Boys Next Door (14 page)

‘Did you know I signed you up for it? I told Janine that I was sure you’d come confirm, after all, it’s for charity.’

I grunted. ‘I don’t think you should run around signing people up for –’

‘I mean, if you want to go ahead and tell her no, I’m sure the poor family who lost their house will understand.’

I had never wanted to punch someone so badly in my life. Okay, that’s a lie. Once a man I had agreed to marry came home smelling of another woman’s perfume and then she proceeded to call at four a.m.; I had wanted to punch him more. Dex had ended up with the early-morning-calling Colleen, her two kids, a mortgage and being miserable. Good.

So I didn’t want to punch Coop
that
bad, but close.

‘What am I to do?’ I asked, keeping my voice even. I would not give him the satisfaction. We had this weird conflict and then an exploding dynamic going on. If I stopped to examine it all, I’d need a shrink.

He just smiled.

I tapped my foot. ‘What exactly am I to do, Coop?’

I was an actress – and I’d failed at it – but everyone knew it had been my former incarnation. My guess was Coop had signed me up for some acting part.

‘You’re on the main stage.’

‘Uh-oh,’ Stephen said behind me.

Uh-oh?
Uh-oh? Fuck.

‘Why is Stephen saying uh-oh?’ I blurted.

Coop shrugged, untamed green eyes flashing when he smiled. In that moment he reminded me of some wild thing, a fox or a wolf maybe. ‘I have no idea. I’d think baker boy would love to see you on the main stage.’

My eyes shot to Stephen who suddenly looked as if someone had zapped him with a cattle prod. It was making me extremely nervous.

‘What is the main stage?’ I said between gritted teeth.

‘Dancing,’ Stephen whispered.

Cooper chuckled and looked proud of himself. A pretty terrifying sight if you got right down to it.

‘What
kind
of dancing? I don’t really dance,’ I said.

This was a small town. Were we doing the tango? Polka? God forbid line dancing.

‘Um …’ Stephen looked away.

The ‘um’ made me realise something was severely off. ‘Um what?’

‘It’s sort of like … burlesque.’

I turned to Coop so fast I caught him off guard. He even backed up a step. Wise man.

‘What?’ I hissed.

‘Burlesque,’ Coop said, louder than Stephen had. He grinned again and I swear I saw the flash of white fangs in there. Monster.

‘I am – I do –
fuck you
James Cooper! I will not do it.’

‘I knew you wouldn’t do it,’ he said, chuckling.

Well, balls, then I wanted to do it. To show him I could. And see, that was the way a man like Cooper worked. He baited you and if you were stubborn and know it all and secretly had a submissive streak a mile wide, you rose to the bait.

I turned on my heels and growled over my shoulder, ‘Out!’

‘Okay, I’ll see you later, then,’ Coop laughed.

Then he surprised me by taking three big steps and coming nearly belly to belly with Stephen. ‘Take good care of her, Stephen. Make sure you aren’t warning her off something you secretly want for yourself. That wouldn’t be very fair would it?’

Stephen blushed crimson and tried to move back but Coop moved forward with him.

‘Bye-bye, Stephen,’ he whispered. Coop glanced at me. ‘You too, Feral.’

Then he left, the bell jingling merrily in his wake.

‘What the fuck was that about?
Bye-bye, Stephen
.’ I shook my head. ‘And what did he mean about warning me off –’

‘I might as well tell you,’ Stephen said, turning.

‘Go ahead. Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine. I’m … bisexual. That’s what that was about. It was Cooper’s little joke. Because he found out that once upon a time I had a crush on him. And he likes to torture me with it.’

‘Torture you? More like bully you.’

He shrugged. ‘Not really. More like flirt. That was more for your benefit than mine.’

‘So have you … I mean, have you and he …’

He shook his head and laughed. ‘God, no. I don’t think I could ever go out with him for real. He’s such a dick sometimes.’

And has such a dick …

I shook off the thought. ‘Oh, well, I don’t care, you know. I’ve dated bi guys before … not that we’re … you know … dating. We’re just –’

‘I know, Farrell. Just for fun,’ he said, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

‘Good,’ I said.

‘Are you going to do it?’

I was trapped in a mental image of seeing Stephen and Coop together. More specifically, of Cooper doing young, pretty Stephen. And me somewhere in that mix. I must have looked spacey because he knocked gently on my forehead with his knuckles.

‘Hello?’

‘Yeah? Oh, what?’ I asked.

‘Are you going to do it? The dance?’

I blew out a breath. ‘Fuck me, I have no idea.’

‘And here I thought I was the only man in your life.’

I jumped and almost fell off the small step that was nearly buried amongst a drift of dead leaves. ‘Deke, you scared the hell out of me.’

‘Sorry.’

The light was purpling and I was struck again by his dark, good looks. Devilish and sleekly handsome in a laid-back way. ‘What’s up?’

The leaves started to crunch and shake and he took a step back scanning the yard. I tried to suppress my snicker but failed. Clamping a hand to my mouth I watched him work it out.

‘What the fuck?’ Deke said.

And then Brutus cleared the biggest drift and attacked his lower legs. ‘Deke meet Brutus. The newest man in my life.’

He laughed, dropping into a squat to pet the dog. ‘Hey there, buddy. I bet you’ve won her heart over all of us.’

I wanted to say no one had won my heart. But to varying degrees each one of them had me feeling things. Things I wasn’t sure I wanted to feel. But I had thrown myself headfirst into this pool of men, so I had no one to blame but myself.

‘What’s up?’ I asked, changing the subject.

‘Aw, nothing much, the grump came home, slammed me up against my car and told me to stay away from you. The bakery boy came home and told me in a very soft but stern voice that he’d be grateful if I stayed away from you. Then Coop took a swing at Stephen, then Stephen, who’s taken tae kwon do, by the way, ducked and avoided the punch. And then they both stomped into their respective houses.’

‘Great,’ I sighed.

‘And I came over to see if maybe you needed help. With them … or any of us. If you want me to leave you alone and them to leave you alone, I can help you out. I know we’re … a bit much.’

‘Hey,’ I said, raising my hands like I was under arrest. ‘I’m the one who jumped you in the elevator and …’ Well, I wasn’t going to go into details with him. But I think he knew that I’d messed around with the other two pigs. The point was that they all had to understand when I said, ‘I just really am not looking for anything more. I mean, I think you’re all great … to varying degrees.’

He grinned and that flash of white teeth and the spear of his dark goatee in the growing twilight stabbed me in the gut, sinking lower, flaring to lust.

Deke caught the look and took a step toward me. I stepped in to meet him. I hadn’t even had a shower yet, not after the store, but I wanted him to kiss me. Partly because I just wanted him to kiss me and partly to prove to myself that I meant what I said: nothing serious, no strings, no nothing.

His hands crowded my cheeks and he kissed me – soft at first and then deeper, pushing his hot tongue into my mouth. Tangling it with mine, stroking the warm velvet of my mouth until I shivered. His hands moved from my face to my ass and he tugged me more firmly against the front of him.

‘Hey, you know I have no claim on you, but there’s something about you that … resonates.’

His lips moved lower on my throat and his hands slid – warm and rough – up under my shirt to find my breast.

I needed a shower. But some very small sneaky kinky part of me demanded I have him without cleaning another man off me. I shook my head and he said, ‘Now what? No kissing?’

Deke pinched my nipple between his strong fingers and tugged so that I felt the thunder of blood in my cunt and the flutter of need in my belly. ‘Nothing. I was thinking is all.’

‘Good. And I understand the new life, no strings, free agent thing – I get it. I expect nothing.’

Brutus spotted a squirrel, or something small, and promptly started barking his head off, taking off into the leaves like very short, very plump, lightning.

‘Good, because I have nothing to give. Not right now.’ I pushed my hips forward when he ran his fingertip from the button of my jeans down the front seam. It drove the thick fabric against my labia, splitting me. The friction and pressure firmly resting on my clitoris.

‘I get –’

The barking took a more furious tone and it dawned on me that this yard was open. No fence. ‘Oh shit, he doesn’t have a collar yet. If he gets out I’ll never forgive myself.’

Deke grabbed my hand and we took off running. The sky was almost navy-blue now and it was hard to see. I started yelling, ‘Brutus! Brutus! Here, boy!’ as Deke whistled, a skill I’d never mastered.

The dog didn’t come but we could hear him barking.

‘He’s out by that old barbeque,’ I said, tugging Deke toward the back left of the yard.

When we got there, the dog had cornered a squirrel high in a short Japanese maple. As we watched, the squirrel did a kamikaze leap into a much taller tree.

The dog whimpered and Deke chuckled. ‘Good job, boy. You almost had him.’

Brutus waddled up to me and when I squatted to get him, there was a flash of white in my peripheral vision. The barbeque. The small metal door. The paper!

‘Shit, I forgot,’ I said, petting the dog and opening the door. ‘I saw these the other night but then … well, I had somewhere to go and I forgot.’ I reached in, fishing for the bundle and came out with some very old, but pretty much intact, letters wrapped in wax paper of all things. They were wrinkly and warped; but they were tied together with a cross of twine. They’d been sheltered from the sun, wind and rain, and the extra protection of the wax paper had helped. Tucked back where they’d been, very little moisture would have gotten into the packet.

‘Whose do you think they are?’ Deke asked, examining them in the almost nonexistent light.

‘Don’t know. I’ll have to take them in and find out. Want to come inside?’ I asked him. There was that nervous jitter in my solar plexus and the light-headed feeling of impending sex. I hoped he’d say yes.

When he grinned at me, a single dimple showing in his cheek, I felt my worry recede. ‘I thought you’d never ask. Got wine?’

‘Does a Brutus poop in the leaves?’ I said. I squeezed his hand when he took mine.

Deke looked down at the happily panting dog. ‘Well, does a Brutus poop in the leaves?’ he asked Brutus.

Brutus turned in a circle so fast he fell down.

‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

‘Me too,’ I said. ‘Now let’s go drink and find out about these letters. It’s getting chilly.’

* * *

Inside the house, he pinned me to the kitchen counter. My belly pressed against the edge and Deke crowded against the back of me with his lanky body. I could feel his hardness and his breath snaked against the back of my neck when he brushed my hair to the side.

‘I can’t quite stop thinking about you, new girl,’ he said.

I smiled at that. The smile fled when his lips touched my skin and all the fine hairs along my neck and scalp rippled with energy. I fought off a brisk shiver. ‘You don’t say.’

‘I do say.’ He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me flush to him. His cock rode the split between my ass cheeks and even through my jeans I could feel the heat of him. And how much I wanted him. It curled and swirled in my belly and my womb like smoke. ‘But I suppose you want to look at these letters?’

I turned fast in the cage of his arms, kissed him hard and rough so that he made a sound in his throat that was a mixture of surprise and aggression.

‘Actually, leave the letters and open the wine. There’s two bottles in that cabinet. I’m very “doggy”,’ I lied. ‘I need to shower.’

I’d dealt with two dogs today. I’d also dealt with two men. So it was an almost honest statement.

‘That’s funny,’ he said, pushing his hand up under my top. His fingers peeled my bra cup down and he pinched my nipple so that I felt a surge of stimulation from breast to groin. I sighed and he moved to the other side. ‘You don’t smell like dogs to me.’ He pinched the other nipple a bit harder.

My body let loose a rush of fluid and I bit my lip to keep silent.

He was on to me though and he kissed me so I had to open my mouth. ‘You smell like sex, is what you smell like.’

‘I –’

‘And you don’t have to lie to me.’ He moved lower, grazing his teeth along the slope of my neck. My heart pounded and my hearing dimmed for a moment. For that second all I could hear were the demands of my blood and my body.

‘I wasn’t so much lying as –’

‘You don’t have to protect me either.’ He hiked my top up high and bent his head to suckle my now taut nipples. My stomach muscles clenched and my cunt followed suit. The man had an amazingly strong effect on me.

‘I’m not –’

‘You don’t even have to shower if you don’t want to,’ he said, and bit me, hard enough to make me squeak. ‘I’m not too proud. I only care about being with you again.’ He cupped my ass and squeezed. I almost took him up on it right there. I almost said, ‘Yes. Fuck me. Right here, right now, sloppy seconds.’ It was so very wrong, such a taboo for most, that it was thrilling and decadent and captivating.

Instead, I said, ‘I’ll feel better if we just …’

Deke ground his cock to the V of my sex and I forgot what I was saying for a moment. So I shoved my hands in his dark hair and yanked so that his eyes went wide and he chuckled. Then I kissed him, forcing my tongue against his before sucking it hard like I would his cock. I felt his actual cock jump against my thigh and we both laughed.

‘I just want a shower. And wine. So you open that and I’ll be back, clean and wet and we’ll –’