by Cole, Cassie
Not paranoia, I thought. They were definitely out to get him. Whether or not it was justified was the question.
“Just promise me you’ll do what you can,” he said. “If the opportunity arises.”
“Sure, we’ll see,” I said. It was as non-committal answer as I could give.
“And in the mean time, keep up the good work on those courier documents! I’m still getting compliments from the contractors we have out at our sites. Ahh, here’s the food.”
I dug into the chicken salad salad, grateful that we were off the topic of the auditors living—and sleeping—with me.
27
Lexa
The rest of lunch featured far more light conversation than the beginning. What I did during college, my experience at the Bismarck Herald. Bryson had a son-in-law who worked in the publishing industry out east, which filled the rest of our time before we headed back to the office.
I didn’t have much to do until Bryson’s 3:00 meeting. Even then, preparing the conference room took all of eight minutes, and half of that was walking there and back.
Bored, I began looking through the company’s file directory. Individuals had their own folders on a share drive, which were locked-down for each user, but there was an entire drive for specific departments that was open to everyone. Each department had a sub-folder: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Acquisitions, Credit. I browsed randomly, opening a file here and there to see what they were. Nothing really stood out.
My cell phone vibrated in my purse at 3:30. I expected it to be a spam caller, but my heart jumped when I saw that it was a text from a number I had saved: Casimiro Floyd.
Cas: Hey there gorgeous.
Remembering how Bryson had looked at the security footage, I went outside before answering.
Me: Trying to butter me up?
Cas: Who says I can’t call a gorgeous woman gorgeous without an ulterior motive?
Me: Me. I say that.
Cas: You’re being paranoid, gorgeous.
Me: You can say it a thousand times. I’m impervious to your charm!
Yet despite what I said, his texts put a huge grin on my face.
Cas: Did you have a chance to talk to Tex? About what I said to you?
My smile disappeared. It had been easier talking to Tex about it while having a few beers. Even though Cas was the one who told me to ask Tex about it, texting him right now felt strange. Like the whole thing would be fragile if I put it down in writing.
Me: We talked about it last night.
Cas: And?
Cas: What do you think?
Me: It’s a pretty crazy arrangement.
Cas: That’s true, but you still didn’t answer the question
I stared at the words. What was I supposed to say? Tell him yep, I liked the idea so much that Tex and I totally boned? It was weird admitting it. Like it was all some sort of trap.
Me: I’m warming up to the idea, I’ll admit.
Cas: If I were there I’d keep you warm
Me: You’re not making it any easier to wait for you!
Cas: Who says I want it to be easy?
Me: Torturing a poor girl? I didn’t think you were that kind of guy.
Cas: You didn’t know what kind of guy I was when you jumped me at the bar!
Me: I knew you were the hot kind!
Me: Which is the MOST important kind!
I waited while the little grey text bubble appeared, disappeared, and appeared again.
Cas: What a coincidence! That’s what I liked about you too. I’m glad you and Tex hit it off last night, btw
Me: You knew, and you still asked what I thought?!?!
Cas: Just because you two hooked up doesn’t mean you’re open to the idea of all four of us!
Cas: Or even the overall arrangement I mentioned. Being our girlfriend.
Now that the subject was broached, I was sort of glad it was via text rather than in person. It made it easier. I watched someone walk by the building before responding.
Me: You sure it’s not weird?
Me: Talking about how I slept with your friend?
Cas: It was weird with Candice for about ten seconds before we got used to it. Now it just feels normal.
Cas: But if you don’t think so, all of us will understand. We promise. No hard feelings.
Someone opened the door behind me and left the Blackrock HQ. I needed to get back to work.
Me: I have to get back to work. You staying safe out there?
Cas: You know it.
Cas: I’ll be thinking of you.
Me: Me too!
I stared at the screen, hoping he would send something else, before eventually giving up and returning to my lonely desk.
*
I got home, changed clothes, and then ran into Tex in the kitchen.
“So you told Cas?” I blurted out. “About what happened last night?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal. “We tell each other most everything.”
“Y’all have a weird friendship.”
He smiled and nodded. “We’ve heard that before.”
“Because it’s true!”
“Maybe so. Cas can’t wait to get back to you. I had fun teasing him about what you and I are going to do.”
“Oh? I’m listening.”
“It’s a surprise,” he said.
“What is?”
“The surprise.”
“The surprise is a surprise?” I asked. “How shocking!”
“You’ll just have to wait to find out, darlin’.”
In a sultry voice I asked, “And just how long do I have to wait?”
“Tomorrow night.”
I gave a start. “Wait, seriously?”
“Afraid so. I’ve got a stack of documents to go through.”
I took a long look at him. He was being completely serious. “I thought you weren’t allowed to take documents out of the conference room.”
“These are different,” he said casually. “Other auditor records we’re using to cross-reference what we’ve found so far.”
I stepped up close until my breasts brushed against his chest. “I think I can convince you to carve out some time for me.”
His hand snatched out to cup my cheek and he kissed me, long and passionate and enough to make me feel light on my feet. But when he pulled away he said, “If only I could. I have to get this done tonight. It has to do with what Cas and Kai are doing.”
I sighed and said, “Fine.”
“You forgive me?”
“No,” I said. “Not yet.”
He grinned. “I’m a patient guy. I can wait you out.”
We ordered take-out pasta for dinner; Tex and Jason dumped their documents onto the kitchen table and got to work while eating. “Sorry, Lexa,” Jason said as I tried to join them. “You’d better not take a look at any of this, unless you’re willing to completely commit to helping us.”
I remembered what Bryson had asked me at lunch: to snoop on anything I could. It was probably best if I avoided any information that might tempt me to helping either side too much. “I’ll eat on the couch.”
But I felt lonely eating by myself. Even after a few days I’d grown accustomed to having constant company. After dinner I took the opportunity to curl up under my bedsheets with a book. I found myself scanning the same sentence over and over, my mind too distant to focus.
I replayed my night with Tex in my head. Friendly chess banter, and then him throwing me on the couch. Seeing his incredibly long private parts for the first time, then feeling it inside me. Filling me like I’d never been filled. And the way he’d orgasmed in my mouth, a roar unlike any I’d ever heard…
My hand drifted down my belly, then under the elastic of my pajama pants. I splayed my fingers around my lips while imagining Tex straddling my face, pumping his salty hot load into my mouth. I’d never been that dirty with a guy before. I’d never had the guts to ask for it. It made me want to expand my horizons in other are
as. Multiple partners. Cas and Tex at the same time even…
I rubbed myself and imagined them for a few minutes, but it wasn’t doing enough for me. I wanted the real thing. The real thing was downstairs in my kitchen, engrossed in an activity that was not sexually satisfying me.
That seemed unfair.
I almost got out of bed and went down to distract him. The only thing that stopped me was how Jason would react. He would probably get pissed off, both at me and at Tex. And he would be right: me trying to steal Tex away would be awfully selfish, especially now that I knew why they were really here.
And then I let my mind wander to Jason’s body. The bulge in his boxer-briefs this morning. The rest of his beautiful nude body. What did he feel like? Was he a good kisser?
I could distract both of them, not just Tex.
That was a more tempting prospect. Dramatically clearing the table and then laying myself on it, completely nude. Spreading my legs wide. Feeling one hard penis inside my lips, and another inside my lower lips…
I drifted to sleep like that, and dreamed of acts that had previously seemed too dirty to even imagine.
28
Lexa
I wasn’t sure, but I think I dreamed more of Jason than Tex. I changed into my workout clothes and went downstairs, hoping to find him in the bedroom. But when I turned on the lights it was empty: just the two air mattresses and the treadmill.
I did my normal morning jog while wishing it were a different sort of physical activity.
All morning he stayed on my mind. Even while editing the courier documents. There was an extra large pile waiting for me, which was a small relief. The more I was distracted by work, the better. Yet Jason kept popping back into my head. What did he really think about me? He was abrasive on the outside, but was that just a defense mechanism? Was he attracted to me?
Was I attracted to him?
Okay, that was a stupid question. I absolutely was since seeing him the day before, even if I didn’t want to admit to myself how shallow that seemed.
I paused with my fingers on the keyboard. Did my surprise involve Jason? Was Tex going to bring him into whatever we did? Once the thought entered my head it was tough to think about anything else. Just Tex’s tattooed arm holding my head, while Jason removed his grey boxer-briefs…
I shook it off and forced myself to focus on my work.
Beyond tonight’s surprise, the big question on my mind was who I should trust. Everything Tex had told me made intuitive sense: that Blackrock Energy encouraged their contractors to frequently skirt safety regulations in order to meet their aggressive deadlines. Tex’s belief seemed genuine too. Whether or not it was true, he believed it.
But Bryson seemed equally genuine. I usually had good instincts, and those instincts said he was a good guy. He was kind, and treated me like an equal rather than a subordinate. Sure, he was a little paranoid… But then again, he was completely justified. I tried to imagine him as a greedy CEO responsible for the deaths of contractors. I couldn’t make the image stick.
I read the courier documents more closely, looking for any clues to help me figure out what to believe. Like the other days, everything seemed relatively normal. Downright boring, even. Billable hour invoices and pricing invoices and equipment invoices. My eyes soon glazed over at all the minutia.
One document mentioned something called the Berlin Drill Technique. That made me think of Kai, which made me think of the others, which soon had me distracted again and thinking about tonight’s surprise from Tex.
“Morning,” I said as they both walked through the door.
“Morning yourself,” Tex said. Jason only nodded. “Have a good one!”
Now that I knew what was going on between Bryson and the guys at my condo, I decided it was best to keep my distance from them at work. No more shared lunches, or dropping in to say hello and see how they were doing. The last thing I wanted to do was to validate Bryson’s suspicions, or give him an excuse to ask me if I’d discovered anything about them.
It made me feel lonely again, like I was new at this job and didn’t know anyone. What was the point of having friends at work if you couldn’t actually be friends at work?
But they’re more than just friends, the voice in my head said.
My phone vibrated in my purse. I almost didn’t bother looking—I received three or four spam calls a day asking about my car warranty—but I was bored so I pulled it out. I was rewarded with a number I both recognized and wanted to answer.
“Hey!” I said, putting the phone to my ear.
“Hey yourself,” Cas said in his smooth, deep voice. “Are you somewhere you can talk?”
Where you can talk privately was what he really meant. “Hold on,” I said as I went outside again. It was cloudy and overcast, and not nearly as nice without the sun shining. “I’m outside now.”
“It’s good to hear your voice,” he said. He sounded tired, but excited.
“You could have called me yesterday, rather than text.”
“I was on a job site.”
“Then you could have called me when you got back to your hotel.”
“I didn’t get back until 2:00 in the morning,” he said. “Now, I’m not above calling you that early just to hear your voice, but I figured…”
“Yeah, definitely don’t do that,” I said. “I’m a girl who needs her sleep. Speaking of the job sites, how’s your work going?”
He hesitated. “I’ll tell you more when we get back. When we can speak in person. But it’s going well.”
“That’s great!” I said. “When will I see you in person?”
“Before you know it.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He sighed. “Longer than we thought. We have new leads and… Yeah. I can’t talk about it. But it’s gunna be a few more days, at minimum.”
I groaned into the receiver. “You have no idea how sad that makes me.”
“Believe me, I do! I hear Tex has something special planned for you tonight?”
“That’s what he told me,” I said. It felt strange talking to Cas about it. “Do you know what the surprise is?”
“I have an idea…” I could hear that gorgeous smile of his even over the phone.
“Is it a sexy surprise?”
“I dunno.”
“Am I going to like it?”
“Nah, you’ll probably hate it,” he said.
“Rats.”
“I can tell you the surprise is not rats,” he said.
“Careful, you might reveal too much. Now that I know it’s not rats, I only need to get you to eliminate the other trillion possibilities.”
He laughed. It was such a warm, carefree sound. “I miss you,” he said.
“I miss you too.”
“Have fun tonight.”
“Fun?” I teased. “So the surprise is going to be fun?”
“Shit. I’m giving away the whole thing, aren’t I?”
“Better hang up before you drop one too many clues.”
“Guess so. Bye, Lexa.”
“Bye, Casimiro.”
Before I could hang up he said, “Woah, hey now. Hearing my full name is weird.”
I looked around before saying, “Sharing a girl with your friends isn’t weird, but me using your full name is?”
“My grandma is the only person who calls me Casimiro,” he said.
I flinched. “Oh, gross. Yeah, I won’t do that again.”
“Thanks, Alexandra.”
“Bye, Cas.”
I spent the afternoon daydreaming again—but this time about Cas rather than my current two roommates. I actually made the day fly by. I left promptly at 5:00 and walked two blocks in the opposite direction to get groceries for tonight.
Both of them were on the couch when I got home. “Hope my surprise doesn’t involve food,” I said as a greeting. “Because I’m making my special lasagna for dinner.”
“Special lasagna?” Tex asked.
; Jason added, “What makes it special?”
I put my grocery bag on the counter and pulled out a bottle of merlot. “I pour a whole bunch of red wine in the sauce.”
“That’s the kind of special I like!” Tex said.
Jason came over to the kitchen. He’d changed clothes after work: now he wore some designer jeans and a tight-fitting black shirt. “I’ll have to taste the leftovers. I’m meeting some old work buddies for dinner.”
My first thought wasn’t about dinner: it was about my surprise. I guess it would just be me and Tex. I hoped my disappointment wasn’t obvious.
“Your loss.”
Tex and I played chess while the lasagna baked. This time I teased him after every move the same way he did, and it seemed to throw him off his game. Or maybe he wasn’t able to concentrate with my surprise looming. I was up a rook and backing his king into a corner when the oven timer went off.
“Stop stalling,” I said as I went to pull it out.
“I’m not stalling!”
“You spent two minutes getting out of check when there was only one space for your king to move.”
“Okay, maybe I’m stalling a little bit.”
I lit two candles on the table and set out my nice plates. Tex didn’t comment on them, but he did smile.
It was nice having dinner with just the two of us. Like a real date. We talked about everything: where we grew up, what we did in high school, when we had our first kiss. I asked him what the first PG-13 movie he ever saw was: his was Independence Day, while mine was Twister, both in 1996. That set off a long argument over Bill Pullman versus Bill Paxton. Only when I’d forced him to admit that Paxton was a far superior actor did we drop the subject.
It was a strange dinner. It felt like a first date, and a third date, and a married couple’s date night all in one.