His Five Night Stand (13 page)

“So, today was day one of my Callie vacation,” I said. “No work. No obligations. Just time to focus on what I want and have the courage to ask for it.” A sly smile escaped me before I could pull it in. I couldn’t help it, just saying the words
I want
out loud conjured up Theo’s face and his touch.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Cara said, stopping. Her eyes widened at my smirk. “Oh my God you did something.” She swatted my arm. “It’s that guy. That one you told me about.”

“Maybe . . .”

We started walking again as a pack of cyclists zoomed past us.

“Spill it.”

“So . . . His name is Theo. And he came over last night . . .” And I told her about the five nights and what we’d done the night before.

Cara stopped walking, jaw hanging open. “Theo says he can cure you in five days and you came like three times?”

“Four,” I said. “I came four times. You really need to pay attention to the details.”

“So it’s like therapy, but not therapy. Sex.”

“Yep,” I said. “He will heal me with sex. So he says.”

We started walking again. Cara leaned in as she whispered. “And you are sure he isn’t some sort of pervert? You know this could be the way he lures women into his trap.”

“He does not seem like a psycho, Cara, and it’s not a trap it’s consensual sex,” I said. “And he seems thoughtful. He seems kind.” We rounded the path near the outdoor stadium bleachers.

Early evening light filtered through the trees reflecting on the water. I suddenly wished that Theo was walking beside me. I wondered if he had ever seen the lake in a light this beautiful. It occurred to me that I didn’t know whether or not he walked around Greenlake. I didn’t know a thing about how he liked to spend his free time. The only thing I did know was that he’d found a way to make me come multiple times without taking off all my clothes and he loved to please women.

“He seems kind.” Cara repeated, her skepticism clear. “You don’t know this guy at all do you.”

“I know it’s a little crazy. And I’m not saying it’s rational, but I’m not looking for a boyfriend. It’s five nights.” I thought about lying beside Theo the night before, running my hand along his long lean body, my fingers tracing his scar. “He has secrets, not bad ones. He has this scar, but he won’t talk about it.”

“You saw a scar?”

“Well, yes, I told you we were almost naked.”

“And he wouldn’t talk about it?”

“Nope.”

I could see the therapist wheels in her blonde head spinning. “Makes me wonder who or what he wants to forget.”

“Yeah, I don’t know,” I said, wishing I knew more about him. We walked for a few moments in silence and I wondered if Cara was right. Was Theo trying to forget something from his past, or even more intriguing, someone? He did seem to know a lot about broken hearts.

“I don’t know if I could do it,” Cara said. “Not get attached. If he is as good as you say, that sounds pretty addictive. How do you not get attached to a man who can make you come you said three?”

I shook my head.

“Oh my God, four,” she whispered. “I wanted to say four but even then my brain was like, no way, that’s not possible. That man made you come four times. Seriously, that is going to be hard to walk away from.”

“We made a deal,” I said. “And I’m not a liar.”

“But is he a liar?”

“He’s a good guy, Cara. I can tell.” I ignored that inner voice that wanted to remind me I had thought Henry was a good guy too, once upon a time.

“So, did his cock tell you that?” She said giving me a half smile.

“I told you I didn’t get nearly enough of it to know.” We both collapsed into a fit of giggles and I wondered if I was telling the truth. Could I make love and play with Theo for five nights and not want anything more? Or, was I just setting myself up for a different kind of disappointment and heartbreak? After all, in five nights he’d still be my neighbor. It wasn’t like I could move across town, I’d just signed a one-year lease and my apartment was going to be my oasis, my sanctuary. I was not going to let some guy ruin that for me was I?

Cara stopped walking. She grabbed my arm and spun me around. “Other way. Other way.” She picked up the pace. “Don’t look back.”

I immediately looked back.

Henry and Sophia.

Hands swinging as they walked, a huge smile on Henry’s face. He leaned in to talk with Sophia who looked up at him adoringly. They were clearly head over heels with each other.

“I don’t want to see this, I don’t want this to be real,” I whispered, stunned. The memory of Henry and his betrayal swept over me like a cold ocean wave. I had felt so strong and here it was so fresh, the rejection. I had given him years and he had picked someone else, and not just anyone else, this girl, this pretty pixie girl with blonde hair and a yoga body that looked ridiculously bendable. I felt like an oaf by just existing. Here was Henry and the girl he had picked over me.

“Keep walking,” Cara said, dragging me forward as my broken heart grew roots and anchored me into place. There was Henry with his new love and what was I doing, fucking around with some good looking guy who promised me nothing but a dead end. My vision blurred with tears.

Henry stopped walking ahead of me in the path. Our eyes met.

His face fell and he dropped Sophia’s hand to give me a tentative wave.

I didn’t wave back. Seeing him look at me I snapped out of my daze walking away.

“Get me out of here,” I whispered walking in stride next to Cara. “I can’t see him, not like this . . .”

I felt like the air had grown thin, I couldn’t fill my lungs. I felt weak. With a single glance, Henry had reminded me of all my failures, all the years I’d given him, and all the nights I’d wanted him to choose me when he’d really been waiting to choose someone else. I had believed in him for so long, and I had missed so many signs. I doubted myself, my inner radar, my ability to know what was real from what I wanted to be.

And now there was Theo.

I’d just agreed to a five night stand with a man I barely knew. Was that really the right way to take care of myself? Was I doing the right thing, or making another horrible mistake?

When I got home that night there was a notecard on the floor.

Night 2—9:00 p.m.? T

I thought about knocking on his door or writing back and telling him not to come, but I felt so sad and mixed up I did nothing until he knocked on my door that night.

I sat on my futon listening, knowing Theo was right outside. If I was going to break this off, I owed him an explanation. I had agreed to five nights but now I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I needed to make up my mind.

The knocking continued.

I’d taken a shower after my walk. Wrapping my terry cloth robe tight around my body I answered the door.

“Hello love,” Theo said, his face lighting up and then falling at my expression. “What is wrong?”

“I’m sorry, I’m a mess but I’ll be all right . . .” I burst into tears and stepped away from the door embarrassed and horrified with myself. I’d cried in the shower trying to get all the emotion out but clearly I’d missed a stockpile of tears.

Theo stepped inside and closed the door softly. Then he wrapped me into a big bear hug.

“Don’t be nice to me,” I sobbed. “If you’re nice to me, I’ll cry. It’s one of my personal issues.”

“I think you are already crying, love,” he said. “So, nice I will be.”

He rested his chin on my head and rocked me back and forth slowly. I inhaled deeply against his shirt. He wore a black button down and when I turned my head I could see pearl buttons running down the front. He smelled like eucalyptus and a musky spice this time. I wondered if it was cologne or just his scent.

“What happened to you today? Besides the fact you have been using your junior designer skills to spruce things up.” His voice was soft, kind and comforting. I wanted his arms to stay wrapped around me forever, I wanted to disappear in this warm place. “You have transformed this space, love. I’m impressed.”

His compliments were lost on me. I could think of nothing but Henry and my pain. “I saw him today,” I hiccupped. “Walking with a friend. I saw Henry, my ex. His name is Henry . . .”

“I remember his name,” he said, his voice full of a smile.

“He was with the girl he left me for and it made me feel pathetic and horrible. I thought I was doing so well, but it made me think that I’m not over him at all and maybe I’m just a mess and maybe what we did isn’t good for me . . .”

“Just breathe,” he said, smoothing my hair. He took my hand and walked me to the futon. I had not pulled it down yet. I think some part of me left it set up thinking that it was a sign I hadn’t decided what was going to happen that night. “Look, this thing with you and me. What we are, what we do together is about feeling good, being together. It has nothing to do with the man who broke your heart and we will only do what you want, you got it?”

“I got it,” I said, nodding. I did feel better beside him. The feeling of his arms wrapping around me, the warmth of him. The way he looked at me as if I were the most beautiful woman in the world.

He sat beside me, holding my hand. His face stubbly, he had a rugged sexy look that made me want to run my fingers across his cheek. His dark hair was sprinkled with something that looked like dust. I couldn’t resist and I brushed my fingers through his hair.

“You’re messy,” I said, managing a smile.

“It’s work,” he said. “Plaster. I started some new molds today.”

“The gallery?”

“I’m a sculptor,” he said.

I swallowed thinking of his hands on clay, marble, and stone. His fingers were long and sexy, his hands strong and large. I felt the familiar heat building between my legs. It felt good to be near him. Was it a mistake to feel good? “So, what were you sculpting today?”

“Today I was working on something kind of special,” he said, smiling. He leaned over and kissed my temple. “I was thinking of a beautiful woman while I worked.”

“You were.” I closed my eyes and leaned into him. “What were you thinking about her?”

“I was hoping she would see me tonight, and the day felt so long as I waited to see her.” He kissed my forehead softly and brushed a stray hair off my face.

I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. His blue eyes focused on me, his breathing shallow. I could feel the heat rolling off his body. “So, did you go to her?” I asked, taking his hand and placing it on my thigh under my robe.

“I knocked on her door and when she didn’t answer I knocked some more.”

“And did she answer?”

His hands slid up my thighs kneading my flesh with just the right pressure.

“She did and she shared her heartbreak with me, and she was beautiful and fragile and I begged her to let me love her that night.”

“And what did she say?”

“Let me love you tonight, Callie,” he whispered his mouth against my neck. “Let me take your heartbreak away, let’s bring each other joy, I need this. If you let me I can make you feel good, if you want this, only if you say yes.”

I pushed him away and looked him square in the face. His confession startled me. “You need this? It isn’t just me.”

“Of course not,” he said. “I need this too. The way you make me feel, it heals me somehow.” He brushed a lock of hair behind my ear and my whole body tingled.

“Why do you need healing?” I asked.

“Everyone is hiding from some heartbreak, love.”

He’s running from something or someone I thought, remembering Cara’s theory about his scar. I knew nothing about this man and I wasn’t even sure that this was good for my aching heart, but I no longer cared.

I took his face in my hands and kissed him, gently pushing my tongue into his mouth. Exploring him, probing him. I’d never kissed a man like that, with such control, taking what I wanted.

I stood and turned to face him and undid the tie of my robe. I dropped the tie to the ground and let my robe fall to my feet.

I stood naked before him, my hair still damp hanging around my shoulders. I didn’t worry about the fact that I hadn’t done my hair this time, or picked my favorite gloss. This was me, all of me. It felt completely honest, standing before him. I had been thinking I needed to be someone else with Theo but really I wanted to be myself. “I need this too.”