As she drove home from work, she detoured past his apartment to see if his truck was there. Her heartbeat quickened as she rounded the corner onto his street. She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until she saw he was home and released it. She didn't stop, simply took comfort that he would spend his evening the same way she did.
Cool air blasted her when she opened the front door of her apartment. She tossed her purse onto Johnny's throne and slipped off her shoes. She had leftover Mexican in the fridge for dinner and a mountain of work to finish.
A few minutes later, she had her laptop on the coffee table, the smell of reheated enchiladas tickling her growling stomach, and cold water quenching her thirst. Now if she had a vibrator that could wrap its arms around her, kiss her mouth, and smack her ass, she might be able to shake her self- pitying mood. Picking up the remote, she turned on the television.
A knock at the door made her look at the clock above the door. She rose on stiff legs, crossed the room, checked the peephole, and opened the door.
“Hi, Casey. What's up?”
Casey came into the house. She moved Krissy's purse to the floor and plopped into the recliner. “What have you done to Johnny?”
“What have I done?” And how much did Casey know? Johnny promised he'd neatly swept their topic under the rug. It would remain there until she could no longer hide the visible evidence. Hopefully, she still had a few months before that would be obvious. She'd take the test in the morning.
“He kept Drew up until three in the morning.”
Krissy narrowed her eyes. “How do you know? Were you there?”
“God no. With Drew? Wash your mouth out with soap.” Casey pulled the handle on the chair, propping up her feet. “He called me to come and get the drunken mess.”
“Oh, Casey, I'm sorry.” She ran her hands through her hair. She lay down on the couch and closed her eyes. “I suppose I need to talk to someone. I've been sleeping with Johnny.”
“What?” The footrest slammed back under the chair. Casey covered her mouth and started to laugh.
“It's not funny. It's depressing. Who would've thought Johnny would be the best sex of my life.”
“Really? Hmm. Probably should've known that. They say you can tell a lot about performance by the way a guy dances.”
“It's true then, because Johnny's great at both. And I mean amazing great. If he sucked in bed, the relationship would've worked out perfectly.” She rolled to her side and pillowed her hands under her head. “I wasn't supposed to love him.”
“You're full of shit. You've always loved Johnny.”
“Like a friend.”
Casey snorted. “Your friendship is better than most marriages.” Casey walked to the couch and sat on the edge of the cushion beside her. “What's the real problem, Kris?”
She rolled her eyes, but tears filled them anyway. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. “It all happened so fast. I thought we'd bone a couple of times, share a laugh, and go back to the way things were.” She sat making room for Casey. “Have you ever laughed during sex?”
“During foreplay or in the heat of the action?”
“You just answered my question. Johnny makes me laugh. He gives me this incredible feeling, right here.” She put her hand on her chest. “And then I start wondering how it's going to feel when he finally leaves. Either I'll push him away or he'll get tired of me. Isn't keeping the friendship more important than risking everything for a relationship that might not last?”
Casey's brows furrowed and her lips pursed. “Hell no.”
“So what should I do? He won't return my phone calls. He leaves messages when I'm not home.”
“You'll see him tomorrow. He won't miss Stu's on a Friday night.”
Casey was right. How could she forget? Krissy smiled. She didn't rationalize or explain the tingle of anticipation rushing through her.
Johnny sniffed the armpit of a shirt. Looked clean, wasn't badly wrinkled, and passed the odor test. What the hell? It was only class and whom did he have to impress? The one woman in the world he wanted, didn't care. Fuck, he hated whiners. Throw him some cheese. He smiled thinking of his dad's comeback from childhood. “You want some cheese to go with that whine?”
He climbed into his truck and headed across town. They lived in a college town with plenty of pizza joints and coffee shops, but more than that, it offered a great place to raise a family. Fourth of July in the park, Christmas parades with Santa, rodeos, demolition derbies, he planned to plant roots here. Someday he'd buy a house. He'd work for a firm for a few years, then he could open a practice of his own. His passion lay with corporate law, tax law, not personal injury or divorce. Johnny understood numbers. He didn't want to involve himself with airing someone's dirty laundry or debilitating injury.
Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he hiked across the campus to his first class. Only a few weeks left in the summer semester and then he had to think about what he wanted to do.
He wondered if he should just carry on as if Krissy hadn't altered the course. Could he continue to pretend to be friends after all they'd shared? He'd been pretending for years, but he didn't have the memory of her breathy pants as she neared orgasm. He knew when to hold off gratification, driving her crazy, because of his intense awareness of her.
Spotting a vacant chair in the back of the classroom, he thought of Krissy. Not that he'd be slipping out early today as he had in the last few weeks. Finishing the semester was his only priority. He wouldn't be hurrying to her house today for a quickie. Regret churned in his gut.
Never straying too far from his thoughts, he replayed all that had happened in the last few weeks between them. He missed her, which was exactly the problem. He couldn't concentrate on his studies. He imagined she must think he'd deserted her.
He hadn't.
He just wasn't ready to see her.
When class was over, Johnny slipped out the side entrance ahead of the crowd.
“Hi, John.”
Johnny turned toward the soft voice beside him. He couldn't remember the girl's name, but he'd seen her around campus. She might even be in one of his classes.
“Gina,” she said, shifting her knapsack to her other shoulder.
They did have a class together, the one he'd just left in fact. He tilted his head indicating she should join him on the walk.
“Do you have another class?” Standing a few inches taller than Krissy, she looked him in the eyes. “I wondered if I could talk to you.”
He smiled. “Sure. Do you want to grab a coffee?”
“I'd love to.”
As they walked across campus, he snuck a glanced at Gina. He didn't want to be caught staring because he was unfairly comparing. Gina was attractive but she wasn't Krissy. Guilt burned at his conscience like acid. He swallowed the lump in his throat and ordered.
After they purchased coffees, they sat on a bench near the clock tower in the center of the campus. Ducks cut through rippling dark waters of the pond stretching to the south parking lot.
It wasn't cheating. Why did it feel that way? Gina smiled, batted lashes made long and thick with mascara, and bumped his shoulder when she laughed.
She represented the perfect antitheses to Krissy. The thought of spending Friday night at Stu's gave him chills. Krissy would be there. With their relationship irrevocably altered, the adjustment would take some time. What he needed was a distraction. And maybe to show Krissy what she was giving up.
He turned to Gina. “Would you like to go out tonight?”
Johnny really was an ass. Gina, sitting next to him in the cab of the truck, had dressed to impress. Drew would call her hot. She had full kissable lips and a decent figure, but she wasn't Krissy. But then Krissy was the only one he wanted sitting next to him. Gina's perfume drifted to his nose without stirring a niggle of interest. His cock didn't even twitch with her trim thigh aligned with his.
“We're meeting my friends. I hope that's all right with you.”
It didn't serve his purpose if Krissy didn't see him moving on. There it was again, the guilt. Not a problem, as long as he didn't lead Gina on. He'd keep it casual.
“Great.”
Johnny parked and then stepped out of the truck. Gina followed him out the driver's side door. Her skirt hiked up high on her thigh. She shimmied, smoothing it down. Flipping her hair, she tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Okay, ready.”
Her smile slammed into his gut. Ah, hell, he had to stop this before it went too far. He could stop it after Krissy saw him with a date. She'd better show up.
Every few minutes Krissy glanced at the door.
“Another round,” Drew said to the waitress and held up three fingers.
“Are you trying to get drunk?” Krissy narrowed her eyes but kept the smile on her lips. Tonight she wished she could. All eyes focused on her as she sipped the cola drink in front of her. She hadn't told them it was soda. Let them make assumptions. She'd taken the test. Her stomach somersaulted. Then a smile spread across her mouth. She licked her lips and focused on the door again.
She couldn't wait to see Johnny. She took a deep breath, hoping for the fortitude to face him. One part of her wanted to run into his arms and profess to love him forever. But the saner, or maybe just the more stubborn side of her personality wouldn't shut up. The little devil on her shoulder wanted to come out and play.
Casey's words had the desired effect. Krissy did want Johnny, forever. The idea of becoming a sappy lovesick couple made her shudder. She wanted fun, teasing, best friend Johnny for a boyfriend.
And her boyfriend just walked in the damn door with a growth attached to his arm.
Well, Krissy was just the person to remove it. Who in the hell was she? How dare Johnny pick up a babe to bring to the bar? Theirs was a closed club. A six- pack. Only Drew brought along dates because he had temporary involvements. Some rules couldn't be broken. Johnny bringing a date was one of them!
“Oh, oh, where you going?” Drew grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Three shots of tequila sat in a row on the table. Casey and Shelby were ready with the salt and the lime.
Krissy glared at Johnny as he escorted the woman across the room. When they approached the table, she pasted a spurious smile on her face.
“We're doing body shots.” They weren't, but he didn't need to know that. She scrunched her brows. “I lost my partner. I think he went to play darts.” She stood on her tiptoes and looked around the room. “Oh, there he is.” She was purposely vague because she didn't need Johnny rushing over and popping someone in the face like he had Eddie in the fourth grade.
The table grew quiet.
“You haven't been doing shots,” Drew said.
“Oh, shut up.” Okay, so she just outted herself. Big deal. She planned to eventually.
“She's not, but I am.” Casey licked her hand and sprinkled salt. Krissy met Casey's eyes with a silent thank you and then glanced at Johnny.
Casey wrapped her arm around Krissy's waist. “If the boys want to see their girls get a little wasted, let's not disappoint.” She picked up a shot glass and slammed the drink. She chewed the lime ignoring the laughs going around the table.
She handed a shot glass to Krissy. “Your turn.”
“I can't.” Krissy nearly choked. “I'm a Bud Light girl.” She glanced down at her soda and cringed. “Except tonight.”
Johnny laughed and she glared at him. He had his hand on the wrong hip. It should be hers.
“Drew, do you want to dance with me?”
Drew turned to Johnny. Like it mattered if it bothered Johnny, Krissy might have limited options at the moment, but she could make Johnny jealous.
Evidently it worked.
His jaw clenched. He looked at the table and then lifted his head. Their eyes locked. Krissy cocked one brow. “Hi,” she said to his date.
“Gina is just a friend.” He introduced the woman around the table.
Just a friend. Nice try, Johnny, but it won't work
. Pleasure snaked up her spine. Drew had a twinkle of interest glinting in his eye when he looked at Gina. Krissy would exploit that twinkle when needed. No one ever claimed she didn't go after what she wanted. It had only been a week. She'd have thought Johnny would pine for more than a moment. This was war.
Love and war
.
“It's nice to meet you,” the woman said.
Gina clung to Johnny. Hmm, Krissy couldn't tell if Johnny liked it. Who was she kidding? The girl was drop- dead gorgeous. Krissy scrutinized the blonde. Something about the girl looked familiar. Dropping dead would come in handy about now. Only who did she want to drop? Johnny didn't look all that comfortable. A bead of perspiration trickled down his temple. He focused on everyone except Krissy.
Gina slid onto the stool next to Ryan. Johnny stood behind her. “Can I get you a drink? Beer?”
She nodded. Krissy's chest ached. For the first time ever, Johnny didn't offer to get her something from the bar. She blinked back tears.
“So how do you know Johnny,” Casey asked.
“From school.”
That's why she looked familiar. Krissy remembered seeing her when she'd met Johnny for coffee. The tramp wanted him then.
“We have class together.”
“You're going to be a lawyer?”
Shut up, Ryan. No need to highlight the finer points of the woman.
They needed to look for faults. Krissy tried to appear casual when she leaned to the side and checked Gina out from the crown of her perfectly coiffed hair to her expensive- looking, strappy sandals that probably came from an expensive department store like the Victoria Secret bra supporting her perky breasts. She didn't even have fat ankles.
“John told me about you all.” Gina smiled, glancing over her shoulder. Johnny had two beers in his hand.
Ryan and Shelby looked at each other. Casey just nodded. Were they all afraid to ask what they really wanted to know? What the hell was going on? Krissy didn't need to ask. More games. The girl buzzed with sexual energy.
She made a smacking noise with her lips and nodded her head. She met Johnny's stare. “He told you all about us? Huh?” She glanced at Gina. “Did he tell you I'm having his baby?”