Chapter 12
SABLE
I waited until Woody left before I stood and walked with Forrest and Leif out the door of the box. The Rooks won, four goals to two. The opposition tried to make a last-minute comeback, but the empty net gave the Rooks another goal.
The minute the final buzzer sounded, Woody was up and heading out the door.
"I think I'm going to call him Wood Chip," I said once he was out of range. "Because he has one on his shoulder."
Leif laughed. "A big one."
"Sounds accurate," I agreed. It took up the whole span of his shoulders from one blade to the other.
Blade wasn't a good word to use when I was thinking about Woody.
"He's always been a moody bastard," Forrest said.
"That's why he fits in so well with you," Leif teased, nudging the other man with his elbow.
Forrest grunted something but didn't disagree. He certainly wasn't as grumpy as Woody.
What words would I use to describe him? Attractive, hot, dominant. Those were obvious from his wording; giving his permission for Leif and me to see each other.
Should I have have found that uncomfortable or inappropriate?
If Wolfgang said it, I would have hated him a little more, if that was possible. That yardstick was pretty high.
Coming from Forrest, though? I liked it. He wasn't pretending to be someone he wasn't. Not hiding that side of himself. He was a powerful man, it shouldn't surprise me he'd flex his muscle, figuratively speaking.
Yes, he was older than me, and he was aware of the effect he had on me. I'd seen the way his eyes lingered. The way the front of his jeans tented when he looked at me intently. He wasn't hiding the fact he wanted me.
Should that have made me nervous? I don't know but it didn't. It was nice to feel wanted. Desirable. It was a vast improvement on being treated like I wasn't worthy of being on the bottom of someone's shoe.
"In case you hadn't figured it out," Leif whispered loudly, "I'm the funny one in the crew."
Forrest gave him a look which I couldn't interpret, something suggested he was toeing a line I couldn't see.
"I can tell," I said. "You seem… I don't know."
"He's the ridiculous one," Forrest said.
"I feel like I should be offended by that." Leif tilted his head to the side, looking thoughtful. "I think he was trying to offend me, don't you, Sable?"
He tried to look serious but a smile crept onto his mouth.
"I think he might have," I agreed. "But there's nothing wrong with being ridiculous. Look at me. I'm wearing a hat with a rabbit on it." I pointed up at it.
"And you look adorable doing so," Leif said. "Where did you get it? I want to get one for myself. Can you picture me in a pink beanie?" He pretended to fluff the back of his brown hair.
I regarded him for a moment before pulling the hat off my head and placing it onto his.
"It's so me," he said. He stopped to glance in the reflective surface of a picture on the wall.
Forrest rolled his eyes at both of us.
"He's jealous he doesn't have a pink beanie," Leif said, taking it off and handing it back to me.
"I'm sure he could find one if he wanted to," I said, dropping the hat into my bag. "Maybe a bright pink one with a unicorn on it."
"Yes, that would be perfect." Leif's grin widened, eyes full of humor.
Forrest shrugged, not rising to the bait. "As long as it keeps my head warm."
I couldn't stop my gaze from dropping to his groin, roughly in the direction of his other head.
"That one too," Forrest said, clearly noticing the glance.
I swallowed and quickly looked back up. "I don't think they make hats for those. Well, unless you count latex ones."
Totally deadpan, Leif said, "From now on I'm going to refer to condoms as latex hats."
"Of course you are," Forrest said. "Are you going to start wearing them on your head?"
Leif grinned.
"The head on your shoulders," Forrest added belatedly.
"Nah. People might think I'm a dickhead," Leif said. He hooked his arm through mine and led me over to the elevator.
"Too late," Forrest said dryly.
"You sure know how to hurt a guy." Leif pressed the button to call for the elevator car.
"Yes, I do," Forrest agreed. "Physically and verbally. I have many skills."
"That's a matter of opinion." Leif drew me into the car beside him. He leaned over to press the button to close the door, but Forrest smirked and followed us in.
"This is still my date, remember?" he said, giving Leif a dark look that didn't have any heat behind it.
"You may not know this about me," Leif said slowly, "but I'm competitive. If you give me an in, I'm going to take it." He leaned over and kissed my cheek.
Forrest hooked his arm through my other, leaving me pressed between the two of them. "No ins here."
"You're not going to fight over me, are you?" I said, only half-joking.
"Do you want us to?" Leif asked. "I might have a few boxes of Jell-O in the cupboard."
"You'd Jell-O wrestle for me?" I looked from one to the other, not sure if they were joking or not. Would I object to seeing that? Not really, no.
"I'm not going to Jell-O wrestle you," Forrest said.
"Of course not. Forrest Cross doesn't do Jell-O wrestling," Leif said. "If we wrestle, it's going to be in something hardcore. Mud, or gravy. Maybe a paddle pool full of cum."
"Exactly," Forrest agreed. His eyes shone with amusement.
"Hockey game, then wrestling. Could this night get any better?" I said. Except now I was wondering how many times someone would have to orgasm to fill a pool full of cum.
I'm thinking…lots.
"Definitely." Forrest's voice was low and husky, his meaning clear, and definitely involving orgasms. Possibly starting on filling up that pool.
"There's always room for improvement," Leif said. "We might make this a competition to see who can show you the best time, him or me. Or maybe even Woody," he added, looking sly.
Don't imagine all three of them working together to fill that pool. Don't imagine all three of them…
I cleared my throat.
"I have a feeling there's a lot of things Woody could show me, but a good time wouldn't be one of them." I grimaced.
He'd probably walk me out the front of my apartment building and push me in front of a taxi. Or suggest we take the stairs instead of the elevator and push me down those instead. Or run me a bath and… You get the idea.
"This might come as a surprise to you but Woody actually does know how to have a good time," Leif said.
I looked up at him sideways. "I don't think I believe you. What has he ever done that's fun?"
Both men exchanged a glance.
"There was that time…" Leif scratched his ear. "No, that was Forrest. Then there was the time… No, that was me. I've got nothing. What about you, Forrest?"
"He works in maintenance on the subway. I'm sure he has lots of fun down in the tunnels," Forrest said dryly.
Leif laughed. "If there's anyone who knows how to have fun with a tunnel… Wait. It's not Woody. It's definitely me."
"I don't want to think about Woody and tunnels," I said, except now I was.
I shouldn't want Woody’s woody anywhere near my tunnel. I told myself I didn't. He was the last person I should want anywhere near me. Not if I liked to keep breathing, which I did most of the time.
"The moral of the story is Woody likes to have fun in the dark by himself," Leif said.
Forrest chuckled. "That sounds accurate."
Great. Now I was picturing Woody with his hand wrapped around his cock.
He tried to kill you, remember? Bringing me a Diet Coke didn't make up for that. What would?
He'd tried to kill both of these men, and they were his friend. What was it about him that made them forgive him? Maybe it was knowing they could yeet him in front of a taxi themselves if they wanted to. Was that something they'd do?
I looked from one to the other. Of course not. They were normal people. Not killers.
Right?
"Were he and his father close?" I asked. "I mean, Wolfgang didn't mention him, but he didn't tell me much of anything really." He could have had a ton of kids and never bothered to say so.
The fact we never had any was a blessing.
I wouldn't have wanted to bring a child into a relationship like that.
I would have fled the country first. At least, I would have tried.
He would have done everything in his power to stop me.
Someone like him didn't let go of his property easily.
That made it even more surprising he hadn't mentioned Woody.
"As far as I know, they didn't like each other very much," Leif said. "I think because they were too much alike."
"Yeah," I said. "Both assholes." That tracked.
I guessed they didn't spend much time together. I couldn't remember ever seeing photos of any members of Wolfgang's family. What pictures we'd had on the wall were expensive works of art, nothing sentimental. He wanted to show off his wealth to anyone who visited, not his personal life.
That was fine with me. I didn't want to be surrounded by photos of people smiling for the camera, pretending they were happy. I preferred to appreciate the talent that went into creating the art scattered around the various apartments.
I didn't bother to go through his personal belongings after he died. I threw everything into the trash the first chance I got. No one wouldn't have blamed me. Erasing his existence was the least I could do.
If only I could erase his memory from my brain.
"Let's not talk about Wolfgang," Forrest said. "He's in the past. You know that, right?" He drew me aside as we stepped out of the elevator, and placed his hand on my cheek.
"I know. Good riddance. It's…" I shook my head.
"It was a part of your life."
"Yeah," I raised one shoulder and dropped it slowly. "I made an appointment with the therapist. I want to put it behind me."
"I want to help you do that."
"Me too," Leif said, peering over his shoulder and grinning.
I couldn't help smiling back. He was unexpected. Funny and sweet, and hot as hell. And for some reason I couldn't understand, interested in me.
Forrest lowered his voice so the people walking past couldn't hear.
"Between us, we're going to make you forget him. Give it time. Soon you'll be saying ‘Wolfgang who?’"
I managed a smile. I wanted to believe him.
As long as Woody was around on the periphery, I had a feeling he wouldn't let me forget.