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Chapter1
Tristan
If I had known what my day was going to be like, I would have stayed in bed, cocooned in my blanket. At least I would have been happy. My alarm went off at six thirty this morning, and I was tempted to not get up. I had plenty of paid time off accumulated, but I also had a deadline for the publishing house I was working for as an editor at Brickmans Publishing. Not my dream job, but it got my foot in the door and allowed me to network. One day, I would be a bestselling author and have a team of editors working with me to help me achieve that dream, just as I do for other authors. But for now, I had to earn money to live and write on the side. Ugh.
I was tempted to stay in bed. So tempted. But like the good little employee I was, I got up after snoozing my alarm at least three times. Although I slept well the night before, I had a feeling in my gut—like today was not going to be a good day.
When I tossed my legs over the side of the bed, I looked back at my boyfriend, Devin. How he slept through my alarm going off four separate times, I didn’t know, but he didn’t move an inch. I looked at him for a minute more, soaking in his features, thinking how lucky I was to have him. How lucky I was that he wanted me. Thinking about how much he wanted me had me half hard, remembering last night—mostly about how he looked with my dick in his mouth.
We had been together for two years and had been living together for a little over six months. He was tall, six-four, with sepia skin, wide shoulders, wash-board abs, and a V cut I loved to run my tongue over. His strong jaw and luminous eyes that saw right through me were my favorite things about him. So much so I almost wanted to wake him up just so I could gaze into his eyes, which would give me a boost since my stomach was in knots for some unknown reason.
Devin and I looked good together. I was shorter than him, five-ten, and not as muscular. I had more of a runner’s build. Devin was a bodybuilder, muscles bulging everywhere. He dwarfed me, but his size and bulk made me feel safe and protected. I had more of a chestnut-brown complexion with large doe eyes and full, pouty lips he loved to kiss and bite while we rolled around in the sheets. Thinking about what we’d gotten up to last night made me want to reach out for him again. But I resisted. If I didn’t get a move on, I would surely be late for work.
I padded into the en suite, hoping a quick shower would relax me. There was nothing for me to be feeling uneasy about. I had a good-paying job, a good man, a great apartment—everything I wanted. Well, not everything. I didn’t have my novel completed, but that’s a me problem, not a universe problem. Writer’s block fucking sucked, big time. I would get back into it eventually, but with the way work was going and how Devin was keeping me up at night, I didn’t have the time. I would make the time, though. I loved writing, immersing myself in the characters and the plot, the twists and turns, the growth, and, most of all, the love. As a hopeless romantic, I wrote romance novels exclusively.
Since Devin and I were ‘busy’ last night, I didn’t have any clothes to take off, so I relieved myself before I stepped directly into the shower. I was one of those people who liked to get in the shower before turning the water on. I know it’s weird, but early in the morning, the blast of cold woke me up like no cup of coffee could.
After the initial ball-shriveling cold wore off and the temperature heated up to the almost hell I adjusted it to, I felt more awake than when I was sitting on the bed, but my stomach still wouldn’t calm. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was or why I felt so unsettled, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. No need to add extra stress where none was needed.
I grabbed my loofah and soaped myself up, mentally going through what I needed to do for the day. I had three novels I was editing at work, so I had to split my time between those. After work, I had to go to the gym to get my five-mile run in, then grocery shopping. I would shower at the gym since I hated going anywhere after being sweaty and smelly.
None of that was anxiety-inducing. Pushing the weird feeling back again, I rinsed off and hopped out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I headed back to the bedroom, where I saw Devin awake and sitting up in bed. As a personal trainer, he made his own hours, so he probably had a client this early.
“Good morning, babe.” I walked over and kissed him lightly on the lips. When I went to pull away, he grabbed my arm and pulled me down to him, stretching me across his lap. He slipped his tongue into my mouth, and I moaned against his lips. I felt my dick stir and knew if I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t get to work on time or at all, for that matter. I pushed lightly against his chest, and he gave me one last thrust of his tongue before he let me up. “Okay, that’s definitely a way to start my morning off right,” I joked against his lips.
I heard him laugh as I got up to get dressed. “Why are you up? It’s only…” I glanced over my shoulder to peer at my alarm clock, “… seven fifteen. You have a client?”
“Yeah, at eight. We’re going to meet at Planet Fitness on First instead of the one in midtown. So I get to relax for a bit… and watch you get dressed.” The city we lived in was fairly large, and there were gyms sprinkled everywhere. Luckily for him, he could train clients at any of them. It made his schedule even more flexible than it already was. He chose the location, and the clients showed up. What could be better than that?
“Don’t get any bright ideas,” I told him, looking over my shoulder as I put on my boxer briefs. “I can’t be late today. I’m hoping to hear about the promotion for content editor this morning. Can’t make a good impression if I’m late.”
“Babe, don’t worry. You’re the hardest-working man I know. They’d be fools not to give you the position.” He made his way from the bed over to me, hugging me from behind and planting soft kisses on my neck.
“Fools they may be…” I said to him breathlessly, “… but it’s not set in stone. I need to do what I can to look good to the big wigs so they’ll move me to that team. And you doing this… is not helping.”
Of course, he ignored me and continued to plant those dangerously soft and deliciously warm kisses on my neck. My dick started to grow in my briefs, and I felt Devin’s on my back, a hard rod pressed against me, begging to be touched. As much as I hated to do it, I extracted myself from his arms and took a few steps away from him. “Babe, I cannot be late. As much as I would love to swallow your dick and keep you in bed all day, I gotta go.”
He gave me puppy-dog eyes that I ignored, and I finished getting dressed in record time. When I checked my phone, I saw it was seven thirty. I had to be in by eight, and I had a fifteen-minute walk, which meant no time to make coffee. I had to grab a cup from work, which is always hit or miss. I was a little irked with Devin for fucking up my morning routine, but it was more my fault than his. Had I gotten my ass up when the alarm went off the first time, I would have had my coffee made and been showered and dressed by the time he woke. But my stomach was in knots, so I was off my game this morning.
I called out to Devin that I was leaving, and he came to give me a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. He needed to get himself ready for the gym so there were no more sneaky kisses.
I decided when I moved in with Devin that I would walk to work instead of wasting gas unless it was raining or too cold. Most days, however, I hoofed it, which helped keep me in good shape. That and running five miles three times a week.
It was a beautiful April day. Little puffy clouds floated in the sky above me, and a slight breeze was in the air. I loved Georgia weather. Even when it got hot and humid, I still loved it. On those days, though, I walked to work in my gym clothes and used the company gym shower before I went to my desk to start my day.
At 7:47 a.m., I walked into the building and rode the elevator to the fourth floor. Once there, I went left to my office instead of right to the break room. With the way my stomach was feeling, coffee wouldn’t do anything but make it worse. I shared an office with two other editors, Cassandra and David. One of which I adored. The other, not so much.
Cassandra, or Cass as I called her, was my heart. She was the sweetest girl I had ever met. She started as my intern while she was in college to get her English degree. She interned for three years, learning everything she needed to so she could earn a position as an editor upon graduation. We became friends over that time. Even though there was a seven-year age gap between us—me being thirty-two and her twenty-five—we couldn’t be closer.
It wasn’t until she was hired that I found out her family was well off. And when I say well off, I mean loaded. Her father was a real estate mogul, and her mother was an extremely sought-after interior designer. She didn’t need to work but always said she wanted to make her own way and not live off her parents’ money, which made me admire her a lot. She had a brother who had the same idea. After he graduated high school, he joined the Army, then became a cop. I never met him but saw plenty of pictures. Very good-looking, well-built man. He was ten years older than her, which made me think that was part of the reason she attached herself to me so quickly. She saw me as a big-brother figure since she and her brother weren’t as close as she would have liked them to be, location-wise. They were extremely close emotionally, with him calling her often and doting on her as much as the miles separating them allowed. When I walked into our office, she was sitting at her desk, red pen in hand.
Cass was gorgeous. Medium brown, full-natural hair, full lips, bright eyes, and a cute little button nose. Add to that she was extremely sharp, both in dress and with her tongue, and she was the perfect woman, taught feminine etiquette from her down-home Southern mother. She was one of the best people I had ever met. I looked over at my perfect best friend, who noticed me walk in and smiled up at me.
“Hey, my love,” I said to her, winding my way around our cramped space to get to my desk.
“You’re here early. I’m usually the only person in before eight,” she said by way of greeting.
“You know I’m trying to get that promotion. Can’t be late. And Devin was being handsy this morning, so I had to leave before he started anything.”
