The Brooklyn Book Boyfriends

by Kayley Loring

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You still want to go to dinner?”

  “Yeah, of course. Listen, don’t hesitate to call me if you need someone to pick Charlie up or drop him off at the day camp. It’s so close to me, it’s no trouble.

  I feel my jaw tensing up. I don’t want to turn her into another nanny here. She’s just being sweet, I know. “Okay, yeah, thanks. Hopefully it won’t be necessary.”

  Silence on the other end.

  “Sooo, text me when you’ve got Charlie and I’ll call when I’m leaving the office, yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, thanks again. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  What the fuck was that? Our first lame phone call. Actually, I’ve been trying to avoid phone calls to her lately, only because it’s so hard to end them. I keep wanting to say “love you, bye” like a total pussy. Or maybe I just never want to say good-bye to her.

  I look around to make sure no one’s watching me through the glass walls of my office before lowering my hand and checking to make sure I still have balls.

  When I see Charlie bounding down the steps with Nina, he looks like a happy puppy, and I get that bittersweet feeling that’s becoming so familiar to me.

  “Hey, punk. What’s that around your mouth?” I wipe a bit of crusty beige stuff from the corner of his lips while he grimaces and tries to push my hand away.

  “Oh, that’s probably hummus,” Nina says.

  “You got him to eat hummus?”

  She grins. Like the cat that got the canary to eat hummus.

  “I liked it with the celery and carrot sticks,” my little brother states very plainly. As if it’s no big deal that he’s willingly consuming vegetables.

  “You got him to eat celery and carrots? Did you check around your apartment to make sure he didn’t spit them out and hide them? My dad keeps finding chunks of broccoli between the sofa cushions.”

  “He definitely ate it all. We started with a ranch dressing dip, and then I ran out of ranch dressing, so we switched to hummus.” She holds up her hand and mouths to me in secret: I didn’t run out of ranch dressing.

  She is so fucking cute. “You got a lot of tricks up your sleeve, Miss Parks.”

  “They pretty much all involve ranch dressing.”

  “You’ve got a few other tricks as I recall,” I muse, putting my arm around her waist and pulling her to me. “I’ve been thinking about them all day, as a matter of fact… Hi.”

  “Hi.” She rubs my back. I kiss her, but she keeps her attention focused on Charlie.

  “Gross,” he mumbles, watching us. “Can Nina come to dinner?”

  We walk back to my double-parked car.

  “Not tonight, buddy. I’m dropping you off at Gabe’s, and then I get Nina all to myself.”

  “For boning?”

  “Hey—what’d I say? What’d I tell you?”

  He rolls his eyes and then looks up at Nina, blushing as he quotes me: “Nina Parks is a lady. And we treat ladies with respect. We do not say words like ‘boning’ around her.”

  She doesn’t laugh like she did yesterday or every other day I’ve known her. Just stares at the ground. Something’s up.

  “What’d you guys do this afternoon?”

  “We just read. And watched Netflix.”

  “Oh yeah?” I squeeze her waist, teasing her. “You Netflix and chilled with my little brother?”

  “He’s reading Matilda,” she says in a sing-song voice, eyes still fixed on Charlie.

  “The girl book? That a girl gave him?”

  “SHE. IS. NOT. MY. GIRLFRIEND!” Charlie stomps on the pavement with each screamed word.

  “All right, all right. Settle down, punk.”

  The entire ride, Nina and Charlie talk about Matilda, and I feel like a third wheel. She doesn’t look at me when I get back to the car after taking Charlie to Gabe’s door. She’s not cold or anything. Just distant. And it feels like someone’s been slowly stabbing at my fucking heart with a tiny dagger.

  “You okay?”

  She smiles and nods.

  “You still want to get dinner?”

  “Yeah. Definitely.”

  I turn off the engine again and twist around to face her. Most of my life I’ve been the guy who walks away as soon as I start to sense a woman is thinking about anything other than having sex with me. Now here I am, confronting her. Take that, Dr. Glass. How you like me now? “What is it, baby? Talk to me.”

  She sucks in a deep breath before speaking. Stares straight ahead. “I met someone you know. Or knew. At the coffee shop. After you left this morning.”

  “Oh yeah?” Fuck. This can’t be good.

  “I’m not sure what her name is, actually. But she knew you. I guess you must have dated her at some point.”

  “Uh-huh. She talked to you?”

  “Yeah, you know. Not a lot.”

  “What’d she say?”

  “Nothing bad, exactly. I mean…”

  “Nina.”

  “It’s not a big deal. We don’t have to talk about it.”

  “I want to talk about it. I can’t even guess who it was that talked to you, because—spoiler alert—I’ve been with a lot of women in my life. I’m not gonna sugar coat it, and I’m not gonna make any excuses. I dated those women for a little bit and then I moved on. I wasn’t mean to anyone, and I did actually like them, but then I just made my exit. I made it clear to all of them up front what to expect. But I’ve only been with two women in the past year and a half. Sadie and you. Before Sadie, I never really committed to anyone.”

  “So Sadie was special?”

  Be very careful what you say here… “I wanted her to be. She was my little brother’s nanny. She came around at a time when we were all reeling from Clara leaving my dad and him. I wasn’t used to seeing a hot chick around my family. I figured it was time for me to try to be in a relationship. I gave it a shot. It didn’t work out so well. Not just the way it ended, but I probably wasn’t the greatest boyfriend to Sadie. But I want to be better for you. I want to be the best for you.”

  She runs her hand down the side of my face and neck and then rests her head against my shoulder, and I’m dying inside.

  “I’m yours now, remember? Those are the rules.”

  She takes a really deep breath and looks up at me optimistically. Searching my face for something that’ll make her feel better somehow, and I hope to God she finds what she’s looking for. She nods in agreement and then sits up. “Yeah… Hey, I know you’re busy. And I totally understand if you don’t have enough time to make plans, but a few months ago I booked a room at a luxury resort on Lake George for next weekend.”

  “For you and the principal?”

  “Yeah. It would have been our three-year anniversary. I was going to surprise him, even though he hates surprises. Anyway. I didn’t cancel the reservation because the librarian at our school was just raving about it, and this woman never raves about anything. Except JK Rowling and CrossFit. I was going to go by myself or ask Marnie or another girlfriend, but…”

  I push the strands of hair out of her face and take her hand. “Yes.”

  “Really? You’d go?” It almost hurts, how surprised she is.

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I mean, it’s a resort. On a lake. It just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing you’re into.”

  “I’m into you, Nina. If you’re there, that’s where I want to be.”

  I wish I could take a picture of her face, the way she’s looking up at me right now. I want to feel like this all the time. Like the guy who put that smile on this woman’s face.

  “Good. I booked a regular hotel room with a king-size bed, but there’s no view. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Trust me, the only view I’ll be looking at is your beautiful naked body.”

  She blushes. Thank God I can still make her blush. “Well, that will be one of the amenities you can enjoy, along with free Wi-Fi. It’s for ne
xt weekend. Three nights. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

  “Okay.” I start up the engine again. “God, I can’t even remember the last time I took a vacation. I need to rearrange some things, but I’m pretty sure I can make this happen.”

  “Okay. I’ve already rented a car.”

  “Well, darlin’, you can just go ahead and cancel that reservation. You know I’ve got a car. You’re in it right now.”

  “But what if you can’t make it happen?”

  “Hey. I’ll make it happen. I’ll pay you for the room. This’ll be good. This may be exactly what we need.” I didn’t mean to make that sound so ominous, but she seems to agree.

  I couldn’t keep my hands off of Nina all through dinner. When we got back to her place, we had the fastest sex we’ve ever had, and it wasn’t even humiliating because she needed it that fast too. I think the anticipation of vacation sex has reignited something. I wish I could have stayed with her, but I’ve gotta get to work if I’m going to take three days off. I came to Gabe’s to figure things out with him, but I keep zoning out.

  “Hello?” My brother’s staring at me like I’m an idiot.

  “What?”

  “You want Scotch or not?”

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  “Are you? Because you seem like a moody little teenage girl to me.”

  “I should call Dr. Glass,” I mumble, dropping my head to my hands.

  “You still see her?”

  “Not for a while.”

  “You don’t need some shrink to tell you how you feel. I’ll tell you how you feel. You like Nina. You’re crazy about her. You’ve probably been falling in love with her since Day One. It’s some heavy shit.”

  He watches me for a reaction, but I don’t give him one because the words hit me in the gut. Hearing them out loud. From my brother, who knows me better than anyone.

  “Here’s what else you’re feeling,” he continues. “You’re mad at Sadie for leaving, and you’re mad at the guy she left you for. You’re mad at Clara for leaving, and you’re mad at the guy she left dad and Charlie for. But that’s their problem. You and I may be able to help them with some things, but it’s not our fault that she left and we can’t change the fact that she left. You’re mad that Mom died. We all are. She didn’t want to leave us. We didn’t want her to leave us. We all did what we could, but we couldn’t beat the cancer. It’s really sad. Mom wanted us to be happy. So go be happy. Finally. You deserve it. I mean, I deserve it more, but you met Nina first, so…”

  I’ve got this stupid lump in my throat that’s preventing me from telling him to fuck off, but he knows what I’m thinking.

  “Whatever… Man, I didn’t think there could be anything more annoying than how grumpy you were those last few months with Sadie. But then you got so fucking cheerful when you met Nina. That I get. This? This moping around when you’re with the best girl you’ve ever known…? Jesus.” He polishes off his Scotch. “Maybe you should be seeing Dr. Glass, because you’re a fucking nut job.”

  19

  Vince

  I can’t even get her into the room fast enough.

  The four-hour drive here was always fun, mostly beautiful, and fucking hell for me. Because she’s wearing a flimsy little pink midriff-baring T-shirt with jean shorts and no bra. But she insisted we “wait until we get to the hotel like respectable grown-ups” before going to town on each other like horny teenagers. I would have pulled her top off in the elevator, but I don’t want to get us kicked out of an upscale, old school, lakeside resort as soon as we’ve checked in. This ain’t the W in Times Square. Also, there was an older couple in the elevator with us—I’m not an animal. Once we’re in the room, though, all bets are off.

  It’s not that I’ve gotten tired of having sex with her—that seems impossible—it’s just that things were getting so real back home. Three nights away from my responsibilities, with nothing but this woman on my to-do list? Heaven. Let’s get down to that kind of business.

  I’m holding both of our weekend bags in one hand, opening the door with the other. Neither of us is talking because voices carry in the hallways of these big old buildings, but we both know exactly what’s going to happen next. When the handle clicks, I hear her breath catch. I kick the door open, toss the bags on the floor, pull her inside, and press her up against the wall before it’s shut again.

  Her breaths are already coming so hot and heavy. “God, I want you. Vince.” She drags her hands up my abs while pulling my shirt off. “I just want you.”

  “You got me, baby. You could have had me six ways to Sunday before we got to Poughkeepsie.”

  Her hands are all up in my hair while our tongues tangle. Moaning and arching her back as I pull her hips closer to me and slide my fingers up under that damn pink half shirt. But as soon as they find her nipples, she pushes me back. She undoes my belt and pants with a force and urgency that I haven’t seen from her before, shoves them down, and has to give them a little extra help getting past the massive erection in my boxer briefs.

  Her eyes are hooded and electric, and I don’t even recognize her voice when she says, “Get on the bed.”

  Oh. Fuck. Yes. “On it.” I am on that king-size bed so fast I don’t even feel my feet touch the ground. But she takes her time approaching me, unbuttoning her tight little jean shorts as she kicks off her sandals, and places one pretty foot in front of the other. I lean back on my elbows and watch her shimmy out of those shorts, revealing the tiny white lace panties that must have been made for her—sweet and so sexy and designed by some genius who knew what I liked even before I did.

  She climbs up on top of me with a seductive smile, straddling me and lowering herself down over my painfully hard cock, shoving me back down when I reach for her shirt.

  “Come on, take it off,” I plead with her.

  She ignores me, kisses my chest, swirling her tongue, licking, making her way down to the waistband of my underwear. Before I know it, I’m naked and she has one hand around my shaft, taking me in her mouth, sucking and licking and savoring. She slowly moves her hand up and down, twisting and squeezing. Varying her pressure, just the way I like it. Then licks me like an ice cream cone when she cups my balls and I groan her name, reaching out to grab her hair.

  “You like that?” she asks with the voice of a fallen angel.

  “Yeah, I like it.” I can barely speak. “I like everything you do to me.”

  She nibbles gently around the inside of my thighs while grabbing on to my hips, teasing me with a little intermission. She sits up and strokes the tortured length of me with the fingertips of one hand while touching herself under her shirt with the other. Teasing me.

  “You little vixen. Take it off.”

  She makes like she’s going to lift her top off but then lowers herself, gripping the base of my dick and licking her lips while holding my gaze and pressing her mouth over the head. Then she’s slowly taking in as much of me as she can. I take in a sharp breath, and my whole body tenses up from my jaw down to my toes. Clench my fists. When her mouth moves back up, her hand squeezes harder. When her tongue flicks at the sweet spot under the head, I let out some kind of high-pitched sigh and then a growl as I wrap my own hand around my cock to keep it out of the way while pushing her onto her back.

  I rip those fucking angel-white panties apart. Our eyes are locked on each other. I push that stupid T-shirt up out of my way so my mouth can finally consume her perfect swollen tits, my fingers rubbing her slick, engorged clit. She gasps as she pulls the shirt off over her head, and I stop to admire all of her exposed flesh—vision blurred by lust—but completely in awe of every inch of her writhing naked body.

  Mine.

  She manages to flip me over onto my back while I’m staring, hovers over me, and says in a voice so husky that I feel a tremor down to my bones, “I want you to come inside me.” I watch her carefully lower herself onto me, her hands pressing down on my chest, mine squeezing her hips.

  Last week
we exchanged clean bills of health, and I tried not to think about when this would finally happen. Because I had to get a lot of work done, and I would have had a nonstop monster hard-on if I’d let myself imagine what it would feel like to have no barrier between myself and her warm, wet pussy. Anything I could have imagined would have been a far cry from the sensations I’m feeling now, and I know she can feel it too, as she lets out those sweet, hot little murmurs and sighs.

  I suck in air through my teeth. “Baby, you feel so good.”

  She raises herself up and then lowers all the way down on my cock. Leans back and tenses up her bent legs, squeezing me between them, slowly rocking back and forth, eyes closed. My eyes keep wanting to close, but I force myself to keep them open so I can watch this beautiful woman sway to the rhythm of me inside her. It can’t be possible to adore a person any more than I adore Nina. I feel myself filling her up, the friction unbearably hot and comforting and stimulating at the same time.

  I remember what she said once, about counting in French to calm herself. I try to do it in my head so I can let her enjoy bearing down on me like this, but by the time I get to neuf, I’ve got her on her back. Her calves up alongside my neck, I’m driving into her so deep she covers her mouth to muffle her screams. Skin slapping against skin has never sounded so good to me. The bed is rocking back and forth, and she reaches up to grab on to the headboard, tilting her head back and releasing a low animal sound from the depths of her throat. We’re moving together with such furious grace, I don’t ever want to stop.

  “Fuck me harder, Vince,” she hisses. “Break me apart.”

  Oh Christ. I take a deep breath as she lowers her feet flat on the mattress to brace herself, and I ramp things up, giving her everything I’ve got. My hands clasp the headboard between hers, and I thrust until I hear her cry out my name, her body tensing up beneath me, and I finally get my release. She lets go of the headboard to hold me as close to her as possible while I shudder and clench my jaw so tight to keep from saying the thing that I so desperately want to say to her.