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Chapter Two
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“Oh, Payton, I can’t wait for you to meet this guy!” Lilly was gushing about her new boyfriend, who she had not shut up about for weeks now. It was apparent that she was falling head over heels in love with this guy. Payton was happy for her, and couldn’t recall a boyfriend that she seemed to like this much so soon into the relationship. Even with her last long-term boyfriend, who everyone thought was the one, she had not been in love this soon. This relationship business seemed like a lot of work to Payton. Lilly was still going on about her new, perfect boyfriend when the restaurant hostess seated the girls to their booth.
The restaurant had soft music playing that aided the atmosphere. It swirled lightly around, loud enough to be heard but not drowning out the conversation. The waitresses resembled worker ants as they went from table to table, gathering orders and placing out food before scurrying away. There were no single tables in the room, instead there were booths throughout the building, creating a more private atmosphere. Each booth was set in a manner that eavesdropping on tables nearby was not an option.
“He should be here any moment now.”
It wasn’t hard to miss how Lilly’s smile brightened whenever she mentioned this guy. Payton did not want to be dragged out to meet another wannabe boyfriend, but Lilly insisted that she meet her new guy. For Payton to meet a boyfriend meant that the relationship was a big deal to her sister. But even knowing that, Payton just couldn’t quite wrap her head around the importance of a meet and greet. Just as Lilly was ending her sentence, the new boyfriend walked up to the table.
Payton almost fell out of her chair in shock. It was Jack, the realtor. The Jack she just had sex with a few days ago. Her heart started to pound and all of a sudden she was extremely hot. The booth she was sitting in seemed to have just shrunk in size and began to close in around her. In an instant, the memory of high school vividly flooded Payton. The Batman sheets, the boy smell, the innocent Lilly in the dark. Fuck, she had done it again. She felt ill.
“Nice to meet you.” Jack extended his hand to shake Payton’s.
“Likewise,” was all she could manage to say. Get a grip, Payton!
Lilly stood up and gave him a gentle kiss to greet him.
As Payton was trying to get control of herself, Jack slid into the booth, putting himself between the two girls. Her stomach had butterflies, and she no longer had an appetite. It took all of her strength not to get up to vomit in the bathroom. Ugh! What am I going to do?
It was unanticipated when Payton felt a finger on her thigh, slowly creeping under her dress. Why am I wearing such a short dress? As quickly as the fingers began to creep up, she smacked them away without causing a scene. I cannot believe Jack is Lilly’s boyfriend. Fuck! What a mess.
Lilly was absorbed in one of her stories about her and Jack’s first date—the blind date she went on weeks ago. She constantly smiled and touched Jack affectionately as she spoke. Jack did a good job of reciprocating Lilly’s affection, while insensitively playing cat and mouse with Payton. The booth was so private that not even a waitress would have been able to see what was happening. Jack was very good at concealing how he behaved.
There is no way I can tell her what happened between us. It would crush her.A wave of nausea passed through her at the memory of that night. She would probably never speak to me again. Although, in my defense, I had no idea Jack was the mystery boyfriend. What a creep! What a jerk! How could he do this to Lilly? It is obvious she has strong feelings for him. And here he is, like nothing happened, giving Lilly sweet kisses as he tries to go up my dress. Payton continued her internal debate, attempting to find a solution to this situation. Telling her would just hurt her. I have to find a way to make her see who he really is.
Again, she felt Jack touching her inner thigh. There was no denying that it was definitely his hand. In an attempt to block his access, she crossed her legs, his hand now stuck between her thighs. Instead of removing his hand, he began to make little circular movements with his fingers, lightly playing with the sensitive skin, leading up to her most intimate part. Quickly, she uncrossed her legs, hoping he would remove his hand but he didn’t. Instead, his fingers crept toward her panties, lightly fingering the edge of the lace.
The room started to become unbearably hot; she could feel heat spreading up her body and knew she must have flushed cheeks. Jack appeared completely devoted to Lilly, as she happily droned on about the two of them. Trying to fix the situation, Payton did the first thing that came to mind and stood up, hitting the table.
“Um, Lill, I am feeling a little bit claustrophobic. I just need to get some fresh air.”
Payton, for the second time, hit the booth hard as she moved out in a panic, causing the glasses on the table to clink and wobble as she passed. Jack’s hand fell away from her and rested in front of him, looking at her like she lost her mind, while giving Lilly a what’s-with-the-crazy-sister look. As she walked away she saw Jack lean back and whisper sweet nothings into her sister’s ear. He winked at her just before she turned away. If it were even possible, she felt even more nauseous than before.
Payton sat at the restaurant’s bar for a few minutes to calmly collect herself. Breathe in, breathe out. With that thought she closed her eyes for a brief second, only letting the sound of music enter her thoughts. Opening her eyes, she began to see the place filling up with customers as they finished work, leaving the only space open at the bar where she sat. The end of the summer daylight seeped through the large windows behind her that looked out onto the street. To help keep the edge off, she ordered a shot of tequila. It burned her throat as it slid down, causing her to cough. As she sat there, she vowed to never sleep with Jack again, or let anything come between her and her sister. She loved her sister too much to let something like this get in the way. She had no idea how she was going to make herself go back to the table. It seemed impossible to get away from Jack. She decided to order one more drink before heading back, but just then a cold hand touched her shoulder, causing her to jump and nearly fall off the stool.
“Well, if it isn’t the greatest realtor on earth,” Dixon commented as he took a seat by Payton and quickly ordered two liquid cocaine shots. Their fingers touched slightly between the hand-off of the shot glass as he slid it toward her.
“To great investments made and many more in the future.” Dixon had not stopped praising her since the deal on the penthouse went through. It was absolute heaven. The thought of Jack faded briefly away as she focused on the gorgeous man in front of her.
It amazed Payton how every stress in her world seemed to disappear when she was around Dixon. He ordered them each another drink—a double, of course—to continue with their own little, private celebration. She usually drank wine, but the gin and tonic went down smoothly; it was refreshing. Payton even pondered to herself why she did not drink this more often.
“So what brings you here tonight?” Payton questioned.
“Meeting a few buddies for drinks, but they are running behind.” Dixon checked his phone for any more text messages that his friends may have sent. “I should have known, I don’t think any of them have been on time in their life. And you?”
“Just getting some fresh air to get away from my sister and her new boyfriend.” Dixon crooked his head slightly toward Payton, and his eyebrow slightly rose with a questioning look. He must know that I am leaving out more of the story. Instead of questioning her, he ordered her another drink; hers was now empty.
“You know how it can be with new love. I can only take so much in such close quarters. You would think they would be sick of kissing and saying ‘I love you’, they do it so often.” Payton didn’t want Dixon to know the real reason why she was sitting here by herself. What she had said seemed like a reasonable response. How was it that this man made her so nervous? It was unusual for her to get tongue-tied; it was a foreign feeling. It wasn’t like she could tell him that she slept with Jack to make his deal happen. Her goddess status would be ruined, and she was scared of what it may be like to not have these butterflies in her stomach when she spoke to Dixon. She enjoyed this new sensation when he was around her.
“I was starting to wonder if you got lost,” Lilly exclaimed, as she walked over to Dixon and Payton. Lilly looked at Payton then Dixon curiously.
“Where is the boyfriend?” Payton asked, trying to focus Lilly on to herself and away from her and Dixon, while secretly hoping that she would not mention Jack’s name. Having the quick drinks made her head slightly cloudy. This was a feeling she enjoyed when she was stressed, but it made it difficult to think fast on her feet.
“He was called in to work and had to leave,” replied Lilly. “I was thinking that I should head home. Do you mind if I leave?”
“No, no. Not at all, Lill. I’ll be leaving right away, too.”
