Authors: Avril Ashton
“I’m going to get some of those ribs before they’re
all gone.” She winked then turned away.
He forced a smile and waited a beat before glancing
up, searching for Indy. She wasn’t there, but her car remained parked on the
curb so she hadn’t left. He busied himself with eating, chatting with friends,
and did his best not to think about her.
“Hey, Indy,” his dad hollered. “Get your butt over
here and get you a plate.”
Shit.
Reno
turned away, but his father grabbed his arm. “Son, make Indy a plate.”
“Yes, Dad.”
Damn it.
He waited, resigned until Indy
made her way over, climbing over the wooden fence that only came up to her
thighs. Her reluctance to be there showed on her face, but she came anyway.
Reno waved her over, and after smiling and nodding
at everyone, she finally reached him. “Sorry about this,” he muttered under his
breath.
She shook her head.
“Doesn’t
matter.
I won’t stay.”
He tried holding her gaze, but she refused to meet
his eyes. “Indy.”
Her nostrils flared.
“Potato
salad, some ribs, chicken, and corn.”
“Huh?” He blinked at her stupidly.
“What I want on my plate.” A smile played at the
corners of her mouth. “Please.”
“Oh.
Right.”
He busied
himself doing that, getting her food.
“Jenna, have you met Indy?” That was his mother, and
Jesus, Reno wanted to sink to the floor and disappear.
“No, can’t say I have,” Jenna said.
Reno hurried over. “Ah, Jenna, this is Indy Steele.
She’s in real estate. Indy, this is Jenna.”
Jenna held out a hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said
with a small laugh.
Indy’s face was stone, but she shook the hand Jenna
held out. “Hi.”
“So Indy, what are you doing at Redding’s place?”
his mother asked.
They all four stood there, Reno with Indy’s food
piled high on the plate as she answered.
“The family wants to put it up for sale, so they’re
doing some quick fixes before it can be listed.” She looked at Reno then away
quickly. “I came to check on the progress.”
They lapsed into silence. Reno couldn’t take his
eyes off her. She held herself stiffly, her discomfort clear, and he wanted to
soothe her, help her relax. He wished things were different. He’d be able to
hold her hand, kiss her in public. Show his affection.
Even as he stood there his cock was half-hard, in
remembrance of the night before and all the nights when he’d had her. Fingers
curled around his, and he looked down. Jenna held his hand. He frowned over at
her, but she gave him wide, innocent eyes in response. He knew what she was
doing, trying to make Indy jealous.
And it looked like it worked.
“I’m
gonna
—” Indy motioned
with a hand. “I have to go.” She started walking away.
“Um, your food.”
Reno
rushed after her, yanking away from Jenna. “Indy.” He caught up with her at the
corner of the house. “Don’t forget your food.” He held out the foil-covered
plate.
“How could I forget?” she muttered the sarcastic
words and took the plate before turning away abruptly.
“Babe.”
He
touched her like he wanted, on her nape.
The feel of her,
like silk under his fingertips.
The sight of their
skin together, her dark against his light.
“No!” She rounded on him, eyes brimming with hurt.
“Do you have any idea how much that shit hurt?”
“I’m sorry.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and
shuffled from foot to foot. She knew he wasn’t with Jenna, so why was she
upset?
“Don’t apologize to me,” Indy said. “You say
nothing’s going on between the two of you, but she’s holding your hand?” She
sighed and shook her head. “You know what? Forget it.”
Goddamn
it.
He stood there, hanging his head as Indy walked away. He waited until she got
into her car, until she drove away, before going back to the party. Jenna was
nowhere in sight.
“Hey, Mom, have you seen Jenna?”
His mother motioned to the house. “I think she’s
inside, honey.”
He found Jenna coming out of his bathroom, using a
towel to wipe her face. “Hey, you okay?”
She nodded.
“Just needed to wash
my face.”
She dropped the towel in the hamper and met his gaze. “Did
your friend leave?”
“Who, Indy?
Yeah, she did.”
Jenna nodded. “That was her, wasn’t it? The one you
can’t get over?”
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s her.” Reno sat on the bed
and patted the spot next to him. “Come. Sit for a minute.”
Jenna sat, hands folded in her lap. “Well, don’t
keep me in suspense. Did it work? Is she jealous enough to take you back?”
Reno laughed. “She thinks we’re together and wants
me to deal with you before she gives me a chance.”
Jenna bounced and clapped her hands. “That’s great!”
She toned it down when he frowned. “What?”
“I was wondering if you would be okay with leaving
for New York tomorrow.”
“Why?”
He touched her knee. “I promised Steven I’d take
care of you and the baby, and I want to do that, but I also want to take
advantage of this chance I have with Indy.”
“But we were supposed to spend a week with your
parents.” She pouted. “What will they think?”
He laughed. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. So what do
you think?”
“Okay. I’ll do anything to help, but you’re to call
and give us details of how it went.” She lifted her chin. “And you agree, right
here, right now, to be Junior’s godfather.” She touched her belly.
“Junior?
It’s
a boy?”
Her eyes twinkled when she nodded. “It’s a boy.”
“
Woohoo
!”
Reno
grabbed her in a bear hug. “I’m
gonna
be a godfather.”
Jenna chuckled and pulled away. “That’s a yes, I
take it?”
“Are you kidding? That a hell yes!”
“Cool.” She stood. “Let’s see about getting us a
flight so you can hurry back to win Ms. Indy over.”
****
Business took up much of Indy’s time. When she
wasn’t working, she did her best to keep occupied, keep busy, so she didn’t
have to think about Reno. He’d sent her a text message the night of the
barbecue at his parents’ place.
Off
to NY with Jenna. Will talk when I get
bk
.
She didn’t know what it meant, and she didn’t try to
analyze it. She’d only lose her mind. Instead, she recruited Arden to accompany
her to the gym. Ear buds in, she listened to some Coldplay while running the
treadmill, Arden next to her doing the same. Since Arden had begun her party
planning business, the two hardly ever saw each other, so Indy cherished the
time they did spend hanging and shooting the shit.
Times like those were when she needed her friend
most, and fortunately, Arden seemed to know what she needed, keeping her
company and talking her ear off about everything and nothing in particular.
Indy ran the treadmill until she was bathed in
sweat, until she couldn’t feel her legs. Only then did she get off. She waited
for Arden to finish up, and then the two walked to the showers. In there, she
and Arden shared the tiny shower, nothing they hadn’t done before, even
scrubbing each other’s back. Arden held her tongue until they were getting
dressed.
“What’s going on with Reno?”
Indy shrugged as she pulled her T-shirt over her
head. “How should I know?” She didn’t meet Arden’s eyes, choosing to keep her
gaze on the shorts she held in her hand.
“You should know since you’ve got so much feels for
the young’un.” Arden chuckled to herself.
“Can we not talk about this?”
“Depends.”
Clad
in her bra and underwear, Arden straddled the bench. “What happened?”
“Oh, nothing much.”
Indy
buttoned her shorts. “I went over to his house, got some food,
outed
him to the girlfriend, and then I got a text from him
saying they’re off to New York.”
Arden’s eyes widened with every word. She held up a
hand. “Back up to the
outed
him part. I though you
said she wasn’t his girlfriend?”
“That’s what he said, but then I go over there and
she’s holding his hand and giving me the evil eye.”
“You were jealous.”
Indy laughed. “No.” She was not.
“Oh, please.” Arden waved away her denial. “You
totally were jealous, which was probably why Blondie did it. To get you all
riled up enough to make a move.”
Well, if that were true, the plan failed.
“Did you?” Arden asked.
“Did I what?”
“Make a move, bitch. Did you make a move?”
“No.” She’d
hightailed
it
out of there instead.
“Well, that was a wasted opportunity,” Arden said.
“But you’re
gonna
make one soon, right?”
Not
so much
.
“I don’t know. He went off to New York with her. And what does he mean we’ll
talk when he gets back? I don’t understand.” She grunted in frustration. “Hell,
I don’t even know when he’s coming back.”
“He’ll be back, though, so that’s something.”
Indy didn’t know, and she didn’t want to hope.
Arden slapped her thigh. “You need to look on the
bright side.” She winked. “And I think I have just the thing to cheer you up.”
“Eh, I’m open to anything.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.” Arden got serious
suddenly. “I know you’ve got your kinks, so Cam and I were wondering if you’d
like to indulge in some of those with us.”
Indy squinted at her friend.
“How?
’
Cause you know I’m not one to dabble in fish.” She liked women well
enough. She just didn’t want to fuck ’
em
.
Arden giggled.
“No, bitch.
We want you to watch.”
Indy perked. “Tell me more.” She did have a thing
for voyeurism and exhibitionism. With Reno they’d dabbled in voyeurism, but
since they weren’t public they’d forgone the exhibition part.
“Cam and I, you know how freaky we get.” Arden
ginned like a loon. “There are things that are a hard no, like sharing or
bringing someone into our bed, but we’d like to cross off this one on our list.
I suggested you, since you are kinky like that and Cam doesn’t have to worry
about his secrets being out there in the streets.”
Indy lifted an eyebrow. “What secrets?”
Her best friend squirmed. “Um, that he likes getting
his ass filled.”
Indy couldn’t help the grin.
“Just
a few of my favorite things.”
“Another reason I thought of you. We want to sit
your ass in a corner and watch me fuck Cam.”
“Can I touch myself?”
“Hell, you can do whatever you want to yourself.”
They laughed together.
“I’m in.”
Chapter Six
She had dinner with Arden and Cam at their home.
Even knowing what they’d all be getting up to later, they had an easy time,
laughing and joking, sharing stories about Arden and Indy’s crazy friendship.
She watched the couple with a slight ache in her chest. She’d always been happy
for Arden, finding someone to love and who loved her, but looking across their
dinner room table, Indy suddenly found
herself
battling jealousy.
She wanted what Arden and Cam had. Their easy-going
attitude, the oh-so-obvious love they had. The way Cam touched Arden, the way
he looked at her. Indy’s friend glowed with happiness, and Indy felt like
dragging her chair closer in hopes that some of it rubbed off on her.
She’d had it.
Once.
She’d
had it, and she’d lost. Not even lost, because she’d deliberately fucked it up,
kicking Reno out of her bed and out of her life.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on the
FUBARed
state of her love life. She shook off the morose
feelings of doubt and looked on with a smile as Arden and Cam walked out of the
room, headed to their bedroom, hand in hand. Indy drained her wine glass and
waited a few minutes, checking her phone, like she’d done a million times
already, to see if Reno had at least texted her.
Nothing.
She refused to think about what his silence could
mean. Instead she sat and waited until she figured she’d given Arden and Cam a
good enough head start. Then, she made her way to the bedroom.
The couple’s huge bedroom was awash in candlelight.
The room smelled like a heady combination of Arden and Cam, mixed with the ripe
tension of the soon-to-come awesome sex. Just a hunch, since she’d never seen
them in action before, but she just knew Arden and Cam’s passion would burn the
sheets to dust.