She Likes It Irish

by Sophia Ryan

  “Wait.”

  She stopped and turned teary eyes back to the bed. She didn’t need an interpreter to decipher the look that passed between the lovers. Kristin would be leaving with her. Zoe had won. She fought to keep her satisfied smile of triumph hidden.

  Kristin looked at Sean. He shook his head, whispering something in her ear. She giggled.

  “Are you coming?” Zoe demanded, her tight voice a clear indication that she was irritated by the couple.

  “Why don’t you go on back to the room and I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Kristin glanced her way before turning back to accept another of Sean’s kisses. “After I say goodbye to Sean.”

  “But—”

  “I’ll be there in fifteen min—”

  “Forty-five,” Sean said and pulled her down, covering her with his body.

  “You’re insatiable,” Kristin whispered and half-heartedly pushed at his chest. “Thirty minutes. I promise,” she said to Zoe over Sean’s shoulder and giggled again at what his mouth was doing to her neck.

  “I’ll wait, and we’ll walk back together,” Zoe said and flopped on the desk chair across from the bed.

  Sean muttered something guttural then pulled out of Kristin’s embrace, rose from the bed, and glared at Zoe, not even trying to hide his enormous erection. And though he stayed by Kristin’s side, his arm around her, he faced Zoe, his eyes burning into hers, his arms held apart from his body, his legs wide, in a stance of authority that invited no argument.

  “I’ll be walking Kristin home, so you can leave now.”

  Anger heated her face at being sent away like an unwanted intruder, but she hid it with a small martyred smile.

  “Fine. See you in thirty minutes, Kristin.” She walked to the door and opened it, glanced over her shoulder, stared at his dick, and smiled. “Bye, Sean.”

  She was traipsing down the stairs when she heard his room door slam. Triumph filled every cell of her body as she floated back to her room, laughing the whole way at her supreme manipulation skills.

  She had won this battle and would win the war with what she and Randy had planned. This time tomorrow, Sean would be history, and Kristin would be hers again.

  ****

  Half an hour later, Sean sat on the edge of the bed, his jeans on but not zipped, pulling on his socks. Kristin stood on the opposite side of the bed in her panties, stepping into her dress.

  If he’d had his way, they’d still be in bed, wrapped around each other, not getting dressed so he could take her home. He had meant it when he said he wanted her forever. And he had meant for forever to begin now. It pissed the hell out of him that they were leaving because Zoe had insisted. Thrown a tantrum, was more like it. And Kristin just gave in. Like she fucking owed Zoe.

  “Is she always that possessive with you?” he asked, glancing back at Kristin, his body heating up again as his gaze slid up and down her body.

  She ran her hands through her bedraggled hair then began the search for the rest of her clothes. “I should have called to say I was going to be late, but for some reason,” she grinned at him, “I forgot about everything but you.” She found one shoe under his bed and stepped into it. “I haven’t been a very good friend to her, lately.”

  In his mind, Zoe wasn’t being a good friend. She had sabotaged every attempt he and Kristin had made to be together, even though Kristin had made it clear she wanted to be with him. Why was Kristin making excuses for her? Why did she have to keep Zoe informed about her comings and goings? Why was Kristin putting up with it?

  “You put up with a lot from her,” he said. “Too much.” He yanked on his hiking boots, leaving the laces untied. She avoided his eyes, as if she knew her relationship with Zoe was skewed, and kept looking for her clothes like she couldn’t wait to get out of here.

  She found her other shoe by the door and stepped into it then walked over to him and presented her back to him.

  “Zip me?” She held up her hair.

  Why didn’t she respond to his queries? Was she hiding something? He stood, kissed her neck, down her back. “I’d rather rip that dress off you than zip it up.”

  She turned toward him and put her arms around his neck, kissing him. “Tonight.”

  He tried another tactic. “She wants us apart, Kristin. I feel it.”

  “Zoe would never hurt me by trying to break us up. She knows how I feel about you.”

  He didn’t buy it. In fact, he was sure Zoe would do her worst to get him out of the picture. His hand moved to Kristin’s breast and he cupped it, pressing it deep into his palm. “How do you feel about me?”

  “You can’t tell, even after last night?”

  She still wasn’t ready to say it. “Call her. Tell her you’re spending all day showing me how you feel about me.”

  “I’d love to stay with you.” She kissed his neck. “Make love to you all day and all night.” She kissed his jaw. “Wake up in your arms again.” Kissed his mouth.

  His heart softened for her. “Then stay.”

  “I promised Zoe I’d help her. And you teach class in a couple of hours.”

  Shit. She was leaving him for Zoe. What the fuck?

  At his stone-faced silence, she kissed him again. He deepened the kiss, holding her face to his and tilting her head to fit their mouths better together. She was right, of course, he did have classes to teach and one to attend, but why wasn’t she trying to talk him out of going? It bothered him how easily she was leaving him.

  “How about we spend this weekend together?” she said, pressing against him. “I promise you—it’ll more than make up for my leaving now.” She kissed him and ran her hand over his zipper. “It’ll be something you’ll never forget.”

  He released a pent-up breath. “Okay. You win.”

  She smiled. “Zip me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “It’s nice having you home,” Zoe said. “I never see you anymore.”

  “What are you talking about?” Kristin kept her eyes glued to her laptop, fingers flying over the keys. “I see you every day.”

  “No, I mean we never get to just hang out together. You spend all your free time with him.”

  She stopped typing and looked at Zoe. Just thinking about Sean brought a smile to her face. “I love him.”

  Her roommate’s face turned white and her mouth dropped open. She dropped her gaze to the chemistry textbook in her lap. “So you’re in love. That doesn’t mean you dump your friends.”

  Kristin heard the melancholy in her friend’s voice and realized, for the first time, how much she looked like an abandoned puppy. Guilt pricked her conscience. “I’m not dumping you.”

  Zoe hung her head. “Feels that way.” She wiped a tear from her cheek.

  Kristin knew how dramatic and manipulative her friend could be when she was trying to get her way. But she also knew she really seemed upset. Setting aside her laptop, she joined Zoe on her bed, ran her hand down her hair, and laid her hand on her arm.

  “I’m sorry you feel like I’m dumping you. I’m really not. How about we set aside a day, just for us, and do something fun together.”

  Zoe grabbed Kristin’s hand and smiled. “I’d like that.” She shifted onto her knees and leaned forward. “And I know just what we can do. You’re going to love me for this! My mom said she can get me tickets and backstage passes for your favorite band!”

  “Oh, my God! You mean…!” She grabbed Zoe’s hands.

  Zoe nodded, squealed again, and grabbed her phone. “We’re going to have so much fun this weekend!”

  Kristin’s smile faded. “Wait—they’re here this weekend?”

  “Yes!”

  She put her hand on Zoe’s phone to stop her from dialing her mom’s number. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it this weekend.”

  Guilt sliced Kristin across the heart as she watched the sheen of happiness fade from her friend’s face and her body deflate like a balloon.

  “And I bet I can guess why.” Angry sarcasm dri
pped from her words.

  Kristin nodded. “Sean and I already made plans, but next weekend—”

  “Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Zoe pushed her books and homework and notebooks and pens off her bed onto the floor, lay down, and pulled the covers over her head.

  “Don’t be like that.” Kristin rubbed her hand across her friend’s back. These childish tantrums were wearing on her.

  Silence from the lump on the bed.

  “I’ll make it up to you.”

  “How?” came the muffled response.

  “Next Friday, we’ll find a party, or go to a club and get totally shwasted.”

  “You hate parties and clubs, and you don’t drink.”

  “Yeah, but I want to do something you like to show you how much you mean to me as a friend. C’mon. Say yes.”

  Zoe rolled over, lowered the covers from her head. “What if there’s something I’d like us to do instead of parties. Something we can do right now.”

  “Name it,” Kristin said.

  She took Kristin’s hand and pressed it against her breast. “I want to have sex with you.”

  Kristin jerked her hand away and stepped away from the bed. “I’m with Sean. I don’t have sex with anyone but him.” She climbed into her own bed and grabbed her laptop.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve tasted your pussy. I’m dying for it. I need it, Kristin. I need you.”

  “I won’t cheat on Sean.” Sean would never forgive her for cheating; he had said as much last night. Lindsey’s betrayal had really done a number on him.

  Zoe left her bed and climbed onto Kristin’s.

  “It’s only cheating if you have sex with another guy.” Her hand slid up Kristin’s leg. “This is just you and me—doing what we’ve always done for each other.” Her fingers had reached her knee and circled the sensitive flesh on the back that she knew drove Kristin crazy. “Helping each other out. There’s no cheating involved.”

  Kristin caught Zoe’s wrist as her hand slid up her thigh and moved inward.

  “It is cheating.” She moved Zoe’s hand aside. “I know how it feels to be cheated on and I won’t do that to the man I love.” Setting her laptop aside, she stood. “I’m going to take a shower and get ready for class. When I get back, we can talk about which day we can get together to do something other than sex.”

  ****

  She came back from the shower and Zoe was still sitting on her bed.

  “You going to class today?” Kristin asked as she put on her makeup.

  Zoe didn’t respond. Didn’t look at her. She sat curled up in her bed, her head down, staring at her fingernails, picking off the chipped polish.

  Kristin turned to her. “Zoe?”

  Zoe burst into tears, covering her face with her hands.

  “What’s wrong?” Kristin asked.

  “I have something to tell you. And you’re going to hate me.”

  Cold enveloped Kristin’s body. “What did you do?”

  “You know how someone stole my laptop?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I, uh…”

  “Just say it.”

  “I…recorded us—you and me—having sex. The video was on the laptop.”

  Kristin’s heart spiraled into her stomach and she tasted bile in her mouth. “Are you kidding me? You recorded us? Why?”

  “Just for me. So I could watch and remember.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “And now it’s in the hands of some stranger, who could put it on the internet? Dammit! How could you?”

  “I’m sorry. I never thought—”

  “You never think things through before you do them, that’s the problem.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  His heart a cold, clay lump at the bottom of his stomach, Sean hit replay for the third time. The shock wasn’t as great this time as when the image of Kristin—his sweet Kristin—first appeared on the video having sex with Zoe.

  Her long, sexy legs were splayed wide, knees bent up by her ears, opening herself to Zoe’s mouth and tongue and fingers. Her voice moaning out instructions that would bring her to pleasure faster. Her face in full-blown rapture when satisfaction gripped her. Her calling out his name in joy.

  It was a scenario he had witnessed a dozen times but with one exception: it had been his face in her pussy, his mouth drinking her sweet honey. It had been his tender loving that put the look of perfect bliss on her face and made her call out his name.

  His stomach turned as he watched the woman he thought was his pleasure her lover. She rolled over and dove into her roommate’s cunt like she was a woman starved for the taste, her hand reaching for her own insatiable clit. Her ass rose up in the air and she rocked forward and back, the way she did when riding his cock. Zoe screamed out her pleasure, followed by Kristin’s low moans.

  There the video stopped. He started to watch it again, but knew there was no need. The images were burned into his retinas, his brain, his heart, like a hot brand that had labeled him a fool.

  She had fooled him good and made him think she loved him. That he was the only one for her.

  “Oh, fuck me.” He cursed aloud, then louder, then roared it at the top of his lungs, a long, drawn-out moan that bounced off the walls of his room and down the hall.

  ****

  Kristin read Sean’s text again, looking for clues between the letters as to what happened to make him end their relationship.

  “Kristin, we’re over” didn’t give her much to go on, not the first time she’d read it and not now. If she could just talk to him, hear his voice, get him to open up, she could clear up whatever misunderstanding must be playing out.

  She dialed his number again. Her call went to voice mail after a couple of rings. He was refusing her calls.

  “Sean, I don’t know what’s wrong, why you’re mad at me…if you’re mad. Oh, God, I don’t know what you’re feeling, but I—” Her voice broke; she swallowed back tears and tried speaking again. “Please, call me.”

  The words of Sean’s jilted lover, the one Randy sent to her, flooded her mind. “He’ll fuck you then dump you…End it now before he breaks your heart.” Never in a million years had she believed he’d do the same to her. But he had. He had fooled her good, made her think he loved her. She never saw it coming. She dropped her phone in her jacket pocket, covered her face with her hands, and cried.

  “Kris?”

  Kristin felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Mason’s worried face.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said, and quickly wiped the tears from her face with her fingers. But there were too many, and they kept coming. “No.”

  “Aw, babe. C’mere.” He hugged her to his chest and let her cry.

  After a moment, she pulled back. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to stop crying.”

  He pulled a couple of paper napkins from the fast food bag in his hand. “Here, take these.”

  She took them and dabbed her eyes, but the flimsy paper couldn’t tackle that much moisture.

  “I’ve never seen you cry, except when your grandpa died—Oh, man, did somebody die?”

  She shook her head, but her mind was screaming Me! The second I read Sean’s message. “Sean and I, uh, we broke up. Actually, he broke up with me. I’m not taking it well, obviously.”

  He squeezed her arm. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

  “I don’t know.” She gave a hopeless little shrug. “He didn’t tell me why he broke it off. If I understood why, I think I could deal with it better, you know?”

  “Yeah, no one knows that better than me.”

  “What do you mean? Who dumped you?”

  “Well, Zoe.”

  “What?”

  An awkward little laugh gurgled in his throat. “You knew we broke up, right?”

  “Yeah, but she said you broke up with her.”

  He shook his head.

  “I’m confused.”

  It was his turn to shrug. “We went to my room
after the movies that night, started, you know, making out like we always did. Afterward, she told me we were through and left. No explanation. Won’t return my calls. Won’t talk to me. She looks right through me now, like I’m not there.”

  Kristin put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

  “That girl is trouble with a capital T—wild, rude, and impossible to control—and that’s exactly what I loved about her. I miss her. But I’m moving on. And you will, too.”

  She sighed, her breath shaky. “I don’t think I can.”

  “I know it feels that way.” He hugged her then eased back. “Hey, I hate to desert you, but I gotta get to class. Call me later and we’ll grab some food, talk, get drunk, whatever.”

  She nodded. “Thanks.”

  He was a couple of steps away when she called out his name. “Would you take her back, even after what she did?”

  He nodded. “In a heartbeat.” He waved to her with his bag of food and headed across campus.

  On her way back to her room, she thought about what Mason had told her. Zoe always had a motive for her actions. The question was, why break up with Mason and then lie about it that night? What was she up to? Kristin wondered whether she had succeeded in getting what she wanted from the action. Knowing Zoe, she had…and left behind a trail of dead or wounded souls.

  Mason’s comments also made her wonder whether there was a connection between Sean breaking up with her and Zoe’s admission that she had recorded the two of them having sex and that the laptop with the videos was now in the hands of a stranger. Had Sean seen the video? Was that why he wasn’t talking to her?

  If he broke up with her simply because she’d been with a woman, then maybe he wasn’t the right man for her after all. No, he’d just come out and ask her about it. She was sure of it. He said he loved her, and when you love someone, you don’t just toss them away.

  But something had happened between their night of passion and this morning. But how could she fix it if she didn’t know what it was? If he wouldn’t even talk to her? If she had to track him down and ambush him to get him to talk, that’s what she’d do. She wasn’t going to let go of the love of her life that easily.