mouth on that video last night, I didn’t think that would be possible for me today.As it turned out, I was right. I knew before I opened my eyes that my bed was empty. When I rolled over I was met with cold sheets instead of a warm body.My eyes flew open to confirm what I already felt, and sure enough, she was gone. I sat up, rubbing my eyes before calling out. “Marissa? Where are you, babe?”Dead silence met my ears. Aside from the near silent hum of the fan, there was no noise in my apartment. No toilet flushing, no shower running, no clanging coming from the kitchen and no soft padding of footsteps from the window.Dread washed over me. I jumped out of bed, naked as the day I was born, and didn’t bother to put on clothes as I carried out a search of my place. As I suspected, she was

MARISSADenise and Annie were at Annie’s school collecting some things for the market day the kids would be hosting soon. After Layton left, I dragged myself out of the hole I’d been wallowing in all morning and headed over there to meet them.I had tossed and turned for hours after Layton had fallen asleep last night, but I was unable to get that nasty, nagging thought out of my head. Eventually, I was feeling as cheap as a girl who was sleeping with her boss, when all he wanted was to keep her around for the business.The feeling very nearly broke my heart, since things usually felt so right with him. I couldn’t get over it though. I was suddenly not a woman sleeping next to a man who liked her and had more than worshiped her just hours before, but an employee lying next to her sated boss.My entire outlook on our situation changed and became ugly. As if the walls were closing in on me, I felt like I couldn’t breathe in his room anymore. Desperate for oxygen in my lungs, I quietly g