I was acting like a dick again. She was taking two steps to my one, but I was pissed. My sort-of girlfriend was going home to get dressed up to see men who weren’t me. She was going to drink, and I wouldn’t be there to watch out for her. She was going to stuff dollars down the pants of some other dude.
“Preston.” She called my name. I ignored it because in a few hours, she was going to scream in excitement because of some other man’s body.
“Preston, slow down. You’re going too fast.”
I slowed my pace. My Jeep was in sight. Once we reached it, I leaned my board against the back of the car, then walked to the passenger side door.
“I didn’t want to go.” Tenley squeezed my hand, and I looked down at our entwined fingers.
It was the first time I’d held her hand, and her fingers laced between mine felt right. Being linked to me felt even better. With our hand still together, I backed her up until she was leaning on the door. The metal was in the shade, but it still had to be hot. Finally, she looked at me. “Then why say yes to going?”
“We made plans before… last month. Until Kaitlin brought it up today, I had forgotten all about it.”
“Why didn’t you tell her you’re not going?”
“Honestly?”
“Always be honest, Tenley.”
She shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t have many female friends I go out with. Whenever I go out, it’s usually with you, or Keaton tags along with us. So when they asked me, I said yes on the spot because I wanted to see what it was like to go out with females without any boys around. And well, what’s more female than going to a male str… revue. Don’t hate me.”
Jesus. Did I keep her from having friends? Was I that selfish in thinking when Tenley went out with friends, she’d want me and my friends to tag along? I was an idiot.
I brought her hand to my lips before I kissed her like I had wanted to all day. I tongued her right there in the public parking lot, not caring who saw. I pressed my hard self against her tiny striped bikini, and she moaned. Before I lost all sense of control, I pulled my mouth away. “You'll text me every twenty minutes.”
“Forty-five,” she countered.
“Twenty-five.”
“Thirty.” She wiggled against me.
Fuck. “Fine, every thirty minutes to let me know you’re safe. Three drink max, no shots.”
“Three drinks, two shots.” Tenley kissed the spot under my jaw that always drove me crazy. My blood instantly rerouted to my other head.
I growled. “Three drinks, two shots, and none of your money will be placed in anyone's pants. Got it?”
“Do you want picture proof?”
Hell no, I didn’t want pictures. Unless. I wasn’t going there yet. We weren’t at the naked selfie stage… yet. “I want pictures of what you are wearing,” I told her as I moved us to open the door.
“Why don’t you come help me pick it out?”
Worked for me. “I can do that.”
I buckled her seat belt, then closed the door. I headed to the driver's side, thinking I got schooled. Tenley worked her magic on me, and I agreed to let her go see semi-naked men, drink more than she should, and she probably was going to convince me to let her wear something she shouldn’t. I would have to give her something to remember me by before she left.
I slid into the driver's seat, and as soon as we were on the road, I took her hand in mine again. Tenley was looking out the passenger window. A small smile played on her lips, and she was trying to cover it by biting her lip.
Newsflash. Inside, I was smiling too.
She held up to her promise and showed me different outfit choices, all of which I complained about. Too short, too low cut, too tight.
“Preston, if you don’t pick something, I’m going to go naked.”
Even though I knew she was joking, there was no way I would let her leave the house uncovered. I’d seen her body. The next person to see it without a stitch of clothing would be me.
I walked into her closet and started skimming through her clothes. What I picked out was tasteful. It also covered her head to toe. “This one.”
Tenley laughed. “I’m not wearing that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s my convention dress.”
“So?”
“I wear it to dinners with my boss.”
I still wasn’t seeing her point. She sighed, then walked into her closet. After a few seconds, she walked out holding two dresses. “This is for work.” She held up one similar to the one I had chosen. “This is what girls my age wear out.” The other was sexy. It would expose a lot of her back, almost all her leg could be seen a mile away from the shiny gold color, and it would be perfect for when I took her out. There had to be a compromise.
I pulled her close. “Next time we go to a club, you can wear this one. For now, don’t you have something between the two?”
She swallowed. “I might.”
I nodded toward the closet. When Tenley came back, she had a dress I could live with. It didn’t cling to her body. It was still too short, but I compromised since the top covered up to the neck. When she came out of the bathroom fully dressed, nude high heels and all, I almost changed my mind. I wanted to pull the material that tied around the back of her neck, let the dress pool at her feet, and carry her to the bed. Tenley was the most beautiful, sexy woman I’d ever seen.
“Do I look okay?”
Before I could answer, her phone chimed in the little purse she was carrying. She read the message. “The Uber is picking them up first, then coming for me.”
“How much time?”
“About twenty minutes.”
I pulled her onto my lap. It gave me just enough time to leave her with swollen lips that would remind her of me whenever she brought a glass to her lips. I wanted her to think about my hands on her and not some punk in a G-string. Mostly, I wanted to touch her just enough so she couldn’t wait to come home to me.
“I guess you like the dress.”
I hummed my approval. But I liked the girl inside the dress even more.
15
Preston
A confident man is a complete turn-on.
ANY OTHER GIVEN DAY, I wouldn’t doubt my manhood. I wasn’t bad looking. I was smart. I had a good job and a decent apartment. But the morning after Tenley’s girls’ night out, the girl next door had me feeling anything but confident.
Tenley was still sleeping off last night. She did everything she said she would—drank moderately, texted me every thirty minutes, and she even snuck outside to call me once.
Throughout the night, she even sent me pictures. They were selfies of her and her friends. I was okay with that. I trusted her enough that I fell asleep before she came home. Plus, I was exhausted from the sun and surfing.
It was what I woke up to in the morning that had me pacing the floor and feeling like I was lacking. Three pictures with Tenley, her friends, and three different dudes—oiled, naked, tan chest with muscles that rivaled Captain America’s—with their arm around my girl.
My girl.
So what if their arms were long enough to stretch across the other two girls. It was the one around Tenley that had me concerned. Their actual hands were dangling close to her chest. No other man’s hands should be close to what’s mine.
The photos were followed by a message.
You’re not going to believe who I ran into.
It was followed by Why aren’t you answering me? Are you awake?
Then I guess you’re sleeping, so I’ll talk to you in the morning.
The last message said I’m home. I had a great time. Good night, Preston.
I currently was having a coronary waiting for her to wake up. I sent Tenley a message letting her know I was awake and she should come by for breakfast. It was three hours later before she knocked on my door, and I wasn’t any calmer than when I first saw those pictures.
Play it cool. She didn’t do anything wrong.
S
he bounced into my apartment. Before I could even get a word in, she started blurting her story. “Thank goodness you’re home. If you weren’t here, I don’t know who I would tell.”
Tell what? How she got felt up by not one but three naked men?
“So last night, I thought the dancers looked familiar. I didn’t know why, though, until the last guy came on stage. Did you see the pictures?”
Yes, I saw the pictures. “Yeah.”
“And... did you recognize anyone?” She drew out her question.
“Besides you and your friends? No. I don’t make it a habit of checking out dudes without pants.” Except I did check them out. I might have looked at myself shirtless in the mirror a few times to compare because what they had wasn’t normal. I wasn’t about to admit it to Tenley, though.
“Look again,” she said as she shoved her phone in my hand. I held it there, not caring to look again. I saw what I needed to. Tenley enjoying herself with some other Schwarzenegger type dudes. “Just look. And really look at the last picture.”
Reluctantly, I scrolled through the first three. I didn’t know who dudes were. They all were wearing hats low on their brow until the last picture. Holy shit. “Is that…?”
“Keaton,” she blurted out.
“And?”
“Isaac and the two other dudes were at Keaton’s beach house.”
I should have at least recognized Isaac, but I never saw him covered in oil and quite so tan before. But Keaton, soon-to-be Dr. Valentine, was a male performer. And Tenley saw him. “You saw him naked?”
“Ummm. I saw parts.”
I was back to being irritated with a hint of motherfucking shit because what if he was packing. I mean, surely number one on the hiring paperwork for a club like that would be your “measurements.” Not that I was lacking. Or at least I didn’t think I was. According to Google, I was above average, but then again, I couldn’t manage to get my last girlfriend off—apparently ever—so I already had a few strikes against me. I also knew I didn’t fall into the porn star nine and above category either.
“Which parts, Tenley?”
She studied me with a tilt of her head. “You are cute when you get angry.”
Dammit. No man wants to look cute when the vein in their neck is about to explode.
She took a step forward. “What if I told you I saw his, you know.”
I didn’t want to know. I growled.
“Would you get jealous?”
“No,” I lied.
“You wouldn’t?”
“No,” I lied again.
“So you wouldn’t care if I stuffed a few dollars down the front of his scrubs?”
Yes. We agreed no stuffing of any kind. “No.”
She ran her finger down the front of my shirt. “Or if I told you I touched his stethoscope. Would you get jealous then?”
Hold it together, Preston. She’s testing you. I couldn’t act like some crazy jealous boyfriend when I didn’t even know if I was her boyfriend. Besides, I had a hammer, and she just compared Keaton to a stethoscope. “Nope.”
She pulled back. “Good. Because I didn’t. As soon as I saw him on stage, I covered my eyes.”
On the inside, I let out the biggest sigh of relief. On the outside, I didn’t change my face. “So you didn’t see anything?”
“Well, I may have seen a little butt cheek before I covered my eyes. And he really did let me hold his stethoscope for five bucks. Apparently, it’s a big deal to med students. No one touches their stethoscope.”
“Tenley,” I growled.
“What? It was just so shiny. I couldn’t resist. Then I got to test it out. Who knew dancing makes your heart race so fast.”
“Tenley.”
“It was no big deal. I’m hungry. Let’s get lunch.”
She walked out of my apartment as fast as she came in. I was about to call Keaton and lay into him. One, for not telling me his side job. Two, for being almost naked in front of Tenley. And three, for letting her touch any of his equipment.
“Are you coming?”
Hell, yes, I was. And I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight again.
Tenley drove. It was obvious she had her mind set on one place to eat. Just as I opened the door to Butter My Bread, Tenley said, “For the record, none of those guys did anything for me.”
“Is that so? And who does it for you?” My self-esteem was twitching for an answer.
She shrugged her shoulder. “I’ve always had a thing for blonds. With glasses.”
I was wearing mine today. Keep going, I silently urged her with my hands.
“And who knows way too much about comic heroes.” She brushed past me, then headed straight for the counter. I followed her, walking a little taller.
It was the first time I’d been there, and the place was packed. I caught up to Tenley in two strides, then reached for her hand. After we ordered, the guy behind the counter let us know they would bring our food to us. “We’re going to grab a table outside,” I said.
“It will be about fifteen minutes.”
“No problem.”
I grabbed our drinks, then led Tenley to a table under an umbrella. It was less crowded than inside. I opened her water, then handed it to her. “Thanks.”
I opened my water and drank a huge gulp. Today, I was feeling off, and I’d never felt that way around Tenley before. I didn’t like it.
She noticed. “Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Is it about last night?”
Maybe. But I think there was more. If I had time to sit down and analyze everything, I would conclude I was jealous. I hated the feeling. I was never jealous when Chanel went out without me. I never made her agree to rules. There were plenty of frat parties, a few questionable bachelorette parties when she called me completely blitzed. And the time I showed up at her apartment after she threw a party with her roommate and found a few guys half-dressed still passed out on the floor and couch. I didn’t go since I had a deadline in the morning, and it was my first big paying client. I wasn’t the slightest bit jealous. Nor did I give her a hard time like I did Tenley. I just told Chanel to have fun. “No.”
“Because I really didn’t want to go. And the only reason I had any fun was because I got to make fun of the guys. Kaitlyn and Emma thought it was so awesome my friends, you know, do that. But I would have had a better time if you were there.”
And right there was what I was missing. Reassurance that I still fit in her life. I was screwed if all it took was her smiling at me and saying she wished I was with her to make me feel better.
“Let’s not talk about last night.”
“Okay.”
“Ever.” She buttoned her lip as I changed the subject. “What’re your plans after this?”
“My week is packed at work since one instructor is on vacation, so I was thinking a lazy day at the beach. What about you?”
“I was going to start work on a new client’s survey.”
“For what?”
“Some water company. Tap vs. bottled. Filtered vs. unfiltered. They are working on reducing plastic waste and want to bring in clients for their new sink filters that are recycled and supposed to last twice as long.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“It’s nothing glamorous, but it pays the bills.”
“You love your job.”
“I do.”
“Could I convince you to put it off your amazing job for a few hours and join me?” She looked up at me from under her lashes.
Playing hooky sounded great. “I could manage a few hours.”
Right then our food arrived.
“A hot turkey and bacon,” the guy said.
“That’s his,” Tenley answered even though her eyes were focused on me.
The waiter stopped mid plate placement.
“Tenley?” he asked.
Her eyes shot up the same time mine did. I wasn’t happy when I recognized his shaggy blond hair, works out
too much at the gym body, and a perfect smile I had heard Tenley discuss too many nights. Just my luck he was wearing glasses and Hulk smash T-shirt.
“Tristian. Oh my God, it’s been what?”
Four years since they decided to take a break to focus on school and their soon to be careers.
“Too long,” Tristian answered.
“You remember Preston?”
He stretched out his hand. I instantly wanted to play the game of who could squeeze harder but the guy had to go and be nice. “Yeah. Hey, man. How’s it going? So you two together now?”
While he placed our food on the table Tenley and I both answered, but not the same.
My answer was a clear, “Yes.”
Hers was a little different. “No.”
“Which is it?” he asked Tenley directly.
“It’s sort of complicated,” she answered with a blush. Was she blushing from her answer or because of the meathead who was clearly still interested?
“If you ever want to get together and catch up, my number hasn’t changed.”
“Okay.” She wiggled uncomfortably in her seat.
He slapped me on the back. “Good luck, man.”
Tristan went inside, and Tenley lifted her sandwich to her mouth. I sat there waiting for her to say something. Anything about why she said we were an instant no.
“That was weird,” she said after she swallowed her bite.
“Weird, how?”
“Seeing him after so long.”
“You want to know what I thought was weird?”
She was clueless. “What?”
“That you said no to us being together, and you didn’t say no when he asked you out.”
She put her lunch on her plate. “What are you talking about?”
“Let's catch up is code for I want to take you out.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is. But we won’t go there yet. What are we, Tenley?”
“Do we have to do this here?” She looked around. Only one table had people sitting at it. Any other passersby were just that, passing by. So apparently, yes.
“I think we do.” I kept my voice even. Low. I was tired of not knowing and doubting myself.
All the Right Moves Page 10