I roll onto my side and take his face in my hands “I miss you, Cal.” My lips press to his again in a slow and sensual kiss.
He stands, pulls his trousers up, then holds his hand out for me, helping me up. My skirt bunches around my waist, allowing the cool air to dampen the wet heat between my legs.
“I need to clean myself up.”
“Here, let me.” Pulling out a tea towel from a drawer, Cal runs it under the hot tap, then gets back down on his knees to wipe the warm, sticky liquid from my inner thigh. “Steph, seeing my cum all over you is making me hard again.”
“Cal, as much as I would love to go again, I have to go.”
He continues to wash me, running the wet towel over my slick, swollen pink lips.
“Make sure you wash that on a 90 degree wash before drying your dishes with it again.”
He laughs, then stands and kisses me again. The rain has stopped, and the sun is now shining through the window. Everything seems lighter, most of all me. I’m weightless. The front door handle rattles and then a knock travels down the hall. I suck in a breath, wondering who it could be. My first thought is that it’s the slut who took photos of us. Is he still seeing her? My chest tightens, and I quickly pull my skirt down and collect my underwear from the floor.
Cal smiles. “It’s my kids. I forgot Priya said she was dropping them off.”
I let out a sigh of relief and scurry to the bathroom to sort myself out. When I return to the kitchen, Cal is still topless, but he has his trousers back on at least and Bethy in his arms. A woman with bobbed black hair and olive skin is talking to Cal, but stops when she sees me. I swallow, unsure of what to say or do, while my feet itch to retreat back into the bathroom.
“Priya, this is my friend Stephanie.”
Her kind smile reaches her light brown eyes, and I see her daughters in her face. “Hello Stephanie, nice to meet you,” she says in an Australian accent but she doesn’t look Australian, more of an Indian beauty, like a Bollywood actress. Of course, he would only date gorgeous women with model style features, making me question again what he sees in me.
“Hi, I’ve heard so much about you,” I say.
“Oh dear,” she says, smiling at Cal. “Whatever he’s told you about me is a lie. I’m actually a really nice person.”
“Fuck off,” Cal says. “I’ve said nothing bad about you.”
She smiles and raises her eyebrow as though she knows otherwise, and Cal laughs.
“So are you two…?” She waves a finger between the two of us.
“No, we’re just friends. I’m just leaving, actually.”
Cal looks at me with furrowed brows. “Not yet. Stay a while. I’ll order us some food, or cook something.” He lets Bethy go, and she skips into the living room, calling for her sister.
“I’ll leave you to it. Don’t forget Olivia’s dance performance tomorrow. And don’t forget the tickets for you and your mum.”
Cal rolls his eyes. “I won’t, 1pm, I got it. Tickets are in my wallet.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say.
“And you, bye.”
Cal sees her out, and I grab my purse and car keys. Following him into the hall, he closes the door after Priya and stands in front of it. “Don’t go yet, please.”
“I have to, Cal. Justin will wonder where I am.”
He runs his hands along my arms. “Each time you run back to him, a piece of me dies inside.”
I know that feeling. I know it all too well. Seeing Cal with someone else destroyed my soul. “Cal, you know why I can’t be with you.”
“I know.”
“I loved your journal.”
“I loved your book. Will I see you again?”