Her Father's Rival

I stood in front of the mirror and gave myself a final once over. The black Alexander Wang bodycon dress I was wearing was certainly living up to its name. It didn’t leave much to the imagination.  Underneath I was wearing a La Perla push-up bra and all together my cleavage looked awesome. I turned and checked the back view. Wow, the dress didn’t seem this short when I tried it on in Neiman Marcus, of course, I wasn’t wearing six-inch platform Louboutins at the time either. This wasn’t the type of dress I would normally wear, but tonight wasn’t a normal night. Tonight I was finally going to lose my virginity to Kyle. Kyle and I have been together since freshman year and now that we’d graduated I’ve decided it was finally time.  I’d wanted Kyle since what felt like forever, every girl did. Who wouldn’t want a six-foot-tall gorgeous blonde from one of the most prominent families in the city? My family adored Kyle and thought he was perfect for me.  He was perfect in general. Kyle was the golden boy at our school and I was his princess. That’s the way it had always been. Now it was time for me to take my relationship with Kyle to the next level. It was the logical thing to do. I mean, we’d be married eventually. Everyone expected it and I always lived up to expectations.  Yes, tonight was going to be it. I hadn’t ever allowed myself to give in to desire until tonight. Of course, my desires weren’t especially strong. I suppose I just wasn’t a very physical person.  Sure Kyle and I fooled around, but I never let it go far. I never really wanted it to. I wasn’t a prude, but I heard the way everyone talked about other girls at school. A guy could sleep with the entire cheer squad and he was a hero. If a girl was even seen talking to too many guys she was labeled as a slut or worse.  It was so gross and unfair, but that’s the way it was at my school. Even some of the parents gossiped and I couldn’t risk word getting around. Something about private school really brought out the meanness of people. Dating Kyle made me a target for mean girls and I refused to give them any ammo. In the end, though it didn’t matter instead of being labeled a slut they just called me an ice princess.  I took a deep breath. I’d left the mean girls and their mothers behind. I’d graduated valedictorian. Kyle and I had both gotten into Blackburn University. I had the whole summer before I had to start studying my ass off in the fall. This was going to be the “Summer of Indulgence.”  That’s what I’d dubbed it when I told my best friend  Bella about my plans.  This summer I was saying yes to everything and that included s*x. I was content with the way things were between us but lately, Kyle had seemed restless, and I couldn’t stay a virgin forever. Worse in the last few weeks there had been rumors about Kyle and Angela Ryan.  Angela had always hated me, for reasons. I didn’t even dignify those rumors with a public response, but I  was worried. Maybe I had been waiting for too long. I shook my head tonight wasn’t about Angela or gossip. Tonight was about Kyle and me. I took a last look at myself and headed out the door. I planned on surprising Kyle. He’d been in Europe with his family but was coming home tonight. His parents had moved him into his own apartment as a graduation gift. When he got home he was going to find me in his bed, ready and waiting.  We were supposed to meet for dinner tonight but I was going to serve him his dessert first. I grabbed a rideshare and took the short trip to Kyle’s apartment. I couldn’t stop fidgeting. I needed to see Kyle. I know he missed me as much as I’ve missed him these last few weeks. I waved hello to Reggie, the doorman who gave me an odd look instead of his usual smile when I entered the building. I pulled the key to Kyle’s apartment out of my bag as I rode the elevator to the twenty-fifth floor. My hands shook slightly. Maybe I was a little nervous. I took a deep breath, there was nothing to be nervous about. Tonight was going to be perfect just like this summer. Kyle and I have waited for this moment and it was going to be magical. The elevator doors slid open and I walked down the long hallway to Kyle’s apartment and opened the door. As I entered the apartment I heard the unmistakable sounds of moaning coming from Kyles bedroom. What the hell?!  I rushed towards Kyle’s bedroom and flung open the door. My mouth dropped open. There was Kyle, balls deep in Angela Ryan. She looked over Kyle’s shoulder and waved at me. She actually waved. I stood there stunned trying to process the fact that the guy I’d been devoted to for four years, the guy I was ready to sleep with for the very first time, was cheating on me. “Hi, Chloe.” She said and gave me a smug little smile.  “Chloe it’s not what it looks like,” Kyle stammered scrambling off of her and covering his still hard d**k with the sheet.  “f**k you, Kyle,” I said finally finding my voice “and f**k you too Angela!” I turned on my heel and stomped through the apartment. I could hear Angela laughing. I’d never felt so stupid, so betrayed in my life.  To think I was going to sleep with that asshole. Well, now there was no chance Kyle would ever find me in his bed. We were finished. I stormed down the hall and pushed the elevator button so hard my finger hurt. I heard the sound of bare feet behind me. I didn’t turn around. Instead, I tried to silently will the elevator doors to open. I felt Kyle’s hand on my arm. I blinked back the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. I was not going to let Kyle see me cry. I turned around.  “It’s over Kyle save it.” I yanked my arm away and took a step back. I didn’t want Kyle touching me ever again. God only knew where his hands had been. “Wait, Chloe. It was just that we’ve been together for a long time and-” “And what you just had to f**k somebody that wasn’t me.”  I was in no mood to hear whatever lame excuse Kyle was dreaming up. “Chloe be realistic. It’s not like we were going to get married or something.” Was he serious?  We’d talked about getting engaged after a couple of years of college. I saw forever with Kyle and to him, I was just a starter girlfriend. I went from pain to rage in ten seconds.  Before I even thought about it I felt the palm of my hand colliding with Kyle’s cheek. The sound of the slap echoed in the empty hallway. For a moment we both stood stunned staring at each other. “Screw you, you stupid frigid bitch.” He said holding his face and turning to go back to his apartment and Angela. The elevator finally arrived and it was thankfully empty. I was shaking and my bottom lip trembled. I felt hot tears on my cheeks as the elevator carried me back to the lobby. I hurried past the doorman. I needed to get as far from Kyle as possible.  I jumped into the back of the parked taxi sitting at the curb. I didn’t care who it was for. The driver looked at me waiting for a destination. I realized that I had no idea where I wanted to go. Most of my friends would be at the usual spots and I didn’t want to see anyone who knew me right now, not even Bella. “Just drive.”  I must have looked pretty upset because the driver didn’t ask any questions. I couldn’t believe Kyle would do this to me. I just wanted to drink and forget this whole night. I decided to go to the last place anyone would expect to see me. Notorious.  Notorious was owned by Jackson Crawford and my father hated him. They’d been rivals since college from what I understood. Notorious was the perfect name for a club owned by Jackson.  He was the most infamous playboy in the city. Not to mention that much like my father Jackson may have been a legitimate business man on paper but blackmail and extortion and who knows what other crimes where how they maintained their power. I suspected that he and my father had fought so much because they were both alpha males and neither of them could stand losing.  I’d only seen Jackson in person once. I was just a wide-eyed freshman at the time. I’d stopped by my father’s office after classes. Just as I was going down the hall Jackson had come tearing out of my father’s office. He was like a force of nature as he blew past to go the elevators.  I watched from around a corner as he waited for the elevator, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. I’d never seen a man like that. Jackson radiated a kind of raw power I’d never encountered in guys my age. Just watching him made my heart race and sent a shiver down my spine. I had obsessed over Jackson Crawford from that moment forward. Of course, my obsession was strictly from a distance. I tried asking my father about him once. Once. Dad had gotten so angry that I never brought up the subject again.  I was strictly forbidden from patronizing any of Jackson’s businesses, but tonight I was going to do what I wanted. I was going to forget about stupid cheating jerks and skanky bimbos. Being the good girl had gotten me nowhere, and nothing. I wasn’t letting this dress go to waste. It was still going to be my summer of indulgence. I was over being the good girl, it was time to be bad.