Each day that went by made me grow angrier and angrier, but there was another side too. One that got to see Damen’s muscular chest on a regular basis. One that had coffee made for her in the morning before he set off for work. And one where I was asked how my day was. As the days wore on, it was becoming more and more apparent that Damen actually liked me and not Louise. He clearly just didn’t know how to tell her.
I strolled into the kitchen after another night of hardly any sleep thanks to their nightly sex games, and I picked up my coffee that Damen had already filled. We passed each other, and I smiled and said thank you and he smiled back and said I was welcome. I reached into the fridge for more milk but found it wasn’t there and I was about to lose my temper because clearly one of them had used the last of it and not replaced it, but when I turned around there he was. Perfect Damen holding out the bottle of milk. He smiled again, tipping some of it into my mug and then placing it on the counter before walking away.
I smiled at his retreating back, thinking how perfect we were for each other. It was like a cheesy old black and white movie where the couple finish each other’s sentences, or shimmy around the kitchen cooking together, their bodies working in perfect sync. It was magic and the sort of love that I wanted, and now here it was. There he was.
Louise walked back through, and I caught her grimacing at my happy expression.
“You’re looking happy with yourself,” she bit out tartly, and I nodded in agreement. “You found yourself a boyfriend?” she giggled and where the laugh used to be endearing, now it was annoying. Like nails down a blackboard or scraping your knuckles down a cheese grater. It set my teeth on edge.
“Sort of,” I replied.
Her eyes widened and she leaned back against the counter. “Ooh, spill!”
I shook my head no and sipped my coffee. She’d find out soon enough who my boyfriend was.
“Fine,” she pouted. “I’m staying at Damen’s tonight. He has work early in the morning and his apartment is so close to his office it makes sense.” She shrugged like it didn’t matter, but I knew it did to her. Louise had a rule of her own, and it was that she didn’t like to stay at her boyfriend’s places. She said it was like walking into unknown territory. You never knew what you were going to find. Old girlfriends’ numbers, underwear, photos. It was just better to keep those two things separate. Girls were better and more considerate at hiding that sort of thing compared to men, and I couldn’t agree more. As much as I liked having Damen here, the extra mess he created was annoying as hell. Still, I’d be able to train him up. I mean, I’d have to if we were going to make things work between us, because I hated mess.
“Earth to Anna, where’d you go?” she whisper-shouted.
“Sorry, just thinking.”
“Did you hear what I just said? I’m going to be staying at his place tonight.”
“I heard you.” I wasn’t sure if she was trying to bait me, but I wasn’t rising to it. She knew how much this whole thing was hurting me and here she was emphasizing how she was going to be in his home, in his bed, probably in his fucking shower. My hate for her grew a little bit more in that moment.
“I just wanted you to know, I really like him.”
It took all my energy not to throw my scolding hot coffee in her face, and perhaps I would have if Damen hadn’t walked around the corner at that exact moment. His hair perfectly sleeked back and his smile perfectly in place. He was perfect in every way.
Perfect, perfect, perfect!
“You got your stuff together?” he asked.
Louise nodded, leaning into him as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. I put my coffee mug down, scared I might smash it into a thousand pieces if I didn’t.
Damen was watching me over the top of Louise’s head. She was talking but Lord knew what about because I had completely drowned her out and was instead focusing on the look of desire that was currently on Damen’s face. His eyes smouldered as he looked at me, burning deep into mine and I squeezed my thighs together, desperate to make the throbbing between my legs stop.
“Did you hear me, Anna?” Louise snapped and I tore my gaze away from Damen.
“No,” I mumbled, my voice barely audible over the rampant beating of my heart.
She scowled and shrugged out of Damen’s grip before leaving the kitchen.
Damen and I were alone again, and I knew I only had moments to ask him what I needed to before she came back.
“So, she’s staying at yours tonight.” It wasn’t a question, but a fact and I pursed my lips in sympathy and he chuckled.
“Yeah, she thought it was about time that we spent some time by ourselves.” His voice was rich and deep, filled with gravel and base, like a man who smoked 60 cigarettes a day and had done so for forty years. But he didn’t smoke, and he was barely 30. It was a delicious sound that rumbled through my body.
“Listen,” he said, coming closer. He took a quick look behind him to make sure that we were alone, and Louise hadn’t sneaked up on us. Satisfied that we were, he looked back, coming closer still, until we were toe to toe.
“I’m listening,” I replied, my chest heaving as I tried to catch
