by Nicole Casey
There was no intimacy in the evening, but that worked out just fine. I felt good and relaxed just being in Gwen’s presence. I was in no hurry. ‘All in due time,’ as Manny was fond of saying. ‘All in due time.’
4
Gwen
What a difference one date makes!—even though it wasn’t a date. I didn’t hook up; I didn’t fall head over heels in love. But I did go out with, not with one guy but with four! And both Christy and Holly came with me, so I was also able to show them that I wasn’t quite the stuffy, stay-at-home anti-social person they always insinuated I was.
The next day, at the cafe, I had an extra spring in my step. I was even humming while I baked!
“Well, aren’t you cheerful today,” said Christy.
“What can I say? I love my job.”
Christy smirked. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that four hot guys were drooling all over you last night?”
“I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about.” I said with a knowing grin.
Christy frowned and shook her head. She started toward the door.
“What?” I said.
She stopped at the threshold and turned to me. “I can’t believe you didn’t take one of them home.”
“They’re not puppies,” I said.
“You wouldn’t know that from the puppy-dog eyes they were making at you.” She shook her head. “Such a waste of good meat.”
I smirked. “I told you: I’m not dating.”
“Who said anything about dating?” She turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Truth be told, when I got home after the ‘date’, I did regret going to bed alone. It would have been nice to be held in those muscular arms, to have my inhibitions and hesitations cast off of me, if only for one night. But I’d stayed guarded, regrettably so.
It was in that confused state of mind that I prepared a tray of muffins and walked out to the front of the house.
“Hello, Gwen.”
A tall man with blond hair cut high and tight military style, wearing a tight T-shirt that hugged his bulging muscles greeted me with a smile. He knew my name, but I didn’t recognize him. I stared blankly at him, perhaps longer than I should have, until I finally got a grip and replied meekly, “Hello.”
“My name’s Taylor,” he said. “Taylor Montrose.” He stuck out his hand. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.”
I turned in half circles looking for a space to set down the tray I was holding. Jenny came to my aid and took it from me. I shook his hand. “Hello, Taylor. What can I do for you?”
He held on to my hand, not too firmly, but firm enough, as if he wasn’t going to let go just yet. His ocean-blue eyes locked on me and fixed me as strongly as did his hand. He smiled in a slightly mischievous way and said, “More than I deserve, I’m sure.”
I did not understand him. My confusion must have shown on my face because he laughed. Lightly, at first, but then I joined in, and we both stood there laughing and holding hands.
Finally he let go. I left my hand suspended in the air, thinking perhaps he would take it again. “I have to say,” he said. “my friends were not exaggerating.”
“Your friends?”
He leaned back and tilted his head as if he were studying a painting. “You are truly mesmerizing.”
“I’m flattered.” Usually at this late hour of the morning, the cafe was busy and loud with conversation. But I heard nothing. It was like we were alone in a vacuum.
“I’m sorry I was on duty last night,” he said. “It seems like I missed out on a fun night.”
I smiled, finally piecing it together. “Yes, we had a good time.”
He nodded. His eyes wouldn’t leave me, and I was starting to feel self conscious.
“I’m sorry I missed it,” he said.
“Maybe next time.”
“I have the night off tomorrow night,” he said. “Is there any chance we could go out? Maybe take a walk on the beach? Maybe go out for dinner?”
I looked around for Jenny or Christy, someone to help me out of this exchange. Jenny was nowhere in sight, and Christy was on the other side of the room. She saw me and winked.
“I… um, I have a lot of work to do,” I said.
He nodded. “I understand. They told me you’re not interested in dating. I wasn’t planning on asking you out. I just came by because I had heard so many good things about this place and about you. But I couldn’t help myself. I would have carried a heavy dose of regret if I hadn’t at least asked.”
I swallowed and nodded.
“Forgive me,” he said. And though I’d assumed this was all just a continuation of his and his friends’ bet or competition, I thought at that moment that he was sincerely apologizing.
I shook my head. “No. I mean, yes. Of course, I forgive you. I mean there’s nothing to forgive.”
He touched me on my arm and smiled. “Maybe you’ll forgive me in the future. Something tells me this won’t be the last time I try to get a date with you.” He left me dumbfounded, turned, and walked out of the cafe.
I watched him leave then stood there staring at the door. What just happened?
“Who was that?” said Christy.
I kept staring at the door and said, “A Marine, friend of the guys from last night.”
“Damn. They should make a calendar.”
“He just asked me out.”
“I hope you had the good sense to say yes.”
I blinked and shook my head.
I wasn’t in the right mental state to think about men, and they were coming at me so fast. Fortunately, we got pretty busy at the cafe, and I was able to distract myself with work. Unfortunately, the diversion only lasted a few hours.
“I know you’re trying to take a break from guys,” said Christy. “If that tall muscular blond hunk comes back and tries to ask you out again, I’ll throw myself at him, see if that won’t keep him off you.”
“Thank you, Christy.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
The cafe had emptied quite quickly, and I was left with nothing to take my mind off the recent days’ confusing events. “Military guys,” I muttered and shook my head.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Christy.
I shrugged. “They have a reputation, that’s all.”
“Of being great in bed?”
“Of being unfaithful,” I said.
Christy dismissed the comment. “That’s why I don’t get attached. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
“That makes sense,” I said. “But I’m just not like that. I get attached quickly. I get attached, and I get hurt.”
There was a long pause in the conversation as we both looked out past the terrace, past the street, past the beach, lost in our thoughts. Finally, Christy broke the silence. “A reputation doesn’t mean they’re all like that. Manny and Nolan seemed like genuine good guys, I think.”
I sighed. I’d thought the same, but I had enough experience to know that guys who appear genuine aren’t always so. “You know they made a bet: they raced here from the base; first one here got to ask me out.”
She looked at me perplexed. “And what happened? Was it a tie?”
I laughed. “No. Manny won. But I turned him down. Then, we decided just to go out as a group.”
Now Christy laughed. “So your idea of turning a guy down is to go out with him but bring along more girls?”
I frowned at her. “It wasn’t a date.”
“If you say so.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s like I’m just a game to them, a competition. I feel like I should be upset. But to tell you the truth, I’m not.”
“It’s flattering,” said Christy.
“Yes, it is. Flattering and exciting.”
Christy grabbed my arm. She squeezed and I turned to her then to where she was looking. “What is it?”
“He’s back?”
“Who? Where?”
She
nodded in the direction she was looking. “The hot blond guy from earlier.”
“Where? I don’t see him.”
“Walking toward us, behind the couple pushing a stroller.”
I caught a glimpse of him, or a glimpse of a guy dressed like him.
“Let’s make our own bet,” said Christy with excitement. “The first one of us he says hello to has to give him a compliment loaded with sexual innuendo.”
I laughed. “I don’t think I could do that.”
“Please,” she said incredulously. “I saw you flirting last night.
“I mean, I don’t think I could come up with a sexual innuendo on the spot.”
“It could be anything. He’s a guy; it doesn’t have to be good. He’ll be flattered. How about...” She looked up at the sky like that’s where the sexual innuendos gathered. “How about: Back so soon? I don’t mind a man who’s bad at playing ‘hard to get’, as long as he’s good at playing ‘getting hard’.”
“I’m not saying that!”
“Well, think of something,” she said softly, “Here he comes.”
As he approached, he looked straight ahead as if he wasn’t planning on turning and coming into the cafe. For a moment I thought he was simply going to pass us by. Whatever I was telling myself, ‘I’m not interested; I’m not ready to date,’ I couldn’t deny that for that moment I felt disappointed, almost crushed.
But then he turned and walked up to the front door.
I took a step back and held my breath.
He gave Christy a slight nod and walked right past her. “Hello, Gwen.”
“Hi, Taylor.” I caught Christy behind him, looking at me with wide eyes and expectation stamped on her face. Maybe because it was just a silly game—a game the boys started—I felt no inhibitions. “Back so soon?”
I hesitated, searching for some kind of sexy innuendo I could say. In doing so, my eyes went up and down his well-trimmed body, highlighted by the tight-fitting running shorts and T-shirt.
In my hesitation, Taylor cut in. “Did you miss me?”
“I managed to get by,” I said. Behind Taylor, Christy’s facial expression went from expectation to frustration. She frowned at me. I wasn’t as quick on my feet as she was: out of practice.
“I was just on my way to the pier,” said Taylor. “I was hoping to grab a cranberry muffin. Please tell me you have cranberry muffins.”
“I see. You just came by for a quicky.” My eyes swept up and down his body again. “Well, I’m happy to oblige.” I glanced at Christy and resisted the temptation to stick my tongue out at her. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up.
I walked back to the counter with Taylor following. “Does it have to be cranberry? I have apple cinnamon and banana nut.”
He rubbed his chin while he looked through the glass at the options on display then he looked at me. “I had a very specific craving, you understand.”
I nodded. “I hate to disappoint. I can only offer you a nut and send you on your way.”
Christy, from beside the entrance door, burst out laughing. She quickly covered her mouth. Taylor turned to look at her. He laughed too.
“Forgive me,” said Christy. “I have a dirty mind.”
“Having a dirty mind is no crime at all,” he said. He turned back to me and, with the affectation of a bad porn actor, said, “I’ll have one of each. I’ve got quite the appetite. If you know what I mean.”
I answered with my own porn-voice impression. “Just let me bag those muffins, if you know what I mean.”
When he left, we watched him walk down the sidewalk until he was out of sight. Then Cindy turned to me and stuck up her hand. “High five.”
“I can’t believe I did that,” I said. “And to a customer!”
“I’m proud of you.”
I was proud of me, too.
Business was slow in the late afternoon. I was about to head home, just waiting for Jenny’s shift to start, when Taylor came back. He wasn’t in jogging shorts or a T-shirt, but in smart slacks and a pressed cotton shirt. For a second I thought it might be his doppelganger.
“Hello Gwen.”
“Hello Taylor.”
He looked around at the empty tables then back at me. “Slow day?”
I tilted my head and smiled. “Well, I have had one customer, a repeat customer.”
Taylor raised his brow and offered a knowing grin. “Is that so?”
“It would seem he can’t get enough.” I leaned against the counter in a way that the counter pinched my dress, hiking it up a bit so I could show off some leg in my pose. “He came by for a quickie, got his ‘nut muffin’, if you know what I mean, and then came back for more.”
Taylor wiped the grin off his face, but it came back immediately and wider. “It’s funny you should say that.”
“Is it, now?”
“I was hoping I could get a quickie, too.”
“Sure,” I said and I tossed back my hair like I was in a shampoo commercial. “And would you like a muffin, too?”
He bit down on his lower lip and looked from me to the pastry display case. “Actually, I’m feeling sinful. I shouldn’t, but I’m going to have a cinnamon roll.”
“Cinnamon roll, my favorite.” I strutted around the counter. “I like a good glaze every now and then,” I said, fluttering my eyebrows.
I caught a glimpse of Cindy. Her eyes and her mouth were open wide. I winked at her while I bagged the roll.
Again, we watched him walk down the sidewalk until he was out of sight. Then Cindy turned to me and said proudly, “Damn, I didn’t think you had it in you. I’m impressed.”
I was impressed with myself, too. “Hey, if those Marines want to play games, that’s fine with me. Just as long as they understand: I’m not the toy.”
Cindy congratulated me on my new attitude. I was feeling pretty good about myself. But the celebration came to an abrupt halt when…
...Taylor walked in.
The real Taylor. The Taylor in T-shirt and jogging shorts.
“Hello Gwen,” he said very casually. “How’s it going?”
I just stared at him, mouth agape.
“You look surprised,” he said.
I pointed to the right where ‘Taylor’ in smart slacks and a pressed cotton shirt had just gone. “You… How…”
Taylor glanced over his shoulder at where I was pointing then back at me. “I was hoping to catch my brother, Tristan, but I’m guessing from that surprised look on your face that he beat me here.” A smile started to spread from his lips then he covered his mouth to hide his grin.
“Your brother, Tristan?”
Taylor nodded. “I couldn’t help thinking I might have been a bit too forward this morning. Anyway, when Tristan said he was coming by, I thought maybe I should be here, too. Unless you mistake him for me, which happens.”
I put a hand to my chin and closed my jaw. “I believe that it does.”
“I’m sorry I missed him,” he said. “How long ago did he leave?”
I put up two fingers. “Two minutes.”
He bit down on his lower lip, looked behind him then at the display case. “Are those banana muffins?”
I nodded. “Banana nut. I gave you one earlier today.”
“Uh, oh.”
“What do you mean, uh, oh?”
He smiled. “Did I come in here earlier and buy a banana nut muffin?”
I nodded. “And an apple cinnamon muffin. Do you have a problem with your memory?”
He shook his head. “No, but apparently my brother is having a problem with his diet.”
“Your brother, Tristan.”
He chuckled. “No, my brother Travis.”
I was upset at myself for not being able to tell the triplets apart. But more so than that, I was upset at myself for playing a game and playing it badly. When I told Holly about my day, she had a laugh. At first this only made me more upset, but then I had to admit she was right; it was funny, and I laughed along with her.<
br />
“Wow, triplets,” said Holly. “And they were hot?”
I nodded emphatically. “Very.”
“Please tell me you got a phone number, or three.”
I nodded. “Yes.” I raised my eyebrows. “I got all three, in fact.”
“Gwen.” Holly took a step back and looked me up and down as if I’d just slipped into a new gown. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but I like it.”
I smiled. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me, either. But I like it, too.”
“Actually, Taylor gave me his phone number and his brothers’ numbers, too. He felt bad about the confusion, didn’t want any hard feelings. I told him as long as I got the last word in, there was no problem.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
I pulled out my phone. “I’m going to send one of them, and only one of them, a sexy text. That way they’ll know I didn’t get played. I’m the one who’s playing them.”
“Sounds dangerous and mischievous,” said Holly. “I’m in.”
“For Travis, the one I was making those over-the-top innuendos with, how about”—I started typing—“Come in for a quickie any time. But don’t tell your brothers or…” I looked up at Holly hoping she could help me finish.
“Don’t tell your brothers,” said Holly, “unless you want to share.”
“That’s good.” I hit send.
“Did you really write that?”
I nodded.
“And you sent it?”
I nodded.
“What if they are into sharing?”
I frowned at her. “Holly it’s just a game.”
“Do they know that?”
5
Axel
I needed to talk to my sister, Alexa. I needed to talk to her about her private life, her sexual life. That was going to be difficult and awkward. She’d told me about how she had eight boyfriends at the same time, but of course she glossed over the details. Of course, when the squad would meet up, generally back at the apartment after dinner, the details are what they all wanted to know about.