10. Chloe

TEN

Chloe's eyes stung from the tears cascading down her face. It didn't help that the neon lights on the gas station flickered so intensely.

She prodded at her damp cheeks with a napkin, sighing as she leaned back against the headrest. She saw a faint reflection of herself in the windshield, all dressed up and with nothing to show for it.

God, you're a pathetic mess.

Another tear cascaded down onto her cell phone.

The screen flashed with a text from Gayle, asking if she was okay. She hurriedly cleared her notifications and left the car, making way for the convenience store inside the gas station.

"What a waste of time," she grumbled, throwing snack after snack into her basket. "I should have known better."

Laughter rang out from the entrance. She turned to see a young couple stroll in. A young man had his arms around a girl, who blushed as her boyfriend whispered into her ear.

Everywhere she looked, she saw happy couples. It ate away at her.

She continued browsing for her favorite snacks, trying but failing to tune out the couple's idle giggles.

"I could so cosplay as Rintrah," the young man said, chuckling.

"I think you just admitted you have a giant fur suit," the girl chuckled in response.

The cashier at the desk shot occasional concerned glances at Chloe as her items were checked out. Her phone buzzed again, this time showing a message from Fiona.

Here with Callum and the others. Where are you?

Sighing, Chloe tapped her fingers on the counter as she tried to think of a response. She may have been upset, but she wasn't rude.

"Miss?" said the cashier. "I said that'd be thirteen dollars and thirty-seven cents."

She snapped back to attention, dropping the cash and coins haphazardly onto the counter with an apologetic smile.

Back in her car, she hit send on her reply.

I went home, wasn't feeling good tonight. Have a great time. I"ll chat with you tomorrow.

"At least they're having a good time," she said. "Certainly a better time than me."

Twenty minutes later, she stepped inside her home. Relief washed over her as she threw her bag of snacks down and hung her coat. For a moment, she rested against the door, content to be back in a safe space.

Here, no one could bother her. There wouldn't be anyone to coax her hopes of love along, only to leave her hanging on for nothing.

When she glanced at the couch, her hopeful efforts to avoid thoughts of Adrian betrayed her once more. She hallucinated herself lying in his arms as they watched a romantic comedy together.

The lump in her throat tightened, and she forcibly ripped herself away toward the bathroom. She met her reflection again, only this time it was far clearer.

"I'm done feeling sorry for myself."

She grabbed her makeup wipes and cleaned her face of the smudged eyeliner and mascara. Balling up the used wipe in her hand, she imagined it to be the hopes of a future with Adrian as she tossed it in the bin.

"Gayle was right. I don't need to get upset over a man. I ought to text her."

When she went to do so, her phone had no charge remaining. That seems par for the course.

She left it behind in the bedroom as she retreated to the couch, where she lounged for a few hours watching a rom-com movie. By the time the credits rolled, Chloe found herself mentally tired yet still feeling physically energetic.

Maybe a bath will help.

Her favorite essential oils accompanied the water as the bathtub filled. She had her hands under the faucet, enjoying a preview of the temperature.

Then came the tapping.

Chloe shot up, realizing it was too close to be one of the neighbors. She glimpsed out the window toward the street below, but making out anything was impossible.

Just when she brushed it off, the tapping came again. She left the bath, grabbing a knife on the way to her balcony, which was just big enough for a chair and a small plant. How anyone could be there several stories up, she didn't know. Maybe a bird was injured.

As if my night couldn't get any worse.

She was a few feet away when a muffled voice called through the glass.

"Chloe," it said firmly. "I know you're in there. Let me in."

"Adrian?" she gasped, recognizing the voice. "Is that you?"

"Can we talk?"

She pulled back the curtain. Her stomach dropped when she saw him. He wasn't wearing anything at all.

Her heart accelerated. What was this feeling?

"It's kind of cold out here," he said. Anybody from the city below could look up and see his nude form.

She opened the narrow French doors. His body shivered in the cold, but he looked even better than she had imagined.

"Come in," she said, surprised she could say anything at all as she gestured.

It felt like some elaborate dream. Or at least, that was her running theory.

"Here," she said, throwing him a towel. She still couldn't believe he was here. "Care to explain the lack of clothes?"

He looked up at her with a seething intensity in his eyes. Chloe felt like his prey.

"Chloe." The name leapt off of his tongue like a spell. "I had to see you again."

"Adrian," she whispered, swallowing hard not from fear but from the warmth brewing between her legs as he stepped closer.

"Why didn't you message me? I sat around waiting for a month, and now you show up naked on my balcony? Are you crazy?"

"Only about you," he growled.

From the concentrated look on his face, Chloe determined he wasn't joking.

He took another step closer. Chloe questioned for a moment if she should make a move on him right then and there. The sudden sight of him reawakened something she had tried desperately to shut off.

Here he was, presenting himself to her.

However, she shoved those thoughts away. As hard as it was to do, she deserved answers, and Adrian wasn"t getting off easy just because of how good he looked nude.

"It was foolish of me to leave you with no word," he said, clenching his fist. It uncurled as he laid it to rest on her arm, all the while circling her. "I should have called. I should have taken you out on a date and spent every hour of my day treating you as you deserve to be treated."

"But you didn't," she said, her words far more confident than her body.

Chloe's knees quivered, almost buckling beneath her as Adrian sniffed her hair and planted a kiss on her shoulders. He pulled at the strings of her house robe, causing the front to open.

Be strong, Chloe, she thought, trying to maintain a single shred of her dignity.

He came around and admired her exposed body. The fabric just barely covered her breasts, but everything else was clear for him to see. Chloe felt herself melting under his studious gaze.

"You're too damn sexy," he snarled.

She let his hand slide around her house robe. He gripped the small of her back. "There hasn't been a single moment that you weren't on my mind."

"Talk is cheap," Chloe whispered, her words coming out in short breaths. She was barely containing herself. "Are you going to make up for our lost time?"

At that moment, he stopped in front of her, his look of starvation for her turning into a smile.

Even if all he wants is sex, at least I'll get some fun out of it.

She thought of Fiona's words from a few weeks ago, reminding her that she was in for something incredible.

"I have ways I could show my repentance if you're willing," he said.

She opened her mouth, salivating for the taste of him. Before a word came, though, they were interrupted by an overflowing bath.

Chloe spun around and darted for the bathroom, almost slipping on the water as she reached for the faucet.

"I could already see you were wet. I didn't need a demonstration," Adrian remarked as he appeared in the bathroom doorway, looking at the water covering the floor.

"Excuse me?" she retorted in disbelief, her smile giving away that she liked his quick wit.

"Let me help," he said with a smile, throwing down his towel on the ground.

As he reached for the drain, Chloe caught sight of his cock, seemingly growing bigger by the second. She swallowed as it became engorged, wondering when it would stop.

"Step inside," he said in a commanding tone. "I'll be right with you."

"What?" She was far too distracted by his member.

"I said, get into the bath. I'll mop up this mess first."

She had one foot in the bath before she paused.

"Wait, you're getting in with me?"

"You were already planning on bathing, anyway. Let's not let this water go to waste. Hold on just a second."

Is this really happening?

He kicked the wet towel aside and stepped closer. She almost squealed as his cock, hard as concrete, poked into her thighs. He brought his hands to her robe, unveiling her body like a statue in a museum.

The smile on his face grew as he took a step back, admiring what he saw. His eyes wandered the curves of her figure.

This has to be a dream.

"I love what I see," he told her with a smoldering voice. "Now get comfortable for me. I'll tend to your needs."