16. Chapter 16
Chapter 16
“Good job with that jumper today, Estrada,” Curly said as we stripped off our gear at the station. They no longer called me New Fucker, so that was progress.
“Thanks. I’m glad I was able to talk him down. Poor guy’s been through a lot lately.”
“But threatening to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge? Damn,” Maverick said, pulling a gray T-shirt over his head. “Mentioning his kids was a good idea though. I could see it the second those words hit home, and I knew he’d back away.”
“You stinky fuckers go clean up, and we’ll meet at the pub in an hour,” Curly ordered before picking up his black bag and heading for the exit.
An hour later, my hair was still damp when I took a seat on the booth side of our regular table.
“Ordered you a beer,” Chris said from beside me.
“Thanks, man.”
“Didn’t you go out of town last weekend? Was it a romantic getaway with a special lady?” His voice was lightly teasing.
“It wasn’t for me. It was for a friend who is getting married. Or was. She ended up breaking off the engagement while we were there.”
Eyebrows lifted all around the table.
“You don’t sound exactly broken up about it,” Kai mused.
I took a long draw of beer and swiped the back of my hand over my mouth. “He doesn’t deserve her. Guy’s a prick.”
Jayden’s eyes sparkled as he leaned forward. “Sounds like you think a certain blue-eyed Latino deserves her instead.”
I measured how much I wanted to say and finally thought, fuck it . “I would treat her like a goddamn queen.”
“You down for just some fun or is this something you want long term?” Curly asked.
“Long term,” I said, with assuredness.
“Hmmm.” He glanced around the table, and the guys seemed to be having some kind of unspoken conversation.
“What?”
Curly blew out a breath. “You want to be careful you don’t become Rebound Guy.”
“Or Revenge Guy,” Mav added, and they all bobbed their heads in agreement.
My eyes shifted between them. “Who are they?”
Jayden pointed at me. “You know, when a woman gets divorced or breaks off a long relationship, she finds Rebound Guy to get over the last one.”
“And that guy never lasts,” Chris advised. “I’ve seen it twice with my sister. And then you’ve got Revenge Guy. They usually get with this one after they’ve seen their ex with another woman. They find the hottest dude out there and bang him for a while to make the ex jealous. Even if she doesn’t want the ex back, she still wants him to see what he’s missing.”
“Agreed,” Mav said with a nod. “If you actually want a relationship with this woman, you do not, under any circumstances, want to be these guys.”
“I was Rebound Guy once,” Kai added. “Only lasted three months.”
Curly rubbed a hand over his bald head. “I’m always Revenge Guy. Don’t get me wrong. Being that guy is a helluva lot of fun, but she wants him for a good time, not for a long time.”
I took it all in, fascinated, as I sipped my beer.
“There was this one woman though… I wanted more. And it could have gone somewhere if I’d just fucking waited,” Curly said, stroking his fingers over his square jaw. “She’s the one that got away. She married Friend Guy.”
“Wait, there’s another guy?”
Jayden chuckled. “Yep. And some women also go through the Wild Guy stage.”
“This is getting confusing. I feel like I need to take notes. What’s the deal with Wild Guy?”
Kai twirled his beer glass on the table. “There are several scenarios with that one. Maybe she’s been with only her man since high school. Or maybe she’s been in an oppressive relationship and when she finally breaks free, she wants to sow her wild oats.”
“She starts thinking how she’s never been with a man who rides motorcycles or has a dick piercing. Or she’s never had a threesome,” Mav added. “Whatever. She just desires the adventure she’s never been allowed to have. That’s when she finds a guy like Jayden.” He bobbed his head toward the man across the table, who grinned like the cat that ate the canary.
“I have a bike and a piercing. I make an excellent Wild Guy,” he said, his white teeth a sharp contrast against his dark skin. “I’m down for it because I’m not looking for anything serious, and no woman wants to marry Wild Guy.”
I thought of my own piercing and decided I definitely didn’t want to be Wild Guy. Or Rebound Guy. Or who-the-fuck-ever those other temporary ones were.
“If I’m serious about her, who do I want to be?”
Curly looked across the table. “Mav, you wanna take this one?”
Maverick downed the rest of his soda and signaled for another before pointing a thick finger at me. “Based on personal experience, you definitely want to be Friend Guy.” I lifted my eyebrows as he continued. “My wife, Pam, was married before. We were acquaintances, kinda hanging out in the same circles. I never liked the way her husband treated her. Just his tone of voice when he spoke to her rubbed me the wrong fucking way.”
“Understandable,” I said, thinking of how Dwight had railroaded Lehra into getting what he wanted. Or what his mother wanted.
“So she finally wised up and divorced his ass. I’d had a low-key crush on her for years, but she was married so I couldn’t do anything about it, you know?”
I nodded, knowing all too well. “How did you two end up together?”
“I became her friend, a shoulder to cry on. I didn’t plan it or anything. It just happened. I was fighting my own demons, and we bonded over some stuff.” He closed his eyes and grimaced. “I watched as she went through Rebound Guy and Revenge Guy. It was so fucking hard because I was harboring these secret feelings for her. She even had a Wild Guy at one point, but she broke it off after one date because he smoked.”
Mav let out a soft chuckle. “This went on for about a year. I could see the changes in her. I watched her heal before my very eyes. And the entire time, I was there, supporting her through everything.”
“A year?” I practically yelled before slugging back the rest of my beer. Fuck, I didn’t want to wait a year.
Mav smiled patiently. “Trust me, Pam was worth the wait. She finally saw that what she wanted had been right in front of her the whole time. We’ve never looked back.”
“Those two are like a friends-to-lovers romance book come to life,” Chris said with a grin. “And yes, I read romance books. Fuck off.”
I laughed and held up both hands. “No judgment here, dude. I started one of my sister’s books while I was babysitting and my niece was napping. It was so good, I asked her if I could take it home to finish.”
“I have a couple friends-to-lovers books that might interest you. I’ll text you the titles and authors.”
“Okay, if the Hallmark boys are done talking, let’s move on,” Curly said gruffly.
As I was headed home an hour later, I sat in the back of a cab and thought about what the guys had said. Had I already fucked up any chance I had with Lehra that night in the hot tub?
Knowing that her previous sex life had been less than stellar, watching her come apart on top of me had been the most satisfying thing I’d ever seen. She needed to know she deserved to have her needs taken care of and that I was the man who could get the job done.
But when I’d walked her back to her room and she stumbled a little, I realized how tipsy she was, and the guilt crept in. Did I take advantage of her? Because that wasn’t me at all.
So I’d kissed her on the cheek and returned to my room with an enormous erection that proved to be quite persistent. Nothing I thought of could make the damn thing go away. I was still frustrated the next morning and told Artie to go downstairs to breakfast without me. Once he was out of the room, I’d stepped into the shower and taken care of business with my fist.
It hadn’t taken long. All I had to do was picture Lehra riding me in the hot tub, her head thrown back and the tips of her long, blonde hair dragging the churning water as she found her sweet release.
Goddammit, now I’m getting hard again just thinking about it.
Tugging my phone from my pocket, I read through the text thread with Lehra from Monday.
Cruz: Hey, just checking on you. Sorry I haven’t been around much. Auburn’s schedule has been crazy.
Tink: I knowwww. I’m helping Tony with scheduling, and it’s been wild. And I’m doing good.
Cruz: I’m glad. Also, I wanted to apologize about Saturday night. You were a little tipsy, and I don’t want you to think I’m the kind of guy who would take advantage.
Tink: No need to apologize. I was afraid you’d think I took advantage of you, LOL.
Cruz: I was most definitely a willing participant. I can’t stop thinking about it.
Tink: You think about it? I may be blushing right now.
Cruz: It’s hard not to. You looked so fucking beautiful.
Tink: Yep, definitely some blushing going on over here.
Cruz: Shit, I’m sorry, Tink. I’ve gotta go. I’m supposed to pick up Auburn in ten minutes.
Tink: Good luck. He’s always a bear when they’re getting ready for Fashion Week. Better since he’s got Gia now though.
Cruz: For sure. Bye, beautiful. Talk later.
There were a few more texts from the following days, but nothing profound, basically chatting about our days. I hadn’t seen her except for a few glimpses through the windows when I’d driven Auburn to and from work. He’d had me busy as hell this week.
I wanted something with Lehra, something lasting, not just a fling so she could get over Dwight and then move on to a serious relationship. I was going to have to find a way to slow things down without making her think I regretted what happened that night.
Because I didn’t.
She was special.
She was mine.
And she’d be worth the wait.