Gold

by E. J. Noyes

  Her smile was so sultry, my stomach fluttered. “Oh, I’ll be asking later,” Cate said. “Don’t you worry.”

  The moment Cate opened her front door, Melissa called from the kitchen. “Cate? Did you get it?”

  “Yes, I got it.”

  “Way to go, Aspen!”

  I followed Cate into the kitchen. “You’re welcome.”

  Melissa looked up, the surprised O of her mouth turning into a huge smile. “Hey! She convinced you to join us. Wonderful.” She set a wedge of cheese onto a platter of antipasto.

  “She did, sorry to crash your dinner.” I held up the bag of bottles. “But I come bearing gifts.”

  “Don’t be silly, you’re not crashing anything.” Melissa gave me a sideways one-armed hug. “I’m glad you came. Thank you so much for the bread bail-out.”

  “It was my pleasure. Can I help with anything?”

  She laughed. “No, of course you can’t help. Have a drink and relax. I’m just putting together something to snack on.”

  I leaned against the counter. “Okay, but let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

  Cate put my bottles into the fridge and extracted cold champagne. “She won’t.”

  Out of nowhere, a purple blur attached itself to my legs. Her chin digging into my knee, Pheebs looked up at me and asked in a rush, “Wanna play Shopkins?”

  Carefully, I disengaged myself and bent down. “Sure.” What the hell was Shopkins?

  “Now?”

  Melissa peered backward over her shoulder. “Pheebs, honey. Give Aspen a moment to settle in please.”

  “Okay!” Phoebe ran off, her quick footsteps sounding up the stairs and along the hallway overhead. Oh to have boundless energy like that.

  Cate passed me a glass of champagne and slid another over to Melissa. “Where is everyone?”

  “Tim and Dani are out chopping wood. Gem’s in the den.” Melissa took the glass, raised it toward us and swallowed a grateful gulp.

  Cate laughed. “Is she still trying to put that thing together?”

  “Judging by the frustrated groans I’ve been hearing the past fifteen minutes, I’d say yes.”

  Cate turned to me. “How good are you at assembling things, Aspen? We bought this construct-a-toy thing but I think it’s causing more annoyance than enjoyment.”

  I winked. “I’m a whiz with an Allen wrench and a screwdriver. Graduated top of my Ikea class.”

  She snorted. “Good, let’s see if Gem will let you help her. Call out if you need anything, Mel.” Cate tugged me out of the kitchen and along the hallway. Midway along the hall, she stopped, faced me and reached up to brush hair from my eyes. “Everything okay?”

  I captured her hand and dropped a soft kiss in her palm. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” Cate stretched up to kiss me and I pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Still holding champagne glasses, we somehow maneuvered against the wall and spent a minute enjoying one another. Cate nibbled my lower lip, then with a reluctant sigh pulled away, her eyes clouded with lust. “If you’re not careful, I’ll have to drag you upstairs and we’ll miss dinner.”

  “Dinner’s not for another few hours,” I murmured.

  “It’ll take that long for me to do everything I want to do to you right now,” Cate whispered.

  “Tease.”

  Cate laughed and pulled me toward the den where Gemma sat cross-legged in front of the fire, hunched over a pile of plastic and metal. Pushing aside thoughts of how I could be filling the time before dinner, I cleared my throat. “Hey, Gemma.”

  She startled. “Oh, hey! You came. Awesome.”

  Cate pulled me to the couch. “How’s it coming together, honey?”

  Gemma shrugged. “Okay.”

  Cate’s hand slid over my thigh to rest lightly. It wasn’t intentionally teasing but the proximity and left over excitement from the hallway had my nerves firing. I sipped champagne and tried to concentrate on what Gemma was doing. “What’s that?”

  “A DaVinci kit,” she told me. “This one’s a self-propelled cart. Or it will be…”

  I nodded appreciatively. “Looks like it’s coming together nicely.”

  Gemma twisted parts of the project around, eyebrows still scrunched together. She looked so much like Cate when she concentrated. “Yeah, I just can’t quite work this bit out.” Gem shot us a hopeful look.

  I leaned forward, forearms resting on my knees. “Did you want me to see if I can help you work it out?”

  “It’s kind of tricky,” Gemma said politely. Bless her, she didn’t think I’d be able to help.

  Probably time to come clean. Nodding slowly, I mused, “Sure, fair enough but you know, I majored in physics at college. Was even going to do my Masters but couldn’t find time.” Smiling, I sketched a dismissive wave. “You’re right though, I probably would find it tricky.” Not that my degree had included anything about putting toys together, but I’d always been practical.

  Beside me, Cate was suddenly still. “Wow, I was way off. Really?”

  I grinned, set my champagne on the coffee table and slid off the couch to knee-crawl over to Gemma and her construction. “Mhmm, CU Boulder. I have a degree in engineering physics. Magna cum laude.” I glanced over at Cate, a smile still tugging at my lips. “I’m really not just a dumb jock.” A common misconception, one I never bothered to correct. Most people found it easier to shove me into the dopey athlete box, and forgot I might be someone who enjoyed using their brain and just happened to have a body that was good at sport.

  “Aspen, I’ve never, ever thought you were that,” Cate insisted. “How did you fit such a full-on degree in with training and everything else?”

  “I was very, very tired for four years,” I said dryly.

  “Is there anything else you need to tell me, aside from your intellect, multilingual abilities, and athletic prowess?” She raised her champagne to her lips.

  I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “In my spare time I rescue cats from trees, read to the elderly and donate blood at least twice a week.” It almost came out with a straight face. Cate threw a cushion at me. I reached to catch it, missed and laughed. “See? Not so athletic.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me and I winked in return. Turning to Gemma, I gave her a wink too, this one conspiratorial. “Come on, let’s get this thing put together and working so we can make it self-propel into your mom’s feet.”

  The rest of the evening was a wonderful mix of laughter, food, and bottles. When the kids went reluctantly to bed the adults stayed up to talk in the den and work on a nice cognac. Cate and I curled together on one of the couches, her fingers running through my hair and when I twisted to look at her, she smiled. I was almost purring as she kept up the gentle caress of fingers through hair. The strokes were constant and rhythmical, sometimes twisting the short strands around her fingers. She’d found one of my weaknesses with no prompting and it was all I could do to stay awake.

  As we talked, I discovered Danielle and Cate had been best friends since high school. Danielle was an architect. Melissa a CPA running a business from home. They’d been together since they were eighteen, married for almost five years and still looked at each other like teenagers in love. The two families lived within walking distance of each other, vacationed together once a year and had dinner at least once a month but usually more often. This trip was part of a bucket list of Danielle’s to snowboard on every continent—only Africa was left.

  There was love and humor in every story, but every now and then I caught a subtle uncomfortable undercurrent when they referred to the past, presumably to do with Cate’s ex. They told stories from their long years of friendship and Cate unwound even more, came even more alive, as she laughed and rebutted indignantly. I watched her without restraint, delighting in her easy smiles and the nonlinear way she told stories and filled in any details her friends missed.

  Danielle and Melissa gently prodded me into sharing things about my career and why I’d given up racing. Th
ough Cate’s supportive hand on my leg made me sure I could trust them, I used my moderate explanation of, “I just didn’t love it anymore.” Ruining the mood of the night wasn’t on my agenda.

  The conversation dwindled to its comfortable end and the four of us sat for a few minutes in companionable silence. Cate’s hand was under my shirt, her nails running over my back. Almost-empty glass in hand, I lolled against her with my eyes half closed, trying hard not to moan at the sensation on my skin.

  Melissa brushed her hand over Danielle’s leg. “Bedtime, love. I’m wrecked.” She stood and pulled her wife to her feet.

  Danielle wobbled, then straightened with a grin. “Night, guys.” They walked out, arms around each other and I heard soft laughter going up the stairs, then a door closing.

  I pulled Cate over my lap until she was straddling me, and settled my hands on her hips. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” she asked, smiling lazily. She was adorably tipsy and I wasn’t far behind.

  I sat up until there was no space between us. “For sharing your family with me.”

  She rested her arms on my shoulders. “You’re welcome.” Cate nipped lightly at my jaw, following with kisses all the way to my ear. Gentle teeth on my lobe, and a husky whisper of, “Come to bed with me.”

  Behind her closed door, we undressed frantically, not caring where our clothing landed. The only thing that mattered was her skin against mine, the pure naked heat of her bared open for me. Dirty words and erotic touches wound me tight like a spring until she uncoiled me with whispered promises and light caresses. Her talented hands, at once commanding and tender, drove me to the edge over and over again, and when Cate opened her body and soul to me I found the solace I’d needed for so long.

  * * *

  Sounds in the unfamiliar house woke me just after dawn—a child’s quick footsteps, movement around the kitchen, laughter. I lay still, hoping to fall back to sleep but it was pointless in a strange bed with all the strange noise. Cate was pressed tightly against my back, her leg wedged between mine and her arm a soft but possessive weight around my waist. I’d fallen asleep spooning her, my hips against her ass, face buried in her neck and we’d swapped places during the night.

  I shifted to get up but Cate burrowed deeper under the covers and pressed herself harder to me. After a moment she asked sleepily, “Ugh. Do we have to get up?” Her hand tightened around my hips, lips brushed my shoulder. “We don’t. Stay in bed with me. It’s still my birthday in the States.” The hand on my hip moved south.

  “Mmm. Gimme a minute.” I wiggled from her grasp, scooting toward the edge of the bed before she could start something. Something I wanted her to start but not before I’d emptied my booze-full bladder. It took a few seconds for me to get to my feet, and I half-buckled as always on the first few steps. Once I’d recovered, I made hobbling progress toward the bathroom.

  Cate was out of bed and at my side in seconds. “Shit. Are you all right?” She was now very awake.

  “Peachy. I’ll be good as gold in fifteen minutes or so.”

  “Stop, wait.” Cate grabbed my arm, staring at my feet. “This doesn’t look peachy, Aspen.”

  Long past the point where my crippled mornings worried me, I smiled and soothed her, “Situation normal. All those injuries and wear and tear catch up with a person, you know. It’s okay, just arthritis in my hip and ankles and stuff.”

  “Stuff? You’re not okay. This is not okay. I knew you had pain sometimes but this is—” Her eyes were wide, forehead wrinkled. “Are you taking anything?”

  “I get injections every month while I’m home and when it’s really bad I take ibuprofen. I’ll warm out of it, just need to get moving.” I tried desperately to distract her with levity. “Geez, I sound like an ad for senior’s water aerobics or something.”

  “What injections?” Cate demanded, ignoring my joke.

  “Cortisone. You should see how bad it is without them,” I added playfully, still trying to lighten the moment away from my physical issues.

  She brushed my teasing aside. “Define bad, Aspen. What kind of pain are we talking about?”

  I sighed, mumbling, “Eight or above.”

  “I really don’t like this.” She bent over, as though she was going to examine my legs, but I stepped back, a hand on the wall to steady myself. Cate straightened, her mouth a thin line. “You can barely move. Why aren’t you doing more to manage this?”

  Very deliberately I ignored her question. “Well, you’re just going to have to get used to it.”

  She bit her full lower lip. “Am I now?”

  “Yes.” Framing her face with my hands, I kissed her. “Can I go to the bathroom please?”

  Cate waved me off, but didn’t look pleased about it. “Fine, go, but I’d like to talk about this some more.” From her expression it seemed my plans for a morning quickie had been tossed out the window.

  Just brilliant. “I look forward to it,” I lied.

  Thankfully it was a reasonable-recovery morning. By the time I’d dressed and made my way downstairs, the pain and stiffness had eased enough for me to move around without being too conspicuous. Cate watched me the whole time, from dressing to walking down the stairs and greeting everyone.

  The kitchen table was strewn with bread, cereal boxes, juice, milk, and coffee, leaving barely any space for those breakfasting. Gem and Danielle were reading, Melissa was trying to stop Phoebe from knocking things over and Tim was eating the biggest bowl of cereal I’d ever seen while watching something on his iPad. Resting my hands on the kitchen counter, I studied these people who were so at ease with one another and wondered if I could ever fit in.

  Phoebe jumped up from her cereal to tackle my legs again. “Aspen!”

  I petted her dark, unruly bed hair. “Good morning.”

  Cate gently disengaged the small child clinging to my jeans, and herded her back toward the table. “Careful, Pheebs. Aspen’s got sore legs.”

  “It’s fine,” I said quietly.

  Cate made an indistinguishable sound, then paused to lean over and kiss Gemma’s hair. “Morning, honey.” She whispered something in her daughter’s ear. Gemma smiled. The exchange took less than ten seconds but in that short time I saw the depth of their bond. The warmth spreading through my spine was different to the one I usually experienced when I looked at Cate. This one was softer, more connected but no less intimate.

  Melissa moved a bowl back from the edge of the table, out of the way of Pheebs’s excitement. “Morning. Didn’t expect to see you awake so early.”

  “We would have slept in but someone with heavy feet woke us up.” Cate bent to threaten Phoebe with tickle fingers, and laughed when the girl giggled and climbed back onto her chair.

  Danielle looked up from her book, mouth open to say something but at a head shake from Melissa, closed it. After a few seconds Danielle offered something innocuous. “Plenty of coffee.”

  Having a fair idea of what she’d intended to imply the first time, I grinned. “Thanks.”

  Cate studied my halting progress to the coffeemaker, her mouth pressed into a thin line. I smiled sweetly at her while I poured coffee. Cup in hand, I crossed the kitchen and in front of everyone, kissed the disapproval right off her lips.

  Once Cate and I were seated, Danielle tried again, this time with a casual, “Have you spent much time down under, Aspen?”

  After a sip of coffee, I smiled widely at her. “A fair bit, yes.” It was all I could do not to guffaw.

  Cate tossed a fallen piece of cereal at her friend. “Really, Dani?”

  Melissa swatted at her wife. “You are so juvenile. I don’t know why I married you.”

  Danielle affected a wounded expression. “What? It was a simple question. Not my fault how you interpret it.” She winked at me and I thought that maybe there was a place here for me after all.

  Phoebe hopped up on her chair, leaning across the table to cut into the conversation. Perhaps for the best, given the directi
on it was taking. Her questions were rapid-fire. “Will you come sit here? Will you have toast? Can I have some? Want my Wheaties?”

  There was no other answer for those questions except, “Sure.” I pushed myself up.

  Cate leaned back in her chair. “Do I have competition from a five-year-old?”

  Danielle laughed, and thankfully lowered her voice. “Judging by the bite mark on Aspen’s neck, I’d say no.”

  Shit. I hadn’t seen anything while I was getting dressed. I reached up and rubbed my neck as Cate shook with silent laughter beside me.

  “Other side,” Danielle said nonchalantly, and lifted her book again.

  Dani’s suggestion that we head up to Thredbo for the morning was met with a tired no from both Cate and Gemma, and a yeah, sure from Tim. Melissa carried the no vote with her insistence that she needed another day to rest her tailbone after her wife had made her try snowboarding a couple of days earlier. Phoebe didn’t seem to care what we did, as long as she was somewhere in my vicinity.

  We spent the day playing games, eating and drinking, and horsing around outside with the kids. I lost every single board game, and this time, Gemma didn’t bother to hide her glee. By sunset, I felt filled in places I hadn’t even known were empty. When everyone was settling for showers and talking about what to do for dinner, Cate quietly asked me if I wanted to stay another night. Melissa and Danielle exchanged sly looks.

  Cate pounced when we were getting ready for bed. I’d known this conversation was coming—she didn’t seem the kind of woman to let something like this go—but it didn’t make it any easier. “I don’t want to be pushy, Aspen but there’s no reason to be uncomfortable and in pain all the time.”

  There was no way I could hide it now and I couldn’t help wondering how she was going to take my revelation. Sitting on the bed, I waited for her to finish up in the small en suite. “I know.”

  Cate came back into the bedroom, braiding her hair. “There’s a lot of things you can try.”

  I pulled my legs underneath myself to sit cross-legged, tugging my left ankle into a more comfortable position. “I don’t like taking pain medication. I—” My lips were so dry but I couldn’t produce any saliva to moisten them. “Cate, after the accident I was prescribed a whole lot of things, but mostly OxyContin.”