Ray of Hope (Ray #2)

by E. L. Todd

  I still thought that was crazy, and I was concerned he didn’t think the same thing.

  “We hiked Mount Rainier and then had lunch afterward. Her dad is an outdoor kind of guy, so he and I clicked pretty well. Her mother is really nice too. Rochelle looks a lot like her. And I’m pretty sure they liked me too.”

  Of course they did. Zeke was perfect. “That’s cool…”

  “I’m going over there for dinner on Friday. They live just outside of Seattle.”

  They already sounded like a married couple. “This sounds serious.” Zeke was a grown man and could do whatever he wanted, but I was worried this was moving too fast and he wasn’t thinking straight. Deep down inside, I thought Rochelle was just some kind of a rebound off Rae. When Rae got serious with Ryker, not only did Zeke realize he missed his chance, but he was probably never going to get a chance ever again. He wanted to move on and settle down as quickly as possible.

  But should I tell him that?

  Would it just piss him off?

  Maybe meeting her parents wasn’t that big of a deal and I was just reading too much into it. Rochelle really was an awesome girl, so maybe his feelings were genuine. It wasn’t like they were getting married or something.

  Zeke finished chewing his bite before he answered. “Yeah, it feels serious. But I think that’s a good thing.”

  He’d never been serious with anyone up until this point. I still thought it was strange that the one time he gets intense with someone is when Rae is in a committed relationship. I couldn’t forget what he said about Rae to me, that he could see himself settling down with her. All of this couldn’t have just been a coincidence. Right?

  But I needed to just let it go. He knew more about his relationship than I did. I needed to butt out and mind my own business.

  “Maybe the four of us can go on a double date.”

  I almost laughed because it was absurd. “Yeah, maybe.”

  ***

  “Take that, asshole.” My fingers worked the controller, and I drove Zeke off the road.

  “Son of a bitch.” He made a serious comeback and slammed back into me, making me spin out and drive off the side of the road and into a tree. “Now look at who’s an asshole.”

  I reversed the car and tried to get back on the road as quickly as possible.

  Then the doorbell rang.

  Zeke immediately hit pause. “That must be Rochelle.”

  “She’s coming over?” I thought it would just be the two of us tonight.

  “Yeah. I invited the rest of the gang, but Rae was busy with Ryker and Jessie has a date. So I think Kayden is coming.” He walked away and headed to the door.

  Kayden was coming over?

  This had to be a joke.

  Just her?

  Automatically, my dick got hard.

  Goddammit.

  “Hey, baby.” Zeke wrapped his arms around Rochelle’s waist and kissed her on the mouth longer than necessary.

  I looked back at the screen so I wouldn’t throw up.

  “I brought some chocolate covered popcorn.” She handed him a Ziploc bag. “Made it myself.”

  “Thanks, baby.” He kissed her again and set it on the counter. “Rex is in the living room.”

  Rochelle walked inside and gave me her typical sweet smile. She wore a pink dress with a belt around her waist. It was tight on her arms and her neck. She wore brown boots that went up to her knees. “Hey, Rex.”

  I used to really like Rochelle, but now that they were moving so fast, it made me wonder if she was taking advantage of him. She probably saw him as Prince Charming, the biggest catch in the world, and I was afraid she was reeling him in too quickly.

  But I had to remind myself it shouldn’t matter.

  “Hey. How’s it going?” I stood up and hugged her. “Chocolate popcorn, huh?”

  “My grandma taught me how to make it. It’s actually really good. The popcorn is still crunchy even though the chocolate is melted over it.”

  “I’ll definitely give it a try. I inhale anything that’s edible.”

  She laughed. “No wonder you and Zeke are best friends.”

  Zeke came into the living room and set the bowl of popcorn on the table. “It’s pretty damn good.”

  I took a handful, and I was annoyed that it really was amazing. “This is awesome. If Rae were here, she’d hit that whole thing by herself.”

  “Thank god she’s not,” Zeke said with a laugh.

  The doorbell rang again.

  “That must be Kayden,” Zeke said. “Can you get that?”

  “Why do I have to get it?” My defensiveness lashed out immediately, and I couldn’t control myself from snapping.

  Zeke and Rochelle both stared at me like I was a bomb about to explode.

  “It’s cool…” Rochelle smiled through the tension. “I’ll get it.” She walked away and answered the door.

  Zeke watched me with concern. “You alright, man?”

  “Dude, I’m so good.” I grabbed another handful of popcorn. “I just don’t want to leave this stuff. I’m gonna hog it.”

  Zeke accepted the explanation and walked back into the kitchen. “Hey, Kayden.”

  “Hey.” She was dressed in dark jeans with a black cardigan. It fit her petite frame perfectly and highlighted her hourglass figure. “I brought some wine.” She held up the bottle. “You can never have too much booze, right?”

  “Absolutely not.” Zeke took it from her hands. “Thanks for this.”

  “No problem.” Kayden glanced in my direction then quickly looked away.

  I pretended she didn’t exist.

  “You look so cute,” Rochelle said. “How do you stay so thin? Do you work out every day?”

  “Oh, thanks,” Kayden said modestly. “I spend so much time reading that I forget to eat sometimes.”

  And she gets a serious workout fucking me.

  “Then I need to start reading more,” Rochelle said with a laugh.

  Zeke rolled his eyes. “Whatever, baby.”

  Kayden finally walked into the living room and headed right toward me. She wore a smile that was so cute I wanted to kiss her. “Hey, Rex.”

  “Hey.” I kept the table between us and refused to let her get any closer. “Popcorn?” I held up the bowl.

  “Oh cool.” She grabbed a handful. “It’s covered in chocolate.”

  “Rochelle made it.” I sat on the other couch, trying to stay away from her. “Where’s Jessie?” Things would be so much less awkward if there was another person there. Now it seemed like a double date. It made me paranoid that Zeke knew exactly what was going on. But that couldn’t be right.

  “She had a date.” She continued to stand there and snack on the popcorn. Her eyes trailed to the TV. “Playing a game?”

  “Racing game.” I rested my ankle on the opposite knee out of nervousness, and then returned my foot to the floor. Since I couldn’t sit still, I started to shake my knee. I rubbed the back of my neck just so I had something to do. Maybe I should lie and say I was sick so I could leave. I couldn’t be in the same room with Kayden like this and act normal. I wasn’t even sure what normal was.

  Zeke and Rochelle came back into the living room and sat on the other couch. Zeke’s arm immediately went around Rochelle’s shoulders. “You guys wanna watch a movie? Rochelle hasn’t seen Star Wars, and I’ve been meaning to show it to her.”

  “Hasn’t seen Star Wars?” I blurted. “Are you serious?”

  Rochelle shrugged. “We didn’t have a TV when I was growing up.”

  Wasn’t her father a surgeon? “Oh…”

  “And we were always so busy as kids we didn’t have time to watch movies and stuff.”

  What a freak. “Oh…” It was all I could think of to say. How could Zeke be this serious with a woman who had never seen Star Wars? It was one of our favorite movies of all time. “You need to watch it. Like, yesterday.”

  “Then let’s do it.” Zeke grabbed the remote and hit a few butt
ons. When the TV didn’t respond, he eyed Kayden. “Sorry, you’re blocking the signal. Why don’t you take a seat?”

  She stared at the seat beside me before she approached.

  I immediately scooted to the opposite end of the couch so we were nowhere near each other. I didn’t even want to smell her.

  She sat at the opposite end and crossed her legs. Her gaze was focused on the TV.

  “Does she annoy you?” Rochelle asked with a laugh.

  “Huh?” I blurted.

  “You guys are sitting so far apart,” she noted. “It just looks funny.”

  “I just farted.” It was all I could think of, and after I said it, I realized I could have made up a much better excuse.

  Kayden immediately cringed even though it wasn’t true.

  “Good thing we’re on this couch, baby.” Zeke leaned in and kissed her. “I’ve been the victim of those farts. Trust me, they’re terrible.”

  “Like yours aren’t,” I said defensively.

  “Let’s face it,” Rochelle said. “All farts are bad. There’s no contest.”

  “I don’t know,” Kayden said. “Rex’s are pretty bad. It’s all that bowling alley food he eats.”

  I turned my defensiveness on her. “Whoa, I’ve never farted around you.”

  “Yes, you have,” Kayden said. “Loads of times.”

  “Well, not since—” I stopped myself from saying something really stupid. “It’s been a while…”

  Zeke finally got the movie going, and the theme music started. “Here we go. Baby, prepare to be amazed.”

  She cupped his face and kissed him hard on the mouth. “I already am amazed.”

  ***

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Zeke asked Rochelle at the door.

  “I’ve got to get up early tomorrow for that meeting.” She cupped his cheeks and kissed him. “But I’ll stay over tomorrow.”

  “Alright,” he said sadly.

  “Love you.”

  What the fuck?

  “Love you too.” He gave her another quick peck before he watched her walk to her car.

  They were saying the L word? Zeke had never told a woman he loved her and he was thirty.

  Could this really be happening?

  “I’m going to go too.” Kayden gave him a hug. “I’ll see you around.”

  Zeke hugged her back before he let her go.

  Kayden gave me a look full of meaning before she walked to her car.

  I knew exactly what that meant. “I’m gonna go too. You know, gotta take out Safari…” Was I making it obvious?

  “Alright.” He clapped my shoulder. “See you around. Keep those farts in check.”

  “Huh? What?” I was busy thinking about how I was going to fuck Kayden.

  “You know…because you farted earlier.” Zeke stared into my eyes like he was looking for something. “Everything alright? You seem distracted.”

  “Dude, I’m good,” I said quickly. “Just tired. See you later.” I walked out before he could say anything more. If he asked too many questions, he might get an answer I wasn’t ready to give.

  ***

  The sex was good, like I expected. We screwed on her bed, her on all fours. I stared at her gorgeous ass and her puckered little asshole as I rammed into her from behind. I got a hold of her neck and slammed into her until my cock sang with release.

  We lay side by side, both covered in sweat and out of breath.

  I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “Did you hear Zeke tell Rochelle he loved her?”

  She ran her fingers through her hair and her chest continued to rise and fall from exhaustion. “Yeah. So?”

  “You don’t think it’s too soon?”

  She turned her head my way. “The first thing you think of after sex is your best friend?”

  “No…I thought about other stuff before that.” I kept my eyes glued to the ceiling.

  “Like?”

  “How good you are in bed.” That was the truth. I had a quick replay in my head of all the highlights. I was particularly fascinated by the sight of her tight asshole. I wanted to stick my fingers inside, but I thought it was too soon in our arrangement for that.

  “Well, I guess that makes it better…”

  “So you don’t think it’s weird they’ve already said the L word?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t really care.”

  “It’s just…Zeke’s never moved this fast before.”

  She propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at me, her tits pressed into my arm and her hair touching my neck. “Do you not like Rochelle?”

  “No, I think she’s great. I’ve liked her from the beginning.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  I couldn’t tell her my theory about Rae because she would tell her the second she had the chance. “I’m just concerned he’s rushing into it for the wrong reasons. And he’ll hurt her and himself in the process.”

  “What wrong reasons?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know…just in general.”

  “I think you’re reading too much into it. Rochelle is really nice, she’s a doctor too, and she clearly makes him happy. That’s all that matters.”

  “Yeah…I guess you’re right.”

  “Unless there’s something you aren’t telling me?” She drilled her gaze into my eyes like she could read my mind. Her hand glided up and down my chest with affection, and she nearly coaxed the truth right out of me.

  “No.” I turned my gaze back to the ceiling and changed the subject. “So did you like the movie?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Rae

  I sat at the kitchen table and ate my Fruity Pebbles with Safari lying at my feet. His eyes constantly watched every movement in the hope something tasty would fall onto the floor and turn into a snack.

  Rex walked in wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. His hair was a disaster, and he was so sleepy he nearly knocked over the coffee pot when he tried to grab it. “Damn kitchen…” He finally got his grip on the handle and poured himself a mug. Of course, he spilled it across the counter and didn’t even notice.

  Whatever.

  He finally made it to the table and fell into the chair opposite me. He rested his face against his hand and stared into his mug with one eye closed. It seemed like he might fall asleep just sitting there. Then he finally took a drink and cringed. “Man, this tastes like shit…”

  “It wouldn’t if you cleaned out the coffee pot like I asked.”

  “If you’re so obsessed with this place being sterile, maybe you should hire a maid.”

  “And maybe you should—” I stopped myself from escalating the argument. “It’s too early on a Saturday for this. Forget it.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He eyed my bowl of cereal across the table. “Any left?”

  “Tons.”

  “Sweet. But I’m too tired to get up.”

  “Why didn’t you just keep sleeping?”

  He rubbed his temple. “Migraine.”

  “Crazy night at Zeke’s?” I thought they were hanging out to watch a movie, but maybe it turned into a game over a round of shots. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  “Kinda.”

  “When did you get home?”

  “Pretty late.”

  I didn’t hear him walk in, so it must have been really early in the morning.

  “Have fun with Ryker?”

  “Yeah. It was good.” I returned to eating my cereal, falling into comfortable silence with Rex.

  He stared into his coffee again, looking ill. “What do you think of Rochelle?”

  It was a random-ass question. “Zeke’s girlfriend?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What kind of question is that?”

  “What do you think of her?” he repeated. “I thought you were smart enough to understand English with that fancy degree of yours.”

  I ignored the jab because dishes were about to fly acros
s the room. “I think she’s great. But since you’re asking, I can only assume you don’t care for her.”

  “I really liked her when I first met her, but now I don’t know.”

  “What did she do?” I hadn’t met one of Zeke’s girlfriends that I didn’t like. They were always down-to-earth, friendly, and cool to hang out with. Rochelle didn’t seem any different. She always wore a smile on her face, and she looked at Zeke like he was the greatest thing that ever happened to her.

  “Zeke told me he met her parents, and they’re saying the L word to each other.”

  Their relationship moved quickly, faster than any relationship I’d seen him in. Girls came and went, but after a few months, they usually disappeared. Zeke lost interest and wanted to be single again. He didn’t talk about it much. “Then maybe she’s the one.”

  “But he doesn’t even know her.”

  I shrugged. “He knows her better than we do.”

  “I think he’s lost his mind.”

  Rex never said anything mean about anyone, besides me. It was out of character for him to be so negative toward Rochelle. “What’s the big deal? Are you afraid your best friend is going to settle down and forget about you?” Is that what it boiled down to? “Because he’s your best friend, you should be happy for him.”

  “Look, I’m looking out for her too. She’s just a rebound, and she’s going to get shattered.”

  “A rebound from what?” Maybe Zeke had serious feelings for someone, but it didn’t work out. And he never mentioned it to any of us.

  Rex quickly stared down into his coffee. “Some girl he was talking to a while ago. He was into her, but she was kind of a flake.”

  I’m surprised he never told me that. “Either way, I think you should just let it go. Zeke is a man, and he can make his own decisions. If he loves her, so do we. End of story.” No one trusted Ryker in the beginning, but they slowly warmed up to him, including Rex. We should all do the same for Rochelle.

  “Yeah…whatever.”

  ***

  “Safari, chill.” I tugged on the leash attached to his chest and tried to get him to slow down. I dug my feet into the concrete so I had the strength to hold him back. “I said we were going for a walk, not a sprint.”

  Ryker chuckled beside me, wearing his running shorts with a gray t-shirt. No matter what he wore, he looked sexy as hell. His five o’clock shadow was thick because he didn’t bother shaving that morning. His eyes were bright despite the overcast sky. A gift from the heavens, Ryker was a treat for anyone with eyes. “He’s just excited.”