I went home after dinner and took a longer shower than I needed.
I tried to convince myself that it was just tension from the long week, but that was only part of the truth.
The full truth was I spent most of my time with Cedric on the verge of a boner, and in the shower was the only time Ireally allowed myself to indulge in the fantasies that I hoped to eventually make into reality.
That was when I thought about the way his dark eyes lit up whenever he laughed and the desire in his eyes when he looked at me across the table. He was warming up to me, and I was fucking hot for him.
I wrapped my hand around my cock and let my head fall back against the tile as I began to stroke. Every pull brought a spike of pleasure, and every push back down was a precursor of what it could feel like if I were ever invited inside Cedric.
If he ever decided that I wasn’t just a reliable neighbor but someone worth trusting with his heart and his body.
Finding my climax didn't take long. It never did when I was thinking about Cedric. I came with my forehead against the cool tile and his name on my lips, shooting creamy loads into the stream. I watched it swirl down the drain as I caught my breath and hoped I wouldn’t need to pump again before dinner. I’d been producing more milk than usual and had a suspicion Cedric was the reason for that too. But I didn’t dwell on that. I just rinsed off and got out. Cedric was waiting for me with pizza, and I was anxious to see him.
Shortly after that, we were on his couch with the box open on the coffee table and an old football-hero movie playing on his flat screen.
Just when the skinny kid in the movie was about to get his moment in the spotlight, Cedric’s phone buzzed against the cushion between us. He glanced at it and went still.
I couldn’t help looking at the screen and seeing the caller’s name.Mitch."You don't have to answer that."
"I know." He stared at the phone for a moment and then sighed. “But he’ll keep calling if I don’t.” Before I could try to reason with him, he picked it up. "What?"
I could hear the voice on the other end even without the call on speaker, tinny and urgent. “Cedric, baby, I'm so sorry. I've been losing my mind all week. Can I come over? We just need to talk so the police stop hounding me.”
Cedric's jaw worked. "No, Mitch. I’m not pressing charges as long as you stay away from me."
“Five minutes, Cedric. I won’t even come in. I just need to see that you're okay.”
"You broke in and beat the shit out of me. We're done talking." His voice was steadier than I expected, but his hand was shaking slightly where it held the phone.
“Don’t be like that. You know you pushed me over the edge. But we can get past that. I’ll show you?—”
Cedric ended the call and dropped his phone on the couch as if it were on fire. “He better not fucking come here.”
"I think we should call the police." I placed my hand over his to stop it from shaking. "Tell them he's threatening to come over. You have a restraining order, right?"
"No, not technically." He dropped his chin to his sternum and sighed. "I just want this to be over, Ozzie. I don't want to answer a million questions again. Why can’t he just move on?"
"Isn’t he married? What does his wife think of the police poking around?" Nothing about this situation made sense to me. I didn’t think Cedric was lying, but I didn’t think he had all the information.
Cedric chuckled. “She lives outta state. He told me he stays here during the week for work and then goes home on the weekends. She probably has no idea what he’s been up to here.”
“We can probably get her contact info and tell her?” I wasn’t generally big on destroying marriages, but I was willing to fight dirty when it came to Cedric’s well-being. “I know a private investigator who can help.”
"Thanks, but I just wanna eat pizza and not think about him." His eyes were pleading for me to drop the topic even though every instinct I had was telling me this wasn't over. “Please.”
"Fine." I picked up a slice of pizza and took a bite to distract myself. "But I'm staying here tonight. I’ll take the couch, but I don’t want you to be alone."
His eyes were sparkling as he nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
We were only halfway through a video game live-action movie when there was a knock at the door. And it wasn’t from the buzzer downstairs. It was the apartment door...just a few feet away from us.
Cedric froze.
"Stay here." I was on my feet with my phone in my hand before he could exhale.
"Ozzie—"
"I got this.” I went to the door and looked through the peephole. It was definitely Mitch. I recognized him from the few times I saw him coming in or out.
