Under His Skin (17 page)

Chapter 30

Stephen

She waited until she thought I was asleep to say it. She didn’t think I heard it, but I did.  I laid there holding her until I fell asleep.  I woke up the next morning with a stirring in my groin.  I gently ran my hand down her arm, she shifted lightly nudged herself closer to me, her ass brushing up against my swelling cock.  She purred.  Gently I rolled her from her side onto her stomach.  She sighed heavily.  I grabbed her hips, pulling them up slightly and entered her from behind.  I moaned at the sensation, the heat of her. The wetness, like she had been waiting for me. 

I watched her half sleeping, half aroused body reacts to mine.  She clawed at the sheets, as I continued to drive myself into her.  I took her hard and fast, slamming against her feeling my balls hit her thighs.  When I hit the point of climax, I pulled out and it landed on her back.  She dropped her hips back onto the bed.

“Well, good morning to you too,” she whispered sleepily.

“Good morning, baby.  Sorry I woke up with you next to me and your body was so warm and felt so good…”

“Sorry for what?  I enjoyed it just as much as you did,” she said as she turned to look at me over her shoulder.  “Can you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Towel, please.”

“Oh yeah, ha. Sorry!”

I walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to let water warm up while I grabbed a washcloth from the linen closet.  I ran the cloth under the warm water and squeezed it out before taking back into the room to wipe her off.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that,” she said as I climbed back into the bed next to her.

“Hey any excuse for getting a cheap feel on your ass.”  She laughed.  “Are you hungry?  I don’t have much, but I can find something.”

“How about you stay here and let me see what I can find?  The most important of which is coffee.”

“Oh, I have that.”

“Good!  I’ll be right back.”

She climbed out of the bed and walked out into the hallway. The sight of her naked feminine form made me hard again.

“Fuck,” I whispered.  I looked over to make sure she was down the hallway before I started to stroke myself to images of her.  I was lost in thought so I didn’t hear her come back into the room until she spoke.

“Would you like some help with that?” She said seductively.  Caught off guard I couldn’t answer before she was climbing up the bed between my legs.  She moved my hands out of her way and took me into her hot, wet mouth.  My cock twitched as she sucked.  The visual of her slender but curvaceous body between my legs with her head bobbing up and down took me over the top.  I completely lost it before I even had time to warn her.  She looked up at me and smiled, while continuing to suck and milk every drop of cum.  Then, like nothing happened, she hopped back off the bed.

“I came to ask which type of coffee you wanted.  You have a mini coffee shop in there.”  I chuckled and regained my composure.

“I’ll come with you.”

After coffee and scrounging around my kitchen and coming up empty,
I really need to go shopping, 
I thought,
 
we hopped in the truck and grabbed some fast food and took it back to the house.  She checked in on Chandi and knew she needed to be home around seven.  We lounged around most of the afternoon.   I tried to convince her to get back in the pool, but she was convinced that I had ulterior motives, which I did of course.  She left around six so that she could get home and get things ready for work tomorrow; we promised to get together Wednesday when Chandi was with her dad.

“Oh, before you go, next weekend is the Taste of Buffalo,” I said. “I would love to take you.”

“Would you believe that I have lived here my whole life and have only been twice?”

“Seriously?  Who lives here and doesn’t go?  Now you have to say “yes.”  You cannot be one of those people any longer,”

She chuckled.

“Ok Stephen, it’s a date but don’t use that as an excuse to get out of seeing me this week,” she teased.

“You couldn’t stop me if you tried.”

After walking her to the door and kissing her goodbye, I went and grabbed my phone to call my mom and check on her party.

“Good evening my baby,” she answered the phone.

“Hey Ma, how was your luncheon-brunch thing.”

“Oh, you know us old ladies, bragging on our kids, talking about the grandbabies we have or hope to have.  You know that kind of thing.”

“Sounds exhilarating, I’m sorry I missed it.”

“Oh, hush smart aleck.  I’m pretty sure you hand your hands full anyway,” she chuckled. 

“So how is Addie… (she paused)… son today?” she said catching me off guard.

“Uh, she’s ok.  She just left actually.”

“Is there something you want to tell me Nicky?”

“What do you mean?” I said nonchalantly.

“You and Addison.  I may be getting older Nicky but I know who that was.  Did you think I wouldn’t put the pieces together?”

“Ma, it’s not what you think.”

“Tell me what I think then since you know everything,” she was getting agitated.

“Look Mom, I ran into her again purely by coincidence.  She was looking for an investment and her company came across my desk during a P.A. meeting.  I had no idea it was her company, initially.  I will admit that when I realized it, my curiosity got the best of me and I went to her shop.  I don’t why, really.  I’m not sure of what I was expecting.  When I got there she didn’t even recognize me and… I don’t know.  I just went with it because it was her.”

“What about all those years ago?”

“It wasn’t her Ma, it wasn’t her fault.  It was her boyfriend at the time.”

“But Nicky, she didn’t stop it.  Look sweetie, she seems like a sweet young woman.  I liked her, but it took you a long time to get over her and that ordeal.  Can you do that again?”

“It’s nowhere near that serious, Ma.”

“First off I’m your mother and I know you better than anyone in the world.  Second, I saw how you looked at each other.  A mother knows these things.  Third, you need to be honest and tell her the truth Nicky. When are you going to tell her who you are?”

“It’s only been a few weeks, it’s nothing Ma and I’ll tell her after the investment meeting.”

“It’s not just a few weeks; it’s been over twenty years for you sweetie.  I think you need to tell her and soon or it could backfire for you.”

“Yeah, okay, thanks Ma.  I’m hungry, I gotta run.  I love you.”

“I love you too my sweet, stubborn boy.”

“I’ll check in with you later this week.  You know to call me if you need anything.”

“I know Nicky. I love you; don’t be mad at me for telling you what you already know.”

“I’m not mad, Ma, I’m hungry!”

“Okay, Good night Nicky!”

“Good night Ma, sweet dreams.”

Irritated from my phone call, I went into the kitchen and took stock of my pitiful food supply before grabbing a frozen dinner from the freezer.  I made a mental note to start a grocery list. 
I’ll have to ask Ma what stuff I should get,
I thought.  I walked back into the living room and plopped down on the couch, grabbed the remote and channel surfed while eating.  I found “The Hangover,” on one of the cable channels.  It still made me laugh every time I saw it.  I don’t know exactly when I dozed off, but I woke up in a cold sweat.  The dream was already fading from memory, but it left a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I got off the couch, took a quick shower and lay in bed watching TV until I fell asleep for the night.

I woke up the next morning to a text from Addison, wishing me a good morning.  I replied to telling her to have a great day and that I’d call her later.

Work was moving along smoothly, we were picking up new clients on a regular basis, which was good. It kept Pete busy and out of my office with all of his baby talk.  I actually found that it didn’t grate my nerves nearly as much as it had several weeks ago.  As he talked about Emily, I envied him for the first time ever.  He had everything that I was realizing I wanted.

Date night on Wednesday with Addison arrived.  I wanted to do something fun and different so we met up after work and went to “Shakespeare in Delaware Park,” they were performing “Romeo & Juliet.”  I packed a picnic basket with a bottle of wine, fruit and a selection of sandwiches; chicken salad, ham, turkey and pimento cheese.  I wanted to cover all the bases.  The performance was stellar. 

“Wanna come back to my place?” She asked.

“More than you know, but unfortunately I have to get up ungodly early.  I have to get to the office a couple hours early to prepare for a presentation, a new client that could bring in lots of revenue.  I just want to make sure everything is in order and I need my head in the game.  My head definitely will not be in the game if I go home with you.”  She pouted.

“I understand.  Are we still on for this weekend?”

“You better believe it. Oh, will Chandi be going with us this weekend?”

“No she’ll be with her dad and his girlfriend.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, hoping my disappointment didn’t show. 

“She’s been asking to see you again.  She had such a good time.”

“I did too.  Tell her she is welcome to swim anytime, as long as she brings her beautiful mother along.”  She blushed.

“Alright “Romeo” you better get going, it’s getting late.”

“Okay, baby, call me when you get home so I know you made it safely.”

“I don’t want to wake you.”

“It’s not like you are driving across the country, it’s across town.  And either way you wouldn’t ever disturb me.  At least text me, if you don’t want to call.”

“Yes, sir!” She saluted mocking me.

“Drive safe, smart ass.”

“I will.”

After I made sure she was safely inside her car and on her way, I jumped in my truck and the entire drive home I thought about how I was going to tell her.  I decided that I would tell her right after the Taste this weekend.  Hopefully all the food and alcohol from the festival would soften her up.

Chapter 31

July 11, 2015

Stephen

I loved the Taste of Buffalo.  I went every year, a tradition started by my parents’ years earlier.  We always went together as a family on Sunday and mom and I continued that tradition to this day.  This year I would go both days, Saturday and Sunday, so that I could go with both Addison and mom.

Addison was in awe at how large the festival was. 

“It’s the largest two day food festival in the country. It's right behind the Taste of Chicago and if it was three days like Chicago’s it might beat it,” I explained to her.

“Impressive.”

We were walking around enjoying the afternoon at the Taste when we heard someone yelling.

“Addie!! Addie McDaniels is that you?”

We turned and saw Pete and his wife Emily.  Pete and I gave each other an “oh shit” look.

“Addie?  Omg you look amazing.”

“Emily? Emily Parks?  Wow, you look adorable,” she said, admiring Emily’s pregnant belly.  They share a hug.

“Actually, its Danforth now and wow Addie, it’s been forever.  How are you?” 

“I’m great,” she looked up at me.  “Really great!  I’ve got a little one, Chandi she’s 6.  She’s with her dad today.  I’ve got a small shop downtown.  Just trying to keep busy.  What about you, it looks like you’re doing really well.”

“Yes, Pete and I are so excited.  Wait, you remember Pete from high school.”  Pete and I look at each other and just shake our heads.  It was about to get bad and fast.

“Pete,” she thought for a moment. “Oh yeah, Pete, hey Pete!” She said excitedly.

“Yeah, he and Stephen have been best friends since way before high school,” she said pointing in my direction.

“Wait, no.  Pete was friends with Nicky.  Nicky the nerd, remember?”

“Yes, that’s what Stephen used to go by, remember?”

“And it was just Nicky,” I chimed in.

“Um… Em, sweetie, didn’t you say you wanted a loganberry ice from the Anderson’s tent?”  Pete interrupted.  “Let’s go before they are all gone.  Stephen I’ll see you at work on Monday.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been dying for one of those,” Emily said not grasping what was happening.  “Addie, let’s catch up, it’s been way too long.  I’ll look you up on Facebook.  Bye Stephen,” she said and leaned in for a hug from both of us.

“Stephen, what’s going on?” She asked.  I took a deep breath.

“My full name is Stephen Nicholas Pascarelli.  Formerly known as ‘Nicky the Nerd’.”

“Oh My god, you mean you’ve known who I was all along?”

“Yes, but Addie I can explain.”

“It’s Addison and no need to explain, can you just take me home.”  She walked off toward my car.

“Addison, wait!” I yelled.  She just kept walking, more like jogging, toward my car.  I reached her just as she reached the passenger door.  “Addison listen, please.”

“Can you please unlock the door Stephen?” 

I hit the button on the remote and opened the door for her.  She got in without even glancing up in my direction.  I closed the door and walked over to the driver’s side and got in and started the car.

“Addison, I’m sorry.”  Putting the car in drive and heading toward Addison’s house.

“Why Stephen?  Why did you lie to me?  Why did you pretend to be someone else?”

“I didn’t pretend to be anyone.  This is me, I just failed to mention that you knew me before.”

“Can we drop the technicalities, you lied.  Why?”  I dropped my head.

“I own SNP Software.” She gasped as the pieces were falling into place.  “You applied to our…”

“Progetto Aiuto fund,” she interrupted.

“Yes and when I heard your name, I don’t know, it sparked something in me.  A curiosity I guess.  I had to see if you were still the same person that broke me so many years ago.  I had to see if I would be investing in that same person.”

“This was all about an investment to you.”

“Addison, I’m sorry, but you destroyed me in high school.  I couldn’t imagine giving my hard earned money to that same person.  I had to see for myself.”

“Nicky… ugh… Stephen.  I’m so sorry for that.  You know that.  You’ve had plenty of time to tell me who you really were but you didn’t.  Was this just some form of sick revenge?”

“No Addison, it’s not like that.  I admit at first I thought about it, but after we went out the first time it wasn’t about that anymore.  I liked who you were, and I wanted to spend time with you. It got out of hand and I’m sorry,” I said as I pulled into her driveway.

“Save it Stephen. I get it.  Was I worth it Stephen, was I worth the investment?  Do you enjoy paying for it?  Thanks for making me feel like a whore,” she said as she opened the car door.

“Addison please… It’s not like that!  I’m sorry!” 

“Whatever.  I was a dumb teenager when I made my mistake and I have regretted it ever since. You on the other hand Stephen are a grown man and know exactly what you were doing.  You and your weak ass community outreach can keep your fucking money.  I don’t want it and I don’t want you.  Please don’t ever contact me again.”

“Addison, Please.”

“Goodbye Nicky!” She said and slammed the door shut.  I jumped out after her.  Just then Chad’s blue BMW pulled into the driveway.  He got out of the car and followed us to the front door.

“Chad what do you want?” She huffed.

“Chandi left her swimsuit, and she said something about her new Doc Stuffy doll.”

“Where is Chandi?”

“The girls are with my mom.  Can you get the stuff?”

“Fine and its Doc McStuffins!  Wait right here, I’ll be right back with her stuff,” she said to Chad as she unlocked the door.  “I don’t have anything else to say to you Stephen,” she said and walked in.

Chad and I sized each other up when a car door behind us opened and a female voice broke the tension between Chad and I.

“Nicky?  Nicky Pascarelli is that you?”  I turned to see who was calling me by a name that only mother used for the last twenty years.  “Nicky!!” She squealed. “OMG.  How are you?  It’s so good to… oh wait… I meant Stephen sorry.  Anyway, Stephen it’s so good to see you.  What have you been up to?”

Standing in front of me was a petite red head that I hadn’t seen in years.

“Danni?  Danni Walters?” I said in complete shock. 

“It is you!” She hugged me. “It’s been forever, oh and I go by Hadlee now.”

“Hadlee,” I said, confused.

“Yeah, Danielle’s my middle name.  So how are you?”

“Great and…”

“What the fuck is going on here?” Chad interrupted.  “How do you know each other and who the hell is Nicky?”

“He’s Nicky,” she pointed at me and shook her head.  “Well, he was Nicky. I mean he still is but his first name is Stephen.”  Chad still looked lost,
I’m not surprised your dumbass hasn’t caught on yet,
I thought. 

“Chad, Stephen went to high school with us.  You guys were in the same year.  Nick… uh… Stephen, sorry I was always bad about that, anyway, Stephen used to tutor me in math.  We bumped into each other a few years after I graduated and he had recently started up his own software company.  I was looking for a summer job and he told me to come in and talk to him because his business was picking up and he needed a receptionist. By the way, I see that small company has come a long way.  Congrats.”

“Thanks Danni… uh… Hadlee.”

“Wait, wait Nicky? Oh shit you mean Nicky the nerd, or should I say Nicky the Perv!”  I instantly tensed up at the nickname that became the bane of existence the last few weeks of high school and even the first few months of college.  I name I hadn’t heard in twenty years.

“What the fuck did you just call me?” He laughed in my face. 

“You heard me, Nicky the Perv!”  Before I could even process what was happening, I was on him.  It was like I had tunnel vision and was watching a movie. There was no sound only the sight of him being pummeled, a fist connected with his jaw, another with his eye.  I heard a crack and saw blood pouring from his nose.  When I came back to my senses I heard Danni screaming.  I had him pinned on the ground.  Twenty years of frustration came pouring out of me and I couldn’t stop.

“Oh my god Stephen please stop.  You’re going to kill him.  Please get off.”

I heard Danni yell.  I stopped my assault on Chad and rolled over into the grass.  Chad slowly sat up and hocked a bloody loogie off to the side.  He licked the side of his mouth and he must have tasted the blood because he used his hand to wipe the same spot.  Then that bastard had the audacity to start laughing.  The sound of his voice made me want to beat his ass again.

“So is screwing Addie your delayed revenge for what she did to you all of those years ago?  Pretty genius if you ask me.  She screwed you so now you screw her.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, you lying bastard?” I went to lunge for him again, but Hadlee had come to his side with tissues and was attempting to clean him up.  “My last few weeks of high school were a living hell because of you.  I was tormented and tortured and beat up every single day by your hockey buddies and even some of the football team.  You did that all because you were pissed off that the nerd scored with your girl.”  He laughed again. 
The fucking nerve of this guy
, I thought.

“You might wanna check your girl on that bro, the nickname came from her.” He laughed even harder at my confusion.

“What the hell are you saying?”

“I’m saying your sweet Addie that you’ve loved for so long, threw you under the fucking bus.  She lied on you dude, laughed at you behind your back and gave you the nickname.”

“Nah, fuck you.  I should beat your ass again.  You’re a liar, always have been,” I said, getting to my feet.

“Kicking my ass won’t change the facts.  I didn’t care enough about you than to lie and I still don’t.  I could have just kicked your ass and been done with it. It was all Addie’s idea.  Your sweet little Addie was your downfall.  After I confronted Travis about trying to sabotage us, he told me what he saw that night.  He saw you walking into the room and her closing the door.  Then thirty to forty-five minutes later she came out looking disheveled.  When I confronted her about it, she said that she drank too much, kissed you, got sick and passed out.  She said when she woke up you were staring at her like a creep with your pants around your ankles and your dick in your hand.  She called you a pervert.  ‘Nicky the nerd’ it should be more like ‘Nicky the Perv’ were her exact words.”

“That’s bullshit! She seduced me!” I felt my whole world crumbling in on itself again.  Once again, I was that broken eighteen year old.

“I know, I figured it out pretty quickly.  Trish later told me that she went to her crying about how she knew if I found out I would dump her ass and she’d be the laughingstock of the school for sleeping with the nerd boy.  I really didn’t give a shit and a half about you and I couldn’t prove it so I figured better your rep than mine.  Plus I didn’t need the whole world knowing my girl screwed the school nerd.  You were like a lost little puppy dog every time she came around, she knew you would go along with whatever she said.  So when I confronted you in that hallway, she knew all she had to do was bat her long fucking eyelashes at you and you’d be done.  She was right.  She played you like a fucking fiddle.  It pissed me off that you slept with her so I helped her spread the rumor and made sure you got your ass kicked every single day.” 

I was in utter disbelief.

“Fuck you!” Were the only words I could find.