Never Too Late to Play: Layovers 3

Okay, we're back! And with a couple of chapters for you. I was going to publish just chapter 4, but then thought it was too much to leave it there. You've all been waiting so patiently, so I wanted to close out this one leg of the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Stephen knew that the best course now was to give her space. He’d coached Garrett’s soccer team years ago, and knew that by the time the game game began, all he could really do was watch and hope they remembered their drills and plays. In a sense, these last few months had been getting Julianna ready to play. He just had to give her space.

That’s what the best course was. Was that what he actually did? Of course not, and he had a string of unanswered texts to her on his own Kik account to prove it.

Relax and have fun.

Focus on tonight.

Your first meeting isnt until noon tomorrow. You have all night.

I’ve taken care of everything at home.

Took out teh trash and recycling.

Folded and put away all teh extra clothes we didn’t select.

Tonight’s going to be amazing!

But no pressure. If it doesn’t work, there are so many other guys in line.

You can be choosy. You are not obligated to stay if you aren’t having fun.

And remember, Cole’s probably as nervous as you are.

So, you may need to move things along yourself.

But no pressure.

Stephen winced as he read through all of those messages again. He didn’t normally mansplain anything, but this list was pretty bad. Even he could recognize that. You don’t say, “focus on tonight” and then immediately follow it up with tomorrow’s schedule. He would have laughed to himself except for the despair that he felt starting to creep in. Had he just sabotaged everything?

And yet, because she hadn’t responded to any of those messages, he wanted to write more. Her plane had landed. She’d texted him when she’d deboarded. He’d watched her GPS dot move through the airport, then in towards the city.

So she probably wasn’t checking Kik. That was understandable. It was still kind of a new thing, and she wasn’t in the habit of it. Or maybe she was annoyed with him for bombarding her with messages? Or maybe… maybe she just wasn’t going to go through with it tonight at all? It was all some kind of elaborate tease. Had she even met Anthony in Phoenix, or had she just taken an Uber to a coffee shop and back again?

Stewing in it all, Stephen considered sending a message to Anthony, whom he hadn’t reached out to since the birthday party. He resisted crossing that particular line, but he did send a text message to Julianna.

[Stephen]: I sent you a few messages on your Kik account. Check them whenever.

She’d just arrived at the hotel when the message went through, and he didn’t get a response for a torturous twenty minutes.

[Julianna]: Haha. So cute. I’m relaxed, but sounds like you’re not. Go have a drink, honey.

[Julianna]: That’s what I’m about to do.

[Julianna]: With another man.

Devil emoji.

Stephen’s gut tightened. His face was flush, his body too warm and his fingers clammy as he responded.

[Stephen]: Enjoy.

She didn’t respond, but marked the message with a heart emoji. The dot in her hotel room didn’t move for another thirty minutes, although that made sense. She was most likely getting ready, preparing for her date, slipping into the outfit that they’d ultimately settled on—the tight, black top, the short, black and white miniskirt, the black stay-up stockings, and lastly, the sky-high Christian Louboutin heels.

Julianna had been upset when he’d surprised her with that particular gift because she knew how expensive they were, but her anger didn’t prevent her from wearing the heels out on one of their dates—or from selecting them for the one she had tonight.

He sat at home, alone, watching that dot not move for so long that he began to worry that maybe she wasn’t going to go out for that drink after all. The paranoia was back. He wrote multiple messages asking her when she was going out—and promptly deleted them all. Instead, he went and fixed himself a drink as she’d suggested.

He did work up the courage to send the following text, though:

[Stephen]: Maybe send me a photo of yourself before you head out?

But by that point, she was already leaving the hotel. Stephen groaned in frustration at being locked out, but what else was there to do? It was late where he was, and he’d already ridden the emotional rollercoaster earlier that day, with Anthony and the coffee date. Was that really the same day?

Stephen raked his hand over his face. It was late. He felt like he’d been up for days at this point. His eyes and neck hurt from staring down at his phone. And still he watched, never taking his eyes from the screen for longer than a few minutes. 

She arrived at the rooftop bar, where they stayed for almost an hour. That was a good sign. It was even better when her dot moved next door, to the fancy restaurant. Still nothing from her, although he did get a quick Debauch message from Cole—“Heading to dinner. She’s so beautiful.”

It was completely inappropriate, yet was like a drop of water to a man lost in the desert. Stephen was instantly hard, and rejuvenated all over again.

Stephen just wished that Julianna had sent it. It wasn’t until today, with Anthony and then Cole, that he realized how much of an outsider he felt.

After another hour of watching that dot not move at the restaurant, Stephen couldn’t resist any longer. He brought up his phone again and started sending Julianna Kik messages.

Seems like it’s going well. So exciting.

When you get a chance , would love to hear how it is

I should sleep but am worried 

Sorry, that should have been wired!

Don’t drink too much. You want enough energy to have some fun.

It so late! Hope you had some coffee for desert

Dessert

Oh, you’re moving! Good luck!

The dinner had lasted another 45 minutes. That put her time with Cole at under three hours. Incredible. It was also crazy late where Stephen was, which meant that Julianna must be crazy tired, too, and yet it didn’t appear that she was headed back to her hotel. It appeared that she was going to that boutique one that Cole had booked!

Holy shit. It’s happening!

STEPHEN: Holy shit, it’s happening!

He couldn’t resist piling on to the long thread he’d created—which was still unread. He watched that dot like he could see them having sex. It didn’t move much, but when it shifted even a little, he imagined his wife riding another man, her naked body towering over him, covered in a sheen of sweat in the dim light of the hotel room.

Stephen pulled his dick out and started jerking off. He’d done well enough up to this point, but couldn’t stop now. He brought up other messages from before, from Cole—She seems so fun, I cannot wait to wine and dine your hot wife—to the few from Anthony—You’re okay that I made out with your sweet bride?—to others who were a lot more direct.

“Hey gorgeous, saw your pics and couldn't resist reaching out. Your tits look amazing in that lace bra. Bet they feel even better in my hands... or mouth.”

His cock swelled in his grip as he pumped it in his hand, staring at the screen, flicking through all the crazy shit that other guys had written—things that shouldn’t have gotten him going, but did.

“I wanna bend you over and fuck you so hard, make you scream my name while your husband listens from the other room.”

His heart throbbed along with his shaft.

“Damn girl, you're making me rock hard over here. I can only imagine how incredible you must look naked. Those curves, that smooth skin... I bet you taste as good as you look. When can I meet you in person and show you what a real man feels like? I promise I'll ruin you for anyone else.”

He stopped blinking, his eyes drying out as he read more and more, jacking himself faster and faster as he thought about all those men doing the same to photos of his sexy wife.

“Can't stop thinking about you riding my thick cock, those perfect tits bouncing as you moan my name. Wanna watch you cum all over me, then flip you over and take you from behind until you scream.”

Stephen saw it happening. He imagined Julianna riding some stranger’s cock—Cole’s at that very moment, perhaps—her body rising over him, sleek and rippling, her tits bouncing. She had her hands in her hair, raking them through her damp locks, her mouth parted and her nostrils flaring.

He beat himself faster, racing towards his inevitable, messy end. His left hand shook as he held it aloft, reading more of the threads—threads that he’d shamefully starred so that he could come back to again and again.

“Baby, I'm dying to see every inch of your sexy body. Run my hands over your soft skin, kiss my way down to your sweet pussy…”

“Fuck, you’re hot.”

“I want you to suck my dick.”

“I hope you keep that pretty pussy bald for me, baby. I wanna feel nothing but smooth skin when I ram my dick into you.”

She didn’t keep herself bald as that guy hoped, although Julianna did maintain a very sexy landing strip that Stephen himself had helped touch up just that morning, before her big trip. The thought of her shaving it off, though, for another man, was the final shove he needed.

“FUCK!” he cried out as he popped come all over his hand. His eyes were shut tight. His wife was getting railed hard. He could hear her cries. He could smell their lust.

And then it was gone, all the pressure, all the build-up that came with this trip, with those messages, with all the profound expectation, drained away as he emptied his balls.

What remained was doubt and anxiety and more than a little annoyance. Why hadn’t she responded?

Cleaning up, he checked the messages that he’d sent her. His last one still sat there, unrequited—Holy shit, it’s happening! And the dot was still at the hotel. Maybe she’d left her phone there? Maybe she was actually at her original hotel, miles away, asleep, and didn’t realize it?

Stephen actually called that first hotel, getting the front desk. “Hello, could you connect me to Julianna Clark please? She checked in today, and is in room 5121.”

“One moment, please.”

That moment felt like an eternity as the phone rang and rang. Stephen’s blood pressure rose the longer the rings lasted. Finally, it switched to voicemail. Had she slept through the call? No, impossible. She must actually be at the other hotel. Which meant she was fucking.

He went back to the thread of messages. Still no response.

STEPHEN: All okay?

No response. His gut quivered. Panic began to rise. What if everything wasn’t okay?

STEPHEN: I need to know that you’re okay?

No response again. He shifted over to the Find My… app. She was still there. Her dot hadn’t moved. She was with Cole. She was probably with Cole in his bed! But maybe she wasn’t? Why hadn’t she responded to any of his messages after all these hours? Surely she could have checked her phone at some point.

So he called her. He had to.

It rang.

And rang.

And went to voicemail.

He thought about calling that hotel, but had no idea what name Cole had checked in under. Probably not “Cole”, and even if he had, Stephen didn’t know the man’s last name. Why hadn’t he thought to ask the guy’s last name? In fact, he didn’t know much of anything about this guy, a fact that was becoming painfully, frighteningly obvious the more the minutes ticked by.

Without her responding to his messages, he felt the distance between them like one feels the silence after a song, lingering yet empty. When they’d discussed this before, he hadn’t pressured her to send him pics or keep in constant touch. He knew that Julianna had an aversion to photos at all—getting the ones for the profile had been a real sell—so getting action shots seemed crazy. Stephen hadn’t asked, because at the time, he thought that just the idea of her fucking another guy would be hot enough.

And yet now, it was so much harder to be completely outside of it all, knowing that he wasn’t witnessing something that he knew would be mind-blowingly erotic. It was so much harder than he could have imagined.

Stephen knew what he was about to do was a bad idea. He knew that he should have just let the night run its course and reap the rewards in the morning. He also knew that he wasn’t going to do that. Not as he stared at Julianna’s dot on the Find My iPhone app, or the “Play Sound” button just below it.

This was a bad idea.

He pressed it anyway, knowing that somewhere in LA, her phone was ringing bloody murder.

Too late to take that back now…

Chapter 5

“…so they really didn’t want to pull the trigger on this deal, right? We’d tried everything to entice, but they were so stubborn. And then it hits me, these guys were Texan. You’re following, right?”

Actually, she wasn’t. They were at the tail end of dinner. She’d consumed more than her normal share of drinks—two Cosmopolitans at the rooftop bar, a glass of red wine at dinner that never emptied.

“Tell me,” she said, prompting Cole to continue talking about himself. That’s how it had gone all evening long. At first, she thought that he was just nervous—and he was. She could tell by the awkward way he hugged her when they first met, or how he fidgeted with the drink menu at first.

But time and drinks had melted the nerves away, and what was left was still an awkward guy who defaulted to speaking too much about himself when the conversation lagged. Which is almost never did. Cole seemed intent on filling every moment of silence with something.

“Would either of you care for a dessert?” their server asked, mercifully saving her from having to hear more about these Texans and why they were so stubborn.

Cole glanced at the small dessert menu, then up at Julianna. She could almost read his mind as if he were speaking them aloud—I would like dessert, he was probably thinking as he stared at her. Or something like that.

“I actually think we’re all set here,” Julianna said. “Just the check please.”

“Right away.”

Cole wasn’t a bad looking guy. He didn’t quite match the photos of his profile, which were probably taken ten years ago, but his smile was still the same, as were his eyes. She’d been looking forward to meeting him for the past month. She really had. Even when she saw him waiting for her in the restaurant as she arrived, she fluttered at the thought that maybe this was going to be her first man.

But there was just no way now. She didn’t need an expert conversationalist, but she also wasn’t settling. If there was one thing that these past few months of awakening had taught her, it was that “Ana” didn’t settle.

“It was a lovely evening, Cole,” she said, trying to be light about what came next.

“Very. You’re even more amazing in person, Ana.”

Really? she thought. You barely even let me talk. “Oh, that’s kind of you.”

The last things that her husband had messaged her returned.

And remember, Cole’s probably as nervous as you are. So, you may need to move things along yourself.

She almost laughed to herself. Cole saw the smile and seemed to misinterpret it. He may have been nervous once, but he wasn’t anymore. If she’d wanted to, there wouldn’t have been much issue moving things along here.

“The check,” the server said, returning with a folded booklet. Julianna took it before Cole could, slipping her credit card in and handing it back. As she saw her name flash on the card—her real name—she realized that it could potentially be a problem in the future. Cole wasn’t paying any attention to it at all. His eyes were on her, his mind on what came next.

“So I was thinking…” he began, reaching across the table and taking her hands into his. He had nice hands, she had to admit, a little clammy from nerves, but large with nice, long fingers. He dragged his eyes up to meet hers, lingering for a moment in her cleavage.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, doing her best not to bruise this guy’s ego too much. She withdrew her hands and picked up her glass of water. “It’s getting late, and I’ve got meetings in the morning.”

Julianna felt bad, watching as she dashed his hopes against the table. But she’d already given this man three hours of her time—and many hours before—and it wasn’t going to go there.

He was graceful about it, at least, giving her a nod after a quick, deep breath. “Of course. Thank you for dinner. Oh, shoot, I was going to pay for it.”

Yes, that would have been gentlemanly of you, she thought. The server returned with the paid bill. “It’s no worries. Thanks for the company.”

He nodded. They rose, moved to the door together, hugged. He felt strong in her arms, although not quite as strong as Anthony

Anthony. Just thinking of that man’s name sent a thrill through her. If she’d been out with Anthony here in LA, they wouldn’t have remained at the restaurant for so long. That, she was certain. 

They got separate cabs. True to form, Cole took the first one, waving goodbye to her as it whisked him off to whatever five-star hotel he was staying at. She wondered if she’d hear from him again. She hoped that she wouldn’t.

The whole thing had her wired, though. Even the possibility that she might have slept with that man was thrilling, even if he ended up a dud. A taxi pulled up to the curb. She glanced at it, thought about her empty hotel room, and waved him off.

Turning, she strolled down the street, needing to walk, to clear her head. If only the circumstances had been reversed—if it was Cole she’d had coffee with on her layover, and Anthony at her final destination.

“You’re that easy, Ana?” she asked herself.

Spotting a bar attached to a small, boutique hotel, she decided to go in for one more drink before calling it a night.

Julianna glanced at her reflection in the glass doors that led into Bar 99, and she looked pretty amazing. Her skirt was shorter than what she normally wore, but she had the legs to pull it off. The four-inch Louboutins helped, although she was still a smidge annoyed with Stephen for making such a big purchase. Still, she appreciated the encouragement, and she did love the look—black with red soles. Up top, her blouse was tight, conforming to her breasts and offering up a nice view that Cole couldn’t take his eyes off of.

She sighed as she made her way to the bar. Cole. What a total dud.

“White wine, please,” she said as she settled in at the bar.

“Put it on my tab, Chris,” came a deep, accented voice beside her.

Julianna lifted her brows and turned to the man. He was a few years younger than her, handsome, tall, and dark skinned. “That’s quite forward of you,” she said.

“I was thinking I was being generous, no? But I can see how you might interpret my offer as forward.”

Julianna liked that she had to look up to meet his eyes, even in her four-inch heels. Here was a nice distraction from her disaster of a date.

“Why thank you for your generosity,” she said.

“A woman like you should never have to pay for her own drinks.” His accent was African, although she wasn’t sure where.

“I don’t know. That feels a little dated, don’t you think? I enjoy my independence.”

The man grinned. He had brilliant, white teeth. “You can pay for my drink next, if you would like.”

“My independence doesn’t depend on your dependence on me, but sure. If we make it to a second drink.” This was fun. This was more of what she had hoped for with Cole. Next to this guy, Cole seemed like such a potato.

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself,” he said. “Are you here alone?”

“Right now I am. You?”

“I’m not. I’m with you.”

Julianna snorted. “Does that normally work?”

“I don’t know. Is it working?”

“It’s not not working,” she admitted. “I’m here for work.”

“Okay.” Then, as he processed it, his eyes lit up. “Oh, for work, you say? Like… you’re working now?”

Julianna realized the implication, her face lighting up. She covered her mouth and shook her head. He thought she was a prostitute? “No, sorry, I mean, I’m here in LA on business. No, you know…”

“Okay, yes, good.” The man looked relieved. “I’m happy to buy you a drink, but I don’t typically buy… that sort of thing.”

“You don’t typically?” Julianna asked, raising a brow. With his dark complexion, she couldn’t tell whether he was blushing, but thought that maybe he was. She liked that she could make him blush. She wondered if she could make him moan.

Now she was blushing.

“I'm also here on business. I split my time between here and Ghana.”

“What do you do?”

And this time, as the man started to get into his business stories—albeit in that vague way that people use when meeting strangers in bars—she was actually interested. Unlike Cole. Maybe it was because she was wondering what it would be like to take him upstairs and get naked with him. She’d never been with a black man before, and never really considered it, but ever since Stephen had broached the hotwife fantasy, she’d started to consider all kinds of things.

Not that she was going to have a one-night-stand with a man that she’d just met, and who seemed determined not to even give her his name.

That wasn’t how she was going to pop her hotwife cherry, right?

Her heart buzzed. Maybe she would. Maybe, she’d skip the room all together, drag him into the bathroom, and fuck him on the sink, staring into his eyes through the mirror.

She buzzed even harder.

“I think your phone is…” The man pointed to her small purse, snapping her out of her daydreams.

“Oh, right.” She was so flushed, and judging by the way this man was staring at her, it was like he knew exactly what she was thinking. She reached into her purse and silenced the phone.

“Not important?” he asked.

“If it’s an emergency, he’ll call back.”

“He, huh? Do I ask?”

She bit her lip, holding her breath, considering what came next. Yes? No? I’m married? It doesn’t matter? What did she say to him?

“Last call,” the bartender said, wrapping his knuckles on the bar. “Close out the tab?”

The man looked at Julianna, raising his brows. This was it. Did she go? “I think—”

RAH! RAH! RAH!

They all jumped—Julianna, the black man, the bartender. It was like a fire alarm going off. Then, she realized that the fire alarm was coming from her purse!

The man she’d been flirting with smiled one last time at her. “Guess it was an emergency,” he said. “It was nice to meet you.” To the bartender, he said, “Charge it to my room.”

Julianna fumbled with her phone, silencing it as she drew the eyes of the remaining people in the bar. It was Stephen, of course, along with a missed call, missed texts, and a whole essay in her Kik account.

“Thanks for the drink,” she said to the guy. “I need to deal with this.”

“Of course.” He nodded. “Although now I kind of wish that you were… working tonight.” He winked at her, then left her alone.

Julianna didn’t know whether to thank her husband for bailing her out of that, or to kill him. She texted back:

I’m fine. Heading back to the hotel now.

Instead of replying, he called her, and when she heard the relief in his voice as he said, “You’re okay,” she did feel bad for him.

“I am. Sorry to worry you so much. I was just caught up in the moment.”

“Caught up how?”

She waved a taxi down and climbed in, giving the driver the address of her hotel.

“What’s going on?” Stephen asked, his voice small and distant through the phone.

“Getting a cab.”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, just me and the driver.”

There was a long silence in his end. Then: “You were out with Cole a long time.”

“He liked to talk.”

Stephen knew her well enough to read into her tone. She appreciated that now, after spending so much time with someone who couldn’t pick up on anything.

“Ah. So no fun stories?”

“Not with Cole, no. There will be no more stories involving that particular man.”

“He always seemed too eager,” Stephen admitted.

“He was nice enough. There just wasn’t any chemistry.”

“That’s too bad.”

“I did get a drink with a stranger though,” she said.

Julianna could almost see him perk up on the other end of the phone.

“Oh?”

Julianna realized that the cab driver could hear everything, and was, in fact, stealing glances at her in the rear view mirror. She blushed, but then realized that she’d never see him again.

“Was there… was there chemistry there?” Stephen asked. 

“Maybe. We’ll never know anymore because someone literally pulled the alarm on us.”

“Shit,” he cursed. “I’m sorry, I… I kind of panicked there.”

“You did.” She was still buzzed, not sure if she was ready to have this kind of serious conversation, but the alcohol helped her ask the question. “Do you still want me to do this, Stephen?”

“I do.”

“So why DEFCON 5?”

“Because… I don’t know.”

“Because maybe this is a mistake?” she offered.

“No. Definitely not that. I just… went to a weird place. And it was hard, not knowing what was going on.”

She understood that. “I’m sorry, you’re right.”

“Just… next time, maybe send me a few more texts?”

“So you want there to be a next time?” she asked. They arrived at her hotel. She paid the driver and got out as she waited for Stephen to respond.

“Yes, I do. If… if you do.”

“Not with Cole. But I’m starting to like the possibility of something happening. It was a fun night, once I got rid of Cole.”

“I’m sorry I messed that up,” Stephen said.

“I’m not. I think I want my first time to be special. I didn’t even know the guy’s name, and I don’t think he intended to share it.”

She swore that she heard Stephen whisper, That’s so hot. Instead, he said the more reasonable thing: “I think that’s a good idea. Any candidates on that list?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I do have a slightly longer layover in Phoenix heading home…”

“Yes. That,” Stephen said eagerly. Julianna laughed. “This time, I swear I won’t hit the panic button”

“And I’ll be better about keeping you in the loop.” She walked into the hotel lobby feeling simultaneously alive and exhausted. “I’m back at the hotel, honey, and I really need to get some sleep.”

“I love you, Julianna.”

“Love you too. Thanks for looking out for me.”

There was a brief pause before he added, “Looks like there are flights the next day out of Phoenix if you wanted to spend the night…”

“Good night, Stephen!”

He chuckled. “Night.”