53. Rebecca
Chapter Fifty-Three
REBECCA
D uring my last visit to the city, I’d been sitting on the couch with Brendan, my legs relaxed over his. As usual, we spent the weekend alone. I never met his friends, except Mark of course, because they lived together. But even Mark stayed away most of the time. I didn’t mind at first, because being with Brendan was such a rare thing, that I wanted him all to myself. But then it began to feel odd, like I was a secret. And I was not okay with that at all.
We’d spent most of the afternoon in bed so I was wearing only his white button-up shirt and my pale pink panties as we watched Highlander that night. I enjoyed introducing him to movies from my generation that I knew he’d love. Blade Runner. Ladyhawke. And now this.
Mark was in his bedroom, but a loud, boisterous knock at the front door brought him out. Brendan didn’t move to get up. He was happily tracing the bare flesh on my thigh and staring at the screen.
The two of them had an unspoken ease to their home. I don’t think there could have ever existed a better roommate situation anywhere. They cohabited without strife and often communicated without words. And I, ever the quiet observer, watched it with envious fascination.
“Macallan 18! How ‘bout it! How you like me now?” a voice boomed.
Brendan and I both looked to the sound.
Holding a bottle of scotch, in walked a guy with the personality of five men. “You guys wanna play a game?” He had sparkling eyes, a lopsided grin, stood around 5’10,” and his body was obviously brewed by many, many hours at the gym. As soon as he saw me, his eyebrows sprang up and his smile faltered for a second as he looked from Brendan to me. I couldn’t help but think he was adorable.
“Well, hello there.” Hand held out, he walked straight up to us. “Tommy.”
I shook his hand, but I felt Brendan’s fingers wrap tight around my leg.
My father always said, You’re a lady, Rebecca. And a lady can get away with anything. So I smiled and held my head high. “Rebecca. Nice to meet you. Sorry, I didn’t dress for company.”
Tommy grinned and asked Mark, “I think she’s dressed perfectly. How about you?”
Mark smiled with the patience of one who knows his friends very, very well.
Tommy looked over to the sounds of battle coming from the T.V.
“Highlander? This is a classic!”
“You’ve seen it?”
“Seen it? I own it! And yet still, if it comes on cable, even though I own it –”
“—You have to watch it anyway! Me too!” I laughed.
Then we both said the famous line at the same time. “There can be only one!”
I glanced happily to Brendan, but the look on his face melted my smile away fast. I settled back against the back of the couch and leaned into him. His eyes were like stone, but his hand held my leg like I was his property, a noteworthy observation, I thought.
Tension was high and Mark saved the day by grabbing his jacket from the back of a chair. “Let’s go to Knockout, Tommy.”
Tommy’s surprised glance looped around everyone’s faces. “Oh right. You guys want to be left alone.”
I explained, “It’s just I’m in town only for the weekend, so we don’t have a lot of time.” Brendan looked at me and I couldn’t read his face, so I squeezed his hand.
Mark had already gone and Tommy was about to follow, but he turned around and slid his hands casually into his pockets. “Oh, hey Brendan, you know we’re meeting at the office tomorrow with the search engine tech guys, right?”
Brendan searched his memory. “On a Sunday?”
“Yeah. Noon. So don’t sleep in.” He flashed a charming smile. “Nice meeting you, Rebecca.”
“You too.”
As the door closed, I heard him crying out with a Scottish brogue, “There can be only one!!!”
I smiled and looked at Brendan whose face was still troubled. “What was that about?”
“What?”
“You got so tense.”
I watched him evade the subject as he flipped me over and took me right there on the couch.
He was showing dominance. I got that loud and clear. He didn’t like how Tommy had looked at me, and this was how he acted on that.
Who was I to argue?
We walked to Lolinda afterward because I needed some iron and their Filet Mignon was divine. The walk was nice, but we didn’t hold hands. We rarely did. And our phones were constantly going off with emails and texts that couldn’t be ignored. I teased him that we worked too much, that we couldn’t take a break even for a weekend, that something was wrong with us. He smiled because he knew I loved keeping busy just as much as he did.
At one point during dinner, he raised his hand to get the server’s attention.
“Yes?” she asked, her hands trained behind her straight back.
“Can we have a bottle of Hermitage La Chapelle?”
“2001 or ’99?”
He answered without hesitation, “The ’99. Thank you.”
As she left, I smiled and leaned in to whisper, “I’m guessing that’s the better one.”
Brendan reached out and took my hand. “Do you think I’d give you anything less?”
The way my body melted was embarrassing. I was a grown woman and this younger man could break my heart in half. I nibbled on a roll, dipping it in the juices swimming on my plate.
“Brendan?”
He looked up from his phone. “Yeah?”
“I’ve had a really good time this weekend.”
His eyes lit up. “It’s not over.”
I smiled. “I know. I just wanted to tell you.”
“Get ready for some of the best red wine you’ve ever had.” Then his head dipped back into his phone and his thumbs typed away. I watched for a second and picked up my own to check if Connie had written back about the pet rescue place in Scottsdale, Arizona called Lucky Dog. She had and I loved that she was on board, so I wrote her back immediately. That email turned into another and soon the night disappeared before I even knew what had happened.
When we lay in bed that night, I snuggled up to him. “Are you awake?”
“Yeah?”
“Who’s your emergency contact?”
He turned to face me. “What?”
“I was thinking I’d like to be on your emergency contact list. If something ever happened to you, I’d like to know.”
He frowned and stared at me for a while. I waited, holding his eyes.
“Let me think about it.” He turned back over. I stared at his back, feeling irritated. Can’t you give me anything? I thought. It took me an hour of telling myself I could always end things if I couldn’t handle it anymore, before my eyes finally closed.
The next day at 12:30 p.m., there was a knock at the door. Alone, with Mark having gone to the gym and Brendan to his meeting, I looked through the peephole to find Tommy on the other side. My mind raced to understand what he was doing there. “Hey Rebecca.” I opened the door with a confused smile and he looked inside. “Brendan here?”
I shook my head, saying slowly. “No, he went to that meeting. Weren’t you supposed to go?” Tommy took a step forward to lean on the doorway. He was uncomfortably close. I hated to admit it, but he looked damned sexy. He was handsome, but all three of them were, with different things to offer. It occurred to me that together they must have desolated the female population in college.
He inhaled deeply, his mind somewhere else. “Nah. I wasn’t supposed to be at this one. I’m newer to the company, you know. Brendan’s the guy. He’s got more time and people like him more.” He looked at me like he wanted to say something, but then shook his head a little and looked away.
“What were you going to say? And did you want to come in?”
He nodded and followed me in. I motioned to the couch but he opted for the big dark leather chair opposite me; Brendan’s favorite. I went to the kitchen to get him some ice water and he waited for me, asking how I met Brendan.
“Oh we met while I was on vacation a long time ago,” I called out. “So what’s going on at the company?”
He began to speak, but then stopped himself. “It’s not important. How’s your visit been?”
I tilted my head a bit and smiled. “Seriously, it’s okay. If you want to talk, I’m a good listener.”
“You sure I’m not interrupting your day?” He made a cute face.
“Nope. I was just reading a book, but it can wait.” I picked up the novel The Vampire Lestat from the couch, held it up and laid it on the coffee table, next to Wired Magazine. “See? Book can wait. Stay there, Book.”
His eyes danced more and he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped. “You’ve got it trained well.”
“Took me years.”
He laughed, but then his smile faded. “Well, the thing is, I don’t think Brendan’s gunning for me to do well at the company. He shuts me down a lot. I try not to let it get to me, but it does.”
I thought for a moment. “Last night at dinner, he said you guys have been friends since college. That’s a lot of time, so I’m sure he wants what’s best for you.”
Tommy looked away, eyes darkening. “I wish you were right, but I don’t think that’s the case. We all need friends in our court, you know? I’ve known these guys since forever, but it’s like I’m on the outside ever since they moved in together. I try to reach out.” He stopped and said on a laugh. “God, I sound like such a pussy.”
“No, I like it. My ex and I never used to talk like this. This is nice. I like hearing what’s really going on with people.”
“Yeah? Me too.” He searched my face, leaning forward again.
“So, let’s connect,” I smiled, meaning it. “What are you going to do about this problem? Tell me what you think might work to fix it.”
He sat back and played with his watch. It gave me a second to study him. He was dressed casually but with style. His jeans were dark and hung well. His sneakers were leather and hip. The T-shirt was tight, but not too tight. And his watch had a large, brown leather strap that screamed testosterone. His hair was cut short and looked great. He had a strong neck and jawline. He glanced over and caught me looking, and I blinked a couple times and turned my attention to the clock. It was 12:45 p.m.
“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. Being cool, not rock the boat. Show up with a smile and hope that Brendan will take down that wall of his.”
I laughed. “He does have a wall, doesn’t he?”
Tommy made a small noise that said yes without saying the word. He brought both hands up and clasped them behind his head, his torso spreading out as he leaned back in the chair. His T-shirt stretched tight against his chest and his legs opened comfortably in a way that said sex, sex, SEX.
He glanced to my chest making me suddenly aware that my nipples had come to attention without my knowledge. I crossed my arms. “Well, about work and him not supporting you, I hope you’re wrong.” I was covering my embarrassment.
“I hope you’re right,” he smiled.
I stared at him. His eyes stayed on me. The charge in the room could have lit up the San Francisco Opera. I should ask him to leave. I glanced to my book on the coffee table, then back to him. He didn’t falter in his gaze and I felt him everywhere.
After an electric moment longer, I heard myself say, “Tell me more.”
He smiled. “I figure, if I stick around long enough, I’ll win in the end. That’s my plan.”
“I think that’s a good plan,” I said, quietly. “Are we still talking about your job?”
Then I heard the front door and before I realized who it must be, Brendan stormed into the room, looking from me to Tommy like we were both naked and fucking. I straightened up and greeted him a little too quickly. “Well, hello. You’re back early.”
He focused on Tommy. “They moved the meeting to Monday.”
“Oh yeah? That sucks you went all the way down there then.”
I watched them, two men with pistols drawn, standing twenty paces apart. And I was so shocked by what Tommy said that I blurted, “Wait. What? Was there really even a meeting at all?”