MADversary (9 page)

So as his lips moved over her left breast toward her nipple, she moved her hands back to his hair, willing herself to relax and give in fully to what promised to be a night of pure pleasure.  She was almost able to do it too when his mouth fully enveloped her areola.

But then she asked him to stop.

Chapter Ten

“W
AIT. 
STOP.”
  MEGAN
heard the words emerge from her lips before she realized she was saying it.  But she knew why.  She felt pressured (but the pressure was only coming from herself), and it felt like they were moving way too fast.  She wasn’t ready.  Yeah, that nipple was, but…

Her words didn’t register with Tyler at first.  The tip of her breast remained in the suction of his mouth for a few seconds after she said it, his tongue flicking the hard tip of her nipple.  But then his tongue stopped moving and his mouth released her.  He stood up, seeming to tower over her.

“Everything okay?”

She took a deep breath and forced herself to look him in the eyes.  “I just need a little bit.  I’m not ready yet.”
  She didn’t want to tell him the
full onslaught of her emotions—j
ust a little was enough.

He nodded.  She couldn’t quite register what he was thinking, but at least he didn’t look angry.  “Should I order up some champagne or anything?”

Megan shook her head.  “No.  I’ve already had way too much to drink tonight.”

“Coffee then?”

She felt a small laugh escape her lips.  “No…”  She didn’t know what would help.

“Backrub?”

“Maybe if we just talk awhile?”

He leaned over, scooping up her bra and blouse from the plush beige carpet beneath their feet and handing them to her.  “Okay…we can do that.”

“Thanks,” she said, feeling
naked
all of a sudden.  She felt like Eve in the Garden.  She hadn’t felt weird about her nakedness until now.  And she wasn’t even totally naked either.
  Still, she didn’t want to totally mock their progress, so she slipped the blouse on over her shoulders and buttoned just the top button.  She hoped it gave him the impression it was meant to, that they were just at a pause in the evening’s activities, not an entire halt.  “And
, now that I think about it, a backrub sounds nice. 
M
aybe later?”

Tyler grinned.  “I can do that.”  He picked his t-shirt up off the floor and then waved his hand toward the living room area.  He cupped his crotch and adjusted, and Megan felt bad.  She hadn’t known she’d already had
hi
m
so worked up.  She hoped she w
ould
feel confident enough to
take care of him later.

She laid her bra on the arm of the couch and Tyler said, “This is a gas fireplace.  I can start a fire.  I know
it’s
July and all…”

“No, that sounds fun.  It
is
kind of chilly in here.”

He threw his t-shirt on the coffee table.  “And what do they expect from musicians anyway?”

She smiled.  “Do you mind if I get a glass of water?”

“Sure that’s all you want?  There plenty to drink here
…fully stocked bar.
”

She must have seemed even more nervous than she felt. 
“Water would be fine, really.”

“Want some ice?”

“Maybe…”

So once he had the fire going, he took the ice bucket and left the room momentarily.  She used that time to observe his unclothed torso.  Tyler’s skin had been
uninked
when they
’d been
together
as teenagers
, but he’d spent the last decade with tattoo artists having their way with his skin.  Megan grinned, wondering what some of the other guests would think, seeing his decorated
body
traipse down the hall in search of ice.  Of course, it was late, and there wasn’t much of a chance at this point that he’d be spotted.

But while he was out of the room, she tried to imagine his tattoos again.  There were a lot.  He didn’t have any sleeves, but he was well on his way.  He only had a couple on his back, but they were noticeable and large.  She didn’t have much chance to decipher the pictures, but maybe later she could check them out as though she were in an art gallery.  That was the hope.

Tyler had been a cute teen, but he had
grown up
to be fucking hot. 
And Megan had been a fun-loving young girl.  Now she was a nervous spaz. 
What the hell was wrong with
her
that she couldn’t just relax and enjoy herself?

Maybe she
should
have just one drink.

Tyler returned with the ice and bolted the door behind him.  Megan looked up from the couch and smiled as he turned around.  He set the ice bucket on the bar that wrapped around half the kitchen.  She stood up, walking toward him.  “I was thinking maybe a little drink wouldn’t hurt.”

“Would you rather have some
wine?”

“What do you have here already?”

He opened the refrigerator.  The entire top shelf was stocked not just with alcohol but cans of soda and some snacks. 
“Lots of stuff, actually.”
  He turned around to look at her.  “I could make you a rum and Coke.  Or…”  He looked in the fridge again. 
“…almost
anything
and Coke.
  Jack, Southern Comfort…”

“I guess a rum and Coke would be fine.”

He nodded.  “Go sit by the fire and I’ll bring it over.”

“Are you
gonna
have one too?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

She walked back to the sofa and wound up sitting
on one side, resting in a corner
without thinking about it.  She
slid her sandals off and
tucked her feet up underneath herself.  The fire
did
feel comforting in the unnaturally cool room.  She found herself staring at the flames as they moved about behind the glass screen.  Sure, it wasn’t a
real
fire—there were no cracks or snaps of genuine wood—but it looked and felt right just the same.

Tyler joined her on the couch, and he sat next to her, leaving the remainder of the couch’s expanse behind his back.  He handed Megan her drink and set his on the coffee table.  “It’s nice, huh?”

She nodded. 
“Yeah.
  I’d love one of those.”

He smiled and took a sip of his drink.  “Whew,” he said, placing the glass on the coffee table.  “I have a tendency to make those too strong.  I think these ones are just right.  How’s yours?”

She took a sip.  “It’s fine.”

“Good.”  He took a deep breath.  “So what did you want to talk about, Megan?”

She felt a shy grin spread across her cheeks and she looked down into the brown liquid in the glass she was holding.  “I don’t know.  I just…”  No…
oh, no
.  There was no way she was going to tell him what she’d
really
been thinking, that she couldn’t help but think long term.  And she
also
couldn’t tell him she had some weird sort of performance anxiety.  But she couldn’t
tell him
nothing
.  “I just feel like we don’t really know each other
anymore,
and it seems kind of strange to just…”  Her voice trailed off.  She sounded stupid to her own ears.

“Yeah…I hear you.”  He slid his index finger under her chin, coaxing her to look up.  “If we hadn’t known each other so well back then, it might be easy to just jump in the sack, right?”

She felt a breath escape from between her lips, and relief washed over her.  He understood part of what she felt, even if he didn’t know all of it.  She nodded but didn’t say anything.  Instead, she took a sip of the drink.  She didn’t want to get back to the woozy, tipsy state she’d been in earlier.  That wouldn’t be good at all.  But she did want to keep the edge off as much as possible.
  Finally, she said, “Yeah.  So, I guess I just don’t feel like I know you anymore.”

His mouth screwed up on one side as he considered her words.  “Well, hell.  I would have sworn you know
everything
.”  He chuckled.  “It feels like nothing in my life has been secret the last three years.”

Well, that might have been true, but he didn’t need to know that Megan had avoided as much personal information about Tyler as she could.  He didn’t know it would have broken her heart to know if he’d had a serious girlfriend…or a love child…or a wife.  She hadn’t wanted to know.  She wasn’t about to tell him any of that
, or that she knew the answers anyway
.  “Well, why don’t you tell me about the bands you’ve toured with?  Or maybe
your
favorite venues…or the recording process…or
whatever
.  Those are things I have no clue about.”

He grinned.  “Okay.”  So he spent the next hour and a half talking about some of his adventures from the last ten years, not just since he’d formed
Madvers
ary
with three friends but some of his earlier struggles.  He talked about
Madversary’s
rise to the top from his point of view.  Because Megan was a metal fan girl, she felt giddy hearing about Tyler’s encounters with some of her favorite bands.  Tyler didn’t just talk nonstop; Megan asked questions, keeping him going.  He said several times he was afraid of boring her, but he discovered she wasn’t anywhere close to it.
  And he wasn’t repeating stories he’d told her earlier at the reunion.  He was telling her all new stuff, keeping things interesting.

She
was
, however, growing tired, but she didn’t say anything.  She finished off the last of the drink when Tyler said, “So…tell me more about what you’ve done the last ten years, Megan.”

She shrugged.  “Believe it or not, you know all there is to know.”

He shook his head deliberately.  “I doubt it.”  Megan smiled and raised her eyebrows.  Tyler said, “Dig deep.  Tell me one thing…you’re really proud of that almost no one at the high school reunion knows about.”

He was serious.  And she couldn’t think of anything.  She didn’t do a lot of volunteer work, even though she’d always meant to.  She’d already told him (and others) about her baby, the book club.  But…there
was
one thing.  “Well,” she said, placing her empty glass on the coffee table.  “Every once in a while, I write a book review for the local paper.”

Tyler smiled. 
“Seriously?”

“Yeah.
  I love to read the new releases, and if I feel pretty strongly about a book, good or bad, I like to write about it.  Anyway, a few years ago, one of my coworkers suggested I contact the newspaper editor.  She knew him and set up a meeting, and he said he’d love to do it.”

“You get paid anything for it?”

She giggled. 
“Five dollars.”
  She laughed a little more.  “But I don’t do it for the money.”

“I didn’t figure…
.
”

She caught herself staring at the fire.  Megan knew she could easily drift off to sleep now if her head were resting on a soft pillow. 
The warm fire, the alcohol, and the fact that she’d relaxed put her there.

Tyler noticed.  He grabbed her left hand.  “Are you ready for that backrub now?”

She grinned.  How could she turn that down? 
“
Really
?”

“Yep.
  Follow me.”  He stood and led her by the hand to the large bedroom right off the living room area.  Was he really going to give her a backrub or did he have other intentions?  Megan thought she’d be okay with either choice.

Chapter Eleven

WHEN THEY GOT
to the bedroom, Megan felt her nerves return just a little.  The room was monstrous.  It was bigger than any
apartment bedroom she’d ever liv
ed
in
.  She didn’t want to know how much Tyler had had to drop on this place, and she was upset that here she was getting all silly again.

But Tyler said, “Go ahead and lie down on your stomach and get cozy.”

Megan smiled and said, “Okay.” 
He was still without his shirt and she’d managed to not spend the last hour and a half staring at his
pecs
.  But as she turned her head toward the bed, she allowed herself a little peek.  Then s
he moved toward the queen bed with the fluffy brown and multi-colored spread.  She
lay
down and scrunched a pillow under her head, turning it to the side
so that her left cheek rested on the pillow
.