UnBurdened (6 page)

He shakes his head in disapproval, “I don’t want you to lie
to me anymore, not even a lie of omission. I understand you wanting to be a
normal person. I want to hide and be someone else sometimes too but I’ve been
open with you from the beginning and I expect the same. I don’t want to learn
things about you from Mandy or the media.”

“It won’t happen again I promise.” He nods his head wrapping
his arms around my waist. He leans back pulling me on top of him.

 I capture his mouth in a possessive kiss, clinging to
him with the fear of losing him still lingering. I suck on his lips as he
reaches between us to tear my shirt open and bare my breast.

I sit up and pull his boxer briefs down far enough to expose
his arousal. I hover over him slowly impaling myself with his thickness. His
hands tighten around my hip guiding me up and down his hard cock. I lean over
him increasing the pace and rocking my hip back and forth. My hair falls to
curtain his face and he releases my hips to caresses both my breast. “We forgot
protection,” he announces in a shaky voice.

“I’m on the pill,” I urge him on wanting nothing more than
to feel him exploding inside me.

“I’ve never been with anyone without protection,” he says in
a tightly reined voice. “Feels incredible.”

His head pushes back against the bed, neck straining from
the pleasure he’s receiving from my motions. He’s holding on trying not to
finish without me. He reaches between my legs and rolls my swollen clit between
his fingers. I try to hold back, prolong the tingles I feel at my core every
time he rubs against my g-spot but his deft fingers sliding against my slick
bud shatter me. My climax rockets through me, my body freezes up on top of him
and he rapidly pumps up into me a few more times before he joins me in ecstasy.
A warm gush of his liquid fills my core.

“So good, so good,” he pants into my ears. “You always feel
so good, better every time.”

 I nod my head in silent agreement. It’s always better
every time he enters me. As impossible as it seems now, I know the next time
we’re together it will be better still.

By mid-afternoon, depression sinks in. Brayden will be gone
in less than an hour and he’s packing his bags. I watch from the bed, despondent.
I lay my head on his pillow, taking in a deep breath of his scent. He sees me
sniffing his pillow and smirks at me.

“Maybe I should leave you a bottle of my cologne so you
won’t suffer from withdrawal when I leave,” he suggests.

“It won’t be the same. It has to be mixed with your aura,” I
pout. He sits on the edge of the bed and places a kiss on my forehead. “I’m
going to miss you too Kerrington.”

I place a kiss on his lips then get off the bed before I’m
tempted to keep him there. Butch calls moments later to let Brayden know he’s
downstairs. We clutch one another on the ride down the elevator. Our desperate
need to hold on to each other gets worst once we’re in front of Butch. I pull
Butch into a big bear hug and he smiles, “I think she’ll miss me more B.”
 He grabs Brayden’s bags then waits in the car to give us a moment alone.

“We’ll drop you off on the way to the airport.”

“No, if I don’t say goodbye now I won’t be able to. I’ll
take a cab.” I pull his lips down to mine, sucking frantically at them. “Don’t
forget me,” I whisper against his lips.

He grips my head between his hand, “wait for me,” he
demands. With one last kiss he turns and gets in the car. I watch the car until
it disappears around the corner, my heart aching. I walk a few blocks in trance,
lost in my memories of the last few days. In four short days I met and fell in
love with a rock star.

My mind is at war with whether he does this in every city or
if the connection between us is a once in the lifetime feeling. I know deep
down he let me in and he’s sincere about his feelings for me. I just can’t get
my overactive brain to shut up and enjoy this newfound happiness. My phone
buzzes in my pocket; I reach in and see I received a text from Brayden.

Miss u already

Below the text is a picture of he took of himself, his hair
windblown and a sexy smile playing on his lips. I smile back at the screen
deciding not to mope around any longer. I’ll take everything Brayden Quinn
offers me and appreciate it for what it is; my lottery ticket to happiness. I
hail a cab, put my headphone in my ears and reminisce about my time with
Brayden.

Back at my house I realize it’s time for life to return to
normal. My machine is full of messages from my mother demanding I make an
appearance at the Manor. Yes, my mother is so uppity she wouldn’t settle for a
simple mansion. Her home had to be the biggest Manor in Stony Point. The
following messages got progressively worst. She doesn’t understand why I must
embarrass her by slumming it with a filthy rock star and how I’m lowering
myself by fornicating in the middle of the city for all to see. It was just a
kiss but to my mother things like that were meant to be kept behind closed
doors.

The following messages are from Ally screaming that she can’t
believe she’s best friend with the woman on EMZ with the world’s most popular
rock star. I load up my laptop while Ally rattles on about calling her back.
EMZ has tons of pictures of me and Brayden on their site. They have us entering
the restaurant the first night we met and one of us eating once inside. From
the angle of the picture it must have been taken by the two women that noticed
us when we walked in.

The most recent picture they have is of us embracing less
than an hour ago in front of Waldorfs. The headline to that picture reads,
‘Socialite
Kerrington Mills breaks Rock-stars heart in crushing good-bye.’
Brayden is
gripping my face desperately and the angle of the camera shows the sadness in
his expression perfectly. I never understood why the press loved to paint me as
the evil one in all situations. When I caught Jeremy with that woman the press
had claimed, ‘
I chased him into the arms of another with my icy demeanor’
.

Coincidently, Jeremy voice booms through my machine, ‘
Kerri
what the fuck is going on? How can you do this to me? Everyone has seen these
pictures of you and that man. Is this about payback? This is very petty of you.

I hit delete on the machine before he can finish. Everything
in the world of Jeremy was always about him, I couldn’t possibly be happy with
someone else. To him this was about revenge. I no longer cared enough about
Jeremy to try to make him jealous. He’s way off my radar, overshadowed by the
bright beam of light that is Brayden Quinn.

After gushing to Ally about my amazing weekend with Brayden
I eat dinner alone, sulking on my couch wishing I could wrap my body around
Brayden’s while we watch another movie together. I drift into a restless sleep,
woken by my phone ringing an hour later. I quickly answer when I see his name
on the display.

“Did I wake you?” he asks in that unmistakable accent.

“Yes, but I’m happy you did. I needed to hear your voice.
How’s Philadelphia?”

“Lonely, I left the sexiest brunette I ever met in New
York.”

“I know the feeling I let the sexist Irishman I’ve ever met
slip through my fingers.”

“Trust me, you still have me firmly in your grasp.” I hear a
knock come through the phone. “I got to go love, Mandy’s at the door.”

“Wait,” I snap. “Are you dressed?”

“Would you like me to get undressed for you?” he chuckles
over the line.

“I’m serious Brayden. Yesterday you paraded your naked ass
and much more in front of that woman.”

He chuckles, “Kerri please, Mandy is like one of the guys.
She’s always bursting into our dressing rooms, it’s nothing. She’s seen us all
naked.”

It’s impossible to make him see how much she wants him; he’s
blinded by their long-time friendship so I have to play another hand. “Would
you like me walking around naked in front of my male friends? Maybe Angelo?” I
quip.

His sharp intake of breath confirming my point is made. “I
get it, I’ll cover it up around her if it makes you uncomfortable.” The
knocking at the door turns into banging. “I got to go before she breaks the
door down, call you tomorrow ok?”

“Ok,” I answer hearing the line go dead.

I drink a glass of wine and curl up under my cool sheets
alone.

An hour later my phone buzzes, I glance at the screen a
little surprised to see a text from Chase.

Hey Beautiful, was thinkin of you

Why would u b thinkin of me Chase

I don’t know but I can’t stop

Well stop!

I power my phone off wondering why Chase’s texts were
getting to me. He’s been sending me flirty text all week. What he’s trying to
do to Brayden is wrong and I just don’t understand why he would want to hurt
his friend. But even knowing how wrong it is a little part of me is thrilled
that Chase feels anything towards me.

I toss and turn for a while before falling asleep, dreaming
about my dark haired rock star and oddly, a certain blonde haired drummer.

******

I keep my head up as I walk into Mills Headquarters the next
morning. I used up a couple personal days in order to spend the last two days
with Brayden. The curious and resentful stares I receive as I stroll into the
elevator unnerve me. I hate that people judge me, thinking I got this job
because I’m daddy’s little girl. They couldn’t be further from the truth. I
spent all my college years interning here while maintaining a 3.8 GPA. My dad
loves me but doesn’t play favorites when it comes to his business.

I usually ignore the negative energy thrown my way but
today’s different; today their judging my relationship with Brayden, tainting
it with their false assumptions. When the news of what Jeremy did to me hit the
papers the looks of pity were mixed with satisfied smirks. If I couldn’t get
used to the attention that came with being a Mills I’d need a psych evaluation.
So I developed my icy demeanor. It’s a public façade, a mask to safeguard me
from people who fed on my emotional reactions.

I open my office door to find my father sitting behind my
desk. Great, the perfect start to an already fucked-up day. Don’t get me wrong
my Dad is great as a Dad but going by the look on his face, he isn’t here for
an 'I miss my little girl' visit. Today he’s my boss and he’s pissed.

“Sit,” he says. When Nicholas Mills commands, people drop
everything to accommodate him. I set my briefcase down and sit opposite of him.

“You’ve been busy this weekend,” he states. I nod my head,
averting his intimidating glare. “What’s the first lesson of business I taught
you?”

“Never let your personal life interfere with business,” I
mumble.

“You didn’t show up to work for two days, then pictures of
you carrying on around the city with that singer surfaces. How do you think
that makes you look as a top executive at this company?”

I don’t know what to say so opt to remain silent. In many
ways he’s right but he’ll never understand that I was capturing my one chance
at happiness. His relationship with my mom is more business-like than love
based. She attends functions and keeps his life well organized while he
provides her the status and lifestyle she craves.

“You’re an asset to this company but the next time you pull
a stunt like this you’re fired.” He walks to the door and pauses with his hand
on the doorknob, “and call your mother, she’s driving me crazy with her ranting
and raving.” He exits leaving the door open behind him.

Half way through the day the instant messenger pops up on my
screen. I’m not surprised to see a message from Chase. He’s been slowly worming
his way into my life with his texts and messages.

Instant message between Chase and Kerri:

Chase-me49:
How’s work?

KMills:
other than being scolded by my
father, it’s great

Chase-me49:
Why’d u get in trouble?

KMills:
Skipped work to b with Brayden

Chase-me49:
Yeah I haven’t seen him much,
he’s being distant

KMills:
Why?

Chase-me49:
He knows I want u

KMills:
U shouldn’t want your best friend’s
girl

Chase-me49:
U wouldn’t understand

KMills:
Understand what Chase?

Chase-me49:
That it shouldn’t b this way

KMills:
What do u mean!?

Chase-me49:
U with Bray and me on the side

KMills: How
should it b??

The screen remains blank for five minutes and I wish he
would just say something. Then he finally responds.

Chase-me49:
Forget it. I’ll leave u alone

My heart tightens at his message but I know it’s for the
best if we keep our distance. I don’t want to hurt Brayden. I throw myself into
my work leaving satisfied with my somewhat productive day. I text Brayden on
the taxi ride home from work.

Miss you. Call me after your concert. No matter the
time.

I meant that when I sent it. Unfortunately I fell asleep at
eleven-thirty missing his phone call. My phone reads two missed calls and one
text when I open the screen the next morning.

Sorry I missed ur text beautiful. Call me when u get
this. No matter the time…No really, no matter the time.

Of course he doesn’t forget to add a laughing emoji at the
end.

He answers on the second ring, his voice groggy from sleep,
“If it isn’t the beautiful lady Kerrington. I’ve been waiting all night to hear
your voice.”