Elly & Kent - The Complete Story: Includes Books 1-3

by Marie Cole

  "I love it. I'll never take it off."

  "I'm glad you like it, Elly." He broke the hug and stared down at me. It looked like he was struggling to get something out.

  "I love it." I smiled and then the bombshell came.

  "Elly, I love you and I've loved you for a long time. I was just too stupid to realize it."

  I blinked at him, digesting what he said. He was rebounding, trying to rebound with me. I shook my head slowly and spoke softly, "Kent...you don't...I don't think...I think you're just hurting from Jen..."

  "I've been waiting for a long time to do something. Something that I always wanted to do but I was too chicken shit to do it." His hand went to my cheek and he moved forward and pressed his lips against mine.

  It made sense that I'd waited so long for a kiss from him that when it finally happened, Kent would do it so fast that I wouldn't see it coming. I was too stunned to react immediately but when I realized what he was doing I put my hands on his chest and pulled back.

  "Kent, don't. You're very emotional right now... it's a tough time for you. I'll be here for you but I can't be here for you in that way." I watched as his face fell. He nodded in defeat.

  "No...yeah, you're right. God, I'm an idiot. I'm sorry, Elly." He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated, probably with himself.

  "Hey," I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay." My poor friend was hurting, most likely still crushed from the Jen cheating blow and also probably because he'd kissed me, possibly thinking it might affect our friendship and it wouldn't. I wouldn't let it. I'd let those feelings go.

  "Sorry I kind of rushed out of your party. I've just had a lot of things on my mind." He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

  "I know you do and I'm sorry I haven't been there for you like I should have been." I sighed softly and pressed my cheek against his chest. "I've been kind of a terrible friend."

  "No, Elly. You've always been a great friend. You've got choices that you have to make in your life. Some that might take you away from me. Just know that I love you and always will, no matter what." I'd told him I'd loved him before, but I was pretty sure he took it in the friend way. And right now I had to do the same because even if he thought he was having deeper feelings for me he had to be wrong.

  "I love you too, Kent. Always." I pulled my head back to look up at him. "Are you going to be okay?"

  He rubbed a hand over his face slowly and nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, Elly."

  "You know that's not possible." I smiled as I pinched his cheek and then stepped back to put space between us. I was maybe still a little drunk...or horny...or both. I pushed those feelings away. I had to focus.

  He smiled and then nodded to the ladder. "Can I walk you home?" I nodded and he led the way.

  I grinned to myself as he started down. When he was halfway I started down too. "Don't look up!"

  "Don't worry. After last time I learned my lesson."

  I doubted it. I grinned as I reached down and loosened my heel. I kicked it off and it went falling down, hitting him on his shoulder before falling the rest of the way to the ground. "My shoe!" The combo of my exclamation and the shoe hitting him was enough to get him to look straight up. When he realized it was just a ploy he shook his head and grumbled.

  "Dammit, Elly!"

  I giggled softly. "You're such a sucker."

  "And you're such a tease." His feet hit the ground and he took a step back for my modesty, waiting for me to finish climbing.

  "You say that like it's a bad thing." I bent down on my one shoe and grabbed the other before putting it back on. I wrapped my arm around his and walked with him in the direction of my apartment.

  He looked down at my shoes and shook his head. "You're gonna kill yourself in those things."

  I looked down at my shoes and then shook my head. "Nah. They look good and they make my legs look super hot."

  "Well they're not going to look sexy tomorrow when you're limping around. Climb on. And don't give me the excuse about your butt hanging out. Tie my jacket around your waist." He held out his jacket and after I took it he stepped in front of me.

  "I would argue but I know you're going to pester me until I agree and I'm too tired to argue." I tied his suit jacket tightly around my waist and then jumped onto his waiting back, my arms sliding around his neck. He started walking and I smiled over his shoulder, "You're going to hurt yourself one of these days. You're getting old."

  "The hell I am." He said with a grin. "You want me to run the rest of the way? Cause I will!" After saying it he jogged a few steps. I had to pee and the jostling wasn't helping.

  "No!" I squeezed him hard to get him to stop jogging, my giggles disturbing the silence of the streets at 3am. "...but you are getting old." I said quickly and quietly.

  "But so are you Elly, my dear." Kent smiled a little as he carried me all the way to my apartment. He walked up the walkway with me and finally put me down.

  "You think I don't know that? Today is the day everyone celebrates the new wrinkles on my face." I pulled my skirt down and then untied his jacket from my waist. "Thanks for the ride. Do you want to come in?"

  He didn't hesitate with his response, "It's getting kind of late, Elly. Maybe I should just walk on back and get my car. Go turn in for the night."

  I wanted to say that it didn't affect me but it did, I felt the slight burn of rejection. I nodded and held out his jacket, putting a smile on for him. "Alright. Are you sure I can't call you a cab or something?" I was wishing now that I hadn't picked Bubbles because it had been within walking distance. I could see that my best friend was in distress and it was killing me that I couldn't comfort him. And I was feeling guilty that I hadn't been there to comfort him so far in his divorce process.

  "Hey, I'll be fine Elly. Get some rest, alright?" He spoke softly as he brought his hand up to my cheek. "Thanks for coming to find me." He let his hand fall away from my cheek as I nodded again.

  I hugged him and spoke softly into his ear, "Thanks for coming to my birthday and for the present. I love it." I pulled away and then turned away, heading for the front door to my apartment building. When I was safely inside I laid down on my bed. My mind was reeling. How could I fix this for Kent? How could I help to make him happy again? I smiled as I sat up. Brilliant. I'd set him up or go bar hopping with him. The best way to get over Jen was to throw him into a one night stand...and then he'd get the rebound sex out of the way and then he could move on to his next long-term relationship.

  When I was safely tucked into bed I texted Bryan.

  Me: I'm going to bed now.

  Bryan: Good. Glad you made it home safely. :-) You okay?

  Me: Yes. Just tired. Sweet dreams, boyfriend. :-)

  Bryan: You too, girlfriend. ttyl

  Me: PS Keep your hands where God can see them tonight. You'll need to save that energy for me. Maybe tomorrow....;)

  I plugged my phone in and turned off the light. I snuggled against my pillow as my mind raced with a sure fire plan to get Kent laid.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  I waited as long as I could before calling Kent. I made it to 10 am, which I thought was pretty good. He sounded groggy and I think it was in my favor that he wasn't fully awake when I bullied him into a double date with myself, Bryan and MaryAnn, my waitress friend from work.

  We all three were standing outside the entrance of the mini-golf place when Kent finally showed up. I had been semi-listening to Bryan try to explain the difference between RAM and Memory as I took in MaryAnn's appearance. She looked good in a blue wrap dress that accentuated her large chest and curvy hips. Her red wavy hair was half tied back, little wisps of it played around her made up face. She was the prettiest waitress at the bar, in my opinion, and I was lucky that she was newly single and ready to mingle.

  I didn't even excuse myself from my friends before running to Kent, the whi
te platform wedges made it more difficult than usual. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. When he released me shortly after, I tugged at the bottom of my white dress, it barely covered my ass which had been an error of judgement on my part, especially for a game of mini-golf.

  As I stepped back Bryan and MaryAnn came forward. Bryan extended his hand to Kent and shook it like they were old pals. "Didn't know Elly's friend was you, boss. Good to see you out of the shop for a change." I blinked between the two of them. His boss? Kent was Bryan's boss? And he hadn't said anything to me? Before I could say anything about it MaryAnn slid in gracefully and offered her hand to Kent.

  "Nice to meet you, Kent. Elly has told me so much about you. Please tell me you're good at mini-golf because I play to win."

  Kent didn't have a chance to respond to Bryan. He smiled down at her. "I'm better than Elly at mini-golf, if that helps put your mind at ease." Kent looked at me and grinned, winking.

  I pouted, "No need to advertise how much I suck."

  MaryAnn smiled sweetly but her tone was a little chilly, "I had no idea you sucked, Elly." She nudged me with her elbow which sent me slightly off balance. As she wrapped her arm around Kent's I straightened myself out.

  "Yeah, well..." I cleared my throat, I'd heard that MaryAnn sucked a lot but I bit my tongue and refrained, no need to ruin Kent's chance at a rebound so soon. "Let's get going or we'll miss the dinner reservations." I could see that he was not enjoying being smothered, though. I wasn't really sure how to fix that just yet without seeming like, well, like I was prying her off of him.

  "You're right, Els. I was going to make a joke about balls, but I figure we'll just move on and start playing instead." Bryan grinned. It was so hot. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through three or four hours without kissing him. PDAs in front of Kent would be weird.

  "Do we want to place a bet on the game? The two with the lowest scores have to..." MaryAnn pretended to think about it but it was obvious she didn't need to. "spend seven minutes alone together somewhere before dinner?" She looked around at all of us, and ended her gaze on Kent who looked very nervous at the thought. I looked at Bryan, wondering what he would say. Would I want him kissing MaryAnn? Hell no. Would I want to get stuck maybe kissing her? Double hell no.

  "What if we played guys vs girls instead? And if the girls win we get free dinner...and if the guys win...what do you guys want?" I lifted my eyebrows questioningly as we entered the building and waited briefly in line for our clubs and balls.

  Kent and Bryan exchanged a look but Kent was the first to speak. "I don't know."

  He chuckled as Bryan ran his hand through his hair. Bryan shrugged his shoulders. "I like the seven minutes thing, but I think it would be better with our respected others."

  "But we can do that after dinner." I piped up. "If we want to bet it has to be something that can be done right after the game."

  MaryAnn shrugged as we all picked out our clubs. "The winner should get something special, that's all I'm trying to get at." We made our way to the first hole but had to wait behind another foursome. I looked at Kent and smiled reassuringly trying to telepathically tell him that she couldn't rape him in public so he'd be okay. He didn't seem to get the message.

  Bryan looked at Kent and Kent just shook his head, basically telling Bryan that he had to make the choice. "Hell, I don't know. It's guys versus girls. If they win then they get to ride with us to dinner, if we win..." Bryan let his voice trail off as he thought. He too was wearing a pretty tight t-shirt and those form fitting blue jeans.

  I smiled up to Bryan. "Come on, babe. Use that pretty head of yours." I was refraining from smacking him on the ass, which was my first instinct. Meanwhile, MaryAnn was filling out the names on the card with the tiny pencil.

  "Such wise words from Yoda here." Bryan shook his head and did smack me on my ass, causing me to jump. "Fine. The guys win then we hit the drink stand and we get a body shot before dinner."

  MaryAnn looked up from the card and smiled at me and I smiled back. I wouldn't have to try to suck but I knew then that MaryAnn was going to throw the game in the favor of the guys. "Okay," we both said in unison. Bryan was up first, alphabetical order. "Hit that ball, Bryan!"

  MaryAnn had officially come in last place. "Dammit! We lost, Elly!"

  I grinned at Kent. "So you're going to do the body shot? I'm shocked. Can I videotape it and send it to your mom?"

  Kent smirked at me and shook his head. "Only if I can record yours and send it to your mom." When MaryAnn came around to join us Kent put his arm around her shoulder. "So it looks like tequila is the shot of choice."

  MaryAnn grinned and didn't touch Kent, as she'd been instructed about halfway through the game. "Sounds good to me."

  I looked at Bryan, I sure as heck didn't want to see Kent cozying up to MaryAnn, even if that was the plan. "Yours too?"

  Bryan nodded his head to me and he too put his arm around my shoulder just as Kent had done to MaryAnn. "Sounds really good. How about I meet you guys over there and get them set up!" Bryan didn't give time for an answer as he kissed me and moved towards the restaurant just down the road.

  Internally, I was cussing like a sailor. Externally, I put on a brave, smiling face. "I'm gonna use the bathroom, I'll meet you guys there?"

  MaryAnn was going to concede to whatever Kent wanted to do and waited for him to respond.

  Kent shrugged his shoulders as he let his arm fall from MaryAnn's shoulders. "You sure, Elly? We can wait on you and go on then."

  "No, it's fine. I'll catch up before you get there, I bet." I smiled and waved them off. MaryAnn took Kent's hand and tugged him in the direction Bryan had gone and once he was moving she let go of his hand. As they walked away I could hear her asking Kent about his store, whether he liked it. Genuinely taking an interest, or seeming to.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  When I got to the bar the three of them were there and MaryAnn was already stretched out on the bar top. "Body shot!" She pulled her dress up, exposing her black lace panties, her creamy white thighs, and her concave stomach. I approached, watching as Kent prepared to do his shot.

  Kent's eyes moved over MaryAnn's body as she pulled her dress up. He seemed a little nervous. The bartender provided some salt and a lemon as well as the liquor. Kent lifted the lemon to let MaryAnn hold it in her mouth. He licked her stomach and applied some salt there as he poured the shot into her belly button. "Here goes," he said as he ran his tongue over the salt and slurped the alcohol out of her bellybutton and then moved up as he swallowed it to grab the lemon from her mouth with his. The young males that had gathered to get a gander at MaryAnn's hot body whooped. MaryAnn had played nice.

  I stepped up and took Bryan's hand in mine, squeezing lightly. "My turn?"

  MaryAnn smiled as she found my gaze. "Unless you want to do one first," MaryAnn said with a wink.

  I shrugged. "Okay, what the hell." I pushed Kent out of the way and repeated the process, making a show of it. I licked slowly at MaryAnn's bellybutton, sprinkled the salt on, poured the shot and then slowly slurped, swallowed, a little falling down my chin and between my breasts and then I went for the lemon. I stood up, whoops all around. I took the lemon from my lips, held it up in the air and grinned at the boys.

  Kent chuckled and shook his head. Bryan was standing amongst the guys with a grin as he watched me. We had seriously gathered the attention of the younger men there, they were starting to get closer. Bryan moved up and helped MaryAnn down from the bar and then offered his hand to me. "You ready, Sunshine?" There was something a little seductive in his eyes as he asked his question.

  I smiled, "You bet." I took his hand and got up onto the bar that MaryAnn had warmed up for me. MaryAnn was standing beside Kent, watching. I was sitting up slightly, supported by my elbows, my eyes on Bryan, waiting for him to grab the hem of my dress and expose me to the many pairs of eyes watching.

  Bryan smiled as he ran a hand o
ver my leg up to the hem of the dress. There his fingers snagged it and pulled it up to show my panties and my bellybutton. He grabbed some of the salt but instead of putting it near my bellybutton he bent over, ran his tongue over my thigh right beside my panties and put it there. He took the lemon and put it into my mouth with a grin and back down he went as he put the shot in my bellybutton. He slowly ran his tongue over the salt and then moved up to my bellybutton and after he sucked it out he moved up to the lemon. He pulled it out with his teeth and dropped it beside my head on the bar. And then he pressed his lips to mine, kissing me with an untamed passion.

  The kiss heated me up and despite the whooping around me I was lost in it. My hands went to his hair and I kissed him passionately in return, my back arching, trying to get my body to press against his.

  There were a couple of whistles that went up when we got heated. I felt Bryan's hand reach into my hair for a moment as his tongue slid into my mouth. It seemed like there was no one else there, but soon the kiss was broken and Bryan stood beside me at the bar. "Nice shot. We'll have to do that again." He said with those perfect teeth showing in a smile.

  I immediately felt the loss of him and looked up at him longingly as I laid back on the bar, needing a moment to compose myself.

  "My turn." It was MaryAnn. She smiled and took the safe route, licking the bellybutton. She salted, slurped and then took the lemon waiting in my mouth. When she was finished she pushed Kent towards me. "Your turn!"

  Kent was watching, but when MaryAnn pushed him towards me he was a little stunned. "It's alright. We should get going anyway." Kent nervously moved his hand through his messy hair.