Page 6 of So Worth More
Being stuck at home with a migraine had given me a ton of time to stew over my situation. When the message came in from Andy, I had to admit that I was both relieved and disappointed in equal measures. He seemed to truly mean that we were done. Inside, frustration still smoldered. I didn’t want to have to let what we had go. It didn’t make sense, but there was a part of me that’d loved the chase and when I’d gotten him, that part had changed to love the hold over him that I seemed to have. There was this sense of power over him and it’d been addictive. Clearly though, my actions had finally crossed the line after months of pushing at him, and I knew I would have to apologize for that, make sure that we would be cool working together. There was no doubt in my mind that if we couldn’t at least be civil in the office that I would be the one to leave.
The one thing I knew with absolute certainty was that Parker’s wouldn’t be the same without Andy. The people there loved him. They tolerated me (well, except for Freddie), but we were only a couple of years apart and had moved in similar circles. He’d been aware of the fallout of the stuff with my brother and my ex, and had stayed out of my hiring so no one could question it. So Andy had to stay there. I could leave, and if it got really bad, I’d leave the city.
Moving was something to seriously consider. There wasn’t much holding me here. My mom and my sister Matilda could visit wherever I went. Matilda was still picking colleges, being so much younger than the rest of us, so I could move to where she was headed. Only eighteen to my thirty-three, she was practically a baby still.
Alex was the eldest of us at thirty-five. Charlie, my youngest brother, had just turned thirty, and though mom had made sure I’d been invited to his lavish birthday bash, I’d declined. The only gift I’d be liable to give him would be a punch in his smug asshole face. The only people I hated more than Charlie were Alex and Helena.
With Andy texting me to let me know that my projects were in hand, the last of the tension I’d been holding finally slipped away. It was such a normal text and that gave me hope.
I didn’t want to leave Parker’s. I really loved my job and I liked the people there. I’d miss Freddie and James in particular. Andy too, in a weird way. So maybe we could just try and be friends. Sure, Andy didn’t fit in my usual social circle, but neither did I any more. Not since all the drama with my brothers. Shrugging off those thoughts and finally feeling human for the first time this week, I considered my weekend.
Freddie had told me to take today off too when I spoke to him yesterday even though I assured him I could probably work from home. My tablet screen didn’t have me wincing in pain any more. However it seemed I’d managed to accrue some overtime hours and was due the time back so he’d asked me just to relax and meet him for coffee on Monday.
Having a soak in the tub did nothing to ease the stiffness in my muscles and I thought about heading to the gym doing some stretching and having a steam. I wasn’t quite fit for my usual workout and hadn’t set foot in the place since Tuesday’s boxing session. Scrolling through the app on my phone, I realized there were massages offered, including head and face, which would help with the lingering pain. With my day planned, I booked an appointment and started to get ready.
The gym was halfway between my condo and Andy’s little apartment. Andy lived closer to work than I did and I had looked at places in the newer building next to his but my mother insisted the condo she chose was great value for money and was twice the size of the place we had looked at. Andy’s place, while probably less than half the size of mine, was a home. It had a warmth that I found myself envying. I shrugged off thoughts of him, knowing that dwelling on the situation wasn’t going to change anything.
The day was warm but with a heavy grey sky that threatened at least rain, perhaps a storm, so it was a blessing to enter the gym with its cool air-conditioned space. Holly, one of the owners, and her brother, Henry, were at the reception desk talking over something that they could see on the screen. Henry was a tall guy, muscular from all his private trainer sessions, with close cropped hair. I told him once that he reminded me of Idris Elba, though his skin was a lighter brown due to his and Holly’s blonde mother.
Although Henry was a great looking man, I wasn’t his type. At all. The guy was as straight as an arrow and had been with his girlfriend for a while now. His sister, Holly, had reminded me initially of Helena. The same take no shit attitude, beautiful and smart, but after flirting with me a couple of times she’d gotten the hint. I’d heard that she was dating someone and now that I knew her better, I hoped that this guy was worthy. Hearing my approach they both looked up, Holly with a friendly smile and Henry with a strangely blank expression.
“Hey,” I greeted them both, “How’s it going?”
Holly was the first to speak, “Oh hey Will, haven’t seen you in a while. You in for a workout or do you need to book something?”
Since Henry was standing back and letting Holly deal with me, I turned a little and directed my words at her, “No workout for me, I overdid it the other day and my hands are still healing from the punching bag the other day, but I’m actually booked for a massage.”
Holly looked down at the screen in front of her and clicked on a few things before laughing, “Oh! So you’re my last-minute 3 o’clock. You picked up a cancellation. You’re early though, and I was just gonna take a quick break first if that’s okay with you?”
“Yeah of course, I thought about having a steam first if that’s okay?”
“It is, just come on up to the first floor about ten minutes before your appointment, okay?” Holly gave me a smile before getting up and heading to the staff room, leaving me with a distinctly uncomfortable looking Henry.
Tension crackled between us and I realized that Andy had already spoken to him.
“Look,” we both started to say before grinning at each other.
I went to start to speak again before Henry interrupted me, “Yes, I’ve spoken to Andy but I’m not here to take sides on whatever drama you two’ve going on. This is my family’s gym and it’s drama-free and I’m keeping it that way. You two are welcome here as long as you don’t bring crap with you. The rest of the guys don’t know stuff, but I can talk to them if you like so you don’t have to. Both of you are our friends, but we won’t take sides on it.” He paused and then laughed, breaking the ice between us. “Honestly, I’m just glad not to have complaints about you fucking in the showers anymore.” Henry laughed again and I couldn’t help laughing along with him, even though I was embarrassed that he knew about that.
“Sure thing man, tell them whatever. It’ll make it easier on both of us if we don’t have to constantly go over stuff.” I stopped, running a hand over the back of my neck feeling a little sheepish, not having talked to anyone about Andy before. “We were hooking up, but nothing more.”
I blew out a breath. “Andy wants space and I’ll give him that.” My tone was resigned. “Maybe down the line a bit we can be friends, I don’t want it to be weird.” I caught a glimpse of skepticism crossing Henry’s face when I said that Andy wasn’t more to me than a hookup, but I didn’t have the energy to set him straight. Maybe I’d come across as a little defensive. There was still a lot of shame deep inside over how I’d overreacted.
After catching up with Henry and missing my steam altogether, I went upstairs for my massage with Holly feeling that things with Henry and the other guys would be fine. Now, I just had to get there with Andy.
Six - Andy
The alarm on my phone blared from the night stand and I stretched before shutting it off. Laying in bed, I took stock of how I was feeling about the day ahead. Will would be back in the office today and I had absolutely no idea how that was going to go. Instead of freaking out about it though, I’d settled into a weird calm.
Saturday had been stormy all day, so instead of a soccer game with the guys, we’d gone out to dinner at a great but cheap pizza place a few blocks from the gym that Henry and his sister owned. Henry had pulled me aside to let me know that all Will discussions were off the table and he and the guys were now declared Switzerland. I’d laughed at Henry’s Twilight reference before thanking him. It was great to go out with the guys and blow off some steam, to try and get my thoughts off of Will for a bit.
While brushing my teeth after my shower, I caught myself reaching for my prescription of PrEP. It was a recently developed habit to take it first thing, unfortunately it was also reminding me why I’d started on it in the first place. Will. We’d been hooking up constantly for nearly two months when it happened.
Will suddenly stopped his desperate furious thrusting in and out of me with a sharp inhalation and a “fuck!!” He groaned against my neck as he reached his climax. I turned my head to look at him with difficulty from where I was, face against the wall.
As soon as we had gotten in my apartment he’d been on me, pushing me against the wall, kissing me like he hadn’t been with me in weeks. Before turning me to face the wall, he pulled my pants down to my ankles and rimmed me until I’d begged him to fuck me. There wasn’t much need for foreplay after our shower together at the gym, where we had nearly gotten caught. Again. He probably would have fucked me there if he’d thought to take a condom with him when he invaded my shower. I winced as he pulled out, feeling more than a little sore, I’d be feeling that for days. It was then that I felt a trickle of wetness run down my thigh.
“Shit!” Will exclaimed.
