Chapter Two
B ang, bang, bang.
“Perry! Wake up!”
Bang . “Perry!” Bang.
“Perry, let me in!” BANG!
Something hard smacked against my ass, and my eyes bolted wide. What the…? I rubbed my face and realized the ‘something hard’ was me crashing out of bed.
“Perry!”
I looked up at my bedroom window to see Stu pressed against the glass. What time is it? I dragged myself to the front door and unlocked the bolt, not waiting for him to come around before I stumbled back into bed.
It felt like only a split second later when I was bouncing on top of it. I cracked open an eyelid. “Stu, knock it off.” He was jumping around, making my body tumble closer to the edge. I was going to fall out again, and this time I might land on my head. “Dammit, Stu.”
He made a dramatic dive and slid in next to me. I tried to ignore him, but his hands all over my ribcage made that impossible.
“Perrrrrrrry,” he sang into my ear. “Waaaaaaake uuuup.”
He started tickling me, and the more I attempted to push him away, the harder he doubled his efforts. It wasn’t long before I was out of breath and a moment away from peeing all over both of us.
“God, Stu. Stop!” I laughed. “I have to pee.”
He stopped the tickling but began planting little kisses all over my face. “Me so horny, Perry,” he practically whined. “So, so horny.”
That made me laugh even harder, and I knew if I didn’t get out of bed that instant, I’d be wasting my money on a new mattress. I shimmied out from him and padded to the bathroom, deciding to brush my teeth while I was at it.
When I came back, he was propped up on my headboard. “What are you doing here so early anyway?” I asked, climbing back into bed with him.
“It’s not early, you slacker. It’s almost ten.”
“You woke me up. You know I had that third-shift training for the past couple weeks. I’m not back to normal yet.”
“Sweetie, if you’re waiting to get back to normal, you’re going to be waiting a hell of a long time.” He kissed the top of my head and I cuddled into him. “And I wouldn’t have had to wake you up if you’d just given me a key to your new place.”
“We haven’t been here that long yet. I’ll get you one.”
“I bet Dre has one.”
I rolled my eyes. There was no love lost between those two. “Actually, no, he doesn’t. But he will, and so will you. So quit your bitching.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You never told me what you’re doing here.”
“Do I ever need an excuse to see my favorite girl? ”
“Oh right.” I giggled. “You so horny.” I rolled away and lay flat on my back. “Take me now, lover. Don’t make me wait one more second. I couldn’t take it.” I swiped the back of my hand over my forehead.
He laughed, slapping my thigh. “Get up, wench. Think I want some nasty girl pussy? Gross.”
“Hey!”
He pulled me back up, slinging his arm around me. “You know damn well that if I did, it’d be yours.”
“I know, baby.” I pinched his cheek. “So, what’s going on with you and Kenny?”
“Nothing.” He sighed. “And I mean nothing . It’s been three months. The least he could do is throw me a bone every once in a while. It doesn’t even have to be a hard one.”
I laughed. “Give him some time. You owe him that.”
“I know.”
Stu and Kenny were trying again after splitting up nearly a year ago. Before that, they’d been together since they were kids. Then Stu fucked up. Wasn’t sure what he wanted and decided to test the waters with the sexy waiter down at Luigi’s. Sometimes you don’t know what you really want until you lose it. That was exactly what happened with Stu, and he’s been paying the price since. Luckily, Kenny had a forgiving heart and was willing to give him a second chance.
“He’ll come around. He just needs to make sure he can trust you again before giving you everything.”
He nodded. “I don’t mean to complain. I’ll give him all the time he needs. The fact that he’s even willing to talk to me again after….”
“I know.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. He was starting to get all choked up. “I know you love him, and he loves you. You made a shitty mistake, but that’s not who you are. You guys are meant to be and you’ll get through this. Stronger than ever.”
“Thank you,” he whispered. “Love you, baby doll.”
“Love you too, sweetie. ”
I was just about to ask him to sing for me—that always cheered him up, and I couldn’t get enough of his amazing voice—when I heard the door open and close.
“Christa?” I called out.
“Not Christa, babe.”
Dre stopped short when he came to my doorway. He had a pissy expression, but I didn’t know if that was there before or if it had just happened because of Stu.
“What’s going on here?” Dre asked with a stone face.
I rolled my eyes. Like there was a problem catching me with Stu. “We’re just hanging out.”
Stu swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I need to get going anyway. I’m meeting the guys for practice.”
“You sure? Already?”
“Yeah.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “We’ll talk soon.”
“Okay. Have fun.”
“Will do.” Stu flashed me his award-winning smile. Man, the guy was gorgeous . Damn. “Later, Dre.”
“Later.”
They barely gave each other a glance when Stu left the room. Dre came over and flopped down beside me on the bed. He appeared a little more relaxed now that it was just the two of us.
“He still banging around in that garage band? Isn’t he getting a little too old for that shit?”
“It makes him happy, Dre. And he’s crazy talented. He’s going to hit it big someday. Mark my words.”
“Whatever you say, baby.” He reached over and gave me a kiss.
I knew he wasn’t patronizing me, but it sure as hell felt like it. I got that they weren’t each other’s fans, and most of the time I let things go, but…. I shook my head. I was just annoyed for some reason. My lighthearted mood was gone .
His lips started trailing up and down my neck, but I wasn’t feeling it. He pulled back. “What’s the matter with you?”
“I don’t know. Still out of it, I guess.” That was at least partly the truth.
“Are you mad because I didn’t show last night? I’m really sorry about that. There was this discrepancy in a membership invoice that needed to be resolved before—”
“No, I understand those things happen. I’m not mad.” I just remembered that I’d checked my phone when I got home, and there hadn’t been a message from him. “Although, it would’ve been nice if you’d called. Or at least sent a quick text.”
“I know, baby. Sorry about that too. By the time I realized how late it was, I didn’t want to bother you. I thought you’d probably make it an early night because you were so wiped out when I saw you that morning.”
“Yeah, I did make it any early night.”
The shamrock necklace flashed in my mind. It was still sitting in my purse. Thinking about it now, I wasn’t even sure why I went back for the stupid thing. It needed to go in the trash as soon as I thought of it again.
“Speaking of….” He grabbed my hips and straddled me over his lap. His hands went straight for my breasts with no preamble. If I wasn’t in the fucking mood before, I sure as hell wasn’t now. “Did you think any more about what we talked about?”
“Yes.” He was smacking my tits around like they were nothing more than lumps of Play-Doh and he was a three-year-old. “Stop that.” I batted his hands away. “That hurts.”
He started rubbing up my thighs instead. “You sensitive or something? On your period?” His hands instantly stilled.
God, Dre . “No, I’m not on my period.” He was the most squeamish man I’d ever met when it came to menstrual blood. It bordered on revulsion. One of these days, he was going to start refusing to even be in the same room as me during that time for fear of catching something. It’s not like I got the fucking plague every month.
“Good.” He resumed his kneading, and I let out a peeved sigh. Okay, what is the matter with me? “So, it’s just us from now on?” he asked.
It did make sense. It made all the sense in the world. What didn’t make sense was the ‘relationship’ we’d had for the past five years. The complete lack of jealousy when we saw other people. But it worked for us. He was my stability, and I needed that. I bounced from thing to thing, job to job, guy to guy, never knowing what to do with myself. I wanted to grow up already, have something real. Stop being so damn impulsive. Dre was a constant in my life, even when we were screwing other people.
“You should move in with me,” he said when I hadn’t responded to his question.
“What? Christa and I just moved in here.”
“So? The place is only in her name, right?”
“Well, yeah, but now that I have that new job….”
Christa was the responsible one, the one who had her shit together. Went to college, had the respectable career in a dermatology clinic, made good, consistent money. She may not stick with a man longer than a night or two, but that’s where her fickleness ended. She needed that indulgence because the rest of her life was so structured.
“It wouldn’t be a hardship to her if you left, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, that’s not what I’m worried about.” I removed his hands from the insides of my thighs before he stuck his fingers somewhere I didn’t want. “I like living with Christa. She’s my best friend. I want to stay here. At least for now.” I could always revisit my decision later.
He tugged me down to his chest so he could suck on my shoulder. “I can be your best friend, Perry.”
“I don’t want you to be my best friend. You’re my….” What exactly wa s he? Boyfriend? That didn’t sound right. Lover? That sounded even more hilarious.
“One and only,” Dre finished. His tongue dragged over my collarbone, and I just felt… wet. And not in a good way.
What Christa had said the night before popped into my head. “Why do you want this, Dre? Why now all of a sudden, after all these years?”
He palmed my face and looked at me. “Because it took me that long to realize I don’t want to share you anymore. I also don’t want to lose you. I want us to be a real couple.”
“And that extends to you too? I also wouldn’t be sharing you anymore?”
“Of course. I told you that yesterday. You don’t believe me?”
“No, it’s just that you kind of sprung all this on me. It’s not the type of thing we’ve done before.”
“So, what’s wrong with that? New is good. Let’s try something new together.”
Dammit. I couldn’t disagree with his logic. Again, it made too much frickin’ sense. We’d already been together for years. We knew each other well and had a decent time together. We rarely fought and he tolerated my bitchy times. I loved him in a way I couldn’t define, but it could still be considered a form of love. He was familiar.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?” I nodded and he covered my lips with his. “You won’t regret this, Perry,” he muttered between kisses. “We’ll be great together. You’ll see.”
I tried returning his kiss because that’s what happy exclusive couples did, right? They showed their affection often and only shared it with each other. We wouldn’t be going outside the relationship to get it from anyone else again.
The pinch on my nipple took me completely by surprise. I didn’t even know he was in that vicinity until bam! I flinched and broke our lip seal. All right, enough. I can’t do this right now. I’d never describe our sex life as toe-curling, but it was acceptable. I even came from time to time, although that was usually through the help of my own hand. I’d certainly had worse— much worse—and hadn’t found anything better. That had to mean something.
Despite all that, I couldn’t bring myself to go any further with him at the moment. Not only was I not turned on, but my vagina was starting to retreat into my abdomen.
“What’d I do wrong?”
“Nothing, Dre. It’s me. Like I said, I’m just off right now.”
“Hey, what about meeting up at Lucky’s later? Since I couldn’t make it last night.”
I swore Dre’s brown eyes flashed blue for a second, and I scrubbed my hands over my face. Good. They were back as they should be. But I had to make sure I never peered into that shade again, and I could greatly increase those odds if I didn’t make another appearance at the Irish pub. I’d never seen that man there before, and there was no reason to subject myself to a repeat. Not when there was a different bar on practically every block to choose from instead.
“If you don’t mind, I’m just going to stay in tonight. I figure one more day and I’ll be good to go again. Tomorrow I’m heading over to see Sam and Emily if you’d like to come along.”
“Nah, that’s all right. I’ll let you just go ahead.” He hopped off the bed. “You start first shift Monday, right?”
“Yep.”
“Okay, how about we go to Wengo’s after? Monday nights are slow at the gym. It’ll be our first official date as a couple.”
“Sure.” I smiled. “That sounds good.”
A date? What had gotten into this guy? Although, Dre was only talking about rational everyday stuff, so why did it sound so fucking insane? God, please let me feel some kind of normal after this weekend .
Best to hold on to that necklace after all.
A little extra luck never hurt anyone.