Fowl Play (Tuft Swallow)

31. Brian

CHAPTER 31

Waking up in Kodi’s bed, breathing in her smell all around me, has me sporting the worst case of morning wood I’ve ever had.

Or maybe it’s just her, still snuggled beside me, relaxed and breathing softly with her dirty blonde hair splayed across the pillow. The sunlight peeking through the blinds of her first-story window scatters beams of light cascading across her freckled, naked skin, and I want nothing more than to trace them with my fingers as I sink myself inside of her.

Damn.

I like her.

Of course, I’ve enjoyed Kodi’s company since our first meeting at the town clinic. She’s smart, funny, and has a competitive spirit that, while a bit intimidating, I can’t help but respect. She’s strong, too, battling with so much more than I could have ever gleaned from our limited interactions.

Seeing the way she was at practice was eye-opening, too. After overhearing her fight with Lily about her softball coach, I can only imagine how badly he fucked up her sense of self-worth. And then to get injured and lose all her scholarships on top of that?

How is she even still standing?

I run my hand lightly up and down the curve of her hip, grazing down her thigh and settling on her knee. No poking and prodding the muscles this morning. Just appreciating her body for what it is now, here, in my arms, and all the things it’s capable of.

Like how it fell apart last night.

God, the image of her spasming in ecstasy, calling out my name until she could barely speak, is one I won’t soon forget. Even without getting off myself, that was some of the hottest sex I’d ever had. This woman is electric.

Lying here beside her, it’s hard not to compare last night with mine and Zeke’s sexual encounters. We tended to go about things a little more quickly: starting the night with a text, maybe a drink, a healthy squirt of lube and then we’d be out of each other’s hair in half an hour or less.

Occasionally I’d spend the night, but I learned quickly that Zeke liked to run to the gym first thing in the morning, and I was never that comfortable alone in his apartment with his spoiled, overweight bulldog. I’m good with pets, but Killer was a rescue that Zeke had never really trained to be comfortable around strangers.

Odd that even after a year of dating, Killer still seemed to think of me as a stranger. Maybe I should have pegged that as a red flag.

Kodi stirs, turning in my arms to face me. She slowly opens her sleepy eyes and crinkles her nose in a shy smile. “Hi.”

“Hi.” I grin at her.

We stare stupidly at each other for a moment (the kind of thing that Zeke would never have tolerated), and then Kodi stretches, letting out an adorable little squeak as she does. Her back arches into me, and her pelvis grazes my raging hard-on.

“Oh!” She snaps back into her more relaxed pose, eyes wide. “Hello there, Little Brian.”

I snort. “Little Brian? No. You’re not going to call my penis that.”

“Why not?” She runs her fingers through her hair. “It has a nice ring to it. It’s cute.”

“You think my dick is cute?” I give her my most judgemental look. “Word to the wise there, sunshine. ‘Cute’ is not considered a compliment when someone’s using it to refer to a man’s package.”

“Who said it was a compliment?”

She shoots me a shit-eating grin. I smack her on the boob.

“Ow,” she fake-cries, cheeks twitching as she fights a smile. “Rude!”

“You like it,” I argue, relaxing my fingers into the soft mound of flesh and squeezing tenderly until her nipple starts to stiffen. “And you know what? I think you like my cock too.”

“You do, huh?”

“I do.”

She opens her mouth to say something smart, but it turns into a gasp as I flick her swollen nipple. She bites her lip.

“Oh yeah. You totally like it.”

“I like your fingers,” she argues. “Jury’s still out on your penis.”

I stop rubbing her, pulling my hands back. “Fine then. No more hands or fingers for you until you get back with your verdict.”

She lets out an offended little scoff, and I roll upright and slowly get off the bed. But before I fully rise, she grabs my wrist and yanks me back down.

She leans over me, Spiderman-style, her head upside-down with her lips above mine and her tits hanging over my forehead. My eyes dart from her mischievous eyes to her jiggling breasts, and I smile at my delicious predicament.

There are worse views to wake up to.

I reach my arms up and grab her ribcage, lowering her chest down to my mouth as I take one of her nipples in an indulgent pull. She gasps again, and pounds her arms helplessly against my abdomen as I hold her right where I want her.

“Gah! What are you–Brian!” Her fingers rake down to my hips, slapping fruitlessly. I suck harder, swirling her areola with my tongue. “St–stop it–”

I shake my head like the brat I am, not letting go of her perfect breast. Then she wraps her hands around my cock through my boxers.

I release her with a pop. “Woah there, easy, baby girl!” I wince at the pressure building in my balls. “I’m still wound up from last night. I don’t want me blowing my load in your hair to be your first experience with that, okay?”

She lets go, and I twist to sit across from her. She nods, hair falling in her face. As she pushes the strands behind her ears, she rubs her arm absentmindedly.

“When…when should that happen?”

I blink. “What?”

“My first experience, with…” her eyes lower to my tented boxers.

I shift into a cross-legged position, tucking myself up into my waistband so it’s a little less intimidating. The head of my dick pokes out, drawing her eyes immediately.

I tilt her chin with a finger until her eyes rise to meet mine. “We should talk about that.”

Her shoulders slump, and she looks away. “Do you not want to?”

“What? No!” I rear back, shaking my head. “Fuck, Kodi, what the fuck would make you think that?”

She shrugs. I rub my hand over my face.

“I need you to understand something, okay?” I thought I’d made it perfectly clear last night, but apparently Kodi struggles a lot more with her self-confidence than I thought. “I want to sleep with you. I think you are very attractive, I absolutely enjoyed last night, and I one hundred percent want to get my dick involved in our sexual activities if you’re amenable.”

Her cheeks glow pink. “Okay.”

“But I gathered from last night that I should probably buy a box of condoms before that happens.”

She lets out a breath. “Yeah. I’m just not comfortable–”

I hold up a hand. “I get it. And you’re right: safe sex is good sex. I’m bi, remember? Condoms are my best friend.”

She smiles, then her eyes widen slightly. “Wait. Um. How does that work with two guys?”

I blink at her dubiously. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Is it, like,” she lowers her voice to a whisper. “Butt stuff?”

I try not to laugh at her, but I don’t do the best job of keeping the chuckle out of my voice. “Yes, Kodi. Among other things.”

She straightens, taking a second to think. Then she says, “is that actually…good? Like, pleasurable?”

This time, I can’t hold in my laugh anymore. “Why else would anyone do it?”

She shivers. “I just can’t even imagine what that would feel like.”

I tilt my head at her. “Well, if you’re ever interested in finding out, I have quite a bit of experience. Just let me know.”

The pink on her cheeks turns magenta, slowly enveloping the rest of her face. “Um…noted.”

I nod. “Cool. Now that that’s settled, how about some breakfast?”

Even though Kodi has to be at work before nine and I’m still wearing my clothes from yesterday, I decide it’s high time we’re seen in public once again. Although truth be told, part of my desire to take her out for breakfast is simply not being ready to leave her company just yet. Last night was special; she gave me a real piece of herself, fake relationship or not. And I’m not about to just step out on her with a wave and a peck on the cheek before she heads to work.

After she showers, she reminds me that I still haven’t been to the famous diner she wanted to take me to back when we first met.

“They’re by far the best breakfast in town,” she says as she brushes out her long hair. The highlights glow bronze as they dry in the light from her bedroom window.

“I don’t know, I’m pretty partial to the bacon sandwiches at Bun in the Oven.”

“Trust me. You haven’t lived until you’ve had the Swallow’s Eggs Benedict.” She puts the finishing touches on her work outfit (black slacks, a purple blouse, and some black ankle boots), slips an elastic around her wrist, and gathers up her bag.

“Damn. You get ready faster than I do in the mornings,” I observe, and she smirks.

“Why? How long does it take you to do your makeup?”

“Har, har. Come on, Gander, time’s a’wasting.”

She scurries in front of me to the front door, and I smack her on the ass. She squeals. “Hey!”

“Well, if you don’t want a spanking, don’t be rude.”

With a playful scowl in my direction, she opens the door and we walk down the couple of blocks to Easy Swallow.

It’s like stepping back in time. Red vinyl booths line the windowed front wall, where a surprising number of locals have already settled themselves. Another row of hungry customers sit at the diner counter, behind which I can see the rows of coffee pots and the big kitchen window, where paper tickets are clothespinned to a string of orders. I recognize one of the line cooks from the gym, and I give him a wave, but he’s too busy flipping eggs and hashbrowns to look up and see me.

“Two for breakfast?” The waitress asks, and Kodi smiles at her.

“Yep!”

“Coffee?”

“You got it,” she says as we follow the pink-haired woman over to a booth in the rear of the restaurant. Yet another woman with pink hair in this town. Old photographs and framed issues of the local paper hang across the walls, giving me a glimpse into the history of my new home.

Once settled, we’re each handed a plastic-coated menu. Kodi waves hers away.

“I’ll take the Eggs Benny, with a side of hashbrowns and double bacon.”

“Hungry this morning, are we?” The waitress raises her eyebrows. I cough at her.

“Make that two.” I hand her back my own menu, and she looks at us appraisingly.

“Alright. Two Bennies and a chonky squealer on a bed, coming up for the happy couple.” She shouts the order back to the window, and a chorus of answering grunts echoes back.

Kodi raises her eyes to mine, and she wiggles her torso in a little dance. She’s literally dancing for bacon. I reach out a hand to her, and she grasps it.

“You seem happy.” I grin. I can’t help it. She’s adorable.

“Just excited for breakfast. I love this place. Small towns have their downsides, don’t get me wrong, but you don’t find spots like this in bigger cities, you know?”

“I do,” I agree, lowering my eyes as the waitress returns with two mugs of steaming coffee and a couple red plastic cups of ice water. She tosses two straws down, as well as a carousel of creamers, and gives us an obvious once-over. As she does, I take in her name-tag, which reads “Eve”.

“Hey, you’re the new doctor, aren’t you? The one who cracks backs?”

At her words, a few heads turn in our direction. I nod, wishing I had the foresight to stuff a few extra business cards in my wallet.

“That’s me. Brian Gosling.” I hold out my hand.

“Like the actor??”

Kodi hides her mouth with her hand, stifling a giggle. I shake my head.

“That’s Ryan Gosling.”

“Oh my God. I just loved him in La La Land.” She visibly swoons, holding a hand to her heart and getting a faraway look in her eyes. “And the chemistry he had with Emma Stone? Ugh. I wish a man would look at me like that, you know?”

Kodi’s eyes flash up to me from her coffee, and I feel my pulse race a bit. “Yeah, haha, I know what you mean.”

“Is he your brother? Do you think you could tell him my Insta?” She hands me a card with an entire laundry list of social media handles on it. I blink down at it, shocked into silence for a moment.

“Umm…”

“He’s not related,” Kodi answers for me, and I shoot her a grateful look. “But if you know anyone who needs help with their chronic back or neck pain, or even could just use a little straightening out, he’s the man to see!”

She reaches into her bag and pulls out one of my business cards. My mouth drops open.

“Oh, you know? My neck has been killing me. Dad says it’s ‘tech neck,’ or something, from staring at my phone. Is that a real thing?”

She turns her heavily lined eyes to me, and her fake eyelashes blink in expectation.

“Uh, yeah. It’s absolutely a thing. You get headaches?”

“Oh my God. All the time! How did you know?”

I nod. “Give me a call. I’ll get that fixed right up for you.”

“Thanks, Ryan!” She tops off my (still full) mug of coffee, and swipes the card from Kodi’s hand before walking away.

My girlfriend–fake girlfriend, I remind myself–finally lets loose her laughter, shaking her head as she stirs some sugar into her mug.

“I think you have a new fan,” she teases.

“We’ll see.” I take a scalding sip. “How’d you get one of my business cards?”

“I stole a stack of them last time I was in your office,” she says, cheeks pink. “Figured I might as well do a little covert marketing for you in addition to helping you run your business.”

“A little tech help is a far cry from running my business.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Ryan.” Her teasing grin transforms into a look of pure terror as her focus slides behind me. “Mom!”

“Hello, sunshine!”

I freeze as I hear the sonorous voice of Linda Gander ring out in the Easy Swallow, and my shoulders tense as more wandering eyes across the diner zero in on the family reunion commencing at our booth. I instantly rise, knocking my thighs on the table in my haste to show good manners in front of Kodi’s mother.

“Hi, Mrs–uh, Linda. Good morning.” I hold out my hand to her for a handshake.

Her eyes shift pointedly from Kodi to me, to my wrinkled outfit that is obviously from the day before. She ignores my hand.

“Brian, hello. Marty tells me you still haven’t returned his call.”

His call? Fuck.

“Oh, uh…I didn’t realize he’d called me…”

“You’d think that a young entrepreneur would check his voicemail more regularly. But I suppose you’ve been…busy.”

Her gaze lowers to my clothes once again. My stomach sinks.

Shit shit shit!

If I thought running into Kodi’s mom in town was bad when it was only rumored that we’d slept together, it’s a hundred thousand times worse now that her daughter and I have actually slept together.

Granted, we haven’t gone all the way, exactly, but that line seems a little irrelevant when I know the sounds she makes when she’s coming on my fingers.

“What are you doing here, mom?” Kodi asks politely, saving me from responding to her scathing comment. Linda clears her throat.

“Meeting the girls for an overdue brunch. What are you doing, dear? Don’t you have work?”

“Two Bennies, side of hashbrowns and double bacon on the side,” Eve interrupts, depositing two delectable-looking plates onto our table. As if sensing the tension, she scurries away without another word. I glance frantically between my breakfast and my executioner.

“Oh, don’t let me keep you two from your breakfast. Eat! Please. You don’t have that much time, after all. It’s already 8:00.”

“Shi–I mean, shoot. Right. Nice seeing you, mom.”

“It is nice, isn’t it? You know what might be even nicer? If you would come to Sunday family dinner, Kodi. Your father and I miss you. It would mean the world to us to have some family time to catch up on how things are going with you, and your job, and…well. It’s just been so long!”

I’m still standing awkwardly in between Linda and Kodi, who’s still seated, but has yet to take a bite of her breakfast. Instead, she’s shifting uncomfortably under her mother’s gaze.

Do they not talk very often?

I want so badly to butt in and save Kodi from her obvious discomfort, but I’m equally nervous about making a bad impression in front of her mom. Especially now, that…

Now that her opinion on our relationship might actually matter.

My heart squeezes at the realization that I’ve been slowly coming to terms with over the last twenty-four hours. The dawning discovery that my feelings for this woman aren’t entirely fake. That, despite everything, I might actually be interested in Kodi Gander for more than just her tech savvy, or her ability to make Zeke jealous; I might actually be developing an honest-to-goodness crush on her.

Which makes everything about this interaction about a zillion times more complicated.

“I have a great idea. Why doesn’t Brian come, too? In fact, Marty has a tee time for 7:30 next Sunday morning. Brian, why don’t you join him on the green for the day while Kodi and I prepare something for both of you when you come home? It’ll be a chance for all of us to get to know you.”

The blood drains from Kodi’s face as Linda shares her horrible idea with me, coming to her senses quickly enough to shake her head vehemently behind her mother’s back as she finishes talking. By the time Linda turns to Kodi for confirmation, she’s completely schooled her expression back into a polite smile as she nods at her eagerly.

“Umm, I’d uh, love to, Linda! That sounds…great,” I finish lamely, and Linda’s thousand-watt Crest White Strips commercial smile flashes at me. Kodi stares at me in disbelief, but I can’t communicate with her when Linda’s beaming at me.

“Wonderful! Well, there’s Jane. I’ll leave you two to your breakfast. See you next Sunday, sweetie!” She leans down and kisses Kodi on the cheek, and shoots me one last tight-lipped smile before click-clacking over to the bar where another middle-aged woman with big hair is waiting for her.

I finally sit back down, across from a frozen Kodi. Her fork and knife are clenched in her fists, and she stares me down as I settle behind my now lukewarm eggs Benedict.

“What was I supposed to do?” I hiss at her before she can scold me, trying to cover up the sound of our conversation by cutting into my English muffin. “She had us cornered.”

“You’re condemning me to an entire day of cooking with my mother, while you golf with my dad??” She grinds her teeth as she talks, silverware quaking in her shaking hands.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter, feeling every bit like the biggest piece of shit. “I didn’t know what to do.”

“Well, get ready there, bright eyes. Because you have no idea what you just signed yourself up for.”