Ricochet

by Lore Ree

  Her random comment made me smile, but I caught her cringe, look away, and mumble something under her breath.

  “Well, it’s nowhere near exciting as an ancient Chinese secret.” I bumped her shoulder again. What I wanted to do was hold her hand, show her a little affection to calm her, but I stuffed my hands in my pockets. Things were going good. No need to push it and remind her we should be fucking with each other. We had all weekend for that.

  “I’m an accountant. I’ve been at this job for two years, though.” I wanted to leave it at that. I was too embarrassed to admit how my dad pulled some strings to get me my job. Working where I did and making my salary was unheard of this early in my career.

  Noelle wasn’t the type to let things go. She lifted an eyebrow.

  So I continued, “Since I’m new, I have to work as much as I can to prove myself to everyone.”

  Noelle stopped dead in her tracks. It unnerved me in a way and pissed off the couple who’d been behind us. They mumbled something as they passed, but we ignored them.

  “What?” I looked over my shoulder and then at her. She was grilling me with this hard stare. “What?”

  “You went to school, right? And graduated?”

  I nodded but pursed my lips. Where was she going with this?

  “Then next time someone questions you, makes you feel like you have to prove something to them, you show them your degree and nothing else. Don’t work yourself into the ground for anyone. Not your parents or your bosses. Nobody. Because when the time comes, they’ll have no problem replacing you and shitting on everything you’ve worked for.”

  I felt and heard the emotions and passion from her tirade, which clearly had nothing to do with me and everything to do with her.

  Her eyes were unblinking, her jaw tense, and her nostrils flared. She was a bull, and in this scenario I was both the china shop she debated demolishing, and the matador who goaded her. Taking a step forward, I reached toward her shoulders. Noelle was quick to sidestep me and start walking again.

  Someone walked by with a hotdog the size of my arm. The smell distracted us long enough for my stomach to growl.

  “I think I’m hungry.” Noelle blurted it out in such a happy voice I had to blink. She needed to get ahold of these mood swings. “And what that girl was eating.” She moaned. Her hand gripped my upper arm and stayed there as she spoke. “I could really, really go for a fat, juicy sausage.”

  My heart dropped, but my dick twitched. Whatever tense moment we were about to have was dead, and the bouncing back and forth—the ricocheting—was back on.

  That was OK. I was more than capable of keeping up.

  “This is so good.” I took an exaggerated lick of my ice cream cone. It wasn’t that good, though, and I didn’t even like ice cream like that. I liked hearing Noelle’s breathing hitch every time I ran my tongue against my lips. We’d gone back and forth during lunch and the ball was in my court. I would take advantage of every damn second. “What do you want to do?” I took another lick and then moaned.

  “Huh?”

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Am I what?” She was off her game, making this a little too easy.

  Smiling, I rubbed my thumb against her cheek. “Did you want anything else?”

  “Chocolate!”

  I flinched because she’d pretty much shouted in my face.

  That wasn’t what I’d expected her to say, but if that’s what she wanted to call it, I was game.

  “Lonnie.”

  OK, I was lost.

  “You want chocolate and Lonnie?” I repeated the words slowly. She needed to hear how ridiculous she sounded.

  “No. Yes.” She inhaled and closed her eyes. “Lonnie told me about this chocolate place. This place that sells chocolate.”

  “OK.” I bit my bottom lip not only to mess with her but also to hold in my laugh and kept rubbing my thumb over her cheek. “We can go try it. I’m down to try whatever you want.”

  With a short nod, she ducked under my arm and did some speed walking move in the other direction. I brushed off my shoulder, feeling like the man.

  Whatever round this was, the point was mine!

  -THIRTEEN-

  “Lonnie texted me.”

  “Yeah?”

  We sat in the lobby, and Noelle was quiet, tearing up her chocolate while I centered my focus on the fountain in the middle of the room. The soft splash of the water was soothing, but the lull in the moment wasn’t distracting enough to make me forget about the work waiting for me upstairs.

  “She asked if we wanted to go swimming.”

  “Swimming?” The doors opened and a family—obvious out-of-towners—hurried in bundled in winter gear. Behind them was another group of girls dressed as if they were ready to go to the club even though it was early afternoon. Weather was one of those things that were all about perception. But I vividly remembered having to put the heat on last night. I couldn’t imagine turning around and stripping half naked to go in a pool. “It’s too cold for that.”

  “I said the same thing,” Noelle whispered to her lap, “But she said Grand Pequot has an indoor pool.”

  I had no idea if that was true. I’d never stayed there before. But did it matter? “We’re not staying at Pequot.”

  “True.” She sounded distant, which made me wonder how the conversation went. What she’d left out.

  “What else? Did Lonnie say something to you?”

  “Something like what?” The words were muffled around her candy, and I stared at her lips. I wanted them muffled around me. “Something like what?” She snapped her fingers to get my attention.

  “Huh?” I made eye contact and, fuck, I’d gotten distracted again. “What’s everyone up to?” I refocused. Not just on Noelle, but on the plans of the day. “I should get back to my room soon. Finish my report.”

  She stood before I finished my sentence. “Oh, right. Of course.”

  “Relax.” I shook my head and sighed on the cusp of being annoyed with her. “I said soon. Not now. I have some more time.”

  She didn’t sit.

  “OK then.” Taking her stance to mean our time together was over, I rose and walked toward the elevators. “What are you about to do?”

  “I guess see if anyone else wants to go to the pool with me and Lonnie.”

  When I heard her name again, I was reminded of something I’d been wondering since they saw each other the day before. “By the way, how long have you and Lonnie been cool?” It might have been a small world, but her knowing Lonnie was too much of a coincidence for me not to ask.

  “Lonnie and I go way back, actually.” The smirk was back. It seemed Noelle liked knowing something I didn’t.

  When she didn’t elaborate, I stabbed the up button with my finger and then used it to poke her side. “Way back like car seats or …”

  “No,” she whispered, taking a step back to let someone pass. “Maybe way back is a stretch. She organized a few shows I danced in at school. I haven’t seen her for a while, though.”

  “That’s cool.” There wasn’t much else to say in response to the half-assed explanation she gave.

  The elevator pinged open and people spilled out, making way for us to get on with two other guys. I put my arm in the way of the door so it wouldn’t close and jutted out my chin signaling for Noelle to get in.

  “I think I’ll wait for—”

  “You can do that in my room.”

  She didn’t argue, but I didn’t leave any room for challenge, either. I wasn’t feeling the way these guys were kind of leering and checking her out. Either she’d walk with me to my room and wait for Lonnie there, or I’d wait with her downstairs.

  Taking a break, to walk around and spend time with Noelle proved to be the best thing for figuring out my report. With a clear head, I caught my mistake within minutes. This time she stayed quiet and out of the way long enough for me to concentrate. But I think her presence helped me as well.

  “Almost d
one!” I spun in my chair and faced her. My cell rang. “Fuck, hold on.”

  It was an unknown number. Not a private caller but a number I didn’t recognize. I wanted to ignore it. But in case it was work related, I answered with my most professional voice. “Miles Bedford.”

  “Miles?”

  “Yes?” Someone had just punched me in the chest. The room spun. “Who’s speaking?”

  “It’s me.”

  I knew exactly who it was, months without hearing her voice weren’t enough for me to forget the sound of it, after all these years.

  “What do you want?”

  “Should I go?” Noelle asked.

  At the same time, the caller asked, “Do you know who this is?”

  “No,” I answered Noelle.

  Shaking her head, Noelle climbed off the bed. “You’re busy.”

  “It’s Arianna.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?”

  Noelle’s eyes went wide.

  “Fuck.” I pulled the phone away from my ear. This was a shit show. “Give me a second,” I said to Noelle, stopping her from leaving. “I should take this in case it’s important.”

  “Of course.” The set of her jaw showed me she wasn’t happy but willing to appease me anyway. Something I appreciated.

  I stepped into the hallway, making sure the latch blocked the door from closing all the way. I took a moment, a few calming breaths, before I brought the phone back to my ear. “Hello?”

  “Who was that?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I heard a female’s voice in the background.” The cautious tone Arianna used when she first called was gone. Now she sounded angry, maybe jealous. Audacity at its finest. “Is that your new girl or something?”

  I didn’t like that Arianna heard Noelle’s voice. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel as though she had the right to question anything going on in my life. “She,” I lowered my voice to keep from yelling, “is none of your damn business. What do you want?”

  “I’ve missed you.” She didn’t say it expectantly, like she’d wanted me to return the sentiment. It was said so matter-of-fact it almost threw me off.

  Groaning in annoyance, I banged the back of my head against the wall. I didn’t have time for this—for her. “Arianna, you left—”

  “You’re right.” Her words were rushed. “But I regret it so much. You—”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  We talked over each other. Her trying to make a point and me not wanting to hear it.

  “Let me repeat myself.” I paced the hallway. “You … left … me. You left. You don’t get to miss me. You don’t get to call me out of the blue like … Why are you calling me anyway?” How many times did I have to ask before she got to the point?

  “My birthday was a couple weeks ago,” she started, voice low and pained. “You didn’t call.”

  “Why would I?” I laughed. It was condescending. I meant it to be. She needed to feel and hear how much I didn’t give a shit anymore. I hadn’t realized it before, but I’d been waiting for this moment. Waiting to say my piece. Waiting to admit how much she’d hurt me. Now, life was giving me the opportunity, and I wasn’t about to squander it. “On second thought”—I stopped pacing and took a calming breath—“I’m glad you called. If you’d called before I’m pretty sure I would’ve hung up on you or I would’ve reminded you how bad you hurt me when you left, but in a way, that would’ve been a lie.”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  “Let me finish.” I had to grit my teeth to rein in my anger. She got to say everything she wanted to say when she ended things. It was my turn to talk. “Leaving me the way you did, it hurt like a bitch. I have no reason to deny that. Hearing you were with someone else so soon afterward cut deep. If it weren’t for Warren and my sister, I’d probably be sitting around my house wondering what went wrong. But the only thing that went wrong was you. You were wrong for doing it the way you did. I was pissed and hurt, but I’m thankful. I didn’t realize how thankful I was until now. You saved us from a future of being miserable and resenting each other. You saved me from hating you later on.”

  “Hating me, Miles? Wow?” That sarcastic tone was back. It used to annoy the shit out of me, especially when she’d bring that out in the middle of a serious conversation.

  “I don’t hate you.” It was dumb I had to clarify, but she needed to understand she wasn’t important enough for such a strong emotion. “All you did was break up with me. That’s not cause for hate.”

  “Do you ever miss me?” She skipped over what I’d said. Her voice sounded hopeful.

  “Arianna, why did you call?”

  There was a long pause that left me unsettled, before she sighed. “I guess I wanted to know how you’re doing.”

  I faced the door, knowing Noelle was in my room when she could have copped an attitude and left at any time. A smiled spread across my face. “I’m good. I’m happy.”

  “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel.”

  “It doesn’t matter how you feel.” My words were blunt, to the point. I was done with this conversation. Done with making Noelle wait for me while I went back and forth with someone who no longer deserved a minute of my time. “I have to go.”

  Pocketing my phone, I leaned against the wall and waited. At any moment it would hit. I would miss Arianna. I would call her back, ask her for a better explanation of why she’d left, or something. The realization I missed her like crazy would cause my heart to stammer in my chest. An epiphany would fall from the sky, reminding me how lonely, how meaningless my life had been since she left.

  None of that happened.

  “Miles?”

  Noelle’s whisper echoed down the quiet hall, scaring the shit out of me.

  “Sorry.” She giggled when she saw my wide eyes. “Are you OK?”

  “Yeah.” My voice came out slow, confused. My heart raced. I fought the urge to demand some sort of explanation to why Noelle hadn’t sought me out after her birthday, after we hooked up that weekend. Before I registered taking a step forward, I was standing in front of Noelle and palming her cheek. Being near her without touching felt like some sort of torture. Everything I should have felt about Arianna, I felt with Noelle.

  “Are you sure you’re OK?”

  “I’m fine. I just … I had an epiphany.”

  She tilted her head to the side, with wide eyes and a goofy smile. “Does it have anything to do with your computer being on”—she poked her thumb over her shoulder—“because it’s making some sort of beeping sound.”

  I looked at the door and then at her. The sound was probably an e-mail or someone from work trying to call me. I needed to make sure everything was set with my report, but Noelle’s words, and her advice about not overworking rang in my ear.

  “Let’s go find the others.” I slung my arm over her shoulder and pulled the door closed as we passed. I needed a bit of a pick-me-up after my blast from the past.

  -FOURTEEN-

  “Is that what you’re wearing?” I asked, wide-eyed.

  Widening her arms and doing a twirl, she nodded. “Yup.”

  “Noelle, that’s not a costume. That’s … that’s underwear.”

  “No, it’s lingerie and boy shorts, and it’s all I could come up with at the last minute.”

  Where I was dressed in plain pajama-like pants with a wife beater, Noelle had on a corset with underwear, or as she called them, boy shorts. Whatever the fuck they were, she was damn near naked. But it matched the theme of the party: heaven and hell. She was wearing red to represent hell. It sure fit. The fucking devil, that’s what she was. If this was part of her plan, part of the game we had going on, I was ready to surrender.

  The music seeped through the doorway, reaching out to us and the others in line. The party vibe was in the air, making those around us smile. I was feeling it, too. There was a weight that had been lifted off my shoulders. I couldn’t wait to get inside and enjoy the night with m
y friends and Noelle.

  But what she wore … Good God.

  While I enjoyed the view—miles of beautiful dark skin—the fact other guys would be, and were currently, doing the same made me want to drag her upstairs. And it’s crazy because with Arianna I couldn’t remember ever being this jealous. I wasn’t jealous, period. But with Noelle, I wanted her all to myself.

  Once inside the club, it seemed the dress code for the girls was naked. All the girls in the club, not just the ones with us, were dressed as skimpily as possible.

  I snickered.

  “What’s so funny?” Warren shouted.

  “I was thinking how I was in heaven and hell with the girls and what they’re wearing.” I snickered again. “Get it? Heaven and hell. Like the theme? Oh, forget it!”

  He rolled his eyes, but I knew he found it a little funny, too.

  Warren and I went our own way for a little bit while the girls—Erica, Lonnie, and Noelle—went theirs. Corey was already in the booth, and I realized the other girl, Teresa or whatever, never came downstairs.

  Oh well. One less cockblock tonight.

  “How’s it going?” Warren found me leaning against the bar a while later.

  Confused, I grimaced. Why was he trying to have a conversation with me, especially with all the naked ass scattered around us dancing? “Um … Everything’s straight with me,” I said slowly. “What’s up?”

  “Lonnie’s pissed!”

  As she should be. Who would be happy being in the same spot with someone your man or girl fucked?

  “She’s the reason I know Corey,” he screamed in my ear. “I should’ve realized she’d probably know one of the girls, too!”

  He was being too hard on himself. He was a dumbass. There was no denying that fact. But he’d never flaunted the results of their breaks in Lonnie’s face. If he’d thought about it, this weekend would have gone differently. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Who knows? But he wouldn’t have tried to hurt Lonnie intentionally or mess with someone she knew.

  “Don’t stress.” I clapped a hand on his shoulder for a split second and then dropped it. “There isn’t much you can do about it. When we get home, though, make sure you work overtime on damage control.”