Our late-night call initiates a need to communicate, and we now spend a lot of time texting each other. This odd situation, the relationship we don't want to call one, is slowly shifting into something different. Clearly, it isn't just about the sex anymore. We enjoy each other's company for more than the physical aspect of it. We both seek the meaningful, nerdy, or personal conversations we share.
I never had a lovey-dovey phase, so I never felt the need to keep in touch with someone as much as this. I feel like a teenager with a crush, jumping on my phone every time it makes a sound, giggling at Lex's texts, eagerly answering... At first, I tried not to respond too fast, worried I'd pass as clingy, but Lex is always quick to text back, so I now do as I please.
I learn a lot about him from those texts. Not being physically together rids us of the insane sexual tension, which always ends in sex. So for once, we're able to talk without being interrupted.
On Saturday, I accompany Tammy to the mall, where she's getting her haircut in the only salon she trusts to handle her hair type. After I help her translate everything to the hairdresser, I leave her at it and wander through the crowded mall. When I see the SALE signs in the Victoria's Secret windows, I casually step in. I have a good reason to invest in some finer underwear now.
I'm strolling through the pricey items when my phone vibrates in my back pocket. It's a text from Lex.
How are you surviving your imposed day of shopping?
It's not as bad as I thought. Victoria's Secret is having a sale.
He calls seconds after I send it. I pick it up with a grin from ear to ear.
"I'm calling to see if you need a consultant," he says with amusement. I can't help but laugh.
"I think I've got this covered, thanks. But just to be sure, how do you feel about teddies?"
"What on earth is that?"
"It's like a sexy, one-piece swimsuit."
His voice is a little hoarse when he says, "Oh... I rather enjoy these."
"Noted. What about crotchless panties?" This time, he mumbles something inaudible.
"I find them to be timesaving."
"Last question. What's your favorite color?"
"At this point, I'd still find lime green appealing on you, so surprise me."
"Alright, surprised you shall be." My eyes catch something pretty and teal. "Oh, that's beautiful... But I'm not sure I can figure out all the strappy things."
"Andrea, if it takes more than five seconds to get you out of it, I'll end up ripping it off."
"Aren't you supposed to be a genius? It can't be that complicated. Maybe I should just try it on."
There's another moment of silence, and Lex clears his throat. "Sending a picture to your consultant would be wise."
"Sorry, I don't trust the internet," I humor. He chuckles, and my heart flutters with contentment.
"Then send one where you're not in it."
"Oh, smart! Give me a second," I say, looking around. I find a mannequin wearing it and send him a picture. "Done."
There's a moment of nothing, and Lex groans.
"What's the point of it going all the way to the shoulders if it doesn't even cover the chest?" he asks, confused and audibly turned on.
"Well, the only perk of having barely any boobs is I don't have to wear bras, so I can afford some creativity."
"I like your breasts." His blunt honesty touches me, and my chest swells further.
"Thank you, but there isn't much to like."
"There's enough. And I'm discovering myself to be an ass man."
"Ah, then you got lucky."
"Several times already, yes." God, I love his quick and witty humor. "I like the pink one in the top left corner of the picture."
We talk for a little longer, and I'm the one who ends up cutting the call, arguing he can't know in advance everything I'm getting. He deserves to have a few surprises. Which he certainly will, as I nearly spend a thousand dollars there. But I'm kind of rich since I sold my app, so I rationalize the spending by telling myself it's a rare treat and it'll make two people very, very happy.
Later that day, Tammy and I are curled up on the couch, watching a romantic comedy. Once it's done, I leave for the bathroom to get ready for the night. When I return to my room, wearing my towel, I open my wardrobe to grab a shirt for the night, and my eyes drop to the shopping bags I cleverly handled so my roommate wouldn't see the very recognizable Victoria's Secret pink and black stripes.
After I lock my door, I take it all out. One by one, I fish my items out, admiring the fine quality of my new things. Delighted with my investment, I lay it all on my bed. I can't wait to see Lex's face as he discovers each of those ensembles.
I'm so eager for it that an idea blooms in my mind.
Maybe now would be a great time to thank him for the pic he so generously sent me. Trying not to overthink it, I impulsively grab the pink balconette bra and retro high-waisted panties he told me he liked. I hang my towel and slip the ensemble on. The bra's cut is so clever, it almost looks like I'm a solid B-cup. I glimpse at myself in the full-length mirror of my wardrobe, hesitating.
The outfit is gorgeous, but I'm not confident enough with my body to take a picture and send it to Lex. I know all too well that he's used to nudes from women with Victoria's Secret bodies rather than just the lingerie. When we first met in the elevator, that woman in the pic looked flawless, blonde, slender, with fantastic boobs, a toned stomach, and a bomb body. And he was unfazed by that nude back then. How the fuck will he react to me in my underwear, then? I'm nowhere near that level of perfection.
But he really likes me, doesn't he? He won't mind my flat chest and wide hips.
To give myself some courage, I take the kimono I just bought and put it on, leaving it open and hanging on my shoulder. I do some touch-ups on my makeup and add ruby lipstick. Once I feel ready, I fluff my hair and take a pic, holding the phone in front of me. The result doesn't suit me, so I take another, and another...
I take well over thirty pictures, trying different poses, kimono off the shoulders, off only one, without it... I try different angles, from the front, slightly to the side, completely to the side... I try not to hide my face with the phone, to hold it up, next to my face, at chest level...
It's my first time attempting to take a sexy picture, and I never realized how complicated the ordeal is. Nudes are hard, and I have all the respect in the world for the women who do it regularly. It's so much simpler for men... Lex removed his towel, snapped his junk, sent it, and it was enough to make me weak in the knees. I can't be so carefree about it.
As I go, I keep the best pictures and delete the ones I never want to see again. After maybe twenty minutes of my laborious photoshoot, I decide I won't do better. I have five shots to go by, one of which I like a lot more than the others. I'm angled slightly to the side, the kimono falling off one of my shoulders with my hand on my hip. The pink ensemble is very much visible, and the phone partially hides my face.
Do you have a moment? I message him, my thumbs trembling a little. With my legs crossed in the middle of the bed with all my purchases, I wait, biting my nail. What am I doing? I've seen too many stories of revenge porn to be doing this. Even for Lex.
His answer is simple and efficient. I do.
Alright, I can do this. Just an eye for an eye. Tits for tats. Or rather, tits for dick.
No screenshot, I send, preparing myself mentally.
Before he can ask what I mean, I select the picture I chose. My heart is beating so fast that I wonder if I can die of a heart attack at twenty-six. The moment I hit the send button, a shiver runs up my arm to die in my chest. This goes against all of my beliefs, my education, and my comfort zone.
Everything stills as I wait, and when the seen logo appears, all my fears become too loud. The fuck am I doing? He won't like it. I look ridiculous. I count to twenty internally and then delete the picture for both of us. Shortly after, he starts typing. With each second that passes, my anxiety grows more intense.
When I picked Wednesday to bring you home, I thought it would be a nice, reasonable day in the middle of the week. I should have gone with Monday. You're stunning in that.
Relief floods me, and I let out a heavy sigh, my shoulder collapsing as the tension leaves my body. I'm still trying to decide which one I should wear for Wednesday, I send, feeling mischievous.
I half-expect it when he calls, so I pick up, acting innocent. "Yes?"
"Maybe you should send me more pictures, so I can help you choose."
"Nice try, but no. This was a teaser. I bought about half the shop, and you'll get some sweet surprises in all that, as promised." I lie back on my bed over some panties and bras.
"Fuck, Andrea," he groans. "You have to stop making me hard like this when you're not here to take care of it."
"You're a big boy. Take care of it yourself."
"I have been. I don't think I've ever fucked my fist so much in my life. Maybe in my teen years, but I'm not even sure."
"Have you jerked off thinking of me?" I ask, almost honored by the thought.
"Is it weird?"
"Lord, I hope not. I've been putting Idris through overtime since I met you."
Lex lets out another groan, and I press my knees together, feeling like a temptress. I'm enjoying all this buildup immensely, this anticipation, this tension...
"And what were you thinking of as you made yourself come with me on your mind?" he asks, the low tone of his voice somehow finding its way straight to my clit.
I bite my lip, running my fingertips over the delicate lace of my panties, then up to graze an erected nipple. For the second time this weekend, I'm tempted to try phone sex with him. Given how slex-deprived I am, I'd come in no time, panting and trembling. However, I also want Wednesday to be mind-blowing.
"This isn't happening," I firmly declare. Anticipating his protest, I add, "But I appreciate the attempt. I'll see you tomorrow, Alexander."
"Andrea—" he starts with a warning tone.
I hang up and force myself to turn off the phone. If I allow him to insist, I'll cave in.
For a moment, I stay there in my lingerie, lying in the middle of lace and other fine materials, my body tingling and demanding satisfaction.
Yes, Wednesday will be epic.
***
We're both twenty minutes early on Monday so we can have time alone together before work.
My entire body tingles with excitement as I enter his office. My smile fades off quickly when I find Lex talking with Kevin in the middle of the room. Shit, there goes our moment alone.
When Lex sees me, something lights up in his eyes before he returns his attention to his friend. Kevin notices me too, and a strange smile stretches his lips.
"Okay, I'll leave now. We'll talk about the quarterly reports later," he says to Lex. As he passes by me, he gives me an enigmatic wink. "Andy..."
Once he's gone, I turn to Lex. "Does he... Did you—"
"He knows, yes. But I didn't tell him. He guessed. A while ago, actually."
"Oh... I see. Our Secret is slowly becoming common knowledge," I note, a little worried.
"Two people is manageable."
"Three. Kate knows too."
"You told her?"
"She knew before I knew," I recall with humor. "She basically threw me in your arms."
"I always liked her." He slowly wraps his arms around my waist, his large hands caressing my skin through the thin material of my shirt. My heart furiously pounds in my chest, delighted by his proximity.
"I can't see why... She helped me rip you off when I sold you my app."
"I helped you rip me off," he reminds me, bending slowly.
I'm still smiling when his lips unhurriedly meet mine. It feels like I haven't kissed him in a month instead of a weekend. Little by little, our usual greed takes over, and things get a bit out of hand. The repeated intrusion of his tongue in my mouth melts my insides, and the way his hands grab, pull, and squeeze my curves makes me weak in the knees.
The door flings open next to us, and we rip ourselves away from each other, panting and flustered. Kevin stands there, seemingly very proud of himself.
"Just checking. You should lock the door," he says with a falsely reprimanding expression.
"Thanks for the lesson, Kev. Now, will you please get the fuck out?" Lex demands, irritated. Kevin laughs frankly, not intimidated at all, and complies.
"Sorry about that." Lex passes a nervous hand through his hair. "I've wanted to kiss you all weekend. Especially after that photo. Which reminds me..."
He comes closer to slip two fingers into the collar of my shirt. Playfully, he tugs on it and tries to take a peek at what I'm wearing under. I squeal with a giggle and swat his hand away. Under my plain T-shirt, I'm wearing a lovely bralette in nude tones, but he'll discover it when I want him to.
"How dare you!" I scold him, failing at pretending I'm offended. "This is workplace harassment. HR will love this."
I don't even have time to spin around before he slams me onto his broad chest. "You drive me fucking mad, woman," he mutters, retaking my lips with domineering hunger. Someone knocks on the door again, and he rips away with a curse. "I can't fucking wait for Wednesday."
Instead of Kevin, it's Tamika this time. She looks at Lex with a prying eyebrow cocked up, and hands him a thin folder. He's blushing, isn't he? Poor thing.
"I thought you'd want to have the numbers as soon as possible," she signs.
"Thank you." He nervously scratches his jaw. "I apologize for—"
"It's all fine. It made my weekend," Tamika interrupts. She looks over at me and gives a wink before leaving the room.
"What exactly did you tell her?" he asks once we're alone, a little concerned.
"Well... she had questions. But I remained as vague as I could."
When someone knocks on the door again, Lex rolls his eyes with exasperation. "For fuck's sake."
"I should just go," I mumble, following him to the door.
On my way to the Trolls' Lair, I suddenly remember that Oli tried to kiss me at the party. Fuck, what should I tell him?
In my efforts to spare his feelings, I was too vague about us never becoming a thing. But he has to understand now, because I'm not risking ruining things with Lex.
As I enter the dev area, I instantly spot him talking to Mason and Steven. I'm about to ask him for a minute alone when he asks first, visibly nervous. "Andy, could we talk for a second?"
"Yeah, sure."
We end up in the break room by the Donkey Kong machine. Oli struggles to find what he'll say, passing a hand over his face, clearly apprehensive.
"I've been feeling like an ass all weekend long. I'm so sorry for the way I acted at the party. You're not into me that way and should respect it," he explains. I can see the remorse in his eyes, but also some pain. "My only excuse is that I was in a weird place because my sister just told me our grandma passed away."
"Oh, my God. Oli, you should have let me know. I'm so sorry for your loss," I add, reaching out to squeeze his arm. I'm very close to my abuela, and the mere thought of losing her one day is heartbreaking. "The one in Ireland or the one in Idaho?"
"The one in Ireland. We weren't very close to her since we barely ever saw her. But it was still a shock."
"Yes, I can imagine..."
"Anyway, I'm so sorry this happened," he apologizes. "I guess I was looking for comfort, and it got the best of me."
"It's okay, I understand. You really should have told me; we could have talked about it, and I would have stayed with you longer."
"I didn't want to ruin the party for you, too."
"We're friends. We talk about those things."
We talk about it for a little longer, and by the time we're back to the Lair, I feel as though our friendship is stronger. It seems he finally accepted we'll never be more than friends now. He has been successfully relocated to the friend zone, however stupid that notion is. No matter what some people might think, men and women can be friends. I'll prove it with Oliver.
***
Wednesday couldn't come soon enough, but we're finally here, and I'm waiting for Lex, leaning on the hood of his Benz, all dolled up and ready for an evening of slex. I have everything I need to spend the night in my bag, and I can't wait. We were very reasonable these past three days, exchanging only a few kisses and amorous gropes.
Time for more, now.
Just as I realize it might not be such a great idea to wait for him so publicly, I see his tall silhouette emerge. When he gets to me, his hand slides over my hip, and he bends to give me the first kiss of the day. Showing some restraint for once, we keep it to a warm peck, and he gazes down at me with intensity.
"You look stunning," he says, clutching my hip. I'm wearing a cute little sundress dress with a row of buttons on the front. And underneath it, the blue teddy with straps that don't cover my breasts. My goal is to drive Lex mad with it.
"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."
His black button-up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to the middle of his forearms, is tucked into a pair of dark blue jeans that enhance his muscular legs.
During the entire drive to his place, his hand is on my thigh, directly on the soft skin, at the edge of the dress hem. Under the touch of his palm and fingers, I grow warm and tingly. He only removes it to switch gears or for certain turns, and every time he puts it back, it's a little higher up on my thigh.
Despite the rush hour traffic, we get to his place fast and remain silent all the way up to his floor. He gallantly invites me to go first once his massive door is open.
"Mary, I'm home," he states, and I smile as I remember the first time I heard that.
"Welcome home, Alexander," the AI answers as the lights turn on and the shutters open.
Although Mary isn't programmed to answer me as well, I still greet her. "Hey, Mary. I'm here too."
To my great surprise, the electronic voice says, "Welcome, Andrea."
My jaw drops, and I turn to Lex, stunned. What in the—
"Ah, yes. I added your voice to her system," he casually explains. "You're allowed some basic commands, but you still don't have access to the core ones. We'll see if you behave before those."
"You taught your AI about me?"
"I did. I thought you'd appreciate it."
"Appreciate it? Are you kidding! Mary, dim the lights," I ask. Sure enough, the lights' intensity diminishes slightly.
Holy shit, I feel like Tony Stark with Jarvis.
It's a small thing, maybe a couple of hours of code, but it means so much more than the time he spent on it. It means he wants me here. It means he expects me to spend time at his place. It means he cares enough to have that sort of attention.
It feels incredible.
All this adrenaline and joy suddenly latch on him. My bag drops to the floor, and I jump on him, pulling him down to give him a grateful kiss. I'm a bit too brutal in my elation, and he loses his footing for a second. He gets our balance back while I ravage him with my gratitude, kissing, sampling, and devouring.
He lowers to reach for the back of my thighs and effortlessly lifts me, pressing me against his solid form. My legs wrap around his waist as I kiss him more thoroughly. My heart swells as mixed emotions overwhelm me.
I never felt like this before. It's as if I'm complete when around him. As if I'm my truest, most perfect self in his arms. Everything is so new and confusing, I don't know how to express all this and don't even know if I should. The one undeniable thing is that he cares about me. He likes me.
I want him to know I do too. I want to be honest, to express those shattering feelings he triggers. The idea grows and grows in my head to the point where I might explode if I don't let it out. I pull away from him, framing his adored face with my hands, getting lost in his gray eyes. God, how I love his eyes...
"I love—" I start impulsively before my guts twist with cowardice. No. It's too soon. I'm not even certain of it myself. The idea of saying those three words knowing they might not be returned is too scary. I'm rapidly falling for him, and at this rate, it is only a question of days before I'm desperately and utterly in love with Alexander Coleman.
I gulp to swallow away the lump in my throat. "I love it," I say instead.
Despite my tumultuous state, I catch a flash of dissatisfaction in his eyes. Did he want me to say something else?
Before I can think about it, he kisses me again. I welcome him, my chest tightening and expanding at the same time, a swarm of butterflies flickering low in my stomach. He sits us on his couch, with me on his lap, my intimacy pressed against his hardened shaft. I get lost in our embrace, pulling, writhing, demanding... I reach between us and lift myself just enough to access his belt. I unbuckle it, pop the button open, and slowly slide his zipper down. Taking my sweet, sweet time, I tenderly grab his thick length.
"Ah, fuck..." he moans with a short breath as I move my hand along his erection. "I knew you'd be touched by the attention, but this is..." His words trail off with a hiss as I tighten my hold.
"Imagine if you'd taught Mary how to put on music," I whisper in his ear before nibbling on his lobe amorously.
"About that..."
I freeze and pull away, my hand unmoving in his boxers, my fingers still wrapped around him. He offers me a mischievous smile, and I almost laugh with amazement.
"Mary, can you put on some Marvin Gaye?" I try.
Within seconds, the suave tunes of Let's Get It On resonate in the room. Utterly stunned, I look at the man under me, so full of affection and tenderness for him it hurts. He did all this for me...
Wanting to repay him the best I can, I open the top button of my dress.
"You..." I say, popping another button. With every word I say, I undo one. "...Are on for the best night of your life." Once I'm done, my dress is completely open. I boldly push it off my shoulders, revealing my undergarment and bare breasts. I struggle to hide a smile at the fascinated way he looks at me, almost disoriented.
Tonight, I'll show him those words and feelings I'm too afraid to voice out loud.
And maybe, just maybe, he will show something similar in return.