Train Wreck

by T Gephart

  “You love it when I get you angry.” He grabbed the pillow from my hand and returned the favor with a soft thump on my arm. “Because unlike some of your friends, I’m not afraid to tell it how it is.”

  “So we’re friends who argue?” I bit my lip, our relationship still defying categorization.

  “Ouch, you’re friend zoning me already?” He clutched his chest in mock hurt. “I guess I had it coming.” His smile reappearing. “I did call your work shit.”

  “No, I’m not friend zoning you.” I pushed playfully against his chest. “I clearly have unresolved sexual feelings for you, so at the very least we’re gonna have to be friends with benefits.”

  There was no way we weren’t going to have sex, I think we both had unresolved sexual feelings. And if the orgasm he’d given me before was anything to go by, then I was definitely going to enjoy exploring that.

  “Yeah, that wasn’t much better.” He screwed up his nose, grinning. “But seriously, Eve. I like you. So let’s try this and see what happens. The only condition is this.” He grabbed my hand, intertwining our fingers. “I get the real you, and you get the real me. Even if we argue.” He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “Even if sometimes we piss each other off. You think you can do that?”

  “Like as in actually date?” The idea thrilled me more than I wanted to say. I bet Josh was an amazing boyfriend.

  “Sure, why not.” His eyes clear of any doubt. “Unless you want to hold on to your earlier statement when you said I pissed you off and it was neeeeeeeever going to happen. I don’t know you well enough to know if you’re easy to sway.”

  “Again with the sarcasm, you know it would be easier if you just charmed me.” My body moved closer, shifted so I was nestled under his shoulder. I could get used to this, our bodies fit so well together.

  “I already told you the conditions.” He accepted my weight, wrapping his arm around me. “Sometimes I’m charming, sometimes I’m not. Lucky you, you get the whole package, baby.” He chuckled in my ear.

  “I’ve already seen your package, it was pretty impressive,” I responded on reflex. It was also the truth, and since that was what we were going for, I felt compelled to tell him.

  “You’re making dick jokes now?” His arm pulled me back so he could kiss my mouth. “I’d say we should be more worried about that, than you dating me.”

  “Yes, I’m going to date you.” The words got lost in a kiss. “But how is the boss thing going to work?”

  I still had another couple of weeks before I was due back at the gallery. And even though I didn’t need the money, I really liked working at Ink Addiction. Dating the boss, however, was never a good idea. Not that I ever let a bad idea stop me in the past.

  “Another thing I’m under no delusions about.” He rolled his eyes, cinching me in closer. “You’ve been doing your own thing since you got there, I can’t remember a day where I told you to do something, and you did it. So I wouldn’t say we have a traditional working relationship, would you? Besides, you’ll be back in your old job in a couple of weeks, so that problem is an easy fix.”

  I loved we were on the same page. That he didn’t automatically see what could be a challenging situation and decide to file it away as too hard. I know he had his reservations, which was why it took a while for us to get here.

  “What about Dallas?” It needed to be asked. Our being together undoubtedly raising a few eyebrows, I wasn’t sure if he would end up resenting me or being an asshole to Josh because of it.

  “Well, I’m straight, so not interested in him.” He grimaced. “And trust me, you don’t want to date him. He is waaaay high maintenance.”

  “So a threesome is out of the question?” I laughed, not because I was interested but because I knew it would get a reaction. For some crazy reason, I loved pushing Josh’s buttons.

  “Yeah, I liked the dick jokes better. That one isn’t funny.” He playfully bit my shoulder. “But Dallas isn’t going to be a problem. He not so subtly hinted he knew I had feelings for you at the hospital over the weekend. It was part of my whole come to Jesus moment, first him and then when Kitty showed up. He gave me shit about it most of the weekend. I doubt anyone is going to be surprised.”

  He was right about that.

  It had been no secret I had thought Josh was hot. My friends had actively encouraged it, even if I had maintained, “nothing was probably going to happen.”

  There was no reason why this couldn’t work, and like he’d said, there was obviously a purpose for all of this.

  “I’m going to date you and I’m going to compile another exhibition. There are plenty of galleries in the city.” My resolve setting in, and I felt more determined than I had in forever.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear when we started this conversation.” He nodded, his grin widening. “And I can’t wait to be there on opening night.”

  Josh

  IT WAS EASIER TRYING TO AVOID SLEEPING with Eve before I’d seen her naked.

  My imagination had been pretty vivid, filling in the blanks on what I thought she looked like underneath her clothes. But reality was like a right hook, flat across my jaw.

  She was fucking perfect. With peaks and valleys in all the right places, I doubted I was ever going to get enough. But as much as I wanted nothing more than to take her to bed and have her scream my name, it wasn’t going to happen last night.

  It was a bone—no pun intended—of contention between my dick and I, but it was the right choice. I didn’t want her to be a one-time deal, a quick lay, or for me to be her rebound. She was girlfriend material, and I didn’t want to screw that up. I wanted a little more time before we went down that road, so she understood it was more for me than just sex. She deserved more than that, and I wanted to give it to her.

  So, we spent the night talking. She showed me more of her drawings and I listened to how excited it made her. Seeing that spark inside of her was even sexier than the dress she’d been wearing. So, I may have taken it off before I left and gone down on her again. Hey, I wasn’t a saint. But that’s where it ended. I left sometime in the early morning after she fell asleep beside me on her bed. I hated leaving without a proper goodbye, but there was no way I could spend the night with her and not be inside her. I only had so much restraint.

  “Hi.” She walked in bright and early, her hands filled with coffee. Weird how even though I’d only kissed her goodbye a few hours ago, it felt good to see her again. “I must have fallen asleep on you, I’m sorry.” She pouted, lowering the coffees onto the front counter and wrapping her hands around my neck. “You could have stayed, I wouldn’t have minded.”

  “You were tired and needed the rest.” I planted a kiss on her neck, loving the feel of her in my arms. “And when I do spend the night, you won’t fall asleep.”

  “What. The. Fuck?” Dallas walked in pulling his sunglasses from his face as he took in the view. My lips on her, her hands on me, and not in a way that looked like we were just being friendly. “How hard did I hit my head?”

  “Hi, Dallas.” Eve spun in my arms to greet him. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Don’t try to change the subject.” He pointed wildly between the two of us. “You two were fucking on the counter.”

  “We were kissing, moron.” I laughed, my hands staying exactly where they were around Eve’s waist. “Fucking looks a little different, and is generally done with other parts of the body.”

  “Kissing, fucking—we all know where that was leading.” He continued to wave as he approached us. “And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.” He tossed his shades on the counter and wriggled out a cup from the tray Eve had carried in. “Far be it for me to cock block anyone.” The cup lifted to his lips. “But when I was sitting with this sad sack on Sunday and Monday, this,” his head tipped to the two of us as he took a drink, “wasn’t happening. Man, this coffee is good.”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but it happened yesterday.”
I figured now was as good as time as any to do the debrief. “And we’re dating, not fucking, so be respectful.” The warning, one I would be reinforcing a little later just to be sure.

  “Yes, yes. Dating. Whatever.” He rolled his eyes and took another drink. “I approve in case anyone was wondering. He needs a decent woman, hopefully you can straighten him out.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Eve chuckled. “And thanks for your blessing, I know we were both worried sick about it.”

  “Barely got any sleep last night,” I added, which technically wasn’t a lie but not for the reason I admitted.

  “I know sarcasm when I hear it.” He narrowed his eyes. “And I’m going to choose to ignore it on account my head still hurts.”

  “Hey D, if you’re really in pain, you can go home.” All jokes aside, I wasn’t a complete asshole. “We can juggle your appointments another day.”

  “Nah, it’s not that bad and I was bored at home.” He shrugged. “I’m better off here.”

  “Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” I shot him a stern no-fucking-around look. “We can deal.”

  “Yeah, thanks dude.” He gave me a nod, a silent dialogue bouncing between us. “I’m heading to my room.”

  He tossed us a wave and with coffee in hand, walked down the hall. His door closed soon after.

  “That went easier than I expected.” Eve glanced down the hallway like she couldn’t quite believe the conversation was done.

  “I did try to tell you it wasn’t going to be a problem. You should listen to me.” I moved my mouth back to her, wanting to give her the kiss I had intended before we were rudely interrupted.

  Her lips opened for me without protest, feeling her warmth as I let my tongue explore. I loved being inside of her mouth, all hot and sweet. My cock bucked against my fly, concurring with my assessment and immediately wanting a piece of the action. Not yet, buddy. My hand wrapped around the back of her head as I got in deeper. Maybe Dallas was right, because I was minutes away from putting her on the counter and getting inside of her in another way. The reasons why I was waiting, not so clear now.

  “You give the best kisses.” She took a long breath. “I like the ones you give me in private too.”

  “Yeah, sort of what I was thinking about.” I glanced down at my pants, Mr. Happy not so subtly making his presence felt.

  “I know you said we should wait, but I’d really like you to stay over tonight.” She quickly tacked on, “We don’t have to do anything.”

  “I wanted to do everything.” I brushed the hair off her face, never having wanted to be with a woman more than I wanted to be with Eve. “I’m trying to be good, wait, so you know you aren’t just a fuck to me. But I really, really want you.”

  “I know I’m not just a fuck, Josh. I hated waking up with you gone.” Her eyes gripped me tighter than her hands around my biceps.

  “Then I’ll stay,” I said, with no more argument. This girl, she could probably ask me for the world and I’d find a way to get it for her. “Anything you want.”

  What had Dallas called me? Sucker. And I didn’t even care. All I knew was I wanted more with Eve than I had wanted with any girl in a long time.

  “I should go set up, you okay out here?” I looked around the empty shop, my appointment bound to show up soon.

  “I think I’ll manage.” She smirked, pretending to ignore me and clicking on the computer screen. “I need to troll prospective venues for my next showing, see if I can find one who doesn’t have a stick up their ass.”

  “Don’t ask Kitty for advice.” I chuckled. “And if you need help, let me know. I know a few people who can help.”

  “Thanks, but no offense.” She looked up, meeting my eyes. “I need to do this on my own.”

  “None taken, and I completely understand.”

  And if anyone got the need to do things on your own, it was me. It was one of the reasons I was running my own shop and not punching someone else’s clock.

  “Let me know when my appointment arrives.” I gave her a final kiss before disappearing down the hall.

  Once in my room, I laughed at how quickly shit had changed since she walked into my shop. Me, with my head up my ass, denying what was an immediate attraction. Couldn’t even explain why, but it was more than just her face. Maybe it had been the way she’d spoken about art? Or that she would reach out to a stranger for help because improving herself was more important than pride? That shit would get my attention one hundred percent of the time. And probably why deep down, I was so intrigued by her. It was what dominated my thoughts all morning and into the afternoon.

  One of the reasons I hadn’t initially pursued something with Eve was because I thought things might have been awkward between us at work. I also didn’t want to get into a situation where she agreed to something under duress. But the more I was getting to know Eve, the more I was seeing she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. Maybe stronger than a lot of people knew. And if it ended sometime down the track, I couldn’t imagine a scenario where shit would get ugly. Maybe I was delusional, stuck in the feel good early stage. But there was something about this that was different. I wasn’t sure how, but it was.

  “Hey, it’s lunchtime. You haven’t been out all morning.” Eve appeared at my door, her smiling face a very welcome distraction.

  “Yeah, I got caught up in stuff.” I rolled away from my table, my last appointment having left twenty minutes ago. “I was trying to squeeze something in between jobs.” I flipped closed the cover on my sketchpad, my work not ready to be shared. “A bit of a secret project.”

  “Oooooo, can I see?” She strode in with a face full of mischief. “Is it for a client?”

  “You did hear me when I said it was secret, right?” I shook my head, probably should have known better than to mention anything at all. “As in, can’t talk about.” I folded my arms and watched her with interest. Seriously, I probably enjoyed pressing her buttons a little too much.

  “But you didn’t mean me, did you?” She didn’t even try to hide her grin as she sauntered over to where I was sitting. “I’m the best at keeping things a secret. You don’t even have to tell me, just leave it lying around for me to see, we don’t even have to discuss it.”

  “I love that you are trying to find a work around, very resourceful of you.” I pulled her into my lap, the project safely covered from nosey artists for the time being. “But the answer is still no. I promise I’ll show you when it’s done. You’ll be the first to see it.”

  “Fine.” She pretended to be annoyed. “I can take the hint. But it’s going to cost you.”

  “And what’s the going rate for pissing you off?” Little did she know she could probably ask for anything and I would agree.

  “You need to go with me to the gallery night on Friday. I had originally RSVP’d before . . . well before.” The word enough of an explanation. “So I was just going to cancel, but now I sort of want to go.”

  While we had discussed her “other” life, I had only seen a peek of it when I saw her apartment. At the shop, things were on my terms so to speak but it would stand to reason that there was a whole other part of her than what I saw here. The part that wore the fancy dress and high heels like she’d worn the day she first came in. The part who owns a Tesla she barely drives.

  “You want me to go with you to your fancy gallery thing?” I pulled her hair aside and kissed her neck. “As your date or as a friend?”

  Honestly, I would have gone either way, but like most men, I was hoping she wanted me there in a date capacity. Because, even though I pretended to be cool about it, I wasn’t interested in just being her friend.

  “As my date. But I understand if you don’t want to,” she added quickly, spinning around in my lap to face me. “It’s a big deal and press will probably be there so if you want to just go as a guy friend, I understand. The attending part however, is non negotiable. I need a wingman, and we’ve already established you owe me for not telli
ng me your secret.”

  “I would love to go as your date, and for the record I’m going because I want to, not because I owe you.” I gave her a squeeze, the bribery not needed.

  “That’s great, does that mean I get to choose something else as payment?” Her eyebrow rose, her ability to bargain, absolutely astounding.

  “How about I repay tonight. In bed. With any part of my body you want,” I offered, knowing it was a win/win situation. No hardship on my part, that’s for sure.

  “Your terms are agreeable, I will allow it.” She shuffled in my lap, looking pretty satisfied with herself. Not half as satisfied as she was going to be tonight.

  “I’m so pleased.” I reminded myself that Dallas was just next door, and we didn’t have the time or the privacy to get started on that promise early. “Now tell me something, before we go out there and need to deal with Dallas. And know whatever your answer is, I am totally fine with. No judgment at all.”

  “Just ask, because now I’m getting paranoid.” She cut in, impatient as ever.

  “Do you want to go to this gallery thing because you feel like you have something to prove or because you want to go?”

  It hadn’t escaped my attention that this was the first I’d heard about it, and when she’d previously spoken about the gallery, it hadn’t been complimentary. So the change of heart could be a big fuck you—to which she was entitled—or she may have just really wanted to go. As I said, I would have supported either.

  “Honestly, both.” She looked at me, so much emotion in her eyes I could never understand how anyone could have called her soulless. “I hate that I was made to feel like a fifteen-year-old unwed mother from the 1950’s. Hidden away for the shame of it all. I hate the gallery insisted I take leave, which whether they want to admit or not, supported the view that I was crap and should be embarrassed.” I could hear the hurt in her voice, but there was an edge there too, like she wasn’t going to take it lying down.

  “So yeah, I feel like I need to go in there and hold my head up high and not be cast into the shadows like a pariah.” She kicked up her chin proving she wasn’t going to take their shit. “But I also want to go because it was so much a part of my life before and I honestly loved the events. Oliver wasn’t a fan, so I had to drag him along half the time. But dressing up, being around the art, talking to the artists—I really enjoyed it. Besides, usually there’s an open bar. What’s not to love?”