The Virgin Intern(27)

“Roger,” Andrew interrupts, his voice firm, “This has nothing to do with the case. I know you think I’m trying to take the firm from you—I’m not. I like Naomi, and our spending time together has nothing to do with you. She’s done amazing work on this case, you can’t just—”

“It has everything to do with me!” My uncle turns away from Andrew and toward me and I feel like he’s as tall as a skyscraper. “Did you tell him how much money I had to spend to bail you out? Did you tell him our deal, and how you somehow suckered me into hiring you, somehow convinced me that this would be anything but a waste of my time? Well, I guess I was right. You’re just like your father, a manipulative failure. If you have anything to say for yourself, do it now.”

There should be words coming out of my mouth, I know, but I feel numb. I can’t breathe, I can’t speak.

“Fine,” he says. “We will discuss your future at the firm and in my house at a later time when there’s less company present.”

He stalks out of the room, and I feel like the atmosphere collapses. He’s right, I am all of those things. I couldn’t get anywhere on my own in L.A. and had to come back, I did everything he told me not to with Andrew, I’ve been barely helpful on the case. He’s right. I am a failure.

“Naomi. Naomi.” Andrew has me by the shoulders, gently shaking me. How did I end up on the floor? “Are you with me?”

“I don’t know.” I think I’m the one who says that. I feel dazed and distant, like the world is suddenly filled up with fog.

“That’s better than ‘no,’” Andrew says. I feel him helping me up, but my legs don’t seem to be working right. Did my uncle’s words break my bones? Maybe…

He’s going to fire me. I’ll be homeless. I’ll never get to go back to L.A., never be able to try to make a second chance at music. It’s all over. Done. Finished.

I’m in bed—how did I get here? Did Andrew carry me? Andrew is with me, tucking me against his chest. He’s saying things like it will be okay, but he doesn’t know. It’s not okay. None of that was okay. This was my chance, my only chance, and now it’s gone. I feel like I should cry, but I can’t. If I cry it will all be real.

I don’t cry…but eventually I sleep.





Chapter 13




I open my eyes a few hours later when the sun is barely rising. It’s one of those rare moments when I’m fully awake almost as if I never went to sleep. The barest hint of light is touching the walls, and everything is still a mess. The same thoughts enter my head, paralyzing and insidious. I sigh. I’m not sure what to do now. Andrew is asleep beside me, his arm slung across my waist. A feeling of warmth spreads through my chest at waking up next to him, but the next moment it’s gone. Because isn’t being with him what cost me everything? If my uncle hadn’t seen us together, everything would be fine. I’d still have my job, and a place to live.

A smaller voice tells me that it’s not true, that my uncle would never have been happy regardless of what happened with Andrew. I wish it was true, but I can’t bring myself to believe it.

I look at Andrew in the half-light. He’s beautiful. I like his openness and his willingness to try new things with me. I like the fact that he knows what he wants. I like that his favorite color is silver. I like that he is kinder than he appears. I smile, just for a moment able to forget what happened. I shift closer to him, and Andrew opens his eyes.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hey.” His voice is deeper than normal, edged with sleep. “How are you?”

“I’ve been better.”

His hand slides up my side, curling around the back of my neck to pull me closer. “Not one of those things he said was true.” I feel a wan smile appear on my face; Andrew can talk all he likes, but it won’t change the fact that my uncle’s words are true. Andrew looks at me deeply, as if searching for something. “You believe him,” he says.

“Of course I do.”

His brow creases. “Why?”

“Because you haven’t been there for the rest of it, Andrew. You don’t know what I went through, you don’t know what happened to make him say those things. They are true.”

“No,” he says. “I refuse to believe that. You are smart, beautiful, and kind. You are not a failure.” He kisses me and adds, “Let me make you forget what he said, and show you that it doesn’t matter. Let me show you how much I want to be with you.”

He kisses me again, and rolls over me. I close my eyes and let him make me feel. His cock entering me feels familiar and comforting, a solitary and precious connection. This time he doesn’t fuck me. Everything is long and deep, a slow build to the end. His mouth never leaves mine, and I think I could live an eternity in his kisses. He stays deep inside of me, rolling his hips in time with our breathing, and I feel my orgasm coming from far away. It’s not bright and loud, but expansive. I come apart underneath him, my body shaking as pleasure rolls over me like a tide. He’s not far behind me, and without a condom he finishes in the sheets.