Free Conflicted by Sophie Monroe

my dress down, completely exposing me.
    “Okay?” he asked.
    Biting my lip, I nodded. He took my nipple in his mouth, swirling and gently biting down with his teeth. This was going way better than expected. He lifted my bottom so he could remove my dress the rest of the way.
    “Can we leave the shoes on? They make your legs look incredible,” he groaned, running a fingertip over the red patent leather.
    I stifled a giggle. “If you want.”
    I ’d never had a one-night stand and curiosity, stubbornness, stupidity, and being twenty got the best of me. I wanted the chance to feel adventurous and free. Here I was, about to have a one-night stand with a cop of all people. Sure, I liked sex. It was an empowerment thing for me, but I wasn’t the girl who just fell into bed with random strangers either. I felt like I needed to prove a point to myself, to prove that the thing I had with Derek was nothing more than sex, that there was nothing emotional about it. I didn’t want emotional. I wanted freedom.
    Todd started kissing down my stomach at a leisurely pace, but when he reached my core things went south. Fast.
    “What the fuck are you doing down there? It’s not a piece of bubblegum!” I shrieked. “Do yourself a favor and practice on a mango before you maul my lady parts!”
    I’ve had bad oral before, but Todd took the fucking cake.
    A shocked look crossed his face and all I wanted to do was go home. I quickly moved out from under him and collected my clothes. Making my way into the bathroom, I dressed quickly, looking in the mirror and felt horrible about myself. Smoothing my hair so it looked less like a haystack, I turned to see him staring at me.
    “Tonight was amazing,” he said, leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom.
    “Yep, it sure was,” I grumbled, feeling very unsatisfied.
    “You’re leaving? I thought you’d want to spend the night,” he said, sounding genuinely disappointed.
    “Sorry, I have plans early tomorrow. Thanks for tonight.”
    What? It’s all I could muster.
    He leaned in and I gave him a quick peck on the lips before practically sprinting to the front door, only to realize that my car was at the bar. FUCK! I really didn’t want to walk all the way back in my killer heels. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he came up behind me, still shirtless, with keys in hand.
    “Come on, I’ll take you.”
    Biting the inside of my cheek, I promised myself that I could have a good cry when I got to the safety of my own car. We drove in awkward silence back to the bar. As soon as he was at a complete stop, I was out of there.
    Tears pricked my eyes before I even had the key in the ignition as it came crashing down on me that I shouldn’t have gone home with Todd. I shouldn’t have gone out with him in the first place. I just wanted to live a little, which was hard when you had an overprotective dad and an overbearing brother watching your every move.
     
    DEREK
     
    After stripping down to my boxers, I climbed into bed and stared out the window, facing the driveway. I couldn’t keep myself from wondering if Joss was going to come back here tonight, or if she was going to go home with Officer Big Douche.
    My answer came at four in the morning when there was a dip in the bed.
    “Hey,” she whispered. I could tell that she’d been crying, but after staying up worrying about her, I finally got pissed off enough that I managed to fall asleep. There was no way I was playing her games tonight. So what if my body was screaming to touch her?
    “Get out of my bed,” I yelled, pulling a pillow over my face. “I’m not playing these fucking head games with you, Joss. I’m serious ; get out of my bed!”
    I could tell she was pouting. “Don’t you want to know how it went?”
    “Are you being fucking serious right now? No, I don’t give a flying fuck how it went. It obviously went pretty good if you’re just coming home. You even smell like him so get the fuck out of my bed!” 
    “If