Sam's Mistake Ch. 02

***Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get chapter two out, sometimes (often) I let perfection be the enemy of progress. Thank you for your positive feedback!

~ Sam ~ Two weeks after office sex with Jake

Katie and Lucas declared their official dating status.

And while she wants to do nothing but Lucas, Maddy and I convince her to take a break from him by having dinner and drinks with us.

Sitting at the sushi restaurant, we all watch with great interest as Maddy pours sake into our cups. The simple action reminded me I have thought less about Jake recently. Until right now.

I should be thinking about how I ended the ambiguous mess of a relationship with that other guy. Wracked with guilt, I called him about an hour after ... Jake and I fucked each other senseless. I hadn't worked out what to expect, but the end turned out to be instantaneous closure.

Apparently, the guy who I thought was my boyfriend didn't consider us boyfriend/girlfriend. His words were "close friends with extra benefits." He didn't think he was doing "boyfriend things." When I asked him what "boyfriend things" were, he replied, "you know, romantic stuff."

After he said that, the picture became clear; he was not, nor had been, worth my time.

The whole ordeal was frustrating yet cleansing. He didn't understand why I wanted to end things and argued with me about my numerous reasons. I asked why he thought arguing how I felt would somehow change my mind. He replied, "because you're not making sense."

A heady mix of emotions swelled up after that remark, all of which confirmed my decision.

After about an hour and a half of his bullshit, I finally ended the conversation with, "fuck off, we're done." Not the most elegant ending, but little pickled face fuckboys like him need a swift kick in the ass more often.

I didn't mention how terrible he is in bed. Or how his lack of skill drove me so insane. I threw myself at a guy who sexually harassed me until it was no longer harassment.

And speaking of Jake, I hadn't talked to him since that last "interview." I wasn't even sure I could talk to him again anyway. The things I said, did, how loudly I moaned, and how I rewarded his asshole behavior by not only having sex but also coming.

Several times.

And I begged him to do it.

I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, no, I wasn't thinking. Thinking is a luxury when you are fucking a guy on his work desk. Especially when fucking on a work desk was not on your agenda for the day, week, or year.

All that, combined with the guilt, made avoiding him the easiest option. Albeit not the most appealing or preferred. I'd be lying if I said I didn't constantly fantasize about Jake fucking all the hostility out of me. Repeatedly.

I also hadn't mentioned anything to Katie or Maddy. Although they would probably be supportive and defend my actions, I wasn't sure my actions were worth defending.

After dinner, we decided Pulse, a nightclub/music venue, would offer the best entertainment for the night. Pulse is a fantastically strange place with the choicest people watching. On any given night, you'll encounter a varied and whimsical parade of humans.

Micheal Jackson impersonator who raps? Check.

A girl with glitter all over her body with a matching bra to her crushed velvet bell-bottoms? Yup.

A guy with a cape and prosthetics glued to his face? Sure.

Every day dude-bros who don't really fit in with the vibe? Guaranteed.

Mix that with eccentric, mismatched furnishings on the second-floor balcony, and it proved for a truly unique experience every single night.

We arrived early enough to score one of the funky couch/booth situations up top. The wobbly table sat around an oddly shaped half booth with a vintage couch right next to it. I note the mothballs hanging from the dimly lit lamp above us. How the 1970s floral design on the couch directly clashes against the rickracked pillows adorned with gold fringe. The whole setup went together because none of it really went together, which added up to a whimsical charm.

We chatted over drinks, our eyes following each patron as they wandered in fresh from the street. Although Katie and I were exceedingly more fascinated by our surroundings than Maddy, who appeared troubled by a turbulent text exchange.

"Do you care if Lucas joins us?" Katie asked with an awkward yet humorous look. Maddy and I shrugged in agreement. Lucas was chill and quite fun, might as well add some liveliness to the night. Plus, I didn't want to see the look of utter disappointment on Katie's if we said 'fuck no.'

I briefly considered Jake may have told Lucas about our indecent hookup. All I could do was hope to hell he kept his stupid, talented mouth shut. It did not cross my mind Lucas would bring along Jake. But lo and behold, there he and Lucas stood.

Lucas slid next to Katie, leaving his only seating option next to me. On a half booth thing that was so small, our knees could touch.

As Jake sat, I clenched every muscle and clamped my body shut, absolutely determined to prevent any bodily contact. I squeezed my legs so close together a nickel would leave an indent between my knees.

You know, the original form of birth control.

Sure, that hasn't panned out so well, as centuries of unplanned pregnancies show. But my confidence level soared with this plan.

Meanwhile, Jake had absolutely zero hesitation about plopping down next to me with a wide smile and a sigh. The entire display seemed to invite, and maybe even encourage, contact.

"Maddy, Sam. How are you tonight?" He asked like I didn't beg him to make me come a few weeks ago.

"Good," we both say. Maddy was generally the social, chatty one, but she continued to bust my balls with the perpetual texting.

"How is your research project going?" Jake asked after noting Maddy was fully checked out.

"Wonderful, thanks." I clipped, my eyes darting to either Katie or Maddy for help-- to no avail. How do I get myself out of this situation? Faking my own death seemed the most effective, but I didn't have the money to move.

As I ran through less extreme ideas, Katie and Lucas announced they were braving the line at the bar to get drinks. My insides lurched and curdled like milk in lemon juice. The packed line at the bar meant getting a drink would take ages. If I lost Maddy, that would leave Jake and me.

"Need anything, Sam?" Katie asked, not reading the fear on my face or the silent prayer for her to stay.

"No, not right now," I replied with a forced grin and a scrunched nose.

"Jake?" Lucas followed with a curious eyebrow raise.

"Tecate, and make sure they put lime in it, please," he shot back. As they turned to leave, my stomach dropped a bit further.

At least I still had Maddy, even if her phone monopolized her attention and probably wouldn't notice if Jake and I frantically made out like debauched teenagers.

"Maddy, who are you texting with?" I asked when Jake turned his head to look at me.

She looked up, eyes wide, while shaking her head. "Ah, sorry. I know I'm being rude," she held up her phone and gripped it until her knuckles turned white, "my mom is freaking out about this big ga-get together in a few weeks, and she's driving my sister insane. So I'm texting with both of them, and my mom writes huge paragraphs, and my sister responds right away." She rubbed her head and sat back with a big sigh. "I think I need some weed. Want to go out and smoke?" She eyed both of us.

Maddy knew I only did edibles. Maybe she was throwing me a lifeline? Maybe she read my silent beg to be rescued from this delectable slab of man.

"Oh wait, what am I saying? You hate smoking." she shook her head again, "Jake, you wanna get high with the cool kids?"

"No, I'm good with just-drinks tonight."

Sweet lord, were my friends letting me down. Why have we never discussed a signal for help in social situations? Why?

And with that, Maddy got up to leave. Jake and I remained. And not only that, but he also blocked my graceful exit. If I wanted to leave, I'd have to awkwardly scoot around to the other side or crawl underneath the table like a god damn animal.

"I haven't seen you around since our last interview." He smiled like the lofty bastard he is. I looked straight ahead while he looked at me, my body clenched tight, still desperately trying not to touch him by accident.

"Yeah, well, I think I got all I needed in that last one." Of course, I'm referring to the amount of information I got from our interview. Physically, I could use more. Much, much more.

Yet, my cheeks burned at the memory of the impulsive and slutty detour in our interview. I mean, I fucked another guy while kinda sorta being with another guy.

Jake represented a big ball of shame that I didn't - ok shouldn't- revisit. Any sexual stuff with him was like returning to the scene of the crime. Besides, he's still an annoying, arrogant prick.

So why, given all that, did I still want to throw my naked body on him like a blanket?

He cracked a grin and nodded. "Not to split hairs, but I thoroughly disagree."

I ran my tongue over my teeth. No more innuendo. We're cutting the bullshit.

I position my whole body to face him-- but still careful not to touch. "First off, that sentence doesn't make sense. Second, what the fuck?" I asked in a punchy tone. He lifted his eyebrows and gave me a look that feigned ignorance. "I thought you said you couldn't hook up with students. And then you aggressively come into me--" Immediately shutting my mouth when I caught the mistake, I cleared my throat and tried again. "I mean, onto me. Come. ONTO. Me. Whatever, you aggressively hit on me and, and..."

"Fuck you on my desk?" He added, looking quite satisfied with himself.

"Yes. Now you're coming onto me again. I don't get it. Did the rules change?"

"No." He said, the simple and brief answer only annoying me more.

"Then what? You broke the rules. Why?" I said turning this into an interrogation rather than a conversation

He shrugged. "You're hot, and I wanted to fuck you. Doesn't have to be more complicated than that." He paused for a moment, thinking about my question some more. "And when you said your boyfriend couldn't make you come, I kinda lost it."

"You were such an asshole. And I'm an idiot who rewarded your douchey Alpha charm." I shook my head and turned my body back to face the table, my back sinking into the booth cushion.

"Rewarded indeed. I don't know about the Alpha comment, though."

"Pffft," I clipped, "you taunting me, shamelessly checking out my body, being an antagonist shit. All alpha male behavior."

He nodded, looking playfully introspective. "Hmmmm, so you just gave me a road map to turning you on so much that we have hot animal sex in my office? Interesting," he said, returning to his playful, thoughtful look. Easing back, he stretched his arm out behind me, resting on the back of the booth. I snapped my head to look at him, only to see that same shit-eating grin.

"No, I didn't, and stop looking at me like that!"

"Whatever the lady wants," he shrugged before glancing down at my boobs then looking ahead.

I exhaled while we sat in silence, both looking at the dance floor.

Suddenly, he adjusted to face me. "Just out of curiosity, how many times did you come?"

"I'm too smart to answer that and feed your bloated ego," I answered with a furrowed brow.

"I know it's at least four."

I rolled my eyes and scooted away from him. "Cool."

Not phased by my body language, he leaned in. "Next time, I'll make you count out loud," he whispered, the timbre of his voice sending shivers through me.

"What if I can't count that high?" With a gasp, I slapped my hand over my mouth as soon as the words left my mouth. Again, that is something I would say around my friends. As a joke. Obviously, I didn't mean that.

He laughed while I silently hated how much I loved his voice.

Katie and Lucas returned with drinks and a water for me. I regret not asking for alcohol, which became the one thing I needed more than anything else since they'd left.

"I saw Maddy at the bar as we were going up. She'll be a few minutes, it looked like she was talking to someone she knew," Katie said as Lucas reached his arm behind her. The faintest smile crossed her mouth. They were god damn so cute, my limbs ached to punch something while my stomach retched.

Pushing that trampoline of emotions aside, I decided to try my hardest to keep Katie and Lucas at the table. And maybe ignore Jake in the process. I leaned in and started chatting with Lucas, laughing and joking.

But without missing a beat, Jake easily started a conversation with Katie. His whole demeanor almost masked this exchange as completely normal and average. If Katie and Lucas could see the tension between Jake and me, they played it off with stunning decorum.

"After these drinks, we should dance," Lucas suggested with a wide smile and a chin tilt towards the dancefloor.

That meant dancing with Jake, who would probably grind on me so hard my jeans would be left threadbare. The idea turned tempting, so naturally, I tightened every muscle in my body again and mentally scold myself.

"Not drunk enough to dance." I shook my head. "But I'll watch our stuff. You can't keep Maddy from dancing either, and someone has to stay."

"We can't leave you alone up here," Katie protested.

"Jake can keep her company." Lucas patted Katie's shoulder, and at that moment, I wondered if Jake told Lucas.

"Of course," Jake turned his head to me and smiled. I blinked and gave a strained smile. Katie was not one to dance in public. Drunk on wine in our apartment when listening to music? Sure. But never in public; something wasn't right. Either Lucas is an avid dancer, or they want an excuse to rub on each other.

Or they are both trying to get Jake and me alone.

All equally plausible.

Before I could find a reasonable explanation, Lucas and Katie were gone. Jake and I remained. Again.

"Sam, you can chill," Jake mused, "I won't touch you unless you ask."

"I am chill." I clipped while adjusting my body. Clenching every muscle proved exhausting. I settled on clamping the ones south of my navel. It seemed to be equally effective.

"No, you're not. When I reached for my phone in my back pocket, you jumped so high, I thought I'd be launched off this booth when you landed."

I exhaled again and threw up my hands. "Fine, you make me nervous. So what?" Holy fuck, I wanted some alcohol. Maybe I could steal his beer. Maybe I can text Maddy to get me something. There's hope.

He leaned in to whisper something. The breath on my ear was like being touched everywhere on my body. "Anything else that I make you do?"

I pressed my lips together, resenting how the blooming red on my cheeks grew. "Nope," I answered, then grabbed his beer and took a drink. He appeared entertained by the gesture.

Maybe alcohol will dull the shame I feel for wanting him.

I placed the beer can down in front of him, not even daring to make eye contact. He leaned in again, whispering in my ear.

"Why don't you want me to make you come again? Did you not like it? Was I bad at it? What if I promise to redeem myself?" I slammed my eyes shut and swallowed again.

"I hated it," I said without thinking--a total lie.

"Really?" His laugh brushed on my ear, and I swear to god, I could've ripped his clothes off right there. "Man, I must be terrible."

"Yup." Another lie. "Awful. Forgettable. Haven't thought about it since." Lie, lie, lie.

"What was one thing I did that you. Just. Fucking. Hated?" His mouth got closer but still not touching.

"All of it." I bit out. I needed another drink of his beer.

"Fuck. I should just stop then, shouldn't I? There's no hope for me." His lips brushed against my skin. My hand gripped into my thigh, turning my knuckles white.

"Yeah, do everyone a favor." His hand moved over my thigh, and I fucking melted. Jesus, I remembered those fingers curling inside me.

He pulled away in an instant, the absence like a burst of cold air.

"Sorry, got carried away," Jake said in a stern, composed voice, "I said I wouldn't touch you unless you asked." He cleared his throat and took a sip of his beer. "Sincerest apologies."

I bit back a smile. "Don't do it again," I warned.

"Loud and clear." He said between another sip. "Did you want something else to drink besides water?"

You. Your mouth.

"Staying sober tonight." I grabbed his beer and took another drink. Maybe if we laugh, our tension will be less... sexual.

"Good for you. Some people do stuff they wouldn't normally do when they're drunk, so that's very responsible of you." He took another drink of the puny 8oz can that was almost gone by now.

"Unfortunately, I don't need alcohol to do stupid things." I snapped, the underhanded comment stewing between us.

He smacked his lips. "Unfortunately for you, fortunately for me."

"Fortune favors the bold." I quipped, losing my ability to fling out some witty remark. Or carry on an interesting conversation that didn't revolve around getting naked.

"The snow is falling on the dog food." He took another drink, not that I counted or monitored such a thing.

"What, wait?" I scrunched my nose and shook my head.

He shrugged. "I thought we were just saying stupid shit until we make out again."

"We didn't really make out the first time." I countered.

"You're right. Let's remedy that." He turned and half-heartedly leaned in for a kiss. I pressed his chest away while looking at him with a disapproving look. Yet, I found those green eyes wild and searching in mine, something playful and magnetic. "I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy." He groaned while resuming his previous sitting distance.

"You wish I was that easy." I grabbed my phone and texted Maddy to buy me a drink.

"Nah, this is much more fun. You're hot and funny, and I'm into it." He set down the beer can, the emptiness sending a lick of panic.

"This is more fun than fucking?" I asked with an incredulous tone.

"Hmmm," he rubbed his chin, "it's been so long since I've had sex, guess I don't remember." He tapped a finger over his mouth.

I turned my head away to smile, determined not to let him chip away at me again.

But I still wondered: how long could I resist him? Would there be a breaking point? How much shame could I deal with?

Now composed, I prepped myself to say what been on my mind since we had sex. "Did you tell Lucas about our... interview?"

"Yeah, of course." He said with a level of self-assurance that sucked the air from my lungs.

"What?" I turned with a look of horror and a flint of rage. Was I some conquest he bragged about?

"Oh, you mean did I tell him we fucked." He smiled, looking at my mouth. "No, I didn't tell him about that. Should I?"

"No."

"We're on the same page. Simpatico." He met my eyes then looked down at my mouth again.

Eyeing him carefully, I contemplated why we found each other so captivating. Millions of tiny things came to mind, ones that I couldn't name or label. And all those unidentified pieces scared the shit out of me, so I pushed every feeling I had towards him away. "I wonder how many times I have to turn you down before you give up," I said after a few moments of studying each other.

"Give up?" He repeated in a mocking tone, "I won't give up. Not until I'm sure you have zero interest in me. And I'm quite certain I've still got your interest." His eyes licked across my skin until they settled for staring down my shirt.

"Something clearly has your interest." I turned, disrupting his view, and drank some water.

"You know, I don't regret one minute of that hot office sex, but it kills me I didn't even grab one of your tits. So, I suppose that would be a regret." He sighed. "That and I didn't get to taste your--" before he could finish, I smacked him in the stomach. He flinched but recovered in a flash. "Hey, if you wanna go somewhere and smack me around, I'm down." He rubbed his stomach and gave me a devilish grin. Somehow him touching himself while smiling at me seemed borderline vulgar.