Page 88 of Tastes Like Summer

“No one will interrupt us. Door’s locked.”

I don’t know why I want to argue when all I want is to give in to this. Luckily, as soon as he kisses up my neck, any sort of fight left in me disintegrates into thin air.

“Michael,” I moan when he nibbles the delicate skin beneath my ear.

I’m a panting mess when he pulls me closer to the edge of his desk—closer to him—and I feel the hard ridge through his own underwear.

“Need you now,” he growls against my mouth. And with that, he lowers his underwear with one hand just enough to free his cock. With trembling fingers, he moves onto my panties next, dragging his knuckles up and down the damp fabric before shoving it delicately to the side. Inside, I feel myself flutter with need, my breathing growing shallower by the minute.

We both watch as he drags the tip of his penis over me. I shiver in his arms when he taps my clit, so he looks up to meet my gaze and check in on me.

“Good?” he asks in a whisper.

I swallow once and nod, but it’s a lie. Because: no, not good. Nothing is good. Not when I know this is the end. But I guess I need this just as much as he does. I guess we both need to feel loved and cared for. So, for good measure, I add, “Yes. I’m good.”

With that, Michael pushes into me, groaning into my neck.

My lungs freeze in my chest when I feel him move in me, slow and rough. I hold on as tight as I can, as if it could change anything about this. But loving each other won’t change the fact that we have responsibilities that are pulling us in different directions—literally.

He moans my name over and over into my ear, telling me a million times how much he loves me, how much he loves this. “I’ll never get over it,” he tells me between ragged breaths. “How fucking wild you drive me. How amazing this feels. God, Diana. Nothing has ever felt as good as you and I together.”

I come harder than I ever have, his words causing an avalanche of emotions that has my toes curling in my shoes, my neck snapping back, and my spine contorting in a way that almost accidentally breaks me free from Michael’s hold. That doesn’t deter him, though. Not at all.

“Fuck, I love watching you come,” he says, his hips pistoning now, his movements growing rougher and faster like he’s desperately racing to meet me at the finish line where I lie in post-orgasm bliss.

I let him use me and love me and hold me as tight as he can. Fingers digging in my skin, coin-sized bruises in my future.

After he comes, he stays inside me for a moment, face pressed into my neck as he presses soft kisses to my collarbone.

“Don’t do it,” he whispers after several minutes of silence. He’s soft already, and I can feel him dripping from between my legs, but we don’t move a single inch, neither one of us ready to say goodbye just yet. Maybe ever. “Don’t leave me.”

“I have to go back to Colorado, Michael.”

He shakes his head but still can’t meet my eye. “You know what I mean.”

I take a deep breath and press my hands to his chest, push him gently away. When I manage to untangle my limbs from his, I hop off the desk and slip off my panties before pulling on my shorts. I’d rather go commando than wear dirty underwear.

“What are you doing?”

I keep my eyes downcast, the stinging in my eyes building. “I need to get back home. The girls must be wondering where we are, and they need to rest before we start packing everything up tomorrow.”

“Diana. Please tell me you’re not going to let this happen. You can’t actually just end things like this.” He pulls his pants up and readjusts himself as he speaks, his voice shaky.

“I have to go, Michael. I have to⁠—”

But he cuts me off. Grabs me by the shoulders and forces me to look at him. “Stop. Please don’t do this.”

I take a deep breath as fresh tears begin the stream down my cheeks. “I’ve already made my decision. And it’s the best one.”

Work keeps me busy for the most part. We’re right in the thick of writing up the official contracts for the Bloom acquisition, and Edgar has been incredible in letting me participate and offer suggestions. The distraction is helpful, but overall not 100% efficient. My whole body aches, my entire system shut down. Most days, I’m nothing more than a robot going from task to task, pushing through life, waiting until the feelings I have for Michael go away. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like something that’s going to happen anytime soon.

The last time I see him is after the girls’ final playdate, two days before we go back to Colorado. It’s awkward and painful, and I can’t help but be flooded by the thought that I’d rather be anywhere but here and simultaneously nowhere else.

He tries to talk about what happened, but I shut him down multiple times. Our ending was always inevitable, so why bother fix things? Why even try?

Just as he and Rachel ready to leave, while the girls say their emotional goodbyes, Michael looks me straight in the eye and whispers, “I hope happiness finds you, Diana. And I hope you’re able to find someone who appreciates you and loves you the way you deserve. But most of all, I hope someday you’ll be able to see in yourself what I see: a strong, smart, incredibly beautiful woman who deserves nothing less than the goddamn world.”

I manage to hold back tears until later that night, when I cry in the shower, long after Cami and Emi have gone to bed.