Page 14 of No Take Backs
“Holy shit,” Josh mumbles when I finally feel him move off me. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
“Speak for yourself, sparky.” I lean back with my eyes closed, trying and failing to recover from the stars that still dance behind my lids. “I can believe it. I was there.”
He chuckles, lying down next to me. “I think I was there, too. Although, there at the end I felt like I wasn’t really in my body.”
“Nah.” I sigh deeply. “You were in my body, that’s for sure.”
“I can’t wait to do that again.” He gets up and goes to the bathroom for a minute, then comes back and turns off the light. “Do you want to go on an actual date with me next time?”
I keep my eyes shut and my breathing as normal as possible, not wanting to deal with the post-sex awkwardness. Especially since we haven’t had the ‘one-night only’ conversation that I had in my head when I thought about having fun with the cop.
Instead, I kiss him until he’s hard again, and his length presses against my slick opening.
“Again?”
We both nod, and his eyes are on mine until I’m pushed off the cliff of another orgasm, followed by a fifth or maybe tenth.
I lose count somewhere along the way, but he’s right there with me.
Panting.
Sweating.
Refusing to let the night end until we’re both exhausted and completely spent.
Josh pulls me into his side and under the blankets, neither of us saying anything. For a few brief moments, I enjoy the warmth that he offers. Until he falls asleep.
Once he is finally out, snoring softly into the pillow over my head, I slide out from under his arms and disentangle our legs.
Finding my clothes isn’t a problem, they are right at the foot of the bed. I have more trouble grabbing the rest of my stuff out of the closet.
Grabbing the pad of paper off the hotel desk, I write a note and slip out into the early morning light.
“Sorry, Josh.” Even though I know he can’t hear me, I still make the apology. “I don’t date cops.”
6
JOSH
Like Cinderella, she vanished into thin air, leaving me in a daze after a night of the most incredible, mind-blowing sex I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. But unlike the fairy tale, she didn’t leave behind a glass slipper or any other token that might help me find her again.
No phone number, no last name, not even a hint of where she might be going.
It’s like she stepped out of my life just as quickly as she entered it, leaving me with nothing but memories and an aching sense of loss. I’ve never felt so hollow after a one-night stand… if you could even call it that. This was something different, something that left an imprint on my soul, and yet she walked away like it was nothing, like I was nothing.
All I have is the haunting image of her icy-blond hair wrapped around my hand and the shock of her gray eyes widening and staring up at me while she took me in her mouth when I go to sleep at night. Every night, for the six months since I’ve had her, without fail. It doesn’t matter what I do to get rid of the image of her in my arms, there she is.
Smiling and laughing, reminding me that I had one taste of perfection before she walked out, leaving me with a note.
Thanks for the night, Josh. To answer your question, no. Sorry, I don’t date cops.
-N.
I must have read that note a hundred times, trying to decipher the tone behind the words. Was she apologetic? Cold? Regretful? The more I think about it, the more confused I get. There’s nothing in those few sentences to suggest she wanted anything more from me, but there’s also nothing to suggest she didn’t. She doesn’t even know that was my last night as a cop. And that one little initial as her signature is like a brand on my memory. A constant reminder that I had something real, even if just for a moment, and let it slip through my fingers.
How hard is it to find a woman named Nia? Her name isn’t common, and even without a last name, I should be able to find her on social media. Except it’s like she never existed in the first place.
Either that or she gave me a fake name, which is something else that has popped into my head when I think of her.