Page 18 of Hitched

“Something’s different.” She comments.

“Like how?” I ask, playing dumb.

Then her eyes widen. “Is that a…a hickey?” She asks, turning my cheek with her index finger, inspecting the skin on my neck.

My hand immediately goes to the spot where she’s looking, as I remember the exact moment that Caleb’s lips were there, just before I came, before my mind was completely blown up with ecstasy. “Shit.” I mutter.

“Who di—” Her eyes light up as recognition comes to them. She speaks with a gasp. “Oh my God! You and Caleb?!”

My face heats. I know it’s beet red. “Shit.” I mutter again.

Brandy takes another slug of wine, drinking down the rest, and I follow suit. “Okay, girl. Dish.” She says, encouraging me with a hand gesture. “Lay it on me. What happened after you so abruptly hung up the phone.”

“God, Brandy, it all happened so fast. One minute he’s storming into my office, the next we’re tearing into each other’s pants and he’s fucking me up against the wall.” I say like I was held at gunpoint.

She looks at me like she’s trying to read my mind. “Okay, and how do we feel about this? You didn’t stop him, so I’m going to assume that you wanted it, too…am I right?”

I draw in a deep breath and let it out, trying to find the right words. “It was the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Including Marcus Canyon?”

Marcus was this very hot professor I slept with in university. It was the only affair I’ve ever had my whole life, until now.

“Yes. He was better than Marcus. Ions better than Marcus, actually, seeing as I know for a fact that Caleb isn’t married.” Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Marcus had a wife that he kept secret. His defence was that she was deployed in Haiti on a peace mission, so he hadn’t seen her in over a year. I guess that’s how some men deal with that sort of thing, but when I found out, I wanted to puke. “But then once he blew his wad, he became an asshole, so I’m over it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he zipped up and got cocky with me, saying that we’re even now. The altercation ended with me throwing a block of Post-Its at him, but missing and hitting Mandy instead.”

Her mouth opens. “What an asshole. I would have hit him, too. I mean, God, that is so distasteful.”

“You think?” I pour myself more wine. “I ought to go over there and give him a fat lip for that.”

She opens one eye and speaks with measured words. “If it weren’t for the end part, would you do it again?”

I consider that for a moment. “I might have. But only if it was just casual. You know me, Brandy, I’m not the relationship type.”

Brandy lifts her glass and clinks it with mine. “Here here.” She takes a sip. “From now on, every relationship I have with a man will be casual. You’ll never see another wedding band on this finger, mark my words.”

“Can’t say I blame you there.”

She swallows and licks her lips. “Any chance you think that this was part of a plan?”

I cock my head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you said that his dad is forcing him to marry you. Do you think his sole motivation for doing that was to report back to daddy dearest? You know, like, one foot’s in the door, dad, look at me now?”

“If that were the case, he would have been a lot nicer, Brandy. He wouldn’t have gotten his back up and came off like an asshole.”

She frowns. “True. But maybe he’ll do that, anyway, you know. And leave out the part where he turned it into a pissing match at the end.”

“Who knows. He blew his wad, and from what I gather, he enjoyed himself as much as I did. His brains were probably displaced. All I know is I should never have let that happen, and I’m going to figure out a way to put him back in his place.”

“Why?”

“Because, Brandy, that’s half the reason why men stomp all over us women. Because we let them.”

“But, technically, you got what you wanted, too, Laney. I mean, you said so yourself, that it was the best you ever had.”

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