Holly's Crush: The Complete Trilogy (3 page)

***

Holly woke the next morning feeling refreshed and quite wonderful. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so soundly.
It’s amazing what a great orgasm can do for a good night’s sleep.
As she made a cup of tea, she thought about how to spend the last day of her weekend. It was another gorgeous day and she definitely should spend it outside. Lunch in the park sounded lovely, as long as she kept her distance from any sugar-fueled hellions.

She spent some extra time getting ready, for no other reason than just feeling like it. She even bothered to do her hair instead of pulling it back or throwing on a baseball cap. She could barely notice the spot where the lolly had been, thankfully. Looking in the mirror, Holly felt pleased by what she saw – what a great way to start a day.

With an extra spring in her step, she grabbed her purse and headed out. As she was just about to leave the building, she remembered that she had never checked her mail from yesterday. She stopped to open the box, never even noticing the person who was coming up behind her. She threw a few bills into her bag, but paused to open the small white envelope and cringed when she seen it was yet another wedding invitation.

She was getting to the point where she could barely afford to attend another wedding; it was getting ridiculous, but at least she wasn’t being asked to be a part of the wedding party. This time she was merely being invited as a guest, plus one, which was unlikely to happen anyway. She would probably end up going solo, even if she wasn’t looking forward to it. She didn’t want to go at all, but felt obligated since they were old friends of hers.
More like old friends of ours.
“He’d better not be there,” Holly said as she jammed the invite into her purse, joining the rest of the clutter.

“Who’d better not be there?” The unexpected, deep voice startled her, causing her to jump.

Turning around, Holly found herself face to face with Mr. Fine Ass 2B. She felt her entire body blushing. Was that even possible? “Oh, nothing…just wedding stuff.”

Hot neighbor raised an eyebrow, the sexy one with the scar.

“Not my wedding, of course,” Holly stammered. “An old couple friend of mine. There’s just some drama that I’d rather not deal with.”

“Well, I hope it all works out for you.” He smiled, and Holly swore she was going to turn into a puddle of quivering mush right then and there. God, he really was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on.

“So, you like frogs?”

“What?” She was totally confused, until it clicked that he was talking about her key chain.

“Oh, this,” she said, holding up her keys with the big green frog hanging from the ring. “My sister gave this to me, she’s off living in Japan right now. Frogs are considered good luck there, I guess she thought I could use it.”

“It sounds like there’s a story there.”

Holly’s cheeks reddened. Had she ever stopped blushing? She wasn’t sure. She just couldn’t believe that she was here right now talking to
him.

“By the way, I don’t think we ever formally introduced ourselves. My name is Jack. Jack Winters.”

***

Holly’s Crushed

Crushed

Emotionally devastated; becoming sad or upset by another person’s actions or words.

***

Jack stabbed another piece of steak, took a couple swigs of beer, and tried not to look so bored. He wondered if his date even noticed – she had been talking nonstop for the past hour. Something about her lipstick color matching her purse or was it her shoes?
Who the hell knows?
She may as well have been talking about pink poodles, for all he cared right now. Everything that came out of her mouth sounded like gibberish to him. Sure, she was freakin’ hot, but did she babble on like this at the party? He couldn’t remember…

When he had met Kami last week at his buddy’s 28
^th
birthday party, he jumped at the chance to take her out. She was wearing this tight red dress and he was eager to see what was underneath it. Thinking back, he wondered if he was drunker than he thought.

It feels like my ears are bleeding.
He smiled a couple times, nodded his head, and at least attempted to appear interested in whatever she was saying. Meanwhile, he could not wait for this night to be over. Maybe he would get home in time to catch the end of the game. He pictured himself kicked back on the couch, beer in one hand, remote in the other, and --

“Are you listening to me?” Kami said.

“Um…yeah. You were just telling me about your cousin getting married.”

“It was my sister and I
said
she is getting divorced.
And
I talked about that, like, ten minutes ago!”

“Yeah…sorry about that. I guess I’m just not myself tonight.”

Ain’t that the truth,
he thought. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He must be coming down with something. Normally he would have had her half-way to bed by now. Kami had been all over him at that party and he figured her as a sure thing. She certainly was not shy in showing him what she was after. He only picked women who wanted the same thing as him: A night or two of great sex, leaving both of them to walk away happy. Dinner or drinks beforehand would set the stage and then they’d be ready to rock the night. For whatever reason, tonight he just felt annoyed and couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there.

This was definitely a first for him.

***

Holly paced around her apartment, glass of wine in hand, wondering who that woman was she had seen earlier leaving with Jack. Girlfriend? Prostitute? She sure dressed like one. How she managed to walk anywhere in that skin-tight dress (oversized tube top?) and six-inch heels were beyond her. She sat down and brought out her journal.

Seen this woman (slut) leaving with Jack tonight. I’m being a bitch, I know. Maybe I’m just jealous. Uh, ya think Holly? Part of me wishes that I were the one with him. The wrong parts of me – I should be thinking with my head right now. What does he even see in her? I guess that is the type of woman he goes for. I can never compete with that – wouldn’t even want to. Yeah right, whatever. Making myself crazed again. Why would I even want to be with a guy like that? Who also just happens to look like a Greek God… Maybe that was his sister…or just a friend. That could be a possibility. It’s not like they walked out arm-in-arm or anything. Yeah, I’m gonna go with that thought.

Holly set down the journal, plunked herself on the couch, and tried to find a good movie on TV.

***

Jack didn’t even bother inviting Kami back inside. He told her some lame excuse about not feeling well and thankfully, she didn’t push it. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and left. He was very glad that he had asked her to meet him at his apartment before going out. The plan was to bring her back up after dinner, but that idea slipped away earlier. He was relieved that the night wasn’t prolonged by having to drive her home.

He sat down, turning on what was left of the game. His thoughts quickly went to the woman who had recently moved into the building.

Holly.

She had told him her name that day at the mailbox. She had seemed distracted over something she was reading and didn’t even notice him standing by her. He didn’t mean to scare her, but she did look so damn cute all flushed like that. At least they were able to have a somewhat coherent conversation that day, unlike some of the other times he ran into her.

He thought about those times he had seen her in the hallway. She was so sexy, in that shy sort of way. When the cucumber rolled out of her bag, she turned bright red and was so embarrassed she could barely look at him. Then when she ran out in just her towel during that false fire alarm…Damn, she looked hot. It took everything in him not to go over there and rip that towel right off of her.

He sat back, pretty much ignoring the game at this point, and envisioned Holly back in the hallway wearing nothing but a towel. He imagined her wanting him just as much as he wanted her, following him back to his apartment, hair still wet, while he fucked her senseless. He could practically feel her wetness around his cock, which was now becoming uncomfortably hard. Or maybe he should have just taken her right there in the hall – bent her over and slammed his rock-hard cock deep inside of her until she screamed with pleasure. Fuck, he was horny and wishing right now that he hadn’t sent Kami away.

He unzipped his pants and wrapped his hand around his throbbing shaft. It didn’t take long; a couple strokes and then he was experiencing that quick release he needed so desperately.

My drive is still there,
he thought. He had been worried earlier, afraid that he was losing it. He had this scorching hot woman with him tonight and all he could think about during dinner was going home. Alone. He was concerned about getting old. Shit, he was only 28. He had a long life of sex ahead of him. He had enjoyed his youth immensely so far and knew he was blessed with the kind of looks that allowed him to get any woman he wanted. That wasn’t conceit on his part, he was not an egomaniac, but he would have to be blind not to see the effect he had on women.

Even though he never had to work too hard to get them into his bed, he preferred to be a one-woman man. It just happened that none of the women (and there had been many), had lasted too long. He was always on to the next challenge, even if it never was much of a challenge for him. He loved making a woman soak her panties at the thought of a night with him. He never had any complaints in the bedroom either. He knew his cock was well above average and he definitely knew how to use it.

He decided he would call Kami tomorrow and apologize; he’d explain that he just had too much on his mind tonight and that he was still eager to show her a good time. Maybe she’d give him another chance.

***

Friday night could not have come quickly enough for Holly. She and her new friends from the office, Amy and Lexi, had finally been able to find a night to all get together and go out. She was looking forward to a distraction from work, and Jack. Mostly Jack. She was irked that she allowed herself to get so crazy jealous just from seeing him with that other woman. Just because they had a pleasant time talking at the mailbox did not mean she staked some kind of claim over him. He was free to see whomever he pleased (no matter how skanky). A girl’s night out was just what Holly needed to clear this Jack-insanity out of her head.

As soon as they were able to leave the office, Holly and Amy went directly to Temple Bar. She would have liked to go home first to change into something more comfortable, but they were already running late.

“Mrs. Johnson is always such a pain in the ass,” Amy complained, as they were walking into her regular hangout. “I was hoping to get out on time for once, but nooo. She had to bitch about the invoice when she knows damn well that those charges are legit.”

Amy sat down at a table, and immediately ordered a whiskey sour while looking around for Lexi. Holly ordered a glass of white wine; she was not in the mood for anything heavier tonight. She knew that any hard liquor would probably intensify her unjustified jealous feelings. She wanted to forget him tonight, not think about him more.

“You’d think Lexi would have beaten us here, considering she only worked a half-day,” Amy said. She still seemed a bit irritated, although that was starting to lessen as a result of downing most of her drink in a few minutes. Amy was one of the sweetest people Holly ever met, not to mention super friendly, but she had a tendency to work herself into a frenzy over practically anything. Classic Type A personality.

“Isn’t that her over there?” Holly asked, pointing to a woman chatting up the bartender.

“Yep, that’s her.” Amy yelled and waved her over.

Lexi smiled when she noticed them at the table and quickly made her way over. “Hey, chicas!” She said, giving Amy and Holly a big hug.

Holly felt grateful to have some new friends to hang out with; it made her feel more at home in her unfamiliar city. She had done a few things with Amy outside of work, but this was the first time with Lexi. According to Amy, she and Lexi had been good friends forever, even though they were complete opposites.

Amy was driven and focused on career. She was currently working on getting her CPA license. She had a steady boyfriend, who she had planned to marry someday, and she appeared to have her entire life mapped out in front of her. Lexi, on the other hand, was a free spirit. She didn’t take anything too seriously and didn’t know, nor care, what the future had in store for her. She wanted to get the most fun out of each day, along with experiencing as many men as she could handle.

Nope, not too much in common,
thought Holly.
Besides both being drop-dead gorgeous.
Amy had the most stunning shade of curly red hair. Holly often wondered if she dyed it; she hoped so, because otherwise, it just wouldn’t seem fair for anyone to have that perfect shade naturally. Lexi was this raven-haired beauty with big dark eyes and plump lips that other women would pay a fortune for. Both had figures that would stop traffic.

It was hard for Holly to not feel just a little bit insecure around them. Even though she considered herself attractive, she felt like she was fading away sitting next to them because of her pale blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her ex-fiancé, Brian, had once told her that her hair was the color of buttered popcorn. Hopefully he meant the color of real butter and not that bizarre shade they sell at the movie theaters.

“Don’t let me walk out of here tonight without that bartender’s number,” Lexi said, snapping Holly out of her thoughts.

“I don’t know how you can possibly fit any more men into your schedule,” replied Amy.

“I’ll
always
be able to fit them in. The thicker the better,” Lexi said with a wink. A self-proclaimed nympho - and proud of it – Lexi enjoyed her fair share of men.