Secrets, Lies, and Summer Skies

Chapter Twenty

The days felt empty when Grayson wasn't around.

They shouldn't have. I mean, there was more to life than fucking my dad's best friend at every opportunity, but he was the perfect distraction to everything else going on and I longed for the moments when real life faded into the background and all I needed to focus on was him and the things he made me feel.

I languished in a plush armchair in a boutique dressing room while Jenny marched periodically through the curtains with a new outfit, twirled in front of the mirror, grimaced, and returned to the narrow box to try another. Whenever she was out of sight, I tapped my cellphone screen until it illuminated to check for messages from Grayson.

He was a cautious man and took our promise to keep things secret seriously. I seldom received anything from him while he was at work unless it was innocuous. That way, if someone saw his screen, he could easily explain away our communication as checking up on the young woman Dad had asked him to take care of for the summer. I should've admired his restraint and dedication, but I also wished he'd send me a few sexy notes about how he was thinking of me, or if he'd locked his office doors and made himself come while remembering our night at the hotel.

It didn't help that he was part of a team working on closing some big account. They were pushing hard to snag an advertising campaign, and he wasn't about to leave his staff in the office alone while they were working long hours. Again, that ought to have been admirable. It was admirable. I just wanted him to come home and fuck me instead of giving up his free time for the good of the company. I mean, he was a manager. If he'd told people he was going to take a few hours off, then no one would've questioned it. They'd have been mad at him for abandoning them, sure, but they wouldn't stop him from walking out the door.

I sighed and was about to put my phone back in my purse when a new message appeared.

Home early tonight.

A few more dots appeared on the screen like Grayson was typing out a follow-up message. My heart was in my throat. I hoped more than anything that he was about to tell me what he was going to do to me when he walked through the door. Maybe he'd tell me to put on the camisole so we could relive our evening in the hotel.

No such luck.

The dots vanished and a second message didn't arrive. He'd probably had someone call him into a meeting or something. God, being an employed adult sucked. I knew that I'd be in the same position soon enough. Dad hadn't wanted me to work while I was in college. Sometimes I'd covered easy waitressing shifts for friends if they were in a bind and couldn't find someone else, but he'd sent me enough every month to cover my expenses. I wasn't ignorant of my privilege; so many of my classmates struggled to balance studying and making money. I saw them dozing off in lectures and cutting back on buying food just to get through the week.

In a way, they had a leg-up on me.

Sure, Dad wouldn't let me go hungry and he'd probably always be there to offer support that many parents couldn't, but my classmates had a level of experience in the working world that I severely lacked. It made me regret not taking Grayson's offer of an internship seriously. I could've spent the summer doing something more productive than riding his cock, watching telenovelas, and lounging by the pool.

"Okay, this is the one."

I hadn't even noticed that Jenny had emerged from the cubicle again. As she turned to inspect herself in the mirror, she smoothed down the summery white dress which was adorned with floral embroidery. It fell to her mid-thigh and had thick, modest straps and a sweetheart neckline.

"Wow." I dropped my phone into my purse. "That's... absolutely not your style. I mean, you look great! You always do. But what's with the change?"

"I have a date." Jenny adjusted her boobs, clearly unaccustomed to anything that didn't make them look like they were about to escape the confines of her clothes. "He wants to take me to dinner. I figured I should wear something that doesn't show off all the goods right away, you know?"