Chapter 24
FOOT MEET MOUTH
Stefan
Good thing I have cat-like reflexes, because I almost lose my footing on the treadmill later that afternoon when Hayes finally tells me why he’s been a moody bastard all day.
“Are you kidding me?” I ask, as I grip the sidebars, steadying myself.
We’re at my house in my state-of-the-art gym. From the treadmill next to mine, he sears me with a look that says he’s not at all kidding. “I wish.”
I catch back up to my pace, running some more, processing this turn of events. “That explains the sullen mood you’ve been in since the breakfast.”
“I was not in a bad mood at breakfast.”
“You were so.”
He heaves a sigh as he runs even faster. “I tried to hide it.”
“Try a little harder next time,” I tell him, annoyed with him for one of the first times ever.
I rarely get annoyed with friends, especially Hayes.
Or anyone, for that matter. Life’s too short for little grievances.
At the moment, though, Hayes Armstrong is not my favorite person.
“But back it up please. I want to get to the part where you’re in the elevator with the team owner and have the brilliant idea to explain your shenanigans last night by saying you’re still married. ”
I can’t believe that was his solution.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he huffs.
I scoff. But I don’t say that was a dick move when I want us both to take her out on a date. I’d be the asshole then, and I generally strive to avoid that. Instead, I say, “I can’t imagine why that would be a good idea.”
“I thought it looked better to be married than wasted and playing a prank,” he explains, with some self-loathing in his tone. “I thought we could just do, you know, one of those stay-married-for-a-few-months-and-then-let-it-blow-over things. Like it’s no big deal.”
He hits some buttons on the console and slows his pace. I do the same since my workout is over. “And now you’re going to be fake married to her for what? A few months? The season?” I ask, still trying to understand this hot mess.
I’m asking out of curiosity but also out of selfishness. I’d like to know what their matrimony means for me.
He stops the machine and hops off, grabbing his water bottle from the floor.
“I don’t know, man. I need to talk to her later.
Figure out the details,” he says, and I sure hope those details include me getting to enjoy some of the benefits of his hot wife.
But I shut up about my wishes when he drags his free hand down his face.
He’s really beating himself up, and I don’t want to pile on.
“But she’s pissed at me. I feel like a fucking idiot.
I thought about it on the plane, and I thought about it on the drive home, and I thought about it my whole fucking workout.
I need to apologize to her. And you.” He shoots me a sincere frown. “I’m sorry.”
There goes the last of my annoyance. It’s out of the door and gone completely. What kind of friend would I be to stay pissed at him for something like this? “I get it, Hayes. Your mouth loves your foot.”
With an eye roll, he flips me the bird.
I pretend to peer a little closer at his mouth. “There’s a lot of room in there still. You wanted to test inserting the whole damn thing, right?”
“Fine, fine. I deserve that,” he says, but then he fixes me with a serious look. “But do you really get it?”
I tilt my head in question. He’s going to need to do some more heavy lifting. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how to fucking do this,” he says, raising his eyebrows importantly, like he’s sending me a secret message. “I mean, we’ve done this, but we haven’t done this.”
Fallen for the same girl?
I don’t want to say that out loud. Don’t want to give it air and breath yet, especially since I’m pretty sure my friend is in a different place than I am when it comes to matters of the heart.
Honestly, I’m pretty sure Ivy is too. But I can take a step closer to Hayes.
I can lead the conversation to where I think he’s going.
“I’m not annoyed anymore that you’re married to her, and I appreciate you telling me now. But I’m going to be blunt with you.” This is harder than pitching him on a threesome, something I didn’t even have to do. Hell, he pitched me. He’s done the hard work so far. I can do the same.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and lean against the wall, then, like Ivy opened up to me this morning, like Hayes opened up to me just now, I do the same with my friend.
“I don’t want a one-time thing with her.
I don’t want last night to be like the other times we’ve shared a woman. I want to spend more time with her.”
I take a beat and say something even harder. “I want us to spend more time with her.” As his lips curve up in a grin, I beat him to the punchline. “I suppose what I’m saying is…I’d really like to fuck your wife again.”
He cracks up, then shakes his head, blowing out a long breath. “Yeah, me too. But I’m pretty sure she’s royally pissed at me.”
I laugh like the cat who ate the canary. “And you’re going to need to fix that and do it really fucking soon. Because I don’t just want to fuck her. I’d like us to take her out.”
He paces beside the treadmills, clearly puzzling through next steps. When he turns around, he’s smiling like he’s pleased with himself. “I have an idea for how to say I’m sorry.”
“I want in on it.”
“What do you have to say you’re sorry for?”
I wave a dismissive hand. “Please. I don’t need to say I’m sorry. I have other things I need to say to her. Namely, come over tomorrow night. So whatever you do, make sure it covers your sins and my request.”