Keep Me

by Faith Andrews

  He leaned down to peek at Luca, who was starting to doze off in his bouncy seat. Kid was like clockwork—time for his mid-morning nap. Maybe we could have indulged in that kiss a little longer. “Not too many, but you never know. These things always have a tendency to get out of hand. Beck and Marissa will probably be here within the hour, but the rest won’t be around until after two.”

  “Okay, then,” I said, standing. “Let’s get this party started while little man sleeps. I can get more done with two hands.”

  After carrying a napping Luca and his seat into the other room, Marcus met me at the refrigerator, where I searched for the ingredients for a pasta salad I wanted to make. He spun me around and caged me in his arms. The backside of me should have been cold from the temperature inside the fridge, but my body always sizzled around Marcus.

  “We have time to put your two beautiful hands to use.”

  “Yes, to make my pasta salad,” I played dumb.

  “I don’t mean in the kitchen, pretty girl.”

  “Why whatever do you mean, handsome?”

  In one swift, effortless movement, Marcus swooped me up into his arms and carried me into the screened room off the kitchen. The house was quiet, Luca and Riley both in their tenth dreams at this point. But when Marcus knelt before me, spread my legs, and hooked a finger inside the crotch of my cotton shorts, I prayed I’d be able to stifle the sounds that were certain to follow.

  “Aaannnnnnddd… flip. HA! First try. We win. Again!” My team had won flip-cup, three times in a row. You know, the game where two teams of five people lined up on opposite sides of a table with half-full cups of beer. The object was to guzzle the beer down as fast as possible and then flip the empty cup over, where it had to land upright. Once the first person in the line completed this task the rest of the line followed suit and the team to complete the ridiculously childish mission first, was the winner. No matter what team I found myself on, I was the flip-cup champion today. I was also fucking wasted. Having minded the grill underneath the scorching sun all afternoon, I dubbed five o’clock not only happy hour, but time-to-be-shit-faced hour.

  Tessa was a huge help all day; refilling the coolers with ice, cleaning up empty plates, and even mingling with some of the guys. Everyone seemed to be getting along great, accepting my new status as unavailable, and I didn’t have to deck anyone yet for drooling over her in that goddamn bikini. Now she was off somewhere with Luca and a few of Riley’s friends. And Beck, who had shown up without Marissa, was on the losing flip-cup team, staring a little too long in the direction of my girl.

  “Hey, douche.” I chucked the mouthful of liquid left in my cup onto his shirt. “Can I help you with something?”

  Beck quickly straightened up, shaking his head back and forth, as if to undo the gawking. He wiped off the tiny drops that landed on his face and narrowed his gaze in my direction this time. “What was that for, asshole?”

  “For eye-fucking Tessa. Get your own girl. And speaking of your own girl, where the hell is Marissa?”

  His attention was back in the direction of the girls making a fuss over Luca in his skull and cross bones printed swim trunks and a t-shirt that said My Mom Rocks. Beck returned to face me with a miserable look on his usually happy-go-lucky face. “I needed a break. Something’s just not clicking anymore. I can’t explain it.”

  I knew something was up; this week he had mentioned something about them not spending as much time together, but hell if I was the one he should be soliciting advice from. “Well, if you’re looking for answers to your dilemma, you’ve come to the wrong place. Don’t you remember it was me not too long ago asking you for the deal on relationships? And, by the way, I took that advice, so does this mean Tessa and I are doomed, too?” This was way too serious of a conversation to have while I this inebriated. One more beer or another shot of Patron and the slurring of speech would ensue. I needed to slow down. I didn’t want to be sloppy in front of Tessa.

  “Dude, grab me that water?” I motioned to the cooler sitting right behind Beck.

  He tossed it to me and I gulped it down, hoping to dilute some of the poison that was turning me back into the person I used to be just a few short months ago—wild, loose, irresponsible, and reckless.

  Refreshed, I stood up to make my way back toward Tessa, deciding that whatever was eating at Beck was something he’d rather not talk about. Kid usually had diarrhea of the mouth when it came to shit like this, but maybe he just wasn’t in the mood to unleash all his dating woes on me now that I was happily dating myself.

  When he stood up and started to follow me, I was surprised. “I thought you were wallowing? I’m gonna go see if Tessa and Luca need anything—you can sit here and continue your pity party if you want.”

  “Oh fuck off. I just want to talk to Riley about something. She… uh… she dropped her lipstick in the cab last week so I picked it up and brought it here to give it back to her.”

  “Oh, how sweet of you.” I elbowed him in the gut with a sarcastic singsong reply.

  When we got to the girls, everyone’s chatter stopped instantly. From what I understood, women were far more inclined to dish about their sex lives then us men were. Sure we would boast about a good lay or brag about a blowjob, but women were brutal when it came to locker room talk. They went into detail about cock size, orgasm strength, spooning frequency… “Sorry to interrupt ladies, but mind if I grab my girl for a little while?”

  Two of the other girls practically swooned. The redhead’s eyes never left my shirtless torso and the plump brunette was actually wiping drool from her mouth. Ah, I still had it—and something told me that being unavailable added to the appeal. I winked at my admirers, realizing I probably shouldn’t have—shit, old habits died hard.

  Tessa sat up from her lounge chair—unaffected—and lifted Luca from the toddler pool I had bought at the mini-mart and inflated at the gas station. She dangled him in front of her and I quickly grabbed the towel with the red hoodie made to look like a lobster’s head. I draped it around the wriggling, dripping wet Luca and took him from her arms. “Come here, little dude. Mommy’s getting all wet.” Her bathing suit stuck to her in all the right places. I could see that her nipples were hard through the skimpy fabric. I wanted to take one in my mouth, play with it between my teeth. I tried to ignore the fantasy because Luca was snug in my arms, but I arched a brow and stifled a groan as I watched the water trickle from the swell of her tits down to her tanned navel. “Holy shit, you look hot, pretty girl.”

  “Marcus!” she scolded me, embarrassed by my bluntness in front of so many people. “See you girls in a bit. Luca needs a new diaper and Marcus needs to sober up.”

  I pulled her close to me with my free arm, hooking it around her neck, and nuzzling my nose behind her ear. “Sobering up won’t help, Tess. I’m drunk off you.”

  “No,” she giggled, “it’s the alcohol. Now, quit pawing at me like that. Everyone’s watching.”

  Pawing at her? Since when did she mind my hands on her body?

  She must have sensed I was offended because an apologetic smile splayed across her blushing face. “I’m sorry. It’s just that Riley’s here and I know she’s uncomfortable and,” her expression changed from calm to heated, like all of a sudden she remembered something unsettling. “All those girls… you had to hear the way they were talking about you, Marcus. Did you know you hooked up with Natasha’s sister? She thinks you’re a total dog!”

  I knew it was only a matter of time before my past came back to haunt me. I just expected Tessa to be more forgiving. I backed away from her, still cradling Luca on my hip, and narrowed my gaze, frustrated. “Hey, Natasha’s sister,” I searched my brain for a name… not being able to remember it wasn’t going to help my cause. When I fell short, okay flat, for an answer, I just continued. “She has nothing to do with us. You’re going to let those girls get in your head? Ruin everything?” For the first time since we solidified our feelings for each other, I worried that what Be
ck said about not being good enough for her was right.

  “No, of course not, but—”

  “But nothing.” I pulled her closer again and kissed her on the mouth, hard. Luca squirmed, sandwiched between us, but giggled. “I’m all yours. And have I ever been a dog to you?”

  She shook her head and bit her bottom lip, smiling. Her eyes sparkled with desire, her beautiful features relaxed again.

  “Good.” I kissed the tip of her perfectly upturned nose. “Now, let’s loosen you up a bit. Pick your poison: wine, beer, shots, or vodka?” I headed in the direction of the bar, but she tugged my arm, loosening Luca from my grip.

  “Nothing for me, yet. Let me get him changed and then, later when he’s asleep for the night, I promise I’ll indulge in a cocktail or two.”

  “Suit yourself.” I turned back in the direction of the bar and then shouted over my shoulder. “Need help inside with little man?”

  “No, babe.” She winked. “We’re good.”

  We’re good. I knew she wasn’t just talking about her and Luca and the diaper change. Happy we averted the issue of past fuck-ups and fuck buddies, I headed off to find Beck for another round of flip cup. Scouring the yard and searching the dock, I finally spotted him with Riley. The two of them were alone, feet dangling off the dock, having what seemed to be a heated conversation. Riley’s arms flailed all about as Beck’s face was all up in hers. What the fuck was that all about? She couldn’t possibly be that angry about leaving her lipstick in the cab. I started to march over to them when a cold, familiar hand tapped me on the shoulder.

  “Nice party, City.”

  City? No fucking way! “Skylar. What are you doing here?”

  She planted her hands on her hips, pouting. “Not the reception I was expecting. Did I overlook my invitation?”

  No! She didn’t overlook anything. This party was by invite only. Naughty neighbors were not on the “sure, come to my party and meet my girlfriend” list. “Um, sorry. Oversight, I guess. Had no idea you’d be around this weekend. I’m here with…”

  “Oh, I know exactly when you got here and I’ve seen all the things you’ve been up to. Who was the lucky girl with her head between your legs on the dock the other night?”

  Shit! She saw that? I didn’t like the idea of her spying on Tessa and me, especially while we were intimate. It made it all seem cheap and no amount of explaining could rectify the image of a naked woman on her knees out in public. It wasn’t cheap and neither was my girl, and the whole idea of Skylar being here made me very defensive. “That would be my girlfriend. We thought we were alone.”

  She flashed a catty, evil smile. “I enjoyed the show. Very much. In fact, I came long and hard watching.”

  I gulped. Not that I was affected by her obvious intentions, but because this was going to be hard to explain to Tessa. “Well, good for you then.” I started to back away, and then noticed Tessa stepping out onto the patio from the sliding doors. Wonderful! Why couldn’t Luca have taken a messy shit this time? Way to buy me some time, buddy!

  She walked over to me, sizing up Skylar in her black string-bikini, covered up—barely—by a mesh shirt with fringes that dangled over her midsection. “Hey, babe,” she said, staking her claim.

  I tried to fight it with all my might, but dammit a smile crept on my lips at the sound of Tessa being territorial.

  “Tessa, this is Skylar. The next door neighbor.”

  Tessa extended her dainty hand to Skylar who hesitated for a second and then clasped her claws around Tessa’s fingers. “Pleasure to meet you. Marcus failed to inform me there’d be a party when I last saw him, so I just took it upon myself to come on over and join the fun.”

  Tessa’s eyes darted between Skylar and me. I simply shrugged my shoulders and smiled, while Skylar’s eyes never left Tessa. Once over was an understatement. Skylar examined every single inch of Tessa’s hair, clothing, skin, even her pretty little toes. The awkwardness was palpable.

  When Skylar finally released her grip, I let out the breath I was holding, hoping Tessa didn’t notice. “Well, I’m going to go mingle. It was nice meeting you, Tessa. Marcus, maybe we’ll catch up later.”

  “Sure. Bye, Skylar.”

  Skylar sauntered off, making a show of swinging her hips. I knew I had to be in for it! This would be quite the inquisition. I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t exactly want to tell the truth about how Skylar and I first met. Between Natasha, her sister, and now this! I would surely be in the doghouse tonight.

  “She seemed nice,” Tessa said through gritted teeth.

  “Mhhmmm.” I nodded.

  “You know, I might need that drink after all. Can you make me a vodka and tonic with a splash of lemon?”

  “Anything for you, pretty girl.” Was that it? Was it over? Please, God, tell me the tension that just took place between those two was a whisper in the wind.

  I poured the ingredients for Tessa’s request into a mixer, adding ice and shaking it vigorously. As I emptied the cold concoction into the plastic glass, everything changed.

  “I’m a fucking moron, aren’t I?” Tessa’s tongue scraped the top row of her teeth, her eyes welling with tears.

  “What are you talking about?” Fuck! Here it comes!

  “You’ve been with that girl, too, haven’t you? Anyone else here you want to point out to me so at least I’m not guessing anymore?”

  “Tessa, please. Stop—”

  “No!” she cried, as she turned to put Luca in the walking contraption that he loved so much. “I feel like such an idiot! Everyone here just thinks I’m the flavor of the week. I can’t compete with your reputation, Marcus. You have no idea what this feels like.”

  She was right. I didn’t know what it felt like, but I wanted to make it go away for her. I slammed down her drink and rounded the bar to embrace her. “Tess, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. You are not some ‘flavor’. I’ve never been with a girl more than once, never. Okay, that sounds bad…” I scrubbed my hands down my face. I had to get this out right. “What I mean is… I don’t want to talk about my past. Nothing good can come out of rehashing the who’s, where’s, and when’s, but you have to know that you’re different. You’re not just some girl, some one-night stand. We’re together, in a relationship. I’ll shout it to the world if you want me to.”

  She shook her head, fighting off more tears. “It doesn’t matter what you say. What’s done is done and no one will ever take us seriously.”

  “Fuck everyone else! All that matters is how we see it. I want this. Do you want this?”

  I watched the tears spill from her beautiful blue eyes. Her lips quivered and her body shook. Why couldn’t she just say it?

  “Are you kidding, Tessa? What the fuck changed in the last five minutes? One girl is going to change your opinion of me? I thought I did all the convincing I needed to do to win you over. Talk about having your feelings hurt. I had to convince you, repeatedly, over and over again to give me a shot. I thought we were past this shit!” Now I was angry. And not even so much angry as totally destroyed. Maybe everyone was right. I wasn’t good enough for her.

  Releasing my grip on her arms, I backed up, balling my fists. I needed to get out of here. I didn’t want her or anyone else to see how my heart was being ripped out of my chest right now. “You proved them all right today. Thank you very fucking much.”

  I stormed off toward the house, not looking back. I usually avoided feelings for this reason right here. I didn’t need to feel hurt. It was better to be numb.

  I proved them all right? How was this my fault? There I was, minding my own business, casually trying to enjoy my boyfriend’s party and… BAM… I’m slapped in the face with his promiscuous past and the women who were part of it. I wasn’t usually the jealous type, but call it what you may, I had insecurity issues. Especially when it came to Marcus.

  I thought I was over the fact that he was a model, his face—and his ass—plastered all over the place, visible to tons
of ogling women, but apparently I wasn’t. And that hooch in the fringed number—she put the nail in the coffin. I knew Marcus hadn’t been to the lake house in years. This was the first summer since his mother died that he came back. So that meant Skylar was a recent conquest. My mind played over past conversations with Marcus; weekends he mentioned coming here to fix up the place. Was he with her after we started sleeping together? Before? Fuck! It didn’t matter, did it? Up until a week ago we weren’t anything but friends with benefits anyway. I knew I had no right to even question him about it, but it still stung.

  “Hey! There you are!” Riley caught me by surprise as she launched herself onto my back, piggy-back style.

  I flinched at the initial shock, but then straightened up. I didn’t want her knowing Marcus and I were arguing—if that’s what we were doing. Once she sensed there was even the tiniest bit of trouble in paradise I’d be hearing “I told you so”.

  “Way to sneak up and give someone a heart attack, Ry. And why the hell are you in such a good mood?”

  Her shoulders danced as she inched her sunglasses down her nose. When they were no longer covering her eyes, she winked, still wordless.

  “Spill. You’re being elusive and I don’t very much enjoy elusive Riley.”

  She pushed her Guccis back up her nose and placed a hand on her hip. “You don’t like elusive Riley just as much as I don’t like sulking Tessa. What’s up with you? I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” she sang.

  This was how it should be. She was my best friend—besides Marcus of course. I wanted to feel free to confide in her about my boyfriend, the way normal best friends did, but I couldn’t go there with her, not yet. So I hoped she wanted to dish first about whatever had her so stinking happy.

  “You first,” I suggested, readying myself for a negotiation.

  “Okay, okay. If you insist,” she pulled me by the arm to sit down at the bar.