Kitchen Affairs (23 page)

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

And with that, Drake bolted for the door. I tried to stop him by grabbing his arm, but he was too strong, he just kept going. After the door slammed, I knew I had just broken his heart.

I didn’t hear from Drake for the rest of the weekend. I knew what I had admitted to Drake sounded awful, but I needed to be honest with him.
And myself.
I needed to use this time to really think about what I was going to do. I was in love with Drake, but I had feelings for Travis as well.
What a fucking mess!

“Earth to Molly!” Travis waved his hand in front of me. I was completely unfocused. Travis and I returned to our friends only routine but I couldn’t get what happened with Drake out of my head.
Is Drake the one for me? What if I’m destined to be with Travis?
I was so conflicted.

“Sorry, my head is just a mess.”

“Wanna talk about it? Is it about what happened with us?”

“No and no. Sorry. Let’s get back to work.” I was hoping he’d drop it.

I was holding a large metal bowl of soup that had just chilled long enough to be put into the freezer. My head was still whirling around and without looking, ran right into Travis spilling the entire thing all over him.

“OH MY GOD!!!!” I shrieked. “Travis, I am so sorry!” I backed away as I saw soup drip down his body.

Travis smirked, as he wasn’t really surprised by my clumsiness. “It’s alright, Molly. Just get me another chef’s coat would you please?”

I turned around placing the bowl down and ran to the storage closet. I turned around just in time to see Travis pulling his coat and t-shirt off.
Holy shit.
Travis was covered in tattoos.
Fucking sexy.
He continued to wipe himself off with towels as I stood there like a moron staring.

“Molly? Can I have that please?” Travis finally asked, as I hadn’t moved yet.

“Oh of course, yeah, here.” I threw the clean coat at him. “Do you want an apron too?”

“That depends. Are you going to keep spilling food on me?” he teased.

I glared at him. “I really am sorry, Travis. I should’ve been looking where I was going.”

“Never a dull moment with you, sweetheart,” he smiled at me totally making fun of me. I shivered as he called me that.
God this was confusing.

“I didn’t know you had tattoos,” I decided to finally say.
Wow… he looks amazing.

“Yeah, I made sure I got them in places I can cover. A tatted up chef isn’t really appealing to hiring managers.” He looked at my expression as I tried to see what they were. “You want to see them?”

I nodded without realizing it. He pointed to a few that were just designs and explained when he got them. There was one with his son’s name and date of birth on his upper arm. He turned around so I could appreciate his back when I noticed it. I instantly held my breath.

“Molly? Everything okay?” he asked hesitantly as I drooled over him.

“You have an anchor tattoo,” I mumbled as I brushed my fingers over it.
No fucking way.

“Yeah, that one’s my favorite. It’s in memory of my grandmother. She practically raised me.” I could see the memories flashing through his mind as he talked about her.

“You like?” he asked as he saw my expression.

“I love it! I’ve been thinking about getting an anchor tattoo actually.”

“Well, if you ever want one, let me know. I have a buddy that does amazing work.”
Stop drooling Molly!

“Here, take this.” I handed him the apron. As much as I enjoyed drooling over his naked tattooed torso, I needed to stop staring. Not only was Travis good-looking, his muscles were wrapped in ink, which were extremely sexy.
And hot.

I managed to finish the rest of the day without spilling anything else or tripping over myself. The image of Travis’ anchor tattoo was embedded into my head all day. The image of his perfectly toned muscular body would not leave my mind.
Ugh, get out!!

Travis scooped me up and slammed my body against the counter of the internship kitchen. He pressed his mouth to mine and after hesitating, I allowed him in. Our mouths moved in perfect harmony as our hands explored one another’s bodies. Travis’ scent was intoxicating as I breathed him in. He had one hand in my hair and the other on my waist pulling me in closer as he stood in between my legs.

He pulled my shirt up and only breaking the kiss for a moment, ripped my shirt off. He wrapped his arms around me and unclasped my bra, releasing my breasts into his hands. I released a moan as his lips met my nipples, making them hard. I brushed my hands through his blonde locks and tilted back giving him access to me.

When he reached back up for my lips, I quickly unbuttoned his shirt eager to touch his skin and massage my fingers over his tattoos. I reached for his pants next, eager to grab him.

“Travis…” I moaned into his ear as he undid my pants pulling them down my legs and off of me completely.
Thank god, I wore my lacy underwear today.
“Please,” I moaned again. I needed him, wanted him right now.

“Hang in there, sweetheart,” he teased. “I need to see you first.”

He lowered his body in between my thighs and kissed me tenderly up and around me. Suddenly he inserted two fingers and then his mouth. I moaned in pleasure wanting him to take me even more.

“Oh god, Travis… please, more,” I begged. He didn’t stop until I climaxed and before I could recover, he slammed into me taking me by surprise. I arched back, grasping for something to hold onto. “Oh god, yes!”

The immediate pleasure I felt was overwhelming. I was exploding over and over again. He lifted me up off the counter and lowered me down to the floor still hard inside me. He lifted one of my legs up and continued to thrust inside me making me quiver each time.

He kissed me tenderly when we finished and we lied there trying to even our breathing. I smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.

“I love you, Molly,” he said sincerely as we lied there.

 
<><><><><><><><><><>

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

“Molly, turn your alarm off!” There was loud pounding at my door. “Molly, wake up! You’re going to be late!” Michael screamed from outside the door.

I turned around and saw that my alarm had been going off for twenty minutes.
Oh my god, I had a sex dream about Travis.

I rolled over and slammed my alarm off. That dream felt so real. And worse, it felt natural. How could I face Travis today knowing what I had just dreamt about? I shook it off and got ready for the day.

“Morning sunshine,” Travis joked as I entered the kitchen. I didn’t have time to shower, so I threw my hair up in a messy bun and put some mascara on. I probably looked like a wreck.

“Morning. Don’t laugh at me,” I teased back.

“I’m not laughing. You look cute in the just rolled-out-bed look,” he laughed.

I
glared at him and rolled my eyes at him. “So what are we working on today?” I tried to push the image of his naked body on top of me away, but it was a struggle.
Constant struggle
.

Drake still hadn’t contacted me and I was beginning to worry. I didn’t know if I should call him or stop in at his office. I was scared that he would break up with me. I needed to get Travis out of my head and allow Drake in, fully and completely.

The day went by quickly with Travis’ jokes and banter at how clumsy I was. He tried to talk me into going back out with him and his friends this weekend, but I politely rejected considering what happened the last time.

I decided I needed to see Drake. I wasn’t waiting around anymore, so after class I went up to his office. His receptionist didn’t greet me like usual and there was barely anyone around.

I decided to knock on his door instead of just walk in. After a few moments, I knocked again.
What the hell?
Finally, someone came and answered the door. However, it wasn’t Drake.

“Hello,” a friendly female voice greeted me.
Who the hell is this? In Drake’s office?
She was at least six inches taller than me with blonde beach wavy hair and was extremely lean. As she was standing there, she licked her lips seductively as if she had just eaten something.

“I’m looking for Drake. Is he in here?” I asked politely through clenched teeth.

“I’m sorry, you just missed him. He left fifteen minutes ago.” She smiled as she could see I was distraught.

“Do you know where he went?” I asked hoping to get some answers out of her.

“No, sorry.” She held the door closer to her not allowing me to look inside. I faked a smile and walked away. My stomach turned at the thought of another woman in his office. I was sick. I couldn’t believe this. Is this what I made Drake feel when I told him I didn’t know if I had feelings for Travis. I shook my head in disgust at the thought of it.
I have to find Drake!

I decided to call him on my way home, eager to hear his voice. He didn’t answer so I decided to leave a message begging him to call me back. I haven’t spoken or seen him since Saturday night and it was killing me.
Why won’t he talk to me?

I came home and snuggled up with Stella on the loveseat. I could feel my heart breaking the longer it went without hearing from him. The ball was now in his court, I called him first. Now I needed to hear from him.

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks. I was miserable. Sick. It’d been three weeks since I left Drake a message to call me.
Why wasn’t he calling me back? Was he that upset?
I cried myself to sleep almost every night cuddling up to Stella. Finally, Michael made me get out of bed.  

“Get up, now, Molly! It’s the third Saturday in a row you’ve spent wallowing in bed. Break ups are hard, but the pain will subside.” He tried to sound soothing.

“We didn’t break up!” I corrected. “We’re just taking a break.”

“Oh honey, you’re delusional if you think that. He hasn’t spoken to you in weeks. He’s a coward leaving you hanging,” he said seriously.
Ouch, that fucking hurts.

“Really? It’s over?” I cried.

“I’m afraid so.” He rubbed my head as I dug into his chest. I sobbed uncontrollably at hearing those words. Michael was probably right.

“I fucked up, Michael. I hate myself for doing so. How do I get him back? Help me get him back!” I begged through tears.

“Honey, I don’t know. You just have to allow yourself to heal. Things will get better and you will move on. I’ll be here for you, okay? But right now, you need to get up and shower. We’re going out.” He pulled me up and slapped me on the ass pushing me out the door.

The last three weeks have been absolute hell. I called Drake three more times after my first message and still haven’t heard a thing.
It was really over.
I cried in the shower releasing the last few weeks of stress and hurt. Travis and I continued our typical days at our internship and strictly stayed friends. I didn’t even tell him about Drake because I was still holding onto hope that we would work things out.

Travis started talking about a new girl he met last week. I tried to act happy for him but all I could feel was pain. I was numb. I didn’t feel anything. When I was in the kitchen, I pushed all my focus on the project at hand, but after the day was over, I was a complete mess.

Travis found me in the cooler twice trying to recover from a panic attack. I told him it was nothing, but I knew he didn’t believe me. Just the feel of his touch had me going into convulsions.

“Molly, are you ready yet?” Michael yelled pulling me out of my daze.

“Yeah, I suppose,” I mumbled. I walked out in baggy sweats and a sweatshirt. I showered at least, but threw my hair up in a messy,
okay very messy,
bun.

“What the hell, Molly? You look like death,” Michael made sure to lay it on me.

“Well, that’s how I feel, so I guess it’s appropriate,” I grunted back.

“Mommy, are you sick?” Stella asked under her little lashes.

“If you count love sick, then yes.”

Michael dragged us to the Adler Planetarium where Stella had a blast looking at all the exhibits. Surprisingly, it put me in a good mood and I was able to have a great day with them.

The following day I started to get out of my funk and finally enjoyed a day off. Michael had kept a close eye on me to make sure I didn’t eat the entire gallon of ice cream. I needed to find a way to make it up to Drake.

By Monday, I was smiling so big I couldn’t contain myself. I was planning to go right into Drake’s office and seduce him until he couldn’t be away from me any longer.
Totally going to work.

“Hey Trav! How was your weekend?” I smiled as I stood next to him putting my apron on.