Chapter 5
Madeline
“Watch what you’re doing with that!” Katie yells at one of the moving men who's attempting to pick up a heavy ornamental vase from inside the moving truck. It's the day after the disastrous night at the club, and we're busy moving into our new condo. Despite what happened last night, I’m pretty excited about starting a new chapter in my life. “That’s a special gift my mom gave me as a graduation present!” she squawks.
“Sorry,” apologizes the young guy, who looks barely older than eighteen. He gently picks up the vase and carefully walks off the van, moving as if he’s carrying something worth more than gold.
Hands on her hips, Katie growls, “You better be.”
“Jesus, Katie,” I complain, shaking my head and wiping at the sweat on my brow. It's a sweltering ninety-five degrees outside and I feel like going inside and flopping down on the floor and enjoying the cool AC, but Katie insists I help her oversee the moving.
At least I’m not one of these guys, I think with sympathy. They’re doing all this hard work for less than minimum wage. And to make matters worse, they have Katie making their lives even more miserable.
To fight the heat, Katie and I are dressed in cutoff shorts and midriff-baring tank tops, but I’m still sweating like a dog.
“You didn’t have to be so mean to the kid. He hadn’t even picked it up yet.”
Katie turns to scowl at me. “Did we, or did we not pay these guys out of our hard-earned student loan checks?”
I snicker at the thought of our student loans being ‘hard-earned’. I guess I know what she meant though, since it’s not like we won’t be paying exorbitant interest rates after college. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can just treat them like that--”
Cutting me off, Katie turns to watch the young guy make it off the moving truck and onto the sidewalk with the giant vase. “Okay then. I can tell them whatever I want, especially when they’re handling things that are dear to me.”
“Psycho,” I mutter under my breath, giving up.
“Hey!” Katie screams when the guy almost trips stepping over the sidewalk. Luckily, he regains his balance without dropping Katie’s precious vase. “Watch it, clumsy!” After the guy makes it into the condo unscathed, Katie turns on me with a murderous glare. “See,” she says flatly.
“Why are you being so bitchy today?” I demand.
“Because I have a nasty hangover.” About time she admits it.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have drunk so much.” I don’t know why I even bothered responding though. She never listens to me. At least she didn't wake me up at 3 a.m. by puking into the toilet.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have run from the club and left me stranded,” she says without missing a beat. Fuck, that hits a nerve. I do feel bad about that. But what the fuck was I supposed to do? She wasn’t going to leave with me, and I needed to get out of there before I did something I’d regret.
I wipe at a trickle of sweat running down the side of my face. “You know what? I’m too hot to deal with your shit today. Can we not do this, please?”
Katie bites her lower lip and says, “Sorry,” even though I know she isn’t. “Speaking of hot, I can’t believe you turned down that Zane guy!”
“I can. The dude was an asshole.” I’m not sure why I’m lying to her. Zane hadn’t done anything particularly wrong, unless you can call making me want to have sex with him a crime.
Just speaking about him brings up the memory of how hot I felt against his body, and how much I wanted him inside of me. When he pressed up against me, I could feel it. His cock was fucking huge. Somehow I get a little hotter thinking about what he could have done to me with a dick that big. I can’t help but feel a little regret, but I know it was the right move to leave him there. Wasn’t it?
“Who cares? If it was me, I would’ve fucked him every which way but sideways even if he'd slapped me around and called me his bitch.” She thinks for a moment, and her frown morphs into a naughty smile. “In fact, I think I would rather enjoy that.”
“Katie!” Thank God my face is already red from the heat so she can’t tell how much the idea of him doing that to me turns me on, too.
Katie looks at me with typical feigned innocence. “Wha? That guy was the hottest guy I’ve seen in a long time. I would've killed to have him lusting after me like he was after you.”
“He wasn’t lusting after me,” I argue. “He just wanted to buy me a drink.”
“He wasn’t? Remember how he shoved that other hot guy down in his seat just to get to you?” Fuck, that was hot.
“Nope.” The word comes out easy as I shake my head.
“Liar. You said he had you up against the wall in the hallway, ready to bang your brains out.”
The image of his lips being inches away from mine flashes in front of my eyes and I try hard to push it away. I wish Katie would stop going on about Zane. Thinking about him just makes my temperature rise, and it’s already hot as hell. “What does it matter now anyway? I’ll never see him again.”
Which is a good thing, I think to myself. He was nothing but trouble.
Katie shakes her head at me in sympathy. “You just don’t get it, do you? You’re so scared to live a little just because of what happened between you and Zach that you’re missing out on the simple pleasures in life.”
“How is going home with a total stranger and getting screwed by him 'missing out'?” I demand. “If anything, it cheapens me.”
“Are you kidding me? That guy was hot as fuck, with a big ass dick to match.”
“And how would you know what he’s working with?” Despite my question, I agree with Katie. When Zane was pressed up against me, I felt his bulge. And if the size of it was an indication of anything, he was hung like a horse.
“Did you see the size of his nose?” she says with a wink.
I roll my eyes. “You’re impossible.”
“And you need to get laid. Preferably last night. Hey!” Katie yells at the other mover. “Don’t carry that like that!”
Katie begins badgering this guy about how to properly carry a box of her precious items of God knows what, even going as far to follow him into the condo, leaving me alone in the hot sun.
I’m about to follow her in when I see a box with my name on it on the back of the truck. If memory serves me correct, it's filled with a bunch of personal hygiene products that I don’t want anyone to see. I’ll take my tampons in myself, thank you very much.
“I’ll just get that, and then I’m staying in the cool air until they’re done,” I mutter to myself. “I don’t care how much Katie bitches and whines at me.”
I jump onto the truck and grab the box. It’s not that heavy, but it’s awkward, and I make it off the truck before I have to set the box down to try to get a different handle on it.
“Need help with that, peaches?” asks a deep, familiar voice.
Oh my fucking God.
I look up into that cocky grin and those beautiful blue eyes. Instantly, images of last night are back in my mind and I’m filled with burning desire. Dressed only in a pair of blue jeans that are ripped at the knees, Zane is standing in front of me with his shirt off.