Picking Up the Pieces (14 page)

             
“Sorry to interrupt.”

             
Fucking Frank.

             
“Adam? Most of us are heading out. You staying or going?”

             
The old Adam probably would have left, uncomfortable with having a meaningless fling with a woman I hardly knew, especially when I
did
want my relationship with Lily to progress. But as of that moment, we hadn't put a title on what we even
were
. Though we both felt something for each other, that
something
had yet to be defined.

Besides,
I wanted this. And as I looked over at Carly, who merely raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her drink, I realized that she wanted this too. It seemed ironic that I had just been thinking in the car on my way there how I didn't want to be that guy to Lily. The guy who had sex with her only for the relationship to go nowhere. But the way Carly was looking at me made it seem like she wanted me to be the type of guy who did exactly that. And it was sexy as hell.
I can do this. Tonight's the night to take charge—see how the other half lives.
Evidently there's something inherently attractive about assholes. Lily thought so. If I had been one then, maybe I wouldn't have taken the breakup so hard. I turned back to Frank. “I think I’m going to stay for a bit longer.”

             
“Okay. I’m going to grab
a cab back to my car. I’ll catch up with ya later.” Frank was clearly trying to refrain from applauding me openly in front of Carly. He clasped his hand on my shoulder before he headed toward the exit and disappeared out the door.

             
Carly and I sat quietly for a few minutes, sipping our drinks and trying to figure out how to get back to the easy conversation we’d been having before Frank interrupted our flow. Finally, Carly brought her attention back to me. “You wanna get out of here?”

             
It took me a minute to register what she had said, but when it finally sunk in, I slammed my drink down on the bar and stood up. “Absolutely.”

             
I led her to the coat check, helped her put her jacket
on, and followed her outside into the freezing night.

             
“My apartment building has a garage beneath it, and since I don't need a car in the city, my spot is open. It’ll probably be easier for you to drive there than have to worry about getting a cab back here later.”

             
“Sounds like a plan,” I said as I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the parking garage.

***

We were quiet for most of the ten minute drive to Carly’s apartment. Other than to give me directions, she was silent, which unfortunately gave me time to think about what I was doing. As I pulled into the parking lot Carly directed me to, I had reached a conclusion: I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Lily and I had made it clear that we were just friends. Maybe we would take it beyond that, maybe we wouldn’t. And even though we had done a lot of flirting and even some kissing, that didn’t mean that we weren’t able to see other people. We’d had no such conversation and for all I knew, she was out with some other guy right now. And even though this thought made me want to put my fist through a wall, I had nothing to feel guilty about.

             
Except, as I followed Carly up to her apartment, I did feel a little guilty. But as she opened the door and we walked into her apartment shrouded in darkness, my guilt ebbed. And as she pushed me back against the door, roughly bringing her lips to mine and applying the perfect amount of pressure to my hardened cock, any guilt that remained disappeared altogether.

             
We were frantic. All hands and mouths as we tore clothes from one another’s body while breaking our kiss only when absolutely necessary. I quickly pulled the zipper down the back of her tight, green dress and let it drop to her feet. My breath caught as I took in how gorgeous she was, especially wearing nothing but underwear and heels. Withdrawing slightly, I ripped my polo shirt over my head as her hands fumbled with my belt. I kicked off my shoes and worked my socks off with my feet as she pushed my pants down my legs so I could step out of them.

             
I dipped my head to kiss down her neck and work my hands down to her ass. Then I gripped her ass tightly, lifting her off the ground so that she would wrap her legs around my waist.

             
Her hands tangled in my hair as I gruffly uttered, “Bedroom?”

             
“Straight back,” she replied breathily.

             
My mouth reclaimed hers as I started walking us down the hall. She pointed toward the door that led to her bedroom and I nudged it open with her body. She moaned as I nipped and sucked along her jaw. She gyrated against my cock and I could feel how wet she was even through the fabric. I lowered her onto the bed and pulled her bra straps down her arms, yanking the black lace down to expose her perfectly round
tits. Pulling her nipple into my mouth and stroking it with my teeth, I massaged her other breast with my hand, rubbing my thumb over the sensitive flesh.

             
Carly arched her back off the bed, causing her to rub deliciously against me. I was suddenly extremely thankful I was going to get more than seven minutes with her this time. I pulled her matching lace thong down her legs as she unclasped her bra and threw it to the ground beside the bed.              

             
“Beautiful,” I whispered as I slid a finger inside of her, feeling her juices coat my hand, making me even harder than I already was. I lowered my head to kiss along her taut stomach as I pushed a second finger inside of her and began circling her clit with my thumb. She nearly bucked off the bed at the stimulation, and I knew I was going to take her hard once I was inside of her. There was no way I’d be able to control myself and take it slow. She was too responsive, too vocal, and too fucking sexy to hold back.

             
She slid her heels up my thighs and hooked them onto the waistband of my boxers to push them down. It was so erotic, I probably could've come from the thought alone. I leaned back on my knees and took my cock in my free hand, stroking it with one hand as I worked her with the other. Then, I remembered that my pants were in the hallway.

“Shit, I’ll be right back.
I have to go get a condom out of my wallet.”

“No, wait, here.”
She reached up and opened a drawer in her bedside table. Withdrawing a condom, she tore it open with her mouth and pushed up on her elbows to slide it over my length.

As odd as it may seem, I was calmed by the fact that she had condoms readily available.
Clearly, she wasn’t new to this kind of encounter, so I didn’t have to worry about her wanting to make more out of it than it was. Not to mention the fact that just feeling her roll the condom over my shaft was euphoric. This woman
clearly knew how to fuck.

I positioned myself at her entrance and raised my eyes to her face briefly before pushing into her, hard and deep.
It had been a while since I’d felt the warm, soft feeling that only a woman’s pussy could provide. And I briefly wondered if I’d overestimated my original prediction of lasting longer than seven minutes. Her eyes fluttered closed as she groaned in pleasure. I intertwined her fingers with mine and held them above her head as I began to pound into her. Her slickness allowed me to slide in and out of her with ease, but she was tight enough to give my dick the pressure it needed.

“You like that?
You like the way my cock feels inside you?” I couldn't believe those words had just left my mouth, but it was too late now. Knowing that this would most likely be the only time I would have with Carly, I didn’t intend to hold back. I would say and do whatever came to mind, and from the whimpers leaving her mouth, she wasn’t complaining.

“Harder, Adam.
Please. I need it harder.”

I complied, thrusting into her with such force, my balls slapped against her ass and the bed began to sway with our movement. “Feels so good,” I groaned.
As I rocked into her over and over, I felt her tighten around me, her body preparing for an imminent climax.
It should be fucking illegal for anything to feel this good.

“I’m so close.
Oh, please.”

I released her hands so that I could reach between us and stroke her clit as I continued to pump into her.
“Play with your tits for me." She immediately complied, rolling her nipples between her thumbs and index fingers.

I gazed at her ministrations of her hands against her hardened nipples.
The sight had by balls drawing up, a tingling starting at the base of my spine. My thumb continued to brush over her clit, my shaft pumping wildly in and out of her. Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to hold out any longer, I felt her body tense and then shake. She screamed my name as her pussy pulsated around me. I released her clit as I thrust into her three more times, enjoying the steadily increasing sensation before my own orgasm shuddered through my body jetting cum
into the condom. I continued to slowly pump into her, bringing us down softly from our climaxes. Lowering my head to her chest, I pressed a gentle kiss between her breasts before lifting off and pulling out of her. I shivered at the loss of her warmth from around my cock.

I ran my hand down her thigh
before getting up to dispose of the condom. When I returned to the bedroom, Carly had already dressed in a tank top and sweat pants. She stood beside the bed as I pulled on my boxers and then turned to collect the rest of my scattered clothing.

She followed me toward the door as I put my clothes back on as I found them.
We didn’t speak, but it wasn’t awkward. We both knew what this was, and we’d both enjoyed it immensely.

Once I was dressed, I turned around t
o face her, gently grabbing the front of her tank top and pulling her to me. Her hands instinctively went to my chest and then slid up around my neck as I covered her mouth with mine. When we broke apart, we looked at each other for a moment smiling.

“Your
ex is a fucking idiot,” I said huskily.

             
She laughed softly as I pulled away, opened the door, and left her apartment.

***

My drive home was quiet and smooth. A smile played on my lips as I thought about the night. I was surprised by how uncomplicated it had all been. Just two people who were attracted to each other and wanted to get off. Nothing more.

But as I thought about how easy it had been to walk away from Carly afterward, I finally understood why my relationship with Lily would always be more complicated.
Lily wasn’t someone you walked away from.

Chapter 16: Lily

“It’s about time all of us finally got together. I feel like we’ve been saying we were gonna have a night out forever.” Tina poured herself some more white wine and grabbed a marker from the counter.

             
“So what exactly do we
do
at one of these parties?” Trish asked. “I can't believe I let you talk me into hosting this.”

             
“Well for starters, you have to come up with a sexy name for yourself. And it has to be alliterative. Mine’s gonna be Lickable Lily,” I said as I stuck my name tag to my chest.

             
Trish’s expression looked to be stuck somewhere between completely horrified and utterly impressed. “Lickable. Lily?” Trish said, drawing out each syllable.
“
You’re serious?”

“Yeah, she’s serious,” Amanda replied.
“It’s a sex toy party. What the hell did you think we were gonna do? Drink tea and talk about classic novels? Besides,” Amanda said, “that’s a fucking awesome name! I’m not sure mine has the same ring to it.”

“Aroused Amanda,” I laughed, gesturing to her name tag.
“I love it. It’s definitely . . . you.”

“Damn right it is. And I have Shane to thank for that.
He does the hottest shit sometimes, I swear to God. The other day he started jerking off while he was fingering me. So fucking hot. Not kidding.” We both glanced over at Trish, knowing her reaction would be priceless. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought she might pass out. “Anyway,” Amanda continued, “I told him to stop and fuck me, but he just said no. You believe that shit?”

“God, I’m so jealous.
Dan would never do that,” Steph said. “He barely makes any sound at all when we have sex. Sometimes I don’t even know if he’s alive. When we first got together, I had to ask if it was even good.”

“Ask if it was
good
?” Amanda furrowed her brows incredulously. “Even
bad
is good to guys.”

For once, I kept my comments to myself. Though I'd hung out with them a
few times before, I wasn’t that close to Amanda’s co-workers, and I didn't want Steph to think I was passing judgment on her or Dan.

Trish had finally decided
on the name Trashy Trish and she stuck the nametag to her shirt. I watched her eyes widen at the possible consequence of attaching such a name to herself. “So what happened next, Amanda? Are you gonna finish your story?”

Maybe the name was actually starting to loosen Trish up a little.

“Hell yeah, I’m gonna finish my story,” Amanda said enthusiastically. “He climbed on top of me and kept one of his hands between my legs and the other around his dick. He got me off and then came all over my stomach.”

Trish had taken a seat on her couch to steady herself. “He did what?”
On second thought,
maybe the name hadn’t
loosened her up after all.
“Why would he do that?”

Lately, I had resorted to living vicariously through Amanda and Shane’s sexcapades, and this one
was exceptionally great. “What do you mean, why? ‘Cause it’s totally hot, that’s why,” I answered for her.

“I’m just . . . I don’t know.
I don’t usually talk about this stuff. I think I need a drink.” Trish ran an anxious hand through her dark hair and headed for the kitchen.

“You’re probably gonna need more than one,” Amanda yelled behind her.

Once everyone had their drinks and snacks and was settled into their seats in the living room, the
“sexpert”
began her introduction. “I want to thank everyone for coming. I’m Deviant Dana,” she said, pointing to her name tag, “and you’re in for some fun tonight.”

“Hell yeah we are,” Amanda yelled as Steph and Danielle cheered like drunk fans at a football game.
They were all so crazy. It baffled me that they all worked for an accounting firm. Who knew number nerds could be so rowdy?

Deviant Dana continued her speech, pointing out all of the benefits Trish would get for hosting, including a percentage of all sales to put toward her own purchases, as well as special clit cream, which was only available for the host
—making it that much more intriguing to the rest of us. Dana passed around a few innocuous items: some lotions, massage oils, and shaving cream. We smelled, rubbed, and even tasted.

“Okay, Dana,” I said.
“These are okay, but we didn’t come here for this. Where’s the good stuff? I want that,” I said, pointing to a vibrator with moving metal balls inside it.

“We’ll get to that,” Dana said.
“I promise. First, I’ll give you a chance to try out the clit cream I was talking about earlier, and you can all look through the catalogue while we take a break.” She pulled out a tiny bottle that had what looked like an eye dropper inside it and explained how to use it in a sanitary way so that we could all try it if we wanted to. “Only use one drop, though, no more. It’s really strong,” she warned us. “Now, who’s up first?”

Danielle’s hand shot up as she rose and snatched the bottle from Dana’s hand, heading upstairs enthusiastically.

The rest of us took some time to peruse the toys in the catalogue and make a wish list.
“I definitely need a vibrator. That’s for sure,” I said.

“I told you that last year,” Tina
pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I certainly didn’t need one
last
year,” I countered.

“Why? What happened last year?” Trish asked.

How do I explain this without sounding like a complete slut?

“She banged two guys at once,” Amanda blurted out.

Nope. Definitely not the way
I
would have explained it.
“Well, not at
once
,” I clarified. “I mean, not at the same time . . . together. I was kind of dating both of them. Well, maybe not
dating
both of them. Dating one, and just having sex with the other.”
Shit, Lily, just stop talking.

Trish’s eyes had grown wider as I spoke.
Clearly
my
explanation was no better than Amanda’s. “
Two
guys?” Trish asked incredulously.

Had she known me last year, she wouldn’t have been so shocked. “Well, yeah, but it’s not as bad as it seems.” I thought for a mom
ent about what I’d just said. “Actually . . . maybe it is. But I learned my lesson, trust me.”

“What happened?” she asked, concern in her voice.

“I screwed up,” I said simply. “ I hurt them both. And hurt myself." I could feel the sadness moving through me. "That’s why I’m here. I’ve been in one hell of a dry spell and I could use a little relief,” I added in an effort to lighten the mood as I flipped through the pages quickly. “What are you guys getting?” I glanced over at Amanda’s list, which already had about fifteen items on it.

“What am I
not
getting?” she replied. “Shane’s gonna fucking love
this
,” she said as she snapped a picture of a vibrating cock ring with some sort of contraption that went around his balls. “I’m gonna text it to him. You should get one too, Lil.”

“Me? What the hell am
I
gonna do with that?
”

“Well, you started seeing Adam again, right?” she shrugged.
“Spice things up a little.”

“Adam was one of the guys from last year. We just started seeing each other again,” I explained to Trish before turning back to Amanda. “You know we’re taking things slowly.
I can’t just show up with a bunch of sex toys like some kinky nympho. We haven’t even slept together yet. Well, since last year. You know what I mean. Besides,” I added, “I don’t think Adam’s really into that sort of thing.” As hard as I tried—and believe me, I tried damn hard—I just couldn’t picture Adam sliding that cock ring onto himself before we made love. But I had to admit, the image was definitely a turn-on. “Looks like it’s my turn for the clit cream,” I said as Steph pranced down the stairs. “Be right back.”

I entered the bathroom and studied the bottle closely after washing my hands.
Only one drop,
Dana had said, and the directions on the bottle confirmed that. But with the sexual frustration I’d been feeling lately, I figured one more drop couldn’t hurt. Especially since I planned to bring home a new toy to try out. I put two drops on my finger and rubbed them on my clit slowly. At first, I didn’t feel much of anything, but by the time I’d washed and dried my hands, closed up the bottle, and descended the stairs, I began to feel a distinct warm, tingly sensation.

“You’re up,” I said to Amanda as I settled back into the couch.
Within a minute, Amanda bounded back down the stairs.

“I didn’t feel anything after the first drop, so I put on two more,” she said excitedly.
“How many did you put on, Lil?”

“Two.
And that’s enough, believe me,” I said, shifting on the couch to find a position that didn’t turn me on more than I already was.
God, I have to get off tonight.

A few minutes later, Trish
had seated herself back on the couch and Dana was ready to continue. “Now you’ll get a look at what you’ve really come here to see,” she said. “But first, I have to go over the rules. Well, there’s actually only one rule: don’t judge. People are going to ask about things that you might think are weird. Don’t judge them. If you do, you get hit with this,” she said, holding up a leather paddle. “Who’s gonna be tonight’s Christian Grey?”

“Right here,” Tina yelled, and
Dana gave her the paddle. “I’ll keep these bitches in line.”

She gave us each a few practice swats, and when Trish squirmed uncomfortably and began to turn red, I exchanged looks with Amanda.
“Do you have to pee or something? Why do you keep moving around like that?” Amanda asked.

“Uh . . .” Trish began, looking like a kid who
’d just got caught shoplifting. "I think I put too much of that cream on.”

My eyes widened.
“I didn’t know you put
any
on. How much did you use?”

“Five drops.
I feel like my vagina’s on fire.”

“Well, no shit.
You’re supposed to just put one on,” I replied. At my judgment, I felt a sting from Tina’s paddle. “Ouch!”

“I know, but I figured if one was good, five would be five times better.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn't argue with her logic. In most sexual scenarios, five always trumped one.

Eventually
, Trish calmed down a bit, and Dana began passing around a few of the smaller vibrators: discreet ones that looked like lipstick, small egg-shaped ones meant to stimulate only the outside of your body. When it got to her, Amanda dangled one of those in between her breasts by the cord.

I looked over the tiny vibrators disguised as everyday items and shook my head.
“This is like foreplay,” I said to Dana. “You’re teasing us. I need one that’s like the real thing. I haven't gotten myself off in like a month, and these baby ones aren’t gonna do the trick.”

“In a
month
?” Amanda said shocked. “Why the hell not?”

“She said she hasn’t slept with Adam yet,” Trish answered for me.

“So what?” Amanda said. “That doesn’t mean anything. What, are you playing hard to get with yourself? If you can’t get
yourself
off, it just means you aren’t trying hard enough.”

“It’s not for lack of trying,” I assured her.
“And believe me, I’m plenty sexually frustrated these days. Not sure why it isn’t happening.”

“Wait, how are you supposed to do that
without
one of these?” Trish asked, holding up one of the larger vibrators, completely confused. The poor girl was so innocent.

“With your hand!
How else?” Amanda said quickly, shaking her head in a way that let Trish know how stupid her question was.

“Hey, that’s not nice,” Tina said sternly as she swatted Amanda on the thigh with
a sharp smack.

“Well, seriously,” Amanda continued, “what kind of question is that?
So you don’t . . .?” Amanda’s voice trailed off. “And you don’t have a vibrator?
Or
a boyfriend?” Trish shook her head silently in response. “So what the hell do you do then?”

Another hard blow stung Amanda’s thigh, courtesy of Tina. “Ouch!” Amanda yelled.
“Stop that!”

“Nothing.
Guess I just have good self control,” Trish said. “I mean, I used to have a boyfriend about five months ago, but we broke up. We never slept together though. I’m waiting until I’m in love for that, and I didn’t love him. We did everything else." Trish bit her lip, clearly having more to say. But she seemed to be contemplating whether or not to say it. "He played the piano,” she added. “I can’t compete with fingers like
that
.”

“I think it’s good you’re waiting ‘til you’re in love, Trish,” I said.
“Sex complicates things.” I knew that firsthand. But somehow the “no sex” relationships seemed equally as complicated, just in a different way. I couldn’t deny that spending time with Adam and not doing anything more than kissing him had gotten increasingly difficult emotionally and physically.