On His Knees by Tabatha Kiss
Chapter 5
Seth
Let her go.
If Jenna were going to forgive me, she would have.
I repeat Drew’s advice in my thoughts as I stumble through the door of our fourth-floor apartment. As usual, maybe he has a point. Jenna is determined to keep this wedge between us and, honestly, part of me doesn’t blame her one bit. I was an asshole to her for a very long time. One or two apologies won’t make up for that.
Let her go.
I glance at the clock on the microwave as I wander into our kitchen. It’s nearing five now. Sunday morning. I don’t work today, so I might as well get re-drunk and pass out feeling sorry for myself.
I stop by the refrigerator in search of alcohol while kicking my shoes off. I’m not worried about picking those up for a while since it’s just going to be me, myself, and I here for the next week. Days of peace and quiet while my roommate and my little sister travel around Europe from hotel room to hotel room and I really do not need to dwell on those awkward thoughts right now.
Whatever. I’m over it. My best friend is in love with my sister and that’s fine.
I crack open a beer, quickly grabbing a second can from the refrigerator door before closing it.
Totally fine.
It’s been three years. Three years of them dating and whispering and stealing kisses when they think I’m not looking, but it’s fine.
And now, he’s going to be Mr. Little Black Book. Temporarily, sure, but that’s a lie. Opportunity just kind of has a way of falling into Drew Rose’s lap. First, it’s mentoring under a billionairess. Then it’s filling in for her while she’s gone. And then, after that, he’ll be put in charge of some department and, just like that, he’s even more Mr. Perfect than he already was.
And I’ll be left behind.
No more business partnership. No more opening the bar together. I’ll just be... that guy he used to room with in college.
I shuffle down the hall toward the bedrooms. I toss my clothes onto the floor as I strip them off and plop down onto my bed with a beer in one hand and another beer in the other. A stack of folders sits on my desk across the room, full of plans and drawings and other dreams that I might as well light on fire right now. Beside it, a drawing of me passed out on the beach by my dear sister, Heidi.
I raise my open can to it. That’s how they see me, I guess. Dumb, drunken Seth Newbury.
But at least I know he’ll never leave me.
“Delta Xi,”I murmur before chugging my beer.
* * *
“You and me,” I say. “Anytime. Anywhere. You won’t walk straight for a week.”
Jenna pauses, her eyes squinting slightly as she reacts to what I said. Hell, while I react to what I said.
Why the hell did I just say that?
She snorts. “Oh, please...”
“What’s the matter?” I take a single soft step closer to her, placing me an inch away from her cheek. “You afraid you’ll like it?”
Her face fills with blood. “Nope. Just wondering what I’ll do with the...” Her chest flutters and she goes quiet. She looks at me with those tiny doe eyes and I...
What the fuck am I doing?
And what’s that sound?
I lean forward, purposefully reaching around her and cupping her ass. She lets out a gasp, but says nothing as I lift her up and set her down on the counter. Her legs spread wide for me. I press our bodies together. Her chest heaves, highlighting the hard nipples just begging to be freed. My dick tents my jeans, hard and throbbing for release. I place a firm hand on her cheek, fingers curling back to take hold of her dirty strawberry blonde hair.
Still, Jenna says nothing. She breathes hard, fast. Her lips part, revealing the bright pink tongue hidden behind them.
I kiss her. I blink once and her clothing disappears. No dress, no skirt. Just two giant breasts trapped beneath a tight red bra.
“Seth,” she moans. “Take me.”
Beep, beep, beep, beep—
“I want you, Seth. Take me now.”
I unzip my pants, my cock throbbing painfully.
“HELLO?”
Beep, beep—
“HEY, KID!”
I cough. The air is thick and warm, making it hard to take a full breath. My nostrils burn. Water fills my eyes. An alarm chirps in my ears, echoing loudly throughout the apartment.
“WAKE UP, KID!”
I startle at the shape hovering at the foot of my bed. It’s a man draped in a dark cloak, a helmet of some sort, and... a scythe?
“Death?” I ask, far from awake.
The man steps forward, quickly bounding around to the side of my bed. I recoil in fear as my vision focuses between pounds of a hangover headache.
“Am I dead?” I ask aloud.
Nope. Not dead.
And that’s not a scythe. That’s a fire axe.
And he’s not wearing a dark cloak. That’s the uniform worn by the Chicago Fire Department.
Well, that explains the chirping sound. I guess the fire alarm works fine.
“CAN YOU WALK?”
I blink, my head throbbing. “What?” I ask.
“I SAID, CAN YOU WALK?”
“REYNOLDS, WHAT YOU GOT?”
Another firefighter approaches through my bedroom doorway.
He turns away from me. “COLLEGE KID, I THINK,” he shouts over the alarm. “LOOKS DRUNK.”
“PICK HIM UP. WE AIN’T GOT TIME FOR THIS. FLOOR’S ABOUT TO GO.”
Wait, what?
“Sorry, kid.” The man called Reynolds leans over and grabs me. “We gotta go.”
He lifts me up as if I weighed nothing at all. My stomach turns. I wrap my limp arms around his neck as he carries me out of the bedroom. We reach the living room, charging through a thick cloud of smoke that burns my eyes. I smother them in his shoulder, coughing and taking shallow breaths to combat the dense fog surrounding us.
It gets worse as we reach the stairs. There are even more firefighters here, but we don’t stop. Reynolds holds me tighter as we bound down the stairs and I stare in horror over his shoulder at the wall of fire blazing throughout the third floor.
My voice catches in my dry throat. “Holy shit!”
“Head down, kid, we’re almost out,” he says in my ear.
I do as he says, holding onto him for dear life.