Songbird Caged

by Lisa Edward

  We finally agreed on a horror movie, and relaxed in the big two-seater reclining chairs. Cole and I sat together, and instantly fell into our comfortable and familiar position. Cole lifted his arm, and I snuggled in to his chest. He covered us over with a throw rug to keep warm, then tucked his hand under the rug so he could stroke my arm.

  I looked up to find Jay watching us. I pulled a face at him. He smiled, and looked back at the screen. I looked over again five minutes later. He was watching us again.

  “You need to talk to Jay,” I whispered to Cole.

  He looked down at me, then over at Jay, who was still looking.

  “Jay,” Cole said to him gruffly, “watch the movie, not us.”

  He looked back down at me. “There you go, job done.”

  The movie had finished, and Marcus and Nicole were nervously making their way to bed. It was so cute to watch them, knowing that this would be their first night together.

  “Don’t forget the walls are pretty thin,” I joked to Marcus as they entered their room.

  He looked over at me. “Yeah, I remember. I had to listen to you and Riley going at it all night.” He gave me a sad smile. “Worst night of my life.”

  I went over, and gave him a hug. “Maybe it’s payback time, then,” I whispered.

  “Here’s hoping.” He gave me a wink, and closed the door behind him.

  Cole and I said goodnight to Jay, then went into our room.

  Jay followed.

  “What do you want, man?” Cole asked when he realised Jay was standing in the room.

  He ran his hand through his hair, trying to choose his words. “If you sleep in here together …” He looked really nervously at Cole. “… I’m going to have to tell Riley.”

  “What?” Cole barked at him, and stormed over. “Why do you have to tell Riley? It’s none of your fucking business, anyway.”

  Jay was practically cowering, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. Cole was furious.

  “He … he asked me to … keep an eye on you,” he stammered. “I promised to tell him if anything happened.”

  So there were spies among us. Our friends were reporting back to Riley, because Riley had asked them to.

  Now I was furious—not with Jay, but with Riley.

  “If Riley thinks that something is going to happen between Cole and me, then he obviously doesn’t trust either of us, and if that’s the case—” I threw my hands in the air. “—then what’s the point of this?” I thrust my hand out at Jay, the engagement ring sitting proudly on my finger where it always was.

  “So, I’ll give you something to report back to my loving, trusting fiancé,” I fumed at him. “You tell him that Cole is the one who has been there for me. Cole has come over whenever I’ve asked him to, whether it’s to change a light bulb that I can’t reach, or change a washer in a dripping tap. Cole’s the one who came with me when I had to buy a new washing machine, and set it all up for me. He’s the one that I can talk everything through with, and bounce ideas off. And you know why? Because Riley’s not here.”

  I paused to take a breath.

  “Cole is more of a boyfriend to me then Riley is.”

  “Except for the sex,” Cole added.

  I spun around to face Cole. He shrugged at me. “There’s no sex.”

  Jay gulped, and nodded his head.

  I stormed out, and knocked on Marcus and Nicole’s door. Marcus was right there, obviously listening.

  “Are you reporting back to Riley, too?” I attacked, not able to control my anger.

  “Ah, he asked me to, but I said I wasn’t comfortable with it. So the answer would be no, I’m not.”

  I felt a little calmer, and my voice softened. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” He shrugged. “You’re my friend first and foremost. I couldn’t go behind your back.” He hesitated. “But seeing as you are my friend, and we’re talking about this, I think I can tell you that just because I’m not running to Riley, it doesn’t mean that I’m totally okay with how close you two are.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly, the fire in my cheeks starting to rise again.

  He stepped forward, placing one hand on my shoulder. “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt, especially you.”

  I gave Marcus a quick hug. “I’m fine, really, we’re just friends.” Then I started back to my room.

  I could hear Cole in a hushed voice reading Jay the riot act. “… anything to hurt Tara, our friendship is over, and that goes for the band, too. We’re finished, do you understand?”

  I stuck my head around the door. Cole was standing over Jay, glaring down at him. Jay looked so small next to Cole’s towering size.

  Cole looked up when he saw me out the corner of his eye. He straightened up and relaxed his stance, then looked back down at Jay. “Are we clear?”

  Jay nodded, and turned for the door. “Sorry, Tara. I promise I won’t say a word to Riley.”

  “To be honest, Jay, there’s nothing to tell him. We really are just friends.”

  I closed the door behind him.

  Cole and I climbed into bed in silence. We were both deep in thought, probably about the same thing.

  Cole lifted his arm for me to snuggle into his side. “Do you want to spend less time together, babe?” he asked. “I don’t want to cause trouble for you and Hotshot.”

  I wrapped my arm all the way around his chest, and squeezed. “You’re not causing trouble for Riley and I. Riley is doing that all by himself.”

  I was so angry at Riley for asking our friends to spy on me. If he wanted to know what I was doing, all he had to do was ask. Sure, I may not have told him exactly how much time I was spending with Cole, but then again, we weren’t doing anything wrong.

  I now had a few things to write back about in my next letter. It looked like we would be writing angry letters to each other after all.

  “You know, we never did have that talk we were going to have,” Cole said casually.

  I rolled my eyes. “Not now, especially when I’m so angry with Riley. Things will be said that can’t be taken back. It will change our relationship.”

  “So that’s another elephant in the room we’re just going to ignore?”

  “Yep, looks that way, for now, at least.”

  “You need to get a bigger apartment. All these elephants you’re collecting …”

  WE SAT around the breakfast bench, enjoying the bacon and eggs that Cole had cooked. Marcus and Nicole were all cuddly together, and it made me so thrilled that I’d played a small part in their happiness.

  After breakfast, Cole got up to go take a shower.

  “Are you coming, babe?” he asked me. From the glint in his eye, I could see that he was joking, but the others sat bolt upright and watched us curiously.

  “Just let me finish my coffee, and I’ll be right there,” I replied, playing along.

  He gave me one of his sexy half smiles. “I’ll get the water nice and hot, just how you like it.”

  Of course, my coffee took an unusually long time to drink, and I could hear that Cole was out of the shower just as I was ready for mine. By the time I was dressed and came out of the bedroom, everyone else was sitting around the open fire.

  “We’re going to have a pool tournament,” Marcus told me with a cheeky grin. “The winner gets waited on by the person of their choice for the rest of the day.”

  I smiled at Marcus, and nodded, knowingly. He and I were both above average players, so he would have a good chance of winning. From the look on Cole’s face, he was already pretty sure he would lose.

  Nicole looked like she was bursting to tell me something, so we excused ourselves, put on our coats and beanies, and went to sit outside on the veranda where we could talk privately.

  She was beaming from ear to ear as she sat down on one of the sun lounges.

  “Marcus is amazing,” she exclaimed.

  I smiled broadly at her. “I take it you had a good night, then?” I asked te
asingly.

  “Good’s not the word for it.” She leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes. “Can you believe, three times?”

  She sat up and held her hand in the air for a high five. I burst out laughing, and slapped her waiting hand.

  “Well, congratulations! I’m pleased at least someone in this house is getting laid.”

  “You mean you and Cole …” She let the sentence hang.

  I shook my head vigorously. “No, of course not.”

  She shrugged. “I just thought, you know, sleeping in the same bed, all that sexual tension between the two of you, something might have happened.”

  She looked at me expectantly, and I laughed. “No, we just cuddle, which is nice, but no nothing else.”

  “Do you want anything else?”

  She was in serious girl-talk mode.

  “I’m with Riley so …”

  “That wasn’t the question I asked. Do you want more from Cole?”

  I exhaled, and puffed out my cheeks. “If I wasn’t with Riley, then definitely yes. I mean …” I leaned back into the sun lounge. “… he’s gorgeous, and funny, and smart, and sexy as hell, so of course he’s tempting, and I would probably give in to temptation. But I can’t, so I won’t.” I turned and gave her a wry smile. “I’ll just fantasise about it instead, while I wait for Riley to come home.”

  “You know, that’s really interesting,” she philosophised. “You’re not having sex at all at the moment, so you’re fantasising about Cole. I would have thought you’d be fantasising about Riley, seeing as he’s the one you’re going to marry.”

  “Good point, Nicole.” It was Cole’s gravelly voice behind us.

  Closing my eyes, I cursed that someone his size could be so quiet. He came and squeezed in behind me on the sun lounge, then pulled me back so I was leaning against his chest.

  “So, what’s your response to the very wise Nicole’s assessment of your situation?”

  I looked around at him. His emerald eyes were burning into me. He had put on a thick grey jumper, and a neutral-coloured knitted, slouchy beanie. He looked mouth-wateringly good.

  The corner of his mouth twitched when he realised I was internally drooling over him. “Do you really fantasise about me?” he asked softly.

  I couldn’t answer that question without incriminating myself, so I shut up.

  He smiled triumphantly. “I’ll take your silence as an admission of guilt.”

  “Do you fantasise about Tara, Cole?”

  Ooh, good question Nicole, I thought. Turn it back around onto him. I raised my eyebrows at Cole, and waited for him to squirm his way out of it.

  But he didn’t.

  “Of course I do. Every girl I’m with is Tara in my mind. It’s the only way I can come these days.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but I was shocked.

  I needed to change the subject, before we ended up having that talk that I was trying to avoid.

  I asked him about his pool game, knowing full well that Marcus probably won.

  “Marcus slammed me. I had to run around the table with my pants down.”

  I laughed out loud. “That’s not usually the way we play in this house, but isn’t that only if you don’t pot a ball for the whole game?”

  He nodded. “Yep. I didn’t get one ball in, and he got all of his within about five minutes.”

  “Well, I’m sorry I missed it,” I told him, laughing.

  “I’d be happy to do a private encore performance for you later if you’d like.”

  He wrapped his arms tightly around me, and nuzzled my neck. “Do you want to play with me?” he breathed into my ear.

  I closed my eyes and sighed. Boy, did I ever.

  “Ah, sorry what was that?” I asked, pulling myself back to reality.

  He chuckled. “I mean pool. God, your mind’s in the gutter, Tara.”

  We went in, and waited our turn. We decided that we would play for a similar prize; loser has to do whatever the winner says for the rest of the day.

  Marcus told me with much pleasure that Cole was really, really bad, so I decided to even the competition up and play right-handed. But even with that, I was still managing to win. My next tactic was to deliberately miss a couple of easy ones so Cole could catch up. I wanted him to feel like he was in with a chance.

  Finally, we had the same number of balls left on the table. “I think I might win this one,” he said cockily. “And I’m really going to enjoy bossing you around. I think the first thing is, I’m going to make you give me a blow …”

  I punched him in the stomach and he folded over, laughing. “I was going to say blow-dry. Wash and blow-dry my hair.” He shook his head at me like he was disappointed. “I don’t know, Tara, you have a one-track mind, girl.”

  Marcus was laughing and shaking his head before he ran his thumb across his throat, telling me to finish him off.

  I changed hands and started playing left-handed. I potted my last five balls, one after the other, before finishing with the black.

  “I can’t believe you hustled me. You’re a pool shark,” Cole said as he was running my bubble bath.

  He poured a glass of champagne for me and lit some candles. He then left the room to give me some privacy so I could undress and climb into the tub. He knocked on the door a few minutes later, and returned, guitar in hand. Cole sat on the chair in the corner of the bathroom and played and sang, while I soaked until the bubbles started to disappear.

  Once my bath was finished, I lay on the bed and waited for my massage. I remembered doing this exact same thing the last time I was here, only that time it was Riley who had massaged me, and it had led to sex.

  “Are you okay?” Cole asked. “You’ve gone quiet.”

  “I was just remembering the last time I was here with Riley. It feels like a lifetime ago.”

  Cole warmed up some oil, and started massaging my shoulders.

  “When was it?”

  “Six months ago, straight after Christmas. So much has happened. It’s like a whirlwind.”

  “Like I’ve said to you before, a lot can happen in six months. Just think of everything that’s happened, everything that’s changed since you were last here.”

  I knew he was trying to prove his point that I shouldn’t have agreed to wait for six months.

  “Well, there’s one thing that’s definitely changed. You’ve gone from being a jerk to being my best friend.”

  He chuckled. “I’m doing my best. It’s been one hell of a learning curve. If anyone had told me six months ago that I would have a girl for a best friend, I would have told them they had rocks in their head.”

  I smiled. So he thought of me as his best friend, too.

  He moved his hands down to my shoulder blades and lower back. His hands felt so strong as he kneaded my muscles, and smoothed out any knots. I felt so relaxed.

  “Nicole asked me today about your piercing,” I said groggily.

  “Did she? And what did you tell her?” he asked, with a smile in his voice.

  “I told her you have one, but I’ve never seen it, so I couldn’t really comment.”

  He was quiet for a few moments. “Do you want to see it? I mean, are you curious?”

  I was really curious. But I was laying on the bed, naked, with just a small towel over my backside, so I didn’t think it would be appropriate for Cole to strip off, too. I was feeling vulnerable enough.

  “Hmm, maybe one day I’ll see it. Can you tell me what prompted you to get it done in the first place?”

  He continued gliding his hands over my back, his touch relaxing my muscles, but at the same time making my heart race.

  “I got it done about six years ago. I was going through a particularly heavy casual-sex phase, like, every night with someone different. It didn’t matter how many girls or what I tried, I was getting bored, almost numb to it. That’s when I bought the tattoo parlour with Lou, and one of the girls who used to work there was big into piercing. She told me about
it, and that it could enhance the sensation, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

  “Does it enhance the sensation for you, or the girl you’re with?” I asked, wondering what it would feel like.

  “Definitely for me, but also the girl, although some girls find it a bit uncomfortable.”

  He continued massaging my lower back in silence, before adding as an afterthought, “It’s supposed to feel better without a condom, but I haven’t tried it. Maybe one day, if I’m ever in a relationship.”

  The thought of Cole in a relationship filled me with dread. Would his girlfriend make him stop hanging out with me? Who would he choose? Come to think of it, if Riley tried to make me stop seeing Cole, who would I choose?

  “Do you want your legs done, too?” he asked. His voice was so deep and seductive as he spoke. I couldn’t help it, I moaned softly before nodding my head.

  He folded the towel in half, so one side of my bottom was uncovered. Butterflies were circling in my stomach with nervous anticipation, knowing that I was almost totally exposed.

  He sighed softly as his hands ran over my skin to my thigh, back up to my shoulders, then slowly down the length of my back, following the curve around my outer hip.

  “I thought I’d lost the game earlier,” he said as he moved his hands back over my bottom, and down to my legs again.

  “You did,” I sighed.

  “It doesn’t feel like it. I’m getting to run my hands all over your body. Feels like a win.”

  I WANTED to spend more time with Kelli, but there were never enough hours in the day, and I felt bad that she was being left to go through her pregnancy alone.

  I had an idea. I would need to hire a chef for the restaurant, so I put out the feelers early. By the end of the week I had over fifteen enquiries from chefs around Melbourne and interstate who were interested in getting in on the ground floor, and helping to design the kitchen and menu for Reds.

  Marcus and I whittled the applicants down to the best ten, and then I called Kelli in for a chat.

  “I need your help with Reds,” I started very officially.

  She nodded. We both knew she couldn’t help with renovating or any heavy lifting, so that significantly reduced the jobs she could do. She was also still working full-time during the day, so was only available at nights.