612 Friends With Benefit
Candace had hoped she would be able to leave without running into Matt since Sonia had said he was at the Den with Bryan, but now that she had seen him, she flashed him a smile.
"Hey, Matt! We run into each other yet again," she said in a cheerful tone that rang false even to her.
"Yeah. What a coincidence," Matt said as he remained where he stood staring at the one woman who was driving him crazy.
"Where is Bryan?" Sonia cut in, looking at Matt curiously.
"He went to the bedroom to change into his swimming trunk. Said he wanted to go to the pool after seeing me off," Matt explained without taking his gaze off Candace who stood rooted to the same spot she had been when she caught sight of him.
"Oh, you're leaving already? So is Candace. I should probably go change into my swimming trunk too so I can join him. Excuse me," Sonia said as she quickly turned around and returned upstairs, leaving them alone.
Candace shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to do or say, considering the way Matt was staring at her as though he had something to say.
"So, how are you?" She asked with a bright smile.
"I'm alright. Are you going to Harry's right now?" Matt asked as he dipped his hands in his pocket.
"Yeah," she said with a nod.
"Did you drive?" Matt asked, and she shook her head, wondering why he was asking.
"No. Thanks for reminding me. I need to order a ride...."
"You don't have to. I could give you a lift. I want to see Jamal," Matt added when he observed the confusion on her face.
"Oh!"
"Yeah. So?" He asked, and she flashed him a smile.
"Sure. Why not? It's not a big deal. Just two old friends sharing a ride to..." She let the rest of her words trail off when it occurred to her that she was blabbering.
If sitting in an open cafe together for less than ten minutes hadn't been awkward enough, she was certain sharing a car with him for over twenty minutes would drive her crazy.
If Matt had noticed her blabber, he showed no sign of it as he remained where he stood, staring at her as though he was trying to figure out something.
"Jamal will be really thrilled to see you," Candace said, and this time Matt smiled.
"As I am to see him," Matt said, and Candace nodded stiffly.
"I came to see Jade," she explained when they both remained where they stood in awkward silence, waiting for Sonia and Bryan to join them.
"I figured," Matt said, and Candace nodded.
"There is no reason for things to be so awkward between us, you know? I mean, we might be running into each other a lot more often," Matt said, and Candace flashed him a smile.
"Yeah. Sure."
A couple of minutes later, Sonia and Bryan stood outside dressed in their swimming trunks as they waved at Matt's retreating car.
"I can't believe they ran into each other while trying to get away before the other," Sonia said with a giggle.
"That's probably going to be the most awkward drive of their lives," Bryan said with a chuckle as he pulled Sonia with him to the poolside.
Inside the car, neither Candace nor Matt said a word to each other as he drove, despite their agreement to not be awkward.
Candace made sure her face was turned to her window, and she did her best to focus on everything they drove past so she wouldn't have to think about the fact that she was alone in a car with Matt.
"Why are you so uncomfortable?" Matt asked breaking the silence in the car.
Candace snapped her head in his direction as she turned to look at him, "I'm not," she said defensively.
"You are. Your whole body is turned away from me and pressed against the door," Matt said jerking his beard towards the empty space on her seat, and she adjusted.
"I was just enjoying the scenery," Candace said as she turned back to look at the window.
"Really? I find it funny that you are so uncomfortable," Matt said, but Candace said nothing.
She already said she wasn't uncomfortable, and if he was insisting she was, she had nothing else to say to him. All she wanted was for them to arrive at Harry's as soon as possible.
"What can I get him?" Matt asked, and Candace turned to look at him in confusion.
"Who? What?"
"Jamal. I can't possibly show up empty handed. I would like to get him something. What do you think he will like?" Matt asked, and Candace shook her head.
"You don't have to...."
"I do. You and I may not exactly get along with each other, but Jamal and I are cool...."
"I do get along with you. What do you mean?" She asked with a slight frown.
"Really? There is no need for the pretense, Candace...."
"There is no pretense. We are cool. We had great sex. We moved on. You are meeting other ladies again. Everything is great," Candace said with a careless shrug.
"I am meeting other ladies again? What does that mean? What does it have to do with this?" Matt asked irritably.
"I'm just saying, you are alright——what? Why did you stop?" Candace asked when Matt abruptly pulled over by the roadside.
"I'm alright? What do you term alright, Candace?" Matt asked, unable to contain his annoyance.
"I may have hurt your feelings, but you already got the closure you needed and you have moved on
——"
"Moved on? Who are you to determine whether or not I'm alright or have moved on? I spent last night conjuring thoughts of you just to get a hard on to fuck someone I've never had a problem fucking in the past, and while she was riding me all I was thinking about was you. Can you tell me what part of that says I've moved on?" Matt snapped at her.
Candace blinked, taken aback by his blunt honesty, "Oh! Wow!"
"Oh? wow? Oh, wow!?" He asked angrily.
Candace swallowed, "I don't know what you expect me to say."
"It's easy for you to sit there and say whatever you like however you like, isn't it? How dare you say we had sex and moved on as though that was all there was between us? We spent several months chatting and talking over the phone before we ever met! Before we ever had sex! So, how can you keep implying it was just sex?" Matt asked, and Candace took a deep breath.
"Alright. I'm sorry. I never meant to offend you——"
"What about you? Are you alright? Have you moved on?" Matt asked without letting her finish.
"Matt..."
"Have you?" He asked before she could protest.
"I'm alright. And yes. I've moved on," Candace said without meeting his gaze.
"Really? So, who are you seeing now?" Matt asked, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"I can move on without needing to see anyone, can't I? Now, can we just drop the subject and go?" Candace asked wearily.
"Why? It's okay for you to know about all that is going on in my life and who I'm seeing or not, but I can't know about you?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"I never asked to know anything about your life. In case you did not notice, the Hanks have a Candace said, and Matt nodded.
17:08
problem with minding their business and keeping their opinions to themselves," Candace said while Matt continued to stare at her.
"What you said on the staircase earlier means there's still a chance of things working out between us, right?" Matt asked with a raised brow.
"What did I say?" Candace asked, completely at a loss.
"What you told Sonia about the possibility of things happening between us only if we both want it," Matt said, and Candace's heart skipped a beat.
She swallowed, "I only said that so that she would stop trying so hard to hook us up together," Candace said, and Matt nodded.
"I see. Are you certain you are over me and have no more feelings whatsoever for me?" He asked again, and Candace bobbed her head as she drew in a shaky breath.
"Sure," she said as she turned away from him again.
"Damn it, Candace!"
Candace jolted when Matt suddenly grabbed her chin and turned her face to him, and before she could ask what he was doing, he crushed his lips to hers, and tossed them back to that night not so long ago when they had devoured each other on the bed in Bryan's guest room.
At first Candace was shocked by the kiss, but before she could will herself not to react, she was already kissing him back.
Matt's lips tasted of both anger and hunger and as he kissed her, his frustration at her poured into her.
She felt a tingle skim along her spine. And longing like a flame she'd never been able to put out shot through her. She hated herself for it, yet that did not stop her burying her fingers in his hair and kissing him for all she was worth.
She would think about the rightness or wrongness of her action later, but for now all she wanted was to feel. To feel him.
Later she would come up with a good excuse to explain why she was doing something contrary to everything she had told herself just the previous day.
Later she could assure herself that the only reason she had given in to this longing was because she was lonely and because Matt was the only other man apart from Jero who had ever touched her. But for now....
Candace moaned softly as Matt fondled her boobs, and without thinking her hands moved from his hair to his groin, eliciting a groan from him as she rubbed the his erection.
At first he had kissed her only to see how she would react to it so he would know if there was still any attraction on her part, but the moment she returned his kiss, he forgot everything else.
"Your body always betrays your lies," he whispered against her lips as his hand moved from her boobs down to the waistband of her trousers, and he unbuttoned and unzipped it effortlessly with one hand and slipped his hands into her panties between her legs.
"You're wet for me," Matt said in a husky voice as his lips move to her neck and he planted soft kisses down to her chest.
Candace's breath came out in gasps as his middle finger thrust in and out of her while his thumb played with her clits, as his lips continued to do their wonders.
"Matt, please," she moaned loudly as she felt herself teetering on the edge of an intense orgasm.
"Do you want me to stop?" Matt asked as he continued to finger fuck her.
"Yes. No. I want you," Candace cried, certain that if he stopped now she was going to die.
Matt stopped moving his fingers, but they remained where they were, "Then say it, Candace. Tell me you want me as desperately as I want you," Matt said looking into her face.
"Say it," he ordered her as he brushed his thumb over her clit to remind her of what she was depriving herself.
Candace swallowed a moan, "I want you desperately," she said in a voice that didn't sound anything like hers, but that was all Matt needed to hear.
He crushed his lips to hers once again, and finger fucked her until the only sound in the car was that of Candace's muffled cries of pleasure.
"Cum for me," Matt said as he felt her legs tremble and her insides clench and unclench.
Matt didn't stop until he felt her body relax, and then he pulled away from her, while Candace looked away from him, feeling embarrassed.
Matt said nothing as he took a tissue from the tissue box in the car and handed some to Candace for her to clean up, and then took some with him as he stepped out of the car to give her room to clean up and organize her clothes.
Despite how stiff his erection felt at that moment, Matt felt very pleased with himself as he wiped her juice off his fingers. This wasn't about satisfying himself. It was about proving to her that she wanted him, and proving to himself that he wasn't just pining away for someone who didn't want him.
Candace tapped on the window when she was done to let him know he could come back, and Matt took a deep breath as he got back in.
"Matt..."
"You still want me, Candace. You can deny it all you want but your body says otherwise," Matt said quietly.
"Physical attraction has never been an issue between us," Candace pointed out.
"So, what is the issue this time? First you said Jero was dangerous and you were scared he would hurt me. Now Jero is out of te picture. Next you said I was a celebrity and being with me might expose you and what you do. Now you are related to Harry Jonas and connected with the Hanks. They're equally celebrities. Will you cut them off too?" Matt asked, and Candace took a deep breath.
"I still have a lot going on with me and I need to figure out stuff and make something meaningful and worthwhile out of my life," Candace said, and Matt nodded.
"And you can't do that with me by your side?" Matt asked, and shook her head.
"Matt..."
"I'm not asking you to marry me, Candace. I'm only asking you to be my girlfriend," Matt said reasonably.
"I'm sorry...."
"Okay. I get it. You don't want emotional entanglements. How about we be friends with benefits? It makes it easier for us both. No more awkwardness. No commitments if you don't want it. And the best part, no one has to know anything is going on between us. Especially not the Hanks. It will be just two friends who are sexually attracted to each other having great discreet sex together," Matt offered, and Candace looked at him with a slight frown.
"You don't have to give me an answer right now. Just think about it. I have only one more rejection from you left in me. If you insist you don't want anything, this is the last time I will ask," Matt said as he started the car.
Candace's heart raced, and she folded both hands on her thighs as she looked straight ahead of her, wondering what she had just done, and trying to make sense of his offer.
"So, you haven't answered my question. What can I get Jamal?" Matt asked, acting like nothing had happened between them and he had not just asked the woman he knew he was in love with to be his fuckbuddy.
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freew𝒆(b)novel.c(o)m Only