Page 8 of Hard To Stay

Chapter Four

Brad

I got backto my apartment and stripped down to a pair of boxers and a plain white t-shirt. After grabbing a cold Stella out of the fridge, I flopped down onto the couch and pulled my computer onto my lap. Once the Google screen popped up, I typed Colton Hunt into the search bar and a whole different world appeared before my eyes. What came up didn’t necessarily surprise me. Even though Lexi told me that he came from money, it was easy to see that from the hundreds of links that I could follow, bringing me to various articles. What struck me the most wasn’t the wealth that was on full display or the political power that caught my eye, no, it was a picture of him and Lexi walking into a ribbon cutting ceremony looking like the perfect couple.

I leaned back in my seat and studied the photo more closely. God, she was breathtaking. During the entire car ride home I couldn’t help but steal a glance every chance I got. She seemed nervous and unsettled even though I wanted to remind her that she was perfectly safe with me.

When we finally pulled up to her building, I was surprised to learn that she only lived a couple of blocks from me. Knowing she was so close had me thinking about her even more.

I ran my hands through my hair and looked up at the ceiling. I could not get this girl out of my head. Her building had security, but I still found myself concerned for her safety. It had a doorman guarding the entrance, which was enough to keep the street people out of the lobby. It would however be no match for a man who knew no boundaries, and who had a pocket full of money to buy his way into anything or anywhere.

I checked my phone to see if she had texted me. I’d made her program my number into her phone before I’d dropped her off. I had half hoped she would call me and was half glad she didn’t have to. The disappointment of seeing no new messages from her had me doubting my ability to keep things professional.

I tossed my phone across the table and leaned back into the couch lost in my own head. It was obvious that underneath that beautiful exterior was someone who was hiding a great deal of pain and sadness. My muscles tightened at that thought. The smile on the screen in front of me was far different than the one I had seen tonight. It was clear that she let her guard down with me and it also reminded me that I needed to be careful of the trust she placed in me.

I closed my laptop, convinced that once I ran a full background check on him tomorrow, I would discover a hell of a lot more than a few tabloid articles. I turned off the light and dragged my ass to bed for the night. Every time I closed my eyes, her face would pop up in my head making for one hell of a restless night.

Morning came too quickly and after pressing the snooze button for the third time, I forced myself out of bed and into the shower. The steam from the shower filled the glass stall as I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the cool tiles. I felt my dick tighten and rise every time her face and perfect little body popped into my head.

She was everything I wasn’t looking for, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about her. Her life was messy and complicated. She had more baggage then the cargo holds at JFK International airport, yet I couldn’t stop myself from wondering what it would be like to be with her. What her lips would feel like, and what she tasted like.

I was so lost in those images that I didn’t even realize that I had wrapped my hand around my soapy cock. I massaged myself imagining what she sounded like when she came. My climax started to climb with my mind’s visuals of me driving deep inside her. It didn’t take long for my balls to tighten and for the evidence of my arousal to squirt from out of my clenched hand.

I threw my arm over my eyes knowing that I was screwed. This girl was trouble, and she needed my help, not my cock.

I toweled off, got dressed, grabbed my badge, gun and wallet off the dresser and made my way out the door. I dialed Sawyer who picked up on the second ring.

“Dude, it’s fucking 7:30 in the morning.” He answered, still half asleep. He sounded hung over, too. He and Lucas were throwing them back pretty good last night.

“Sorry to wake you up, man, but I really need a favor.”

“What’s up?” He asked, his voice picking up on the urgency in my tone.

Sighing into the phone, I pushed the round button as I entered the elevator. “I need to talk to you about Lexi.”

“Who?” I could almost picture him frowning in confusion.

“The girl from last night? Abby’s friend with the douchebag ex.”

“Abby’s friend, huh?” A short laugh came through the line. “Is this the same ‘friend’ you left with last night?”

“It’s not like that, Sawyer.” It shouldn’t have surprised me that he had me all figured out. If he only knew that I spent the last five minutes of my shower jerking off to images of her, he would be busting my balls all the way into next week. The last thing I needed was to deal with his teasing while I tried to figure things out.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore his sarcasm. “Yes, the girl from last night. Can you help me out? I mean, can you help her out?” I quickly added trying to correct myself.

What the fuck?

He chucked again. “Ok, stud. What exactly do you need help with?”

My lips turned down into a frown as the elevator doors opened to another floor where a couple more people shuffled in. Inching my way into the back of the car, I lowered my voice into a whisper. “After I dropped her off last night, I did some poking around on the internet. I didn’t like what I saw. Not to mention, after what happened in the lobby, I got a bad vibe. Her ex is a bad dude.” My eyes bounced around making sure no one was listening to our conversation. “I want you to help her get a restraining order against him.”

Sawyer exhaled, and I found myself clutching the phone tightly with the visual of last night running on repeat in my head. I was trying to mask how much I was ready to lose my shit while waiting for his response. “I’ll see what I can do. Give her my number and have her call me at a respectable hour. Now that I’m up, I might as well hit the shower.”

“Thanks man, I owe you.” I ended the call before he had a chance to respond and run his mouth. Knowing him he would only start saying shit that would piss me off. When the elevator doors opened, I stepped outside, feeling the warm sun hit my face.

I walked to the Starbucks down the street. It seemed like their stores outnumbered the homeless people in the city by two to one. I really didn’t care for their coffee, but thought it would be a good excuse to go check in on her. Not knowing how she took her coffee, or even if she drank it, I ordered one black and another with cream and sugar to go.

While standing outside her building, I allowed myself a moment to sweep my surroundings. Everything looked normal. The street was filled with people making their daily commute to the nearest subway station. I pulled out my phone to check the time and was glad that I still had a few moments to spare. A couple of Wall Street guys in pressed Armani suits walked blindly towards me and accidently bumped my elbow. I heard one of the guys say sorry as I reflexively stuck out my hands, saving the coffee from spilling all over my dress shirt. I snapped my head up just in time to see Lexi walking out of her building.

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