26. Frannie
“So, spill, girl.”Charice sat across from me at the small wooden table. We’d just put in an order for spinach and artichoke dip. She’d be enjoying pita chips while I’d make do with tortilla rounds. Both of us were already halfway through our first cherry flirtini. Charice had discovered this place about six months ago, and now it was our favorite hangout spot when it was just the two of us. Not only did they have an extensive appetizer menu, but happy hour went from four to six, which made it the perfect place to stop right after school.
“What do you mean, spill?” I asked as I reached for my drink. She seemed to know more about my relationship with Evan than I did, at least based on the gossip she’d picked up around town.
“I mean, tell me everything.” She leaned forward. “Last I heard, you did the drive of shame in nothing but Evan’s tux shirt. We haven”t really gotten together since then, so I”m going through detail withdrawal.”
I used my napkin to sop up the wet ring my drink had left on the table. “There”s not much else to tell. Evan and I are pretty boring. We go to work, we come home and have dinner, maybe watch a little TV, and then we’re in bed. It’s not like he’s changed since we decided to start kissing. He’s still the best friend I’ve always known.”
“Yeah, best friend with some major benefits,” Charice said. “By the way, how are those benefits? Has he sent you to O-Town since the first time?”
I rolled my eyes, wishing with all my heart I’d never told Charice about my inability to orgasm during sex. She”d been fascinated by my struggle and felt like her concern gave her the right to ask for a detailed recap of my sexcapades.
“Things are good.” I picked up the cherry from my drink and popped it into my mouth.
“I”ll take that as a yes,” Charice said. “It”s about time you learned what all the fuss is about.”
I’d definitely learned what all the fuss was about, but I wasn”t about to share the intimate details of my sex life. Some things needed to stay just between me and Evan.
“How are the signups coming for the fun run?” I asked, desperate for a change of topic. Charice had volunteered to take the lead on the fundraising efforts—a job I was more than happy to turn over to her after being responsible for the past three years.
Her eyes lit up. “You”ll never guess who our number one fundraiser is right now.”
I had a pretty good idea since Evan told me he’d secured a ten-thousand-dollar donation from Devil’s Dance. So I slid my drink closer and bent down to touch my lips to the straw. “Tell me.”
Charice glanced around and leaned across the table. She lowered her voice as if she was spilling state secrets, not revealing who’d raised the most money for Beaver Bluff Elementary so far. I went along, more than willing to play into her need for drama. There had been several times over the past few years when I”d wondered why she”d gotten a degree in counseling when she could have become a successful actress.
“It’s Andrew Stewart,” she whispered into the narrow space between us.
I’d just swallowed a sip of my drink and a few drops dribbled out of the corner of my mouth. “What?”
“Yeah, it”s the craziest thing. I guess he”s a regular at the Boston Marathon and has actually done some sponsor spots for a company that sells elite running shoes and another that peddles power bars. Thanks to his connections, we’ve added another twenty grand to the pot.”
My initial reaction was to clap my hands in excitement. In years past, we might have only raised a total of ten grand. So far this year, with Evan’s and Andrew’s donations alone, we”d more than tripled where we ended up last year.
“That’s great. We’re lucky to have Andrew raising money for the school.” Then I thought of Evan and how proud he’d been when he told me about Vaughn committing to a big donation. The money was going to a great cause, but he’d be devastated when he found out Andrew had topped him.
Growing up with three brothers and spending time in the military had made him super competitive. Even though I didn’t have feelings for Andrew, it seemed like Evan still considered him a rival. It was silly, but Evan had a hard time believing that I’d fallen head over heels for him in such a short time. The last thing I’d wanted was to ruin our friendship by becoming lovers, but the exact opposite had happened. We were closer than ever right now.
“Hey, you still there?” Charice snapped her fingers, pulling my attention. “You look like you were a million miles away just then.”
“I’m fine. I just hope Evan doesn’t take it too hard that Andrew has raised so much money.”
“It’s all going to a great cause. He’s got to feel good about that, right?” Charice slid her napkin in her lap as the server set down our dip.
“Right,” I agreed. “Now why don’t you tell me about the guy you had dinner with in Bordent last week? I’m not the only one people have been talking about lately.”
Charice grinned as she reached for a pita chip. “Someone must be spreading wicked rumors about me.”
“Spill it, girl. Isn’t that what you said to me?” I scooped up some dip and settled against the back of the booth, ready to get caught up on what had been happening in her life.
Pete the Doggreeted me when I got back. I preferred to think he was excited to see me rather than putting his sensitive nose to use and sniffing out the leftover chicken breast I’d brought home for him.
Evan got up from where he’d been sitting on the couch. “Hey, how was dinner with Charice?”
“Good.” I handed him the doggy bag. “Can you hold this for a second? I don’t think it’s safe to set it down while I take off my jacket.”
“After I get my kiss.” He took the bag in one hand and leaned over to press his lips to mine. We’d passed the point of having to feel each other out with gentle pecks. Evan went right for it, sliding his tongue into my mouth and taking me from happy to see him to desperate to feel him inside me in the space of just a few seconds.
When he’d first revealed his feelings, I wasn”t sure I”d ever be able to look at him as more than a friend, but now I had no idea how I’d ever been able to see him as less. Taking our relationship a step further had filled me with a kind of love I”d never even imagined, and it was all because of Evan.
My arms were still tangled in the sleeves of the jacket I’d started to remove. As much as I wanted to pull them free and cling to his shoulders, I was helpless. The paper bag crinkled as he set it down on the table by the door. Then his hands cupped my cheeks, and he slid his foot between mine, putting pressure on the sensitive cluster of nerves at the apex of my thighs.
“You make me so hot, Frannie.” His breath raced over my cheek as he pulled back to look deep into my eyes.
“The feeling’s mutual.” I worked the jacket down my arms, finally breaking free. It fell to the floor in a soft heap around my feet.
Evan twined our fingers together and pulled me toward his bedroom. “I bought you a present while you were out tonight.”
“What kind of present?” I had a feeling I was going to like it, especially since it appeared to be located in my favorite room of the house.
“First, a confession.” He steered me toward the bed until the backs of my legs hit the mattress.
I sat down, curious about what he wanted to confess. We already knew almost everything about each other. There were some things I’d never share, like how I’d cried every night for a solid week when he told me he’d enlisted, or how I’d checked the mailbox multiple times a day while he was deployed, desperate to hear from him. Sharing those kinds of secrets wouldn’t do any good. Not now, when he’d come back to me.
“What kind of confession?” I lay back and tried to pull him onto the bed with me.
“I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.” Evan opened the drawer of his nightstand and held up a box wrapped in silver wrapping paper.
What kind of secrets had he been keeping? My mind spun with possibilities as he handed me the package. “What is this?”
“Something I owe you. Open it, and I’ll tell you why.” He sat down and the mattress sagged under his weight. I scooted closer to him as I slid my finger under the tape at one end of the package.
“Why do you owe me a present?” I shifted my gaze back and forth from Evan to the box. My hands shook as I revealed the contents. “Patton the Penetrator? Is this a joke?”
Evan reached for my hand. “Magic Mick was my fault, Frannie. I was trying to save your beaver quilt from Pete the Dog getting it all hairy, so I put it on the shelf in the closet and knocked a box of moon pies down.”
My stomach clenched. Evan would never be able to deny himself a moon pie. “And you opened the box, didn’t you?”
He looked down at his lap. “You know I love a good moon pie.”
Heat marched across my cheeks. “Only there weren’t any moon pies in the box, were there?”
“Nope. I was going to put it back, but Pete the Dog got ahold of it. There was no saving it after he chewed it to bits. I even called the Kink Closet to see if they had one in stock so I could replace it, but they said that model had been recalled because it had a tendency to short out.” He glanced up, meeting my gaze for a fraction of a second. “I did some research and Patton the Penetrator is supposed to provide a similar experience.”
“I wondered how Pete the Dog got the box down from the closet.”
“If it hadn’t been for those damn beavers…” Evan started. Then he squeezed my hand and looked at me, his eyes clouded with regret. “Are you mad?”
I sat with my feelings for a moment before I answered. Anger wasn’t one of them. I was embarrassed that he’d found my vibrator, but even that seemed silly. In the short time we’d been together, he made me realize nothing should be off limits between us, especially when it came to talking about our needs, in and out of the bedroom.
“No, I’m not mad. A little embarrassed, but I know I shouldn’t be. Why didn’t you just tell me what happened?”
“Tell you I’d found your battery-operated boyfriend and single-handedly ruined him?” Evan shook his head. “It didn’t seem like the best option at the time.”
“But you’re telling me now.”
He nodded. “Like I said, I don’t want there to be secrets between us. I’m sorry I didn’t say something before, but I’m planning on making it up to you if you’ll let me.”
“I kind of like the sound of that. What do you have in mind exactly?” I was still turned on by his enthusiastic greeting from when I’d walked in the door. Sitting on his bed, surrounded by his scent, and holding a sex toy in my hand only added to the heat racing through me.
“What would you say to a threesome? You, me, and Patton?” He took the box from my hand and slowly opened the top. “I don’t mind sharing you, as long as it’s with a hunk of silicone.”
Nervous anticipation rolled through me. I’d never tried something like what Evan was suggesting before. It would be another first shared between us. “I’m game. As long as you’re the one inside me when I come.”
“Moon pie, I’m an easygoing guy, but being inside you when you come is one thing I’m never going to share with anyone or anything.” Evan got up from the bed with the thick purple vibrator in hand. “I’ll go wash him off for his inaugural run. You wait right here.”
I watched him go, enjoying the way those gray sweats clung to his hips as he headed toward the bathroom. Things between me and Evan had changed so quickly, my head was still spinning as I tried to make sense of it all. There was one thing I knew for sure, though. He was it for me. He’d owned a piece of my heart for years. The only thing that had changed was that now he’d claimed all of it.