I head around the corner and up the front steps of City Hall. I realize that I am excited to see Nora. That’s not new, but it’s starting to become a habit now and I wonder how I should really be feeling about that.
We are going to sleep together. I know she keeps saying we’re not and she has good reasons for it. Which means I’m always going to be prepared to stop if she says that’s what she wants. But last night was hot as hell and I just want more.
I want to givehermore. That’s different.
I love when the women I’m with have a good time. That’s always been true. But I don’t think I’ve ever been as consumed by making a woman lose her mind as I was Nora.
She gives so much of herself all the time. She’s constantly thinking about other people and how to make them happy. Taking her out of that headspace and making her fully focus on her own pleasure, on whatshewanted and needed, was the most delightful challenge.
And fuck, the satisfaction I felt after meeting that challenge was incredible.
I’ve felt a lot of satisfaction in my life. Lots of scores, lots of wins, lots of accolades. But damn, I could easily become obsessed with making Nora Delaune be completely in a moment with me, and be all abouther.
Which is probably why when I find the Parks and Rec department dark and empty— but the door unlocked, of course—I am stupidly disappointed.
I know that most of Nora’s job happens outside of this office so I shouldn’t be surprised, but I had hoped to surprise her with her favorite coffee. And steal a kiss.
That’s going to be impossible to do once you’re back in Portland.
Yeah, yeah, this is short term. Still I’ve got seven months of Nora kisses and smiles and orgasms and, yes, fun craziness.
At least I can leave a sticky note. I don’t even attempt to find a blank piece of paper or pen in Nora’s office. The stacked boxes and piles of “work” still give me a little clench of anxiety when I look at it, but that spot on her desk where she braced her hands while I fingered her is perfect. It’s right beside the strangest lamp I’ve ever seen, but it’s so Nora and this town that I smile looking at it.
And maybe get a little hard.
Shaking my head, I pull a bright pink sticky note off the top of the perfectly organized stack on Sutton’s desk and borrow one of the pens that Nora and I accidentally sent tumbling to the floor last night.
Thinking of you.
I refrain from mentioning where I’d like to put cherry cold foam onherand sign it simply-A. If I wasn’t leaving it on Sutton’s desk, I’d be flirtier and dirtier. But I can’t leave the cup on Nora’s desk. She might not find it until sometime in March.
I stick the note to Sutton’s desk, and set Nora’s drink on top of it. I place Sutton’s drink beside it and leave the office before I decide to do something stupid like just wait for Nora to get back.
That could be anywhere from five minutes to five hours from now. I don’t have a set schedule, which is still taking a lot of getting used to, but I can’t just sit around in Nora’s office. Instead, I head for the arena and the training room there. If we’re scrimmaging tonight, I don’t want to work out too hard, but I want to get at least a few sets on the weight machines and a short run done.
As I reach to pull the door to the training room open, it swings out and Thea Chabert steps out, chatting with a teenage boy.
“Oh, Alex. Hey,” she greets.
“Hi, Thea.”
“Alex, this is Ethan.”
I extend my hand. “Hi, Ethan. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, hi.” He gives me a wide-eyed smile. “You too. Big fan.”
“Thanks.”
“We were just doing some workouts on the ice,” Thea says. “Ethan had an ACL surgery about ten months ago.”
Thea’s the town’s physical therapist, which in my experience and opinion means that no matter how sweet she seems, she’s a hardass underneath. “I know way too much about that and the rehab. Sorry, man.”
“Thanks. It’s sucked.”
“Yeah,” I agree. There’s not much else to say. If he’s that far out from surgery and into his rehab, there’s nothing I can really say to encourage him. I’m only a little ahead of him and it still sucks.
“I’m coming to the scrimmage tonight,” Ethan says, brightening.
