Picture Perfect

by another glide of his fingers down my cheek, he took his leave.
    “Sweet dreams Tess. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Chapter Ten

    The only thing that gave me the ability to walk out of Tessa’s hotel room was the certainty that she would shut me down forever if I pushed too hard. She was skittish, and I couldn’t ignore that. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, and I couldn’t risk losing the chance to explore the connection we had. I’d never experienced chemistry like that with anyone. Considering how many women I’d met in the last ten years, from all around the world, the difference with Tessa had to mean something. I’m not sure what it meant, but it was there. I’d waited for what felt like a lifetime to feel a connection, and now that I’d found one, I needed to tread carefully.
    Tipping the valet, I got into my car and started driving home. I needed advice on how to proceed, because I sure as shit didn’t know how to woo a woman. I’d never had to put any effort into getting girls, and I had no idea what being romantic would entail. Glancing at the clock on the dash, I saw that it was after one in the morning, which meant that it was too late to call my dad. I knew I could call Cole or any of my other band mates, but the truth was that they’d be as clueless as I was.
    Even though my mom’s been gone for over twenty years, my dad still talks about how much he loved her. He’s never remarried, and has told me countless times that he believes that that it’s never going to happen for him. “I had the love of my life son, and I don’t think it’s in the cards for me to feel that again.” He loves to tell me about the relationship he had with my mom, and that more than anything is why I know I can talk to him about Tessa. He’ll point me in the right direction.
    Of course, that will be after he picks his jaw up off the floor.
    Since it was so late, I had no choice but to go home and think about Tessa all by myself. I laughed when I pulled into my driveway, seeing the house as Tess must have. It really was cold and impersonal, and so uninviting. My dad had taken one look at it and asked if I had been hit on the head. “Flynn, this is one ugly as sin box. You’ll never be comfortable here.”
    At the time, I had been a twenty year old cocky as hell kid. I looked at the house and all I’d seen was how hot chicks were going to be dropping their panties when they saw my mansion. I wasn’t looking for comfort; I was looking to get laid. I wanted the pussy parade, a never-ending one-night stand. Mission accomplished, but dreams change and now the house had to go.
    My dad was right. I had never been comfortable here, not for even one night. Naturally it had taken me years to admit that, but once I let go of my ridiculously inflated ego, it was the first in a long line of truths that I’d confessed.
    It’s funny that no one I really care about likes the house. My grandparent’s think it’s atrocious and Cole’s parents hate it too. Cole and I both had taken a lot of shit from our families about the houses that we had both wound up in. His is right down the street from mine, and the fucker is hideous. It’s over the top ostentatious, and Cole hates it. He’ll know exactly what I mean about how awesome it is that Tessa dislikes my house.
    Walking through the house on my way to my bedroom, I chuckled as I really took a good look at my ‘home’. It was gray on gray on steel on gray. Every now and again there was a splash of white or black, but for the most part the entire thing was gray. Even the glass was smoked gray. There was no family or personal pictures in any of the formal rooms. My decorator had decreed that “things like that” were “gauche” and belonged in private areas. My office and my den were pretty much wall-to-wall photo displays of my friends and family, but they were the only two rooms in the house that had any personality. What the hell had I been thinking hanging onto this shithole for nine years?
    After spending time with Tessa, I needed to get myself under control. I was sporting a serious hard-on that really hadn’t banked down at all since I’d left her hotel. Turning on the jets, I stepped into my steam shower and started cleaning myself. My cock ached for her, more than it had when I’d just been looking at her pictures and had no idea what she sounded like. As I worked my shaft, I thought of nothing but her.
    I jerked harder as I remembered how