She went on cleaning and generally overworking herself for a week following Jayden’s unexpected visit. She was still none the wiser as to why he had actually came over at all, unless he really had just popped over, driving for more than an hour, for the sake of a quick fuck. But Jayden wasn’t that cruel, she knew, despite all the animosity between them now he loved her, just not in the way she wanted him to.
Besides, it hadn’t been all that quick really, her subconscious put in saucily, but a shuddering wave of heartbreak followed swiftly afterwards, and she had to stop thinking of him altogether.
How would she cope without having him near her all the time? Her sudden decision to move so far from home left her isolated, missing the few close friends she had at home, but if she went home, he’d be a constant presence, and she didn’t think she could cope with that either!
She was suspended ... in sex purgatory.
He’d called, of course, although why there was an “of course” about it she didn’t know. She was only entitled to the special treatment because she was Nate’s little sister, he’d not have bothered for anybody else. Quick fuck.
Promise to call, never see him again.
That was supposed to be the rule, at least it was, according to Shannon, her best friend, who was not quite as subdued in these matters as Tori.
But then, blistering sex with the man you’ve been in love with your whole life?
How could she have been so stupid? There would always be strings, even if she didn’t feel this way, even if they didn’t have history he was her best friend’s brother!
She hadn’t answered the calls, straight to divert, she just didn’t have the energy to speak to him, despite the way her body was screaming at nights thinking about the way he’d touched her; the way her heart yearned for him to love her back.
But she stopped believing in fairy tales, and she knew there wouldn‘t be a happy ever after for them.
Pulling her shoulders back to bring herself out of her thoughts, and the misery, she fixed her pale pink lip gloss in the sink above the washbasin. Giving herself a quick once over in the mirror, she turned to grab the small silver clutch she’d rested on the side of the bath, and headed out. Shannon had decided that she was wallowing, and come up for a visit for the weekend, dragging her out for some fancy food, and a night of dancing, drinking, and forgetting the existence of the male species (this wouldn’t happen with Shannon, she lived for male attention, which was good, because she could never get away from it).
Shannon was smoothing some shimmering lotion into the tanned skin of her long, long legs as Tori strolled back into the lounge area of her apartment. She rolled her eyes as she watched her best friend, one stiletto clad foot resting on the edge of her expansive oak coffee table, manicured hands meticulously spreading the glitter across every inch of her legs, with her sequin hot pink mini literally skimming the bottom of her backside.
“No men, I thought you said? Why the glitter on your bikini line, I won’t be looking closely,” Tori laughed as she poured them both a large glass of cheap wine over crushed ice cubes, handing one across to her friend as she took a large sip of her own.
Shannon looked up, a cheeky grin on her beautiful face, her short black hair swinging in its stylish concave cut, as one heavily made up eyelid fell into a wink, “Better safe than sorry babe,” she chuckled. “How do I look?”
Dropping the vivid pink heel back into the shag pile of the carpet, she span into a twirl, with the sheer white camisole trailing behind the movement of her slender body. Shannon was pure model material, eight inches taller than Tori’s tiny five foot. Her body was athletic and toned in all the right places, with a deep olive complexion that gave her a sultry, seductive air. The hot pink in both her sequin mini and on her killer heels set off a startling contrast to her skin tone, and the white sheer had her complexion glowing.
“Stunning, as ever babe, did you call a cab?” Their table was booked for 8.30, at a small bistro restaurant nearby, but still, too far to walk in five inch heels, and Shannon pulled up her nose at the idea of walking anywhere, living by a motto of “arrive in style, babe, or not at all”.
The pair were complete opposites, Shannon was as extrovert and bubbly as Tori was shy and innocent, but somehow they’d maintained a strong bond throughout their years side by side that had kept them close to this day, nearly twenty years later. Still, somehow, their opposite personalities complimented each other perfectly.
“Yep,” she said, popping the “p”, surveying Tori’s outfit, and the something different that was niggling her, not just the fact that she was down, which Shannon had picked up on days ago, but something inherently different, and the outfit was like nothing she’d ever seen on Tori before. In a good way. A sheer nude fabric draped across her tiny frame, over one shoulder, covering a dusky gold strapless dress. The gauzy fabric was cut in a biased seam, the longest part reaching one of her tiny ankles, skimming the edge of her five inch stiletto shoe, while the other leg was left completely bare except for a sheen of shimmer that coated its porcelain smoothness. “You look fuckin hot tonight, by the way Tor,” she took a small sip of her wine, and narrowed her eyes, “But something’s off. What’s up?”
They both turned as Shannon’s mobile let out a shrill ring tone, signalling that the cab had arrived. Saved by the bell, Tori thought sardonically, as she quickly finished her drink and grabbed her purse.
Two hours later, the girls were well on their way to alcohol induced oblivion. They’d moved on from the fancy restaurant, to a nearby R n B club, and were swaying along to the heavy bass lines, drinking obscenely named cocktails, when Tori checked her mobile.
From: Jayden Caine
Nate tells me Shannon’s over for a visit, behave princess ;) I’ll be calling later. Wear something sexy. xxx
“What the fuck?” Shannon’s screech reached well over the decibel receptor capability. Waaaay over. Tori cringed from both the sound and the inevitable explanation she’d have to give her best friend. She’d not mentioned it, steering conversations away from home at all times, and, with Shannon now living in London, it wasn’t really obvious. But he’d have to go and screw that up for her, she couldn’t even save her pride from the beating it would take to tell her best friend, “Hey, remember that guy I’ve been in love with for like, my whole life, well it turns out now he wants to fuck me. Or he did. Then he didn’t. Now he wants to pretend it never happened. Or something.”
Her brain was actually feeling fried from the intensity of his mood swings. And now it was only going to get worse because she’d have to talk about it, with the world’s most pedantic analyst of sexual encounters.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself.
YOU ARE READING
Puppet Master
General FictionGRAPHIC and EXPLICIT! Tori's been in love with Jayden since she was twelve years old, but he's pulled away at every turn. Doubts, insecurities, and certain, ahem, preferences have been convincing him that she's the kind of girl t...
