Page 17 of Between Desire and Denial

“Kee’s taking a break from the limelight.”

“Not only is she taking a break from the limelight, but she doesn’t need to worry about us on top of everything. She wouldn’t want to know that her friends …”

“Hooked up and had great sex?” I finished for her.

“Please don’t ever say that again. But yes. She’ll just worry that it’s going to cause a rift.”

“I don’t hide the women I sleep with, Olive. I don’t really hide anything I do at all.”

“I’m well aware of that. But we aren’t sleeping together. Weslepttogether. Once. It will never happen again.”

Damn, that was a shot to my ego. “Olive honey, you sound so sure.”

“Do not ever use that name again either.”

“Don’t like me bringing up how you taste?” Now I was goading her just to piss her off after she’d irritated me.

“You’re literally the worst person ever to talk to in the morning.”

“Had you stayed with me, we wouldn’t be talking.”

“You know what, Dimitri?” She spoke fast now, didn’t even let me reply. “You really think I just wanted to wake up with my one-night stand that I don’t care about? I just broke up with Rufford, and now I have to deal with my heartbreak.” I heard how her voice wobbled and I hated that I heard the sadness there.

“Olive, if you want—”

“No. I don’t want anything. I have to deal with that and the shitstorm of my email I sent last night. I really don’t have time to deal with you too.” Her tone hardened.

I frowned about that email and about her university situation in general. “You said that would be fine. If it’s not, let me know, and I can—"

“Itisfine,” she shrieked. “I know it’s fine because I was sad until you called and made me so mad that I don’t have any more capacity for emotion.”

“Well, I guess my charm works.” I sat on the bed and smiled as I listened to her throw anger at me. “Want to come over and see if other parts of me work too?”

“I really can’t with you right now. It’s too early and quite frankly, when we slept together, I wasn’t expecting this the next day.”

“What?”

“You talking freely about how we fucked. I do not want to deal with you or your mouth right now.”

“What’s wrong with my mouth?” I wasn’t sure why I kept egging her on, but I genuinely was enjoying myself more than I had in a long time. “You seemed pretty happy with it on your pussy last night and on your—”

“I am so mad at you I can’t even see straight. Do not call me back when I hang up, and do not ever bring last night up again.We are done, and I am done with you. When you see me around Kee, act like you did before. Got it?”

“Maybe.”

“You’d better get it, you dick.” And then she hung up.

Well, she didn’t exactly sound sad anymore. So, that was a win in my book.

I tried to forget how she spit the fire from hell at me but tasted as sweet as heaven as I looked over my schedule for the day. Thoughts of her lingered in my head, bouncing around and causing havoc a lot longer than I would have liked.

It’s when I concluded that this had to be one of the best and worst one-night stands of my life.

Maybe I never had noticed her until last night. But I wasn’t going to forget her being in the room after the night we’d had. Not for a long fucking time.

Chapter Seven

DIMITRI