Following Me(16)

She stepped into the water, hissing as it touched her skin. The water felt like needles piercing through her skin wherever it touched her. It hurt. She couldn’t deny that it hurt, but the pain felt like home. And so, instead of turning down the heat, she succumbed to it.

Her hair soaked through as she finally edged her body back into the blistering water. Closing her eyes, she let the water slowly rake over her face, rush down her front, and pool at her feet. At least in here, she only felt the pain from the water. A pain she could endure.

Devon turned, facing the stream of water. She pressed her forehead against the cool ceramic shower wall, and she let the water flow down her back as rivulets from her wet hair ran over her chest. She sighed and allowed her mind to forget.

Her hand trailed down her front to the heat between her legs. She tentatively brushed her fingers up against herself, testing to see how sensitive the heated water made her. Her body jerked lightly at the touch…even more sensitive than she would have thought. It was a welcome touch. Her body hadn’t had any release in a long time…too long.

Devon bit her lip as she slid her finger across the wet surface, spreading and delving in. Her mind raced as her finger came out slick and ready. Her body tightened fractionally as she moved across the soft area, one digit slipping in and out teasingly.

Her breathing slowed, and her core pulsed as she thought about someone gripping her in all the right ways. Her mind traveled to a distant place, far away from the life she was living.

He grabbed both of her arms and pushed her onto the bed, spreading her legs wide for his enjoyment. She smiled up at him, waiting for him to take her. She wanted him. God, she wanted him. Her body heated as he slid his pants to the ground and pushed his way inside.

Devon came in a sputter as the memories and her fingers pushed her over the edge. Her knees weakened, and she hunched over in the shower, panting.

Chapter Six - Signature Room at the 95th

SOME HOURS LATER, Devon was standing at the base of the John Hancock Center, one of the tallest buildings in the world, in downtown Chicago. Looking straight up the glass structure made her stomach flip-flop. The wind was particularly vicious in the Windy City, and Devon was pretty sure the building was visibly swaying.

“You want me to go up there?” Devon asked Hadley and Garrett incredulously.

“It’ll be fun,” Hadley told her reassuringly.

Not that Devon had ever had a particular fear of heights, but tempting fate didn’t seem like fun by any stretch of the imagination. Her face must have shown her disbelief because Hadley wound her arm around Devon’s, pulling her toward the entrance.

“Come on, Dev,” Garrett said, taking the lead. “You’ll like the bar, and you can’t even tell it’s swaying when you’re up there.”

Devon’s face paled.

“Garrett!” Hadley said, swatting at him.

He chuckled and ducked away from her.

“I want you to have a good time, and you’ve never been here. I mean, when are you going to be in Chicago again?” Hadley asked her.

Devon bit her lip and diverted her eyes, avoiding the question. She still needed to figure out how to have that conversation with Hadley.

“Plus, I’ve been working so much this week, and we haven’t really spent much time together. Come hang out with me like old times,” Hadley pleaded, widening her eyes.

“I want to hang out with you. I’d just prefer to do it somewhere…I can’t die,” Devon said, looking back up at the building.

“You won’t die!” Hadley rolled her eyes. “Garrett and I will be there to take care of you in case you feel like you might die. Plus, Brennan will be there, too, I think…if we can pin him down to anything. I mean, you like Brennan, right?”

Devon swallowed. “Yeah, he’s alright,” she said dismissively.

She had spent the last week in Jenn’s Restaurant, eating burgers and occasionally taking shots of tequila. Brennan had been there every day, except Monday, just like he had said. He had usually left her in peace while she went through pictures on her phone or scribbled away in her notebook. Sometimes, he had come over to talk to her, but only when it had seemed she was deepest in thought over something else. She had the hardest time pinning down what it was about him that she liked so much.

“Well, see, this will be perfect. The building has been standing since the ’60s. I don’t think we’ll have a problem tonight,” Hadley told her, shoving her inside.

Garrett veered them toward the elevators, and they waited a couple minutes for it to reach their floor.

How long do I have to be in that thing? Devon wondered.

When the elevator doors finally opened, they rushed inside. Devon looked around skeptically while Hadley pressed the button for the 95th floor. The elevator shot up like a bullet, leaving Devon’s stomach floors below them. Her ears popped uncomfortably as she tried to ignore the headache that was a constant on her temples since she had awoken from her nightmare.

She closed her eyes, feeling the pressure all around her as the elevator ascended, and then it slowed, coming to a gradual stop before pinging open on their floor. Devon tentatively walked out into the Signature Room at the 95th, the John Hancock Center bar and restaurant. She half expected the ground to shake beneath her, but it was completely solid, no swaying or anything. She felt better about that at least.