Page 26 of Reckless

“Seven is great.”

He kissed me again, and then peeled himself away, shoving his feet into his shoes and leaving me to sit with my giddy feelings. Once he was gone though, the reality of my life came rushing back. Shit. The nightstand.

I ran over to it, checking the drawer to make sure the flash drive was still there. I’d completely forgotten about it until I saw him digging around in there for the condom. Such a dumb move. My libido had taken over my body again, making me far too focused on the handsome muscled man that was rock hard and ready to fuck me. Thankfully, my fingers brushed against the slim device and I sighed in relief. Fuck. That would have been so fucking bad.

My phone buzzed on top of my nightstand.

“Miss you already.” Callahan wrote.

My stomach flipped. Fuck, I really liked this guy. “Can’t wait for tonight,” I wrote back with a goofy ass grin plastered to my face.

A knock came from my front door and then I heard the key slide into the lock. That could be only one person— Helena.

“Hello? Knock, knock. Oh my God. Why does it smell like sex in here?”

“Maybe because I had sex last night?”

“Ah! You dirty little slut! Tell me everything.” She ran over and sat on my gray couch, folding her long legs beneath her. I came over and sat next to her, crisscross applesauce style. I tracked her face, trying to assess if she was okay.

“First, you tell me about Killian. Were you able to stay with your mom? The offer to stay here with me still stands.”

“On your freshly sexed sheets? Ew. No. My mom’s will have to do for now. I left when he was sleeping and already informed Burt that if he shows up at the club, to kick him out immediately.”

“Good.”

“Okay, I told you mine, so spill. How was it?”

I groaned. “You told me hardly anything. Seriously, are you okay?”

“No. Not really. But I’m taking the steps to become better. Besides, now I have these awesome new muscles from Jules.” She flexed her biceps and I laughed. “Thank you for that, by the way. They’ve been enlightening. I didn’t know there were so many ways you could kill a man.”

“Yeah, the human body is surprisingly vulnerable on even the most muscular of men.”

“You say that like you’ve had to implement it.”

“I plead the fifth.” I put up my hands in surrender. If only she knew how accurate that statement actually was.

“Fine but at least tell me about the guy. Give me something juicy to cling to while I wallow in my break-up.”

“Using your pain to get info out of me is a cheap shot, Hel. But I guess I could tell you that I am definitely sore from being folded like a pretzel.”

She squealed.

“He took me to Artemis, which by the way, the girls at the club were right. You’d love it. And then, things got heated. I couldn’t stop myself from wanting him.”

“Aw, honey. You shouldn’t be stopping yourself from the things you want.”

“I know that. But it’s hard. I don’t know how to stop feeling so guilty about any ounce of enjoyment I have when I don’t even know how Andi is. Or where she is. Or if she’s okay. It feels wrong.”

“It’s not though. You know that, but your feelings are valid. I can’t tell you how to feel, but I can tell you as your friend, it’s nice seeing you smile again. A real smile not the fake ones you were putting on for me and Sal.”

She had a point.

“It’s the weirdest thing. I do feel happy. And when he had to leave this morning, I didn’t want him to go.”

Helena placed her chin in the palm of her hand, her jet-black bob swinging as she moved. “That’s adorable.”

“Shut up,” I said, covering my face in my hands.