by Jamie Craig
“Well, now you’ve gone and done it. I was going to ask him for a game tonight, but he won’t want to play now.”
Adam popped the cap off the bottle and sighed with satisfaction as the first swallow filled his mouth.
“Oh, I don’t think I would have agreed to a game anyway.” Adam shrugged. “My luck hasn’t been very good recently. Poker would just be begging for trouble.”
This time, there was no mistaking the mirth in Scott’s eyes. “You came to the wrong table for dinner, then. Trouble is every Emerson’s middle name.”
Colette frowned. “No, it’s not. My middle name is Marie.”
“Only because your mom and I didn’t want to encourage any self-fulfilling prophecies.” Nodding toward the door through which they’d entered, Scott looked at Adam and said, “Want to keep me company while Mom gets dinner on? If you stick around, she’s going to make you husk the corn.” He leaned forward, conspiratorially. “And she uses tweezers to get the silk off. Run while you can.”
Ida slapped Scott’s arm, though the way he immediately ducked said it was all in good fun. “I only use the tweezers on the little ones that won’t wash off.” To Adam, “Nobody likes getting cornsilk in their teeth.”
Out of stupidity or habit, Adam didn’t know, but his first reaction was to offer to help. He barely managed to bite back the words, unwilling to find out what adventure or two-mile trek would result from agreeing to shuck corn.
“Well, as much as I hate cornsilk in my teeth, I think I’d rather not know the joy of using tweezers on corn.”
“Smart move.” Already, Scott was heading for the doorway. “Come on. You can help me keep the TV company until dinnertime.”
Adam followed. He wasn’t sure if Scott was serious about doing something as normal as watching television for the next couple of hours or not. He was even less sure why he was hoping they didn’t.
Chapter 2
Scott led Adam to the living room, a comfortable space packed with the memorabilia of a lifetime. Pictures of every shape and size cluttered every available surface, but outside of a quick glance that noted a lot of them were of Colette, Adam didn’t examine them any closer. That would imply a genuine interest about these people. They had snatched him into their lives without knowing a thing about him; he shuddered to think what they would do with someone who showed an inclination to stay.
Scott did not turn on the television before settling on the couch, long legs sprawled in front of him. Adam settled in a nearby chair and took another swallow of his beer. Had anything ever tasted so good in his life? Adam didn’t think so.
“So…what do you do?” Adam started, hoping to distract Scott from asking the same question. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything.
“I’m a writer. Horror mostly. Some thrillers.” His mouth canted. “Which means I spend most of my time watching Colette and running errands for my mom.”
“Oh. Have you published anything?”
“A few things. I have a couple books that got me advances and that was pretty much it, so I’ve been doing mostly short stories for the past few years.” Scott took a long sip of his beer, bending his leg so the left ankle rested on his right knee. “So why are you headed down to Florida? New job or vacation?”
It would be easy enough to lie. Scott didn’t know him—would never know him—and Adam could construct any life he wanted. He could be rich and successful and driving down to his summer home. But Adam dismissed the thought. He wouldn’t gain anything by lying.
“Neither, actually. Well, I hope I find a job there. But if not, I guess I’ll just start driving west.”
He didn’t expect the spark of jealousy to flare in Scott’s eyes, but the nod that came with it confirmed he’d made the right choice in telling the truth. Others might have judged Adam for his impetuosity, but Scott would not be one of them.
“Sasha and I always talked about doing that,” he said, almost wistfully. “We got out to San Francisco once, but that was before Colette came along.”
“This is the first time I’ve been out of New York in years and years. Never really had any reason to leave. Then yesterday I woke up and realized I had no reason to stick around. I thought Florida seemed nice.” Adam realized he had opened the door for more questions and quickly tried to close it again. “And what about Sasha? What does she do when you’re writing and running errands?”
“She’s the GP in town. She’s too good for this place, but…” Scott shrugged. “Life has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.”
Adam stared blankly for a moment before he realized Scott meant she was the town’s doctor. Though, there didn’t seem to be much of a town.
“Yes, it does. How long ago did life sneak up on you? Colette is what? Eleven? Twelve?”
“Ten. Sasha got pregnant our junior year at NCSU. We stayed in Raleigh while she finished up her med program, but we moved here when my grandmother died a couple years ago and left us her property. It’s kind of hard to beat free housing when you’re paying back school loans.”
Adam felt more than a small twinge of jealousy. It seemed like Scott had everything Adam had ever thought he wanted—college, career, family. It would have been easy to feel resentment on top of the jealousy, but frankly, Scott was too nice, his smile too welcoming and pleasant.
“That’s one good thing about getting out of New York. I know no matter where I end up, it’ll be cheaper than living there.”
“There must have been something good about New York, though.” Draining the rest of his beer, Scott leaned forward to set it on the coffee table, staying like that as he spoke to Adam. “All that freedom. All the clubs. You can do anything you want, to whoever you want, almost wherever you want. Man, I miss those days.”
Adam nodded, almost afraid he’d disappoint Scott if he told him he rarely went out to clubs, though he did occasionally indulge in doing anything he wanted to whoever he could find.
“There’s definitely a lot of people, and a lot of options.” Adam brought his bottle to his mouth and Scott’s gaze followed the motion. Adam licked the beer from his bottom lip, and Scott seemed to follow that, too. In fact, Scott didn’t seem aware that anything in the room existed, except Adam. If they had been in one of the New York night clubs, Adam would have taken his interest as a sign to press for a little bit more. But since they weren’t in a club, Adam wasn’t sure how to interpret it. “I guess you don’t get much of a chance to go out now, though.”
“No, not really.”
The slam of a car door cut off anything further Scott might add, followed by Colette’s shouts. “Mom’s home!”
Adam turned in time to see her blur through the living room and out the front door. Scott shifted as well, pulling aside the corner of the curtain in order to peer out the window, but all Adam could make out was a tall, dark-haired woman catching the gangly girl.
The screen door opened again, and Colette entered first, chattering away about the s’mores and sleepover as her mother followed her into the house. Adam’s eyes widened. Sasha Emerson was the last person he would have ever imagined living in such a podunk town. Nearly as tall as her husband, she had glossy black hair, parted down the middle and tucked behind her ears, highlighting the Eastern angles of her face. Mixed heritage, Adam realized. Her features were softened just enough by European genes to make her the most exotic woman he had ever met.
“Go get me a bottle of water,” she instructed Colette, tugging lightly on her daughter’s ponytail. “And tell Gram I’ve got another case in my trunk for her so she doesn’t give you a hard time about taking one.”
Colette scurried off, leaving Sasha to turn and come over to Scott. Sitting down on the opposite end of the couch, she kicked off her shoes and stretched out so that her feet rested on his lap. Heedless to Adam’s presence, she ran one slim foot along Scott’s crotch, back and forth until even Adam noticed the bulge in his baggy trousers.
“We have company, you know,” Scott remarked evenly. He didn’t
stop her, though. He just lifted her other ankle and began massaging the arch of her foot.
She looked to Adam like this was the first time she noticed him. “Where did you come from?”
“I helped Ida home from the store. She insisted I stay for dinner.”
“I thought you were going to tell your mother not to bring home random people.” Scott only shrugged, and Adam couldn’t help but notice that she was still running her foot along her husband’s erection. Adam’s groin tightened, but he knew it would be best to ignore her actions and his own response. “I’m sorry if this clan has overwhelmed you, Mr…”
“Roper. Adam Roper. And I don’t mind being a little overwhelmed.”
Her lashes ducked, her gaze drifting over his body. By the time they lifted again, he was fairly sure his arousal was as clear as Scott’s. What he wasn’t sure about was whether or not she’d appraised him with such a deliberate intention. Back in New York, he would have thought the same thing he’d thought of her husband.
But they still weren’t in New York. And they were married. With a child just in the next room.
“I hope you don’t mind bitching, either,” she said. Resting her head on the arm of the couch, Sasha sighed as Scott rotated her ankle. “I’ve had a crappy day. All I want is to let my hair down and forget it ever happened.”
“What happened?” Scott prompted.
“Oh, the usual stupidity. Just all concentrated into one day.” She looked at Adam. “Ever have to deal with idiot after idiot, convinced they know your job better than you do?”
Adam smiled sympathetically. If they talked about their crappy jobs, he wouldn’t be able to focus on the thought of settling on the couch between these two stunning creatures. “I know something about idiots. I recently quit my job as a manager at a big-box store that rhymes with mall-wart. I’ve met every idiot within a forty-mile radius of the store. And their idiot families.”
“Adam’s from New York,” Scott provided, before Sasha could ask. “He’s just passing through on his way to Florida.”
A small smile played on her full mouth. It was hard not to wonder what those lips looked like wrapped around her husband’s cock.
“A little late for spring break, isn’t it?” she teased.
“It is. And I’m a little too old for spring break, besides. This is more like a…life break.” It sounded lame to Adam’s ears, but he didn’t know how else to describe it without launching into his whole history. He was quite certain they didn’t need, or desire, all that information. “Florida seemed as good a destination as any. And if it doesn’t work out there, I’ll go somewhere else.”
Colette came bouncing in with her mother’s water, but if she noticed Sasha’s blatant affection with her father, she didn’t say a word. “You could come back here,” she offered him with a smile.
“Mr. Roper’s just passing through,” Sasha said, repeating Scott’s earlier statement. “Besides, he’d be bored out of his mind here after New York.”
He wouldn’t have been bored out of his mind if he had somebody like Scott or Sasha in his life. And Adam refused to believe that Colette and Ida ever allowed anything to get boring.
Adam smiled at Colette. “If my great plan to get away from New York fails and I get homesick, I’ll definitely stop here on my way up north again.”
“You’d go back?” Sasha posed the question with a small frown. “What’s the point of escaping if you just lock yourself back up in the same cage?”
“That cage has the advantage of being familiar, if not comfortable or otherwise appealing.”
“Familiar’s overrated,” Scott intervened. “Take it from people who know.”
Colette wrinkled her nose. “You guys are going to talk about boring stuff, aren’t you?”
“Probably.”
“I’m going to go help Gram with dinner then.” Dropping a kiss to Sasha’s forehead, Colette headed back to the kitchen at a trot. The unexpected question of whether the child inherited this energy from either of her parents made Adam’s cock jump.
“Your overrated familiar doesn’t seem too bad to me,” Adam said softly. In the kitchen, Ida and Colette were discussing the relative advantages of waiting until after dinner to start baking cookies. “Of course, your familiar seems incredibly exotic to me.”
Sasha’s fine brows arched, but it was Scott who responded first.
“Mom’s a character, that’s for sure. And Colette has always been too verbal for her age. That’s probably our fault.”
Sasha snorted. “Like either one of us could ever have a kid that didn’t know how to speak her mind.”
Scott set her foot down on his lap and began massaging the other one. “As long as she doesn’t start pulling some of the stunts we did until she’s moved out, I’ll be happy.”
Knowing exactly what sort of stunts he would have pulled with either Scott or Sasha, Adam knew asking for details could be dangerous. But he couldn’t help himself. “Like what?”
“Anything with the words ‘all night,’ ‘free for all,’ or ‘no holds barred,’” Scott said.
Sasha smiled. “It would be nice if she was legal before we had to bail her out the first time. That would beat both of our records.”
“Colette seems to be a pretty bright girl. I’m sure whatever she does, she’ll figure out a way to keep from getting caught,” Adam teased.
“What about you?” Scott asked. “Maybe the reason you’re fleeing New York is because you’ve got the police on your tail.”
“If I had the NYPD on my tail, I’d probably try to run north, to Canada, or maybe take a more direct route to Mexico. But I’m an exceptionally boring person, and never did anything to attract the attention of the police.”
The slow slide of Sasha’s foot along Scott’s erection returned. “Because you don’t want to, or because the opportunity never arose?”
Adam was sure Sasha did not mean to be cruel, and Scott certainly didn’t seem like an unkind person, but they were driving him to distraction. And he wasn’t sure who he wanted to trade places with. He definitely wouldn’t resist being on the receiving end, but he wanted to experiment and find out just how hard Scott’s cock was.
“The latter, mostly. I was always pretty good at keeping my head down and never noticing when opportunities were passing me by.”
“Then you just have to make sure you keep your head up,” Sasha said. “Eyes wide open.”
Adam inclined his head. “I think that’ll be an important part of my plan to start over. No more being afraid to look for risks, or take the risks when they come to me.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard.” Though his hands were on his wife, Scott’s gaze was locked firmly on Adam. “A good-looking guy like you will have ‘em lined up around the block once you’re ready to go for it.”
Adam’s mouth dropped open, but he quickly collected himself. That was definitely some sort of come-on. Completely heterosexual men did not say those sorts of things to other heterosexual men. Not so casually, at any rate. And Sasha did not visibly react. And Ida and Colette were still in the next room.
“Yeah, I guess so. Once I’m ready.”
Pulling her feet away, Sasha sat and then stood up, stretching as if to crack her back. “I can’t sit anymore. I’ve been cooped up in my office all day, and I need to do something.” She grabbed Scott’s hand and tugged him to his feet, too. “Let’s go help with dinner. The sooner we eat, the sooner we can go home.”
He slid his arm around her waist. Together, they really did make a striking couple, dark and exotic, both sets of eyes fixed on him utterly unnerving. “Coming?” Scott asked. “You don’t have to. You’re the guest, so if you want to relax and take it easy in here, you’re more than welcome.”
Reasoning that if he were in closer proximity to a child and an old lady, he wouldn’t let his mind drift to more carnal thoughts, he nodded and stood as well. It would no doubt be a long night for him, but at least Scott and Sasha would give him some
thing pleasant to think about later, when he got on the road. And God knew there had been a dearth of pleasantness in his life.
Chapter 3
The meal had been unbelievable. Easily worth the price of lugging produce two miles through the hot Carolina sun. Adam would have done it again without hesitation or regret. But the company was more bittersweet. He ended up sitting beside Sasha and across the table from Scott. Sasha kept touching him, accidentally, casually. And Scott kept smiling at him. Adam learned a few things at dinner. Ida was an amazing cook, Sasha was amazingly warm, and Scott had an amazing smile.
Fortunately, nobody relied on him too much to keep the conversation going. Ida would never dream of interrupting a guest from eating, and Colette had a great deal to talk about. Her new book. Her project for 4H. Her excitement about school. Her intention to participate in basketball and soccer and maybe the math club.
The accidental, casual moments of contact continued after dinner. He couldn’t ignore them and he couldn’t say anything about them. They all worked together to clear the table and do the dishes. Even though Sasha looked dead on her feet, she still seemed to have a boundless energy.
By the time everything was clean and the last fork was put away, Adam just wanted to get back to his car. He needed his space again. He needed room to breathe. He needed to find a private corner to relieve some of the tension. Until then, he couldn’t allow himself the luxury of thinking about Sasha’s legs wrapped around his hips, or the way Scott’s body would flex beneath him as he pushed him into the mattress.
Adam lingered on the front porch as Sasha and Scott each took turns hugging Colette and Ida, and Scott warned Colette to behave herself, and Sasha warned Ida not to fill Colette up with sweets. He was surprised when both Colette and Ida turned toward him, like they were expecting a similar show of affection.
He took a step back, but smiled warmly. “It was really nice meeting you both. Ida, thank you for dinner and for buying my apples. Colette, good luck with math club.”
“Have fun driving to Florida,” Colette offered. “And don’t say no to Disney World just because Gram said so.”