Three to Tango (11 page)

Five

“
Y
our game is way off, bro.” Dennis clapped Brian on the back hard enough to send him stumbling—if Brian hadn’t been expecting it, that is.

As it was, he managed to stay steady on his feet. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“No prob. I’ll gladly kick your ass.” Dennis took the basketball from Brian’s palm before Brian could stop him. He dribbled. He set up a shot and took it. Then he turned. “Seriously, though. What the hell?”

Brian hadn’t even gone after the ball. Part of it was that every muscle ached. He’d been working himself hard lately. Really hard. Up early every morning for a run, an hour in the gym, these pickup one-on-ones. Anything to get his mind off Kerry and the night of the reunion. Of the morning after when she’d just up and disappeared. Part of it was that he just didn’t give a rat’s ass about basketball the way Dennis did. Dennis had played in high school when Brian had been spending time on the soccer field. It was something Dennis never let him forget, and most days Brian rose to the challenge good-naturedly. Just not today.

“Distracted, I guess,” Brian said. “I’m going to hit the showers.”

“What? What the … ? No, bro. No.” Dennis bounced the ball toward Brian so he had to catch it or let it fly away off to the side of the court. “Spill it.”

“Spill what? Nothing to spill.” Brian caught the ball easily in one long reach Dennis could never have mastered and passed it back.

“You’ve had your head up your ass for the past two weeks. Seriously. What’s going on?” For once Dennis wasn’t cracking jokes. He held on to the ball, too. He actually looked concerned. “You can tell me.”

Brian wanted to tell someone. He’d been holding in the memory of that night until he felt he might explode from it. It wasn’t like he could walk into the showroom and announce, “Hey, everyone, I not only got laid at my high school reunion, but it was by the girl of my dreams who’s been in every stroke fantasy I’ve had for the past twenty years.” Yeah, that would go over really well.

But … Dennis? Dennis had been Brian’s best friend by default. Neighbors as kids, their moms best friends, they’d gone to preschool together and had never quite managed to piss each other off hard enough to break apart. Dennis had been a player in high school, dating girls and dumping them without mercy. While Brian had been trying to shrink his hard-on for Kerry Grayson in trig, Dennis had been banging any girl who’d let him get in her pants and taking blow jobs from the ones who wouldn’t. Dennis had married his college sweetheart, settled down, had two cute daughters and a house with a dog.

What the hell would Dennis know about it?

“’Fess up, pally.”

“You know I hate it when you call me pally,” Brian said as he swiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “Look, I really need to hit the shower. I have stuff to do at home.”

Dennis scoffed. “What? Heat up a leftover pizza? Watch some Internet porn?”

“Whatever. Yeah.” It didn’t sound any better when Dennis said it than when Brian had been thinking about it.

“That’s bullshit. Come home with me. Becky’s probably making something really good.”

Brian had spent his share of dinners with Dennis’s family. Nights on their couch, too, once in a while, though not for a long time. Hell, he’d been the best man at Dennis’s wedding.

“I slept with Kerry Grayson.”

Dennis’s jaw dropped. “No shit.”

Brian didn’t feel as triumphant as he’d tried to sound. “Yeah. At the class reunion—”

“Damn, I knew I should’ve gone to that, but we couldn’t find a sitter. You punk! That was two weeks ago!”

Brian dodged the punch Dennis tried to land on his shoulder. “Yeah. I know. It wasn’t something I wanted to brag about.”

“Why the hell not? After all this time, you boned Kerry Grayson. Finally.” Dennis paused, frowning. “What happened? You didn’t pass out on her this time, did you? Shit, man. Tell me you didn’t.”

“I didn’t.”

“She got fat? Grew a mustache? Became a lesbian? No, wait. That would probably be hot.”

Brian had to laugh, finally. “Nothing like that. She looked hot. She came on to me, actually.”

Dennis was silent for a second. “Fuck my life.”

“Fuck
your
life?” Brian flipped Dennis the middle finger. “You have a great life. Becky’s great. The kids are great.”

“It’s not getting laid at my high school reunion by the piece of ass that got away,” Dennis said. “But, yeah, I guess it’s okay. Dude, you’ve had a boner for Kerry Grayson since senior year. And now … you banged her.”

Brian gave him a pained look. “Please. We didn’t … bang.”

“Fucked,” Dennis amended. “Screwed. Did the horizontal tango, knocked boots. Did she call you Mr. Flintstone ’cuz you made her bed rock?”

Something about Dennis’s commentary always put a new spin on things. Brian laughed and tossed the ball back and forth between his hands. “It was good. She was good. It was all good.”

“So? What’s the problem? You got to put something to bed—literally,” Dennis said seriously, “that’s been hanging you up for years. What’s the problem?”

“I can’t stop thinking about her.”

Dennis sighed and shook his head, then clapped Brian on the shoulder. “Dude. Dude, dude, dude.”

Brian shrugged him off. “Yeah. I know. I looked her up on Connex and everything. But I haven’t emailed her or anything.”

“You request a connection?”

“No.”

Dennis made chicken noises.

Brian shrugged. Maybe that had worked in elementary school, but not now. “Like I’m going to just randomly request a connection on Connex? Lame. We spent the night together, and in the morning she was just up and gone.”

“And you’re complaining?”

“Kerry and I were friends, man.”

Dennis snorted. “A long time ago, you were friends. And let’s face it, you were friends because you wanted to fuck her. That’s all. Now you have. What’s the deal, man? Was it that great?”

It had been the best sex he’d had in a long time. “It was good.”

“You keep saying that. I think what you mean is that you came hard enough to leak brains out your ears, maybe, and you want some more of that. Am I right?”

“Something like that.” But not everything like that.

Brian and Kerry had been friends. Good friends. Sex had come between them back then, he knew that now. Maybe not literal, actual sex, but lust. Romance. Whatever it had been. Stupidity. He didn’t want that to happen again.

“Well … just request a connection from her. Then you can send her a message through Connex. Give her a call.”

Brian had already looked her up online. Found her address and phone number. Knew where she worked. It made him feel like a stalker.

“You already know her number, don’t you? Rat bastard, I see it in your face,” Dennis crowed. “So what are you waiting for? Call her. Ask her out. If the pussy was that fine …”

“It’s more than that,” Brian said.

Dennis’s eyes got bigger. He sighed. “Oh. Dude. You are fucked.”

Brian shrugged. “I’m going home.”

“No. You’re going to call her. Right now.” Before Brian could stop him, Dennis had sprinted to Brian’s gym bag and pulled out his phone. “You have her in your contacts! I knew it!”

“Give me that!” Brian got there in a few strides, but not fast enough. Dennis was already thumbing in the numbers, engaging the call and thrusting the phone toward Brian.

Shit. Even if he hung up, her caller ID would probably show his name. That would look even …

“Kerry?” Brian said, his voice only a little raspy. “Hi. It’s me. Umm … It’s Brian. Brian Jordan.”

Jeremy walked in on her as she was saying good-bye. Kerry pressed her thumb to her phone’s touch screen and disconnected. Her breath felt hot. Her cheeks, too. Her heart was still pounding, though not as hard as it had done when she looked at her phone and saw Brian’s name and number show up.

“Who was that?” Jeremy asked like he didn’t really care, and he probably didn’t. He tossed the mail onto the table and kicked off his shoes, lining them up on the mat by the door, then going to the fridge to peer inside.

“It was … Brian Jordan.” God, just saying his name made her feel giddy. Kerry curled her fingers around her phone and pressed it between her breasts like that would stop her heart from beating right out of her chest.

Jeremy’s head appeared around the fridge door, his eyes goggled. “Get the fuck out!”

“He wanted to meet me for coffee.”

Jeremy stood, carton of milk in one hand, and closed the fridge door. Kerry searched his face, trying to gauge his reaction, but all she saw was the same old Jeremy. He cracked open the carton and poured himself a glass, then grabbed the package of Oreos from the bread box. She waited while he dunked one just long enough to make it soft, but not so long it would disintegrate.

“You going?” Jeremy pushed the cookie into his mouth, and droplets of milk clustered in the corners of his lips.

“I said I’d have to let him know.”

“So you didn’t say no.” Jeremy swallowed the cookie and used his thumb to wipe the corners of his mouth.

Kerry put her phone on the table and went to him, though with the milk and cookies in his hands it was hard to get close enough to kiss him. She settled for holding on to his hips. “I’ll tell him no.”

Jeremy shook his head. “Why? Don’t you want to have coffee with him?”

The truth was, the invitation had sent a thrill right through her. Before she could answer, Jeremy put down the glass and the cookies and took her in his arms. He looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes, a look she knew meant he was thinking about something. Hard.

“You should go,” he said.

“No. I mean, why?” Kerry shifted closer to slide her hands up his chest and link behind his neck. “That would be awkward.”

“Why? Because you fucked?”

“Well … yeah.”

Jeremy laughed and kissed her, but briefly. “I thought you told me you and the fabulous Brian Jordan had been, like, best friends.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“So? Friends have coffee together, right? You could meet him for coffee. Why should it be awkward just because you had sex?”

“Theoretically you’re right,” Kerry said dryly. “However, the fact is that while we used to be friends, there was always that underlying sexual-tension thing going on, and now …”

“Now there’s no tension. You should be even better buddies.” Jeremy kissed her forehead and pushed past her, leaving the cookies and milk on the counter in his typical haphazard manner. “Grabbing a shower before I watch
Runner
. You coming?”

Kerry didn’t move until he was almost through the doorway, then turned on her heel to follow him. “Jeremy. Wait.”

“Babe, I feel gross. Talk to me while I shower. Or better yet,” Jeremy said with a wicked smile that arrowed straight to her cunt, “you can come help wash me.”

She laughed at that—also typical. “Yes, master.”

“Ooh, I love it when you call me master.” Jeremy walked backward down the hall for a few steps, reaching out to grab at her.

Kerry danced out of his reach but kept following him. “It would just be weird, that’s all. Meeting him for coffee all casual-like. Yes, because we fucked. But also because … well, because I have you.”

In the bathroom Jeremy didn’t even pause in unbuttoning his shirt as he answered. The shirt hit the hamper with unerring precision. He might be a little sloppy in the kitchen, but Jeremy was fastidious with anything that belonged to him. “It’s not like I don’t know you slept with him. And it’s not like I wouldn’t know about you having coffee. So what’s the deal?”

Kerry leaned in the doorway to watch him stripping down. Jeremy might not be big and broad and tall, but damn, he was fit. Lean and sculpted. And lucky, she thought with a bit of envy. He hardly even had to work at it.

“The deal is that I’m with you, that’s all. That thing with Brian was supposed to just be a one-time thing. I mean, I’m glad you were okay with it and all, and I had a good time. But it’s not meant to get stirred up again.”

Jeremy, naked now, faced her. “You think it would?”

“No.” She shook her head so her hair swung. “Of course not. My feelings for Brian are just memories, that’s all.”

He tilted his head a bit to look at her. “So, like I said. What’s the deal? It’s just coffee. You’re not gonna get on your knees to give him head right there in the coffee shop.” He leaned into the shower to turn on the hot water, which squealed as it came on, the way it always did. “Although that would be totally fucking hot.”

“Jeremy,” Kerry said, annoyed.

He didn’t look chastened, just stepped into the water and gave her another grin. “What? It would. Fuck, babe, I would love to watch that.”

She frowned. “You would?”

“Sure. You give great head. And I love the way you touch yourself when you do it. How you get yourself off when you’re sucking me. Tell you the truth, it’s what I think about when I jerk off.” His cock was rising even as he spoke, and Jeremy slid an un-self-conscious hand down to stroke himself further erect. “Damn, it makes me want to do it right now.”

She wanted to tell him to close the shower door so water didn’t spray all over the floor, but that would block her very nice view. Kerry didn’t move from her place in the doorway, but everything inside her tightened as Jeremy’s fist closed over the head of his prick and moved downward. Watching him fuck his hand fascinated her. Taught her a lot, too. And turned her on.

“You’d really want to watch me sucking another man’s dick? Really?”

“Oh. Fuck, yes.” Jeremy tipped his face into the spray so the water sluiced down his chest, over his cock. He looked at her again, water beading on his skin. “I told you, babe. Totally fucking hot.”

An image of herself on her knees in front of Brian sent waves of heat over her that had nothing to do with the steam coming from the shower. Her nipples got hard, and she was glad her arms were crossed over her chest to hide this sudden, visible proof of how much the idea aroused her. She didn’t move, but instead became hyperaware of her clit and the pressure of the seam of her jeans against it.

“Yeah,” Jeremy said as though she’d said something. “Right there on your knees in front of him, your skirt hiked up. Showing that sweet ass, maybe a hint of your pussy from behind. No stockings and garters, none of that clichéd lingerie shit. Just your bare skin. Shirt open so I can see your nipples …”