Quirks & Kinks (19 page)

I would have left them there forever, such was the temptation of their satiny texture, but her hair brushed the line of my neck and called to my hands with a louder, more insistent need. There would be plenty of time to explore her legs, I would make sure of that.

A soft moan ached sweetly in her chest as my palm cupped her jaw and the tips of my fingers slid back into her hair.

I’d touched her before. I’d tasted her skin and her lips and even sampled the minty heaven of her tongue, but I hadn’t done any of it like this—with nothing between us, with no one there but Easie and Anderson.

I needed inside of her. Pronto.

“Inventor of pants,” Easie panted between kisses, breaking her mouth from mine occasionally but offering her neck when she did. “Bad . . . Evil . . . Murder.”

I wholeheartedly agreed, groaning pathetically when she rolled her hot hips desperately into mine.

Fast fingers trailed the front of her body, eager, shameless, and unthinking as I zoned in on the siren warmth between her legs. I didn’t quite make it there, but I did find the bare skin above it with a quick shift of her billowy shorts.

Easie’s breath left her in a rush, and her head flew back so hard I feared it would hit the wall. My body shifted backward out of instinct though, pulling her with it and protecting her skull.

Neither of us could see or hear anything but each other, the heat of the afternoon sun only fueling the tingle that ran through our skin and the whoosh of blood in our ears.

“Ahem.” A throat cleared from an uncomfortably close distance.

Right.
All that whooshing blood is probably why we didn’t hear the door open.

My first concern was Easie, but she made me realize pretty quickly that I needn’t have bothered.

“Whoops,” she muttered, peeking just slightly around the curve of my head before bringing her delighted eyes back to mine. “I guess we forgot to lock the door. Isn’t that what most people say in these situations?” And then she winked.

I rolled my head to hers, breathing her in and letting all of that air come back out as a chuckle. “I’m pretty sure there’s an
actual
locking door in those situations.”

“I suppose you guys still aren’t together?” Ashley asked with a cute tap of her toe.

Easie opened her mouth to speak, but, not sure what she would say, I beat her to the punch.

“We’re together,” I declared, setting my clinging monkey down on her feet gently as I did.

“That’s funny,” Ashley remarked, as I adjusted myself surreptitiously and turned to face her head on. Certain parts of me didn’t get the memo to stop saying hello.

I kept an arm around Easie and pulled her into my side. “Just last night I’m pretty sure you were the one who had her crying in her cheerios.”

Wincing, I didn’t even want to think about it. So I didn’t.

“We’re together,” I repeated firmly, giving Easie a squeeze as I did.

“We’re together?” she questioned.

“We’re together,” I affirmed, looking down to meet her eyes directly.

Did she not think we were together?

Ashley had enough. “Okay, seriously? I know Larry mentioned a budget increase, but it wasn’t a lot. Do the two of you realize there’s an entire crew in there waiting for you, clamoring about why you ran out after a showing of unscripted mutilation?”

“How do you know about the mutilation?” Easie asked embarrassedly, knowing her sister hadn’t even been on set when she bit me.

“Did I not mention the clamoring?” Ashley asked, growing impatient. “Back inside. Both of you. Before Larry himself comes and gives you shit about it.”

Easie jumped forward to comply, but I pulled her back, squeezing her against my body once more.

“We’ll be in in two minutes and ready to work,” I compromised sternly.

Ashley’s eyes narrowed, but with one last huff and an attitude-ridden toss of her honey blond hair, she pulled open the door and disappeared.

“Come on,” Easie said, trying to pull away from me. “We have to go back in there.” She gasped low. “Oh God. I have to explain things to Howie. That was so unprofessional.”

“Easie,” I called, pulling her in like an accordion and turning her to face me before she went into a complete tailspin.

“Just relax. Howie doesn’t give one shit about the professional nature of your biting me. He cares what I did to you to make you do it and wants an opportunity to exact his own revenge.”

“He said something to you?” She looked mildly horrified.

I remembered the promise of a long, painful death I’d gotten before I left. “It was less about words and more of a look.”

“Oh God.” Her face sought solace in her hands.

“As long as you’re okay when we go back in there, we’ll both be okay,” I assured, stroking her back and fighting the beginning of a smile.

She really was too cute.

“I’m okay,” she said, promising both me and herself and bolstering her nerves. “I may have a small beef with Tammy, but that’s for another time.”

“You have a problem with Tammy?”

“She kissed you on the lips!” she yelled. “Transgender best friend or not, that bitch did it on purpose.”

The ends of my lips edged upward again.

“So you don’t want other people kissing me on the lips?” I fished, reaching out to stroke her tiny hip.

She glared. “I think we’ve pretty much established that we’re together, don’t you?”

“You were the one questioning it!” I accused.

“That was a test.”

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. “What the hell is it with women and tests?”

“Don’t fight it,” she teased, patting me on the cheek with exaggerated compassion. “You’re in a relationship. This is your life now.”

She turned to the door again, and this time I followed, ducking into the cool air of the studio behind her and reaching out to take her hand. Now that I could touch her without the threat of a knee or well placed elbow to the balls, I was taking advantage.

“Come on,” she hurried me with a tug, letting go of my hand just before we got to set and pretty clearly painting a boundary I could live with. When we were on set, there would be lots of touching, but it would be the mostly fake kind, staged in a professional manner and purposed for the entertainment value of our show.

Like I said, pretty understandable. But, considering the state of my balls, it would probably just be a little harder to live with today.

I smiled on the inside as Howie’s eyes carefully assessed the two of us, narrowing noticeably when they moved from Easie to me. I liked that he was looking out for her, and under the amiable circumstances, it was easy to find amusement in his disdain for me. If Easie still felt the same way, I doubted I’d be feeling this cheery about it.

“Easie?” Howie prompted, assessing her state of mind but attempting to do it without embarrassing her further.

“Ready,” she responded with a firm nod, meeting his eyes and obviously communicating everything that needed to be.

“Right then. Let’s try it again,” he instructed before teasing, “Maybe without the bloodshed this time.”

I looked from him to her expecting to find a tinge of pink or a shifty-eyed glance, but all I found was the distinct raise of one manicured brow and a smart-ass smirk. “Yes, sir.”

She was so complex, layering a quiet smile under the sass of a thousand women and topping it all with a occasional blush of innocence. I couldn’t wait to explore every facet of her character and the many inches of skin that housed it.

God, I couldn’t wait for tonight.

And then I remembered everything I had to do.

I had to run no less than ten miles, play the basketball game with the adult league I was in, put in the obligatory phone call to my parents, and make up my pre-made meals for the rest of the week.

Maybe
not
tonight.

Fuck.

“Action!” Howie called loudly, snapping me out of my reverie and reminding me to do my job. I’d have to figure out everything else later.

Right now I had to focus on running my hands all over Easie’s body without getting too noticeably hard.

It looked like I was going to be failing at a lot today.

“SO YOU’RE OFFICIALLY TOGETHER
?” Tammy asked, making air quotes around the word officially.

I had just finished telling her about the whole day; the tongue biting, the arguing, and the making up. Though, I’d left the details of the last part out of it.

“We’re together,” I confirmed, choosing to avoid her carefully placed taunting. “You’re not in really good standing either.”

“What? She’s mad? Didn’t you tell her everything about me?”

“I told her the basics. She’s still pissed you kissed me.”

Tammy smiled slightly. “Ah,” she breathed. “A woman with balls. That’s my kind of people.”

“You scare me sometimes,” I muttered teasingly.

“You scare me!” she shot back seriously, giving me and the letters in my hand a long once over. “Finally together, finally allowed to act on all of that sexual tension you’ve built up at the show by pretending to fuck, and now you’re here, on the first night, alone, looking at those fucking letters again. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Glancing down at the paper in my hands, I fingered the frayed edge, smoothed out the wrinkle of each fold. “You know. You
know
how important this is to me. And she knows how busy I am.”

“She doesn’t know why,” Tammy countered. “And it must have fucking stung to hear you tell her you couldn’t cancel any of your other stupid plans to be with her tonight. If
she’s
important to you, you might want to think on that.”

It had stung. For both of us. I could still picture the surprised disappointment as it tainted her eyes after the show. I’d almost caved, but at the thought of abandoning all of my responsibilities, I’d felt nauseous with guilt.

“It’s not that simple!” I yelled hoarsely. A throb in my chest set up camp, making me rub at it with the heel of my hand and take several deep breaths. “It’s not that simple,” I whispered.

“I know this is tough for you,” Tammy responded softly. “But I’m telling you, as your best friend . . . you better get your ass on your phone and call that girl. At the very least, take her with you to one of your activities tonight.”

She was right. I knew she was right.

“Don’t let the first thing you’ve wanted in a long time slip through your fingers, Anderson. It might do you some good to take that fucking ring off and read it every once in a while.”

The metal felt cold and heavy against my heated skin. Flexing my fingers, I tried to work away the sting.

“It says the same thing as the letters,” I muttered petulantly, staring down at the words as they ran together.

“Then fucking listen.” She lowered her voice, gentled it. “This is not
living free,
my friend. You’re so trapped in this cycle, it’s not even funny.”

Tammy didn’t understand. No one did.

I
wanted
to be trapped. It was the only place I could still feel
him.

“Call her.”

The second hand ticked loudly under the glass of my watch, calling my eyes directly to it.

Seven fifteen.

I had forty-five minutes until my basketball game. That would be just enough time to pick her up and get there.

Not ready to break my routine fully, I carefully folded my brother’s letters, tucked them safely into the large padded envelope, and secured the clasp on the fold. Feeling their weight in my hands, I tucked them to my side as I walked into the living room, opened my tall, oak cabinet, and slid them safely into their spot on the right hand side. With one last glance, I closed the doors, took a deep breath, and dug my phone out the pocket of my shorts.

There weren’t many contacts in my phone, so she was easy to find, and I pushed send before I could back out.

I shook my head at myself as it rang in my ear.

I didn’t
want
to back out. I fucking wanted to see her. Change is apparently just hard.

Even if it’s a good thing.

“Hello?” she finally greeted in my ear, settling my stomach and making me smile.

When I glanced up, Tammy was shaking her head and smirking.

“Hi, Easie.”

“Anderson,” she said with bite. She was mad at me for not making plans with her tonight. My smile deepened.

“Listen,” I said through my grin, hoping she could hear it, “I’ve just finished my run for the night—”

“A gazillion miles?”

“Yes,” I laughed, turning around to face away from Tammy when her knowing stare became too much. “I used my legs and everything.”

A soft giggle rumbled in my ear, pulling the tiny strings of my heart and nearly making my tired legs give out.

“Better than mine.”

An ache started in the deepest part of my cheeks, that much mass unaccustomed to sitting so high on my cheekbones.

“I’m getting ready to go to my basketball game here in a few minutes, but the more time I spend without you tonight the more I realize—”

“What a prick you are?”

I barked a laugh. “I wasn’t quite thinking of that exact wordage, but that’s pretty much the gist of it.”

“I can meet you there,” she offered hopefully, the end of her offer wavering slightly like a question.