10. Victor
10
VICTOR
I lost control. I should’ve taken my time, savored the first time inside her. Though, I suppose it doesn’t matter, I have plenty of time to make it up to her. If I have any say in it, Keri isn’t going anywhere. She’s mine.
Fuck Paul and fuck the fucking pie.
Before rehearsal today, Keri and I made a stop at her apartment—she insisted it wasn’t a good idea to arrive together when she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. When we pulled into her apartment complex, I was grateful to see Paul’s car was long gone. She won’t be able to avoid him forever, especially with him securing his seat next to her again. I can’t help the growl festering in my chest at the thought.
But she’s here. With me.
Except the damn pie is in my fridge. I don’t trust it. I can’t prove he’s the one who planted the location tags, but I know in my bones it was him. I do another sweep of her car and mine, finding one more in her cello case. I wouldn’t be surprised if he baked one into the pie. Then again, he didn’t have time to make it before rehearsal; it’s likely store-bought.
With Keri in the shower, I open the top. Nothing seems amiss—whipped cream topping and the familiar scent of creme de menthe. As much as I’d love to try it for myself, who knows what’s in it. The last thing I need is to be roofied. I toss it in the trash, and hope Keri won’t be upset; she said herself mint wasn’t her favorite.
After her shower—that I’m regretting not joining her for—she changes into my clothes, not hers. Pride swells inside me seeing her in my shirt that’s several sizes too big for her. My lips tilt up but nervousness overcomes me. How is this going to end, especially if she moves to LA? None of this was supposed to happen. “Hey,” I rasp out. “Wh-what do you want to do for dinner?”
“No idea.” She shrugs, wrapping her arms around her middle. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.” The eagerness from this morning is gone. It could be Paul or maybe the novelty of all of this wearing off. For all the times I’ve followed her home and snuck into her apartment, I know so little about her. Some of it was for show, making me doubt everything.
“Want to order a pizza?” I offer.
“Depends.” Keri bites her lip and I want nothing more than to take it between my own teeth.
Do not maul her…
“On what?”
She glances back to the bedroom. When her eyes meet mine, all at once, I’m not in charge here. “I haven’t worked up an appetite, and my vibrators aren’t here, Victor. How else is a girl supposed to get off? I was left high and dry as fuck this morning. I might need to make a trip to the porn store—sex shop—whatever is the most PC term to call it.”
“Dry as fuck?” I scoff.
“Yeah.” Her eyes fall to my cock. “It was fun but it was the equivalent of hitting the bzz bzz bzz setting on accident. Did it get the job done? Sure, but nothing beats the tried and true bzzzzz setting at full intensity. You fell flat, or sharp. Pun intended.”
I’m stunned into silence, questioning everything. After starting and stopping a reply several times, I settle on, “You came.”
Keri barks out a laugh. “Women can come without toys or another person. All we need is some good audio porn and our own hand. It’s not difficult, but it’s all about quality, Vic. My orgasm was a six out of ten. My toys aren’t here, so either we’re going shopping or I’m going back to my place.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“My audition piece is ‘Do You Hear the People Sing’ from Les Misérables . I protest for women’s rights. Do you think I wouldn’t protest for my cunt’s rights too? What did you think was going to happen here? I would just move in and become your unsatisfied fuck toy? You did, didn’t you?”
“No,” I insist, but part of me wonders if that’s exactly what I was hoping for. Admittedly, my ego is a bit bruised by all of this.
“I should get a hotel for the night.”
Shit. Fuck. Nothing is going right. I never thought any of this through and now the one woman I’ve wanted for ages is calling me on my bullshit—even if it’s only partially true. And now she wants to leave. Do I let her? Kidnapping is a bad idea but is sounding better by the minute. “No,” I finally reply. “Don’t go. I’ll order a pizza and you’re going to show me exactly where I went wrong this morning.”
A smirk tilts her lips. “I don’t think you’re up for it.”
I’m about to counter her little challenge when there’s a loud pounding on the front door. Keri and I both glance in the direction of the sound. It stops only for a moment but starts up again, accompanied by a man shouting, “Don’t eat the pie!”
“What the fuck?” I mutter as I cross the living room to answer the door. I fling it open, finding Henry with his fist poised to knock. Behind him, Paul is nervously pacing. Henry’s boyfriend, Noah, is behind Paul, arms crossed over his puffed out chest like a damn bouncer. “What are you guys doing here?”
“I was having a drink at the restaurant next door to my bookshop,” Noah explains. “I overheard Paul telling one of the bartenders how he jizzed in a pie and gave it to his girlfriend. I texted Henry because I thought he might know who Paul was dating, since you’re all in the same ensemble.”
Henry interjects, “I saw him pass Keri a pie at rehearsal. Victor wasn’t picking up his phone, so I rushed to the bar to confront Paul. Sorry for stopping by like this, I wanted to make sure you and Keri didn’t eat the pie.”
“First of all, it wasn’t in the pie. It was the whipped cream,” Paul defends, but the whole situation still has bile rising in my throat. “And second, I never said Keri was my girlfriend.”
I dodged a bullet by tossing it. I knew something was weird about that fucking pie, but it’s the least of my worries. I’m hung up on Paul claiming Keri is his.
“What the fuck?” Keri screeches.
Noah scoffs. “Fine, you said your girl. Same shit.”
“It was a mistake, okay?”
“It was gross,” Noah snaps. “That’s some dark romance shit. I called Henry because if it was one of my sisters, I would’ve wanted them to know before they ate cum pie.”
“ Anyway, ” Henry grumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We have a concert coming up. I won’t let some weird cum debacle fuck with my audition or Keri’s. She’s the soul of the cello section. I can’t risk that Dana chick messing with my chances of playing for one of my favorite bands. So, we work this out right here, right now.”
“Like… an orgy?” Keri asks a little too excitedly for my liking. If she thinks I’ll share her with three other men, she’s out of her mind.
Henry and Noah turn up their noses. Noah shakes his head and admits, “You’re hot, but my girlfriend would kill me if I touched another woman.”
“Girlfriend?” I ask. Brows pinched, I gesture between Noah and Henry. “I thought you two were…”
“Together? We are,” Henry replies, then pins Noah with a glare, gritting out, “But we also have a girlfriend who we don’t talk about.”
“I’ve never been with two men before.” Keri sighs wistfully.
“You’re not starting now,” I groan under my breath.
“So, where do we go from here?” Keri asks. “I have an audition in forty-eight hours, Paul is making cummy whipped cream—very creative, by the way. And both Henry and Victor are growly as fuck right now. We’re all in agreement Dana is ready to lick balls to steal my seat, but it could be vacant if I sign with Baker anyway. Noah and Henry are out—I respect their little poly relationship—but do Paul, Victor, and I fuck it out? Getting it out of our systems seems like the most logical solution.”
“Yes,” Paul replies.
At the same time, I snap, “No. I don’t share.”
“Well, this is bullshit,” Keri huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Okay, well, this night is more unhinged than the books our girlfriend reads,” Noah says as he walks backward toward the door. “Hell, my mom is in publishing. I should pitch her this as a book idea.” Henry smacks Noah’s arm, making him chuckle. “What? You said yourself these guys are stalkers.”
“I never said that,” Henry whisper-shouts to him, then repeats to us a little louder, “I never said that.”
“You’re right. This whole thing has gotten out of hand,” Keri chimes in, rushing to the kitchen island to retrieve her purse. “Can I stay with you guys tonight?”
“Sure,” Henry replies, toying with his keys in his right hand. “But you should put pants on.”
Keri chuckles, and Paul rushes out, “I’m sorry. I never should’ve done it.”
“This is all your fault,” I groan at Paul. I was moments from proving to Keri that I could be the best she’s ever had, and he had to fuck everything up. I don’t blame Henry or Noah; I would’ve done the same thing in their shoes. This is all on Paul.
Keri retrieves her luggage from my room, then Henry and Noah escort her out. To my surprise, she kisses Paul on the cheek and doesn’t so much as wave goodbye to me. I’m stunned into silence, unsure if I should run after her, or respect her wishes. Part of me wonders if I should’ve left a few of the location trackers, if only so Paul could help me find her.
The moment the door clicks shut, my jaw tics and my fists ball at my sides. I’m about to lunge for Paul when he asks, “So, you didn’t eat the pie, right?”
“No, thank fuck.”
He breathes a sigh of relief. “So, the hockey game is on…”
“Are you fucking kidding me? The woman I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember just walked out my door with my friend and his boyfriend… and they have a girlfriend. You heard her, she hasn’t been with two men before. All it’ll take is a few shots of vodka and she’ll be propositioning them to be part of some kind of poly love-knot.”
“Are you jealous? Because I sure as fuck am. I’m not looking for anything serious with Keri, so what do you say we share her?”
“Share her?” I scoff. “Why would I do that?”
“I can guarantee she’ll come and you’ll get to keep her after.”
I consider his proposition for a moment, then ask, “So, are you driving, or am I?”