No Love Attached

chapter nineteen : thirty, flirty, & lying

But then again, all of my thoughts were borderline orgasmic these days.

I glanced down at my phone every couple of minutes, hoping to see a "Sorry, I have to cancel," text from Mr. Fitzgerald. Being the canceler was always a pet peeve of mine. I just couldn't bring myself to do without prior notice. Hence, my blind meeting (Still not keen on calling it a date. It lasted merely fifteen minutes) with Leo. Perhaps if I had just bailed that night, my mind wouldn't be in such a sexual, self loathing state at the moment.

One of the many times I checked my texts, a message from Leo Wells popped up. It read:

"Am I being ghosted? Because this feels a lot like being ghosted."

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Leo, a billionaire with women wanting to fuck him in every city, sitting there like a clingy sixteen year old wondering why I'm not texting him back right away. There were three unanswered texts above it saying he was in town and wanted to hang out tonight.

My thumb hovered over the reply button. Just as I was about to type something back to him, there was a loud knock on my door.

I swung the door open to reveal not Aaron, but his god forsaken business partner who I wasn't particularly fond of at the moment.

"You're avoiding me," Leo said in a lyrical tone. He looked slightly messy rather than his usual dapper self. The stubble along his sharp jaw wasn't a beard or anything, but it was more grown out than I'd ever seen it. His black Henley with the buttons undone hugged his body in a way I tried to ignore, but failed.

"And you're crazy! What are you doing, just showing up at my hotel?" I exclaimed in disbelief as he shimmied himself past me and into my room.

"First of all -- it's my hotel. And I have the right to inspect any room I please without any particular reason."

"Um, okay. Inspect away! But I have dinner plans. So, goodnight Leo." I felt my eyes unintentionally roll as I grabbed my coat and Chanel purse. I didn't mean for my distain to be so evident. As much as I wanted to tell him off for breaking up Damon and Penney, I didn't have enough time to go off on him. I was already late for meeting Aaron downstairs.

"With who?" He asked.

"None of your business," I replicated his haughty tone.

There was a moment of loaded silence. He stood before me looking like he was gearing up to say something uncomfortable. "Look," he paused. "I get why you're annoyed with me. But I didn't do anything with her. Not that I think you care, I just wanted to let you know that I pushed her off of me immediately. I would never do that to Damon. He's one of my best friends."

Before all of his words even came out, a lump had formed in my throat as I pieced together what he had said next. Things had made a lot more sense now.

"Jesus Christ Penney," I muttered under my breath. What a fucking liar. "So, that's why Damon broke up with her? Because she tried to kiss you on New Years?"

His brows furrowed a bit. "Yeah, isn't that why you were -- wait, did she not tell you?"

No she fucking didn't, I thought to myself. There was a sense of betrayal knowing that my own best friend, who prided herself on honesty, couldn't even tell me what really happened.

"Um, no she did not. She told me you told Damon she was using him for his money. Hence, why I've been avoiding you."

"Trying to be a good friend, I get it."

I gave me a small smile, feeling like an idiot. "I'm sorry. What exactly happened, if you don't mind me asking?" I couldn't help myself from knowing how far they went. It was now why Penney had been so adamant on me not seeing Leo.

He then went on to explain how after many flirtatious comments, a drunk Penney threw herself on him and tried to stick her vodka stained tongue down his throat after Damon proposed. Leo claimed to have pushed her off and left immediately. The next day he told Damon what had happened. Apparently after Damon confronted Penney, she confessed she had been having an affair for a while in London.

It bothered me how little this surprised me. What really irked me was how everyone already saw these things in Penney, as did I at times, but no matter what I had defended her constantly to people like Anthony. And then she had the nerve to sob into my couch for a week about how much she missed Damon and hated him for dumping her.

Quite frankly, after hearing what happened, I'd hate Damon if he didn't dump her.

I asked Leo who the guy was. He said Damon didn't give him a name.

Within the thousands of thoughts swarming through my brain, two stuck out like knives.

1.) Poor Damon. He was my friend too, and I haven't reached out to him once thinking he wronged Penney.

2.) Did Leo and Penney's lips ever even touch?

As I stared at them across from me, I kept wondering if she had actually kissed them or did he back away in time? Like I had did when his lips went for my own just a couple of weeks ago. They were exceptionally plump for a man, yet so delectable on his face. I imagined them pressed softly on every inch of my body, sending shivers down my spine.

      My mind wandered, picturing those lips between my thighs.

      "Do you --" I started but was interrupted by a high pitched buzzing. It was Aaron calling.

    Fuck. It was now 8:18pm. Almost twenty minutes late for dinner.

    "Shit. I'm sorry. I really have to go." I made my way towards the door with Leo on my tail.

    "So, who is the lucky fellow?" He teased.

    My heels sunk into the golden carpet of the hallway with each step I took to the elevator. "Aaron, if you must know. It's business."

     His scarred eyebrow raised, "Oh yes, I'm sure Aaron wants to do tons of business with you."

     I rolled my eyes at his comment, no matter how true it may be. As we rode down in the elevator, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Fifty Shades of Grey scene where Christian Grey just pushes whatever the girl's name is against the wall. Don't judge me, the movie was still fresh in the brain.

     Only Leo didn't do such a thing. Because well, he's a normal human being and shit like that normally just doesn't happen in real life.

    As the doors parted and we were about to go our separate ways, I found my self asking something that could very well open the gates of Hell.

    "Do you want to come up to my room for drinks when I get back?"

    "Sounds good. As long you aren't suggesting an orgy between us and Aaron. Too many women have requested that a disturbing amount of times," he joked. "Plus, I want you to myself." He added like a serpent slithering its way out of its casing and into my black lacy underwear.

•••

Author's Note:
hey! Thanks for reading! Hope you liked this chapter! What do you think about the whole Penney thing? Please shoot me a comment with your thoughts or vote!