The Boyfriend Effect

by Kendall Ryan

  “I’m sorry,” she blurts into the mic. “That’s all the music we’ve prepared.”

  “Do you know ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’?” Don calls out.

  The kids nod emphatically, and one shouts, “Duh!”

  “Yes!” Rosie cries, clasping her hands over her heart. “Please sing for us, little stars.”

  I’m pretty dumbfounded myself, but I have to admit that these two seem like peas in a pod. When the choir director leads a shaky-at-best rendition of the nursery rhyme classic, Don and Rosie share a triumphant smile. For the first time in my life, I’m honored to be a third wheel.

  Neither Rosie nor Don are as interested in bingo as they are in each other, so I let them wander into the courtyard together, chatting up a storm. When my phone rings at a quarter till eleven, my heart skips a beat at the name lighting up my screen.

  Hayes.

  “Hey,” I say, running a hand through my hair.

  “Hey, dove.” His low voice sounds yummy over the phone, like warm melted honey. “I’m about to leave to pick up Rosie, but she isn’t answering her cell. Is everything okay?”

  I chuckle, peeking out the window to see Don belly-laughing at one of Rosie’s snarky comments. “Everything is totally fine. She’s just distracted.”

  “Pretty heated game of bingo, huh?”

  “Actually, she’s really hit it off with one of the residents. They’re taking a walk in the courtyard right now, and they’ll be grabbing lunch together in the cafeteria in a bit.”

  “Oh God.” Hayes sighs. “Don’t let Rosie bore her friend with tales of her quilting adventures.”

  “From the looks of it, Don is hanging on to every word.” There’s a long pause on the other end. “Hayes, you still there?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Is that Dawn, as in A-W-N—or Don, as in O-N.”

  “D-O-N. He happens to be my favorite resident. It’s really sweet—they’ve become fast friends.”

  Another pause.

  “Huh.” Hayes’s voice sounds strangled.

  What could be bothering him? It isn’t like Hayes to be so curt with me.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “Rosie hasn’t gone on a date in like sixty years, Mare.”

  I laugh, relieved that he’s just weirded out by the situation and not upset at me for letting his grandmother off the leash. “Then maybe it’s time she get back in the saddle.”

  “Oh God, no mention of saddles,” he says with a groan. “My grandmother won’t be riding anyone or anything.”

  I chuckle and murmur an apology. “Bad analogy. My bad.”

  Hayes grumbles something softly. I can’t tell if he’s actually agitated about her meeting Don, or just thrown off by this news.

  “Well, there’s a first time for everything,” I say with a smile.

  “I guess,” he mumbles. After another awkward silence, he adds, “I’ll swing by around one, then. Does that work for you and D-O-N Don?”

  Oh my God, he’s really irked by this! I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from poking any more fun. “Of course. See you soon.”

  “Yep,” Hayes grumbles.

  I pocket my phone, beaming from ear to ear. Outside in the courtyard, Don and Rosie are seated closely together on a bench in deep conversation, serious expressions on their faces. Rosie places one hand on Don’s, a gesture of compassion.

  This is going to be awesome.

  When Hayes arrives, I meet him at the front door and escort him to the cafeteria, where Don and Rosie are huddled together at a small table, thick as thieves. Hayes freezes at the sight, so I give him a soft pat on the shoulder before pulling over two chairs to join them.

  “Hello, Don. I’m Rosie’s grandson. It’s nice to meet you,” Hayes says stiffly, offering his hand to Don like a robot might.

  Don accepts the handshake, his expression stoic save for the signature sparkle in his stormy blue eyes. “No formalities necessary, Hayes. Your grandmother has spoken of you and only you for the past three hours, so I feel like I already know you.”

  Rosie giggles, swatting Don on the arm. “Oh, stop it. As if you didn’t show me a whole photo album’s worth of your students’ graduation pictures.”

  “Only because you asked,” he says with a wink.

  From the way she melts, I can tell that Rosie is absolutely smitten.

  “I’m impressed,” I say. “Don is a man of mystery. For the longest time, I didn’t even know if he spoke.”

  “You’re new here, kid,” he mumbles with a smile, a faint blush spreading across his wrinkled cheeks.

  I can’t help but clasp one of his warm hands between mine and give it a gentle squeeze. “That’s how he tells me he loves me,” I say, clarifying for the group.

  “I see. Is he taken?” Rosie asks, humor twinkling in her eyes.

  “Not at all, Rosie.” I sigh with feigned disappointment. “Don turned me down years ago.”

  While the three of us laugh, Hayes shifts uncomfortably in his seat. I guess I should try to bring him into the conversation. But before I have the chance to come up with a strategy, he finally opens his mouth.

  “What do you do, Don?”

  “Oh, a little bit of this and that. Crossword puzzles and afternoon naps, mostly.”

  “Ha,” Hayes says with a fake laugh. “I meant before Riverside. What did you do for a living?”

  “I was a college professor at U of M, teaching the classics. Roman and Greek history, literature, et cetera. Lucky for me, your grandmother is quite the mythology buff herself.”

  Hayes says nothing in response, staring him down like he’s deciding whether it’s morally reprehensible to beat up an old man.

  I reach under the table to rub his knee comfortingly. Relax.

  “What do you do?” Don asks, genuinely interested.

  Uh-oh.

  “I own a sex-toy shop here on the north side.” Hayes’s voice is loud, proud, and brimming with cockiness. He probably thinks mentioning anything openly sexual will scare Don away. Clearly, he doesn’t know the man.

  “Fantastic,” Don says in a low voice, clapping his hands softly together. “I have about a dozen erotic posters for you to look at—renderings of ancient Roman frescoes. I’m not allowed to put them up here. Would you want to put some of them up in your shop?”

  Hayes is stunned into silence, his mouth twitching. Meanwhile, Rosie and I share a pleasantly surprised look.

  “That would be perfect for the shop,” I say, jumping in. “They could make a collage on the back wall.”

  The conversation continues easily from there, Hayes pitching in now and then in an attempt to recover his pride. I know that all he wants is to be sure Don’s intentions are pure, but there’s still time for that.

  At the end of our visit, Rosie and Don say their good-byes with the promise to have another date on Saturday.

  “We should have a double date,” Rosie exclaims with a confident expression that boasts of her problem-solving superpower. She and Hayes really are blood relatives, aren’t they?

  “That sounds fun,” I say with a smile.

  And it really does. On a double date, I can get in all the cute couple-watching I want, and Hayes can monitor the progression of their relationship. Not to mention that I’ve been itching to spend more time with Hayes, in and out of bed.

  Don waves good-bye from the front doors as Hayes helps his grandmother into the front seat of the car. I’m about to turn around and head back indoors when his hand reaches for mine, spinning me back around. His fingers play lightly with the buttons on my dress, sending shivers across my skin.

  “Hey,” he growls softly, with the sexy little smirk he reserves just for me.

  “Hey.” I giggle back, a little breathless.

  “Can I take you out tonight? No double date. Just the two of us.” His tongue peeks out to wet his bottom lip.

  I run one finger between his pecs, down his cotton T-shirt, appreciating the firm feel of his chiseled torso. “I�
��d like that,” I murmur, the twitch in my core impossible to ignore.

  “Good,” he whispers, leaning in to press his full lips against mine in a hot, eager kiss that ends way too soon. After he releases me, he heads back to the car and starts the engine.

  I watch as he and Rosie drive away. I’m still cemented to the spot where he left me when I hear Don approaching me from behind.

  “Seems like a handful, that one,” he says with a grunt, patting my shoulder.

  I’m not sure if he means Rosie or Hayes, but either way, my answer is the same. “You have no idea.”

  17

  * * *

  HAYES

  I haven’t been this nervous for a date in—well, ever. Wining and dining have always come easy to me. That’s my sweet spot. But doing this with Maren? When the stakes are so much higher than they ever were before? It’s a whole new ball game.

  I want tonight to be different. Special. I want Maren to feel worshipped like she never has before, like no man has ever made her feel. That’s why tonight, I’ve got more than one trick up my sleeve.

  “So, where are we going again?” Maren’s brow furrows slightly, making the faintest little crease between her eyebrows.

  She’s sitting in the passenger seat, wearing the kind of low-cut emerald-green dress that makes me want to pull over and pull her onto my lap. But for now, I push those thoughts aside and stay focused on navigating us through rush-hour traffic.

  “Out,” I say, lacing my fingers through hers over the center console.

  She smiles and clucks her tongue. “Are you going to be elusive and mysterious all night?”

  “Well, that depends. Is it working for you?”

  She blushes, and I can feel the heat from her palm. I know what blushing does to her. Her chest will turn pink, and her breathing grows rapid. I’d love to investigate what’s happening between her legs, but tonight is about anything but instant gratification. It’s about pacing ourselves and luxuriating. Tonight, we’re going to take our time.

  Something has shifted between us recently. Maybe it’s how close she’s growing with Rosie, or maybe it’s because I got to see her in her element at Riverside. Now that I’ve seen her in her environment, I can’t imagine that place existing without her.

  Maren breathed life into the old tiled hallways. She brought hope and positivity and joy. She’s special in so many different ways I never knew about.

  Around old people? I’m awkward. People who are sick and in pain? Hell, I’m useless. I never know the right thing to say. But Maren shines like she was born to do this, to help them relive their best memories, to help them transition into a new chapter with grace. She’s comforting and funny and so natural, I have no idea how she does it. I’m damn proud of her.

  We arrive at the restaurant, and I pull up to the valet. Maren’s eyes grow wide, and she stares at me in horror, ignoring the man waiting to open her door and help her out of the car.

  “Hayes, this is too much. This place is so fancy! This is like, where my grandparents went for their fiftieth wedding anniversary.”

  I nod and give her a reassuring smile. “And this is where you and I are having dinner tonight.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “They have this crème brûlée that I’m almost positive will be your new favorite dessert.”

  She pauses, chewing at the inside of her cheek. “Okay, fine. But I really wish you would have told me we were going somewhere so nice. I would have worn better shoes.”

  “Dove, you could be wearing a trash bag and still be the most beautiful girl in the entire city. These assholes are lucky to have you inside their establishment.”

  She blushes again, and this time I’m fortunate enough to watch the flush spread over her. God, she’s fucking gorgeous.

  Down, boy. Pacing is going to be harder than I thought.

  We’re escorted inside the lavish building by the doorman, and once inside, are met with a bustling dining room full of white tablecloths and a view of the city I haven’t seen in a while. Twinkling lights of the buildings in the distance, and beyond, the dark water of the lake.

  Maren lets out a soft gasp, and I place my hand on the small of her back as a hostess leads us to our table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, just as I requested. We order a bottle of wine for the table, and the server nods before setting a basket of sliced bread between us. When he leaves, Maren looks at me, her eyes still wide and slightly glazed over, a small, pleased smile forming on her lips.

  “This is . . . exquisite,” she says softly, looking wistfully from the basket of bread to the view beside her.

  “Well, don’t speak too soon. We still have to see if they get the steaks right.” I grin.

  “No, Hayes,” she says, taking my hand over the table. “I—I want to thank you. I haven’t had a night like this in a very, very long time. So, thank you. Really.”

  I give her fingers a gentle squeeze. “You’re welcome. Really.”

  We lean in and kiss over the table, and I can just catch the sweet vanilla scent of her perfume. I didn’t realize that being here would mean so much to Maren, and it makes this night all the more important.

  “Well, in that case, please tell me that you’re hungry.”

  She smiles and arches a challenging brow. “Starving.”

  We have what’s probably the best steak dinner I’ve had in years, complete with all the classic sides. I order us the crème brûlée for dessert, as promised, and just as I predicted, it’s immediately Maren’s new favorite dessert. She groans around the spoon, and her eyes sink closed.

  Everything is going exactly like I hoped it would. Luckily for me, our night is only just getting started.

  I drive us back to my place for a nightcap. A soft smile settles on Maren’s lips on the drive home, while my hand rests on her knee, my fingers wandering idly over her thigh. When we park, it takes everything in me not to drag her into my lap and kiss the daylights out of her.

  Patience, Hayes. I have to remember what I have planned for us.

  Once inside, Maren looks at me expectantly. She glances around the kitchen, whispering, “Is Rosie . . .”

  “She’s asleep,” I whisper back. “I’ll meet you in my bedroom. Can I get you anything? Water? Wine? Whiskey?”

  She shakes her head and pulls me in by my lapels. We kiss, and she rubs her hand along the growing bulge at the front of my pants. “Don’t be too long.”

  Don’t have to tell me twice.

  She slinks away to my bedroom, untying the straps to her dress before slipping behind the closed door. Such a little tease.

  I pour myself a glass of water, and before heading into the bedroom, I go to the linen closet by the bathroom. There, behind neatly folded piles of towels and bedsheets, I find what I’m looking for—a sleek black box, about the length of my forearm. I pull it down from the shelf and take it into the bedroom with me.

  When I close the bedroom door behind me, I find Maren sprawled out on the bed in nothing but a pair of lacy pale-green panties. My cock’s instantly rock hard and in a fight with my pants to get to her.

  I let out a low whistle between my teeth. “Fuck, dove. You’re going to give a man a heart attack.”

  A coy smile curls on her lips. “I wanted to surprise you. And thank you properly.”

  I set the water glass on the desk in the corner and hold the black box behind my back. “I have a surprise for you too, dove.”

  “Oh?” She props herself up on her elbows, her perky breasts teasing me.

  I sit on the edge of the bed at her feet. She watches me closely as I lay the box on the bed in front of her.

  “What is it?” she asks.

  “Open it.”

  She takes the box in her hands and lifts the lid, her brows raising as she appraises its contents. “Oh,” she says as she pulls a long curved cylinder out of the box and holds it in her hands.

  The deep crimson silicone is striking against her pale skin, and a pulse of excitem
ent courses through me at the sight of the toy in her hand.

  Understanding washes over her face. “Oh.”

  “It’s one of our newest models,” I say. “When I saw it, I immediately thought of you.”

  She nods, still staring at the toy in her hands.

  My mouth is suddenly dry, and I have to swallow to get my vocal cords working again. “Would you like me to show you how it works?”

  Maren lifts her chin, and when her eyes meet mine, they’re heavy with lust. She nods again and hands it to me.

  I instruct her to lie back, and she does, parting her knees, offering herself to me. My mouth waters at the sight of her pussy, shaven bare. I let out a low hiss.

  “Looks like those panties are missing something, dove. Something very important,” I murmur, unbuckling my belt.

  She nods again and opens her legs wider. Crotchless panties. This girl will be the death of me.

  “Have you been wearing those all night?” I tug my shirt off and toss it to the floor. “Answer me.”

  “Yes.” She sighs and runs her hands along her sides.

  Watching her writhing on top of my sheets, watching her turn herself on—it’s almost enough to do me in. I pull Maren close, so her hips are at the edge of the bed, and turn the toy on.

  The low hum of its vibration brings a gleeful smile to her lips, and I start by pressing it into her inner thigh. She groans softly, and I move the toy over her body, everywhere except where I know she wants it. Her legs, her belly, her chest. I even circle her nipples until they turn into hard little pebbles, and she’s begging me to touch her most sensitive spot.

  I move the toy to her clit with one hand and grasp her hip with the other. She’s so wet, so ready, so deliciously turned on, and I can’t wait any longer. I hold the toy against her as I move so I’m spooning her from behind. She’s so wet now that I easily work my swollen cock into her heat. Maren gasps at the invasion and clutches my ass.