Selfish Love [18 + Mature]

Chapter Two -- Maxime

Chapter Two

Since leaving Ludlow Industry Tower my heart pounded in my chest and my hands trembled. I'd never been simultaneously aroused and terrified before. Sadie was nothing like the magazines described her. Being in her presence was mind-blowing. I was still coming to terms with everything as I walked up the brick path to the tiny apartment I shared with my best friend—the one who got me into this mess. I didn't even get to the door before it was thrown open by Steve who might have had more than a little crush on Sadie—as in he had the Vanity Fair article where she posed in lingerie hanging on his bedroom wall like a pinup.

"So? How did it go? Did she answer everything?" Steve fired off as he stood in the doorway, I ducked under his arm and walked to the kitchen. He turned, looking more like a child than the six-foot-three ex-football player he was.

"It went and she's definitely something. Her presence is blinding, and at the same time, she's like an eclipse mythical and all-consuming. You want to stare and memorize every last bit of her, but you know you can't." I tried my best to put how I felt into words, I didn't expect Steve to understand. He didn't appreciate it when I waxed poetic.

"I can't deal with you like this. When you snap out of lit mode, I want the down and dirty. Did you catch what color bra she was wearing?" He smirked slyly the corner of his lips quirking up deviously.

I jerked at the question and for some reason, my skin burned. "She's a person you know." Irritation tinged my voice, there was no hiding it and I didn't try to. I didn't know why I was, but I felt like I had to defend her. She didn't deserve him leering after her. Sadie Collier was like some unattainable goddess being lusted after by a troglodyte and I couldn't let it stand. As per usual, Steve brushed my ire off with laughter.

"Yeah, a fucking hot person, with big ol' tiddies and a smackable ass. C'mon man, I know you're straight. At least admit she's a fuckin' snack." With his hands, he traced an outline of an exaggerated hourglass, and it did bring to mind Sadie's body poured into that tight black dress. The memory brought back the scent of her expensive perfume and I found myself fighting a poorly timed erection.

"Sorry, I'm still in lit mode and you're in asshole mode. Maybe we should talk again when we're both ready to be humans." I yanked open the cupboard door and took out a pack of ramen.

"C'mon, dude. Just admit it."

"If you had spent an hour with her in that office at the top of that gargantuan monolith of glass you wouldn't be acting like this—"

"No, because I'd still be there giving her the D and making her scream my name." Steve laughed and started humping the door frame. I smiled a bit as instead of making ramen I started making a sandwich; turkey, ranch, and bacon.

Grad school was a nice change from the endless ramen of undergrad, both of us had decent jobs but they were about to get better. In two weeks, I'd no longer work the mailroom at Lomond & Lindholm Press but become assistant to the head editor. As I glanced up at Steve, I allowed myself to muse over if Sadie seemed the type who would fall into bed so easily. The answer was no. She'd shoot him down so fast his head would spin.

"Dude, she's not on our level. Sitting across from her you can feel her assessing you like you're on offer or at auction. Oh, and thanks for writing that Aidan Emery question."

Steve stopped and laughed more. "Holy shit, you actually asked that?"

"It said ask everything!" Blush scalded my face.

"I didn't think you would. What did she say? Is Aidan her Daddy?" Again, the way he said it made me twisted inside and inexplicably angry.

"No. She said he's her mentor, which is what any sane person would deduce from them being photographed together. So, thanks again for embarrassing me." I gave him a thumbs up and he leaned against the door.