One Night with Fate: A standalone contemporary romance (One Night Series Book 3)

by Eden Finley

  “Sorry. I just … and then … with the …” Use your words, Reece.

  “How was work?” he asked, walking down the steps and towards the kitchen.

  I followed after him. “Nothing worthy to report. More people doing the wrong thing with the program or reboots. Simple fixes.”

  “Always the way.” He went to the fridge and poured himself a glass of water.

  “Have you ever seen The IT Crowd?”

  Spencer laughed. “Uh, yeah. Us nerds liked it before it was cool.”

  “Fletcher showed it to me tonight while we were quiet. So now every time I ask someone if they switched their system off and back on again, I laugh. You may get some complaints about the crazy woman who giggled at their problems, but you can put all the blame on Fletch.”

  “He’s being professional, right?”

  “Yes. He suspects I’m carrying your baby, in fact. I tried to cover, but I think he knew I was lying.”

  Spencer took a sip of water. “Can I ask why you don’t want anyone to know?”

  “Because you’re their manager and you hired me. I know it’ll come out eventually, but I want to prove myself in this job so they can’t accuse me of sleeping with the boss to get ahead.”

  “Fair enough. I guess.”

  “Okay, I can’t take the sex noises anymore. Are you going to explain?” I pointed towards the direction of the rhythmic thumping up the hallway.

  “Blair. He’s not comfortable hooking up in his own apartment.”

  “Eww. I’m listening to Blair have sex?” At least it’s not Spencer.

  Spencer answered so loud, Blair and whoever would be able to hear. “Maybe they like knowing the whole fucking house can hear them.”

  An eerie quiet settled over us for all of three seconds. Then there was a muffled, feminine giggle, a male moan, and then they were back at it again.

  “Getting to sleep tonight is going to be fun,” I said.

  “You should hear it from my room. It’s like surround sound. Hell, it practically is a three-way.”

  “Wanna stay up and watch late-night TV with me?” I was trying to pull off nonchalant, roommate tone, but I was fairly certain it came out with innuendo.

  Dammit.

  “Sure. Let’s make it loud. Also, remind me tomorrow to one, burn those sheets, and two, move that bed away from the wall.”

  “I’ll help you do both of those things.”

  It was times like this I felt I could’ve had my own advice column in a woman’s magazine. For instance, I could’ve told the whole female population that the worst thing they could do with a guy they had a complicated relationship with was offer to sit next to them on the couch and pretend to watch TV while listening to a pornographic soundtrack in the background.

  In theory, it sounded funny. In reality? So. Fucking. Awkward.

  The TV couldn’t drown out the noises.

  “Surely, he won’t last too much longer, right?” I said.

  Spencer laughed. “Oh, honey, you’ve been deprived of a decent fucking if you think it’ll be over soon. They only got started when you came home. We beat you here by ten minutes or so.”

  “Well, in my experience, it doesn’t matter how long it lasts, but the quality of it.” Did that just come out my mouth?

  “Touché. The best fuck I ever had didn’t last long at all, really. Kinda hard when you’re up against a wall. Neither of us even got naked.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath.

  He broke out in a smile. He was taunting me.

  “My best time was on a beach,” I declared, totally lying.

  “Oh?

  “Yup.”

  “Was this with Cole or Paul?”

  “Neither. Different guy. You don’t know him.”

  I was amusing him immensely. Fabulous.

  “Gonna tell me his name?” he asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Was it because his name was George Glass?”

  My eyes snapped to his. “Been watching Brady Bunch reruns? I’d totally come up with a better fake name than Jan’s fake boyfriend.”

  “Avoiding answering my question?” He leaned in closer. “Admit it, Reecie. I was your best lay too.”

  “Best lay lately, maybe,” I mumbled but looked away.

  “Are you trying to set a challenge for me? When a guy asks you who your best lay was, you always lie and say him. Even if you haven’t slept with him. Do you know nothing of the fragile male ego?”

  “You’re an idiot.” I shoved him.

  “I know. But I got you to stop thinking about”—he tips his head in the direction of the hallway—“didn’t I?”

  Of course, that was all he was doing.

  “True.”

  “Then again, the offer’s always there.” He smirked.

  The voice inside my head said don’t play with fire because I’ll get burned.

  A bigger part of me was saying: Fuck it, hand me some matches.

  “The noises are getting to you, aren’t they? As far as I know, neither of us have had sex since that night in the storage room. You getting itchy?”

  He pulled back. “Wait, you haven’t had sex since …” He waved his finger between us.

  I shook my head. “Nope.”

  “But you were married.”

  “For an hour.”

  “What happened between us was months before your wedding.”

  I looked away, suddenly not so playful anymore. “Gee, way to make me feel like a shit fiancée.”

  He sat forward. “Dammit, I didn’t mean that. I’m just surprised. I mean, why?”

  “Do you really want to get into this?” What was meant to be light and funny had taken a serious twist.

  “Yes.”

  “There were a few reasons. Guilt, morning sickness, it felt … wrong.”

  “Wrong how?”

  I shrugged. “You’re going to think it’s stupid.”

  “Never.”

  “It felt like …” I let out a loud breath and rambled the rest. Forget the matches, I was about to play with a can of gasoline and a lighter. “Like I was doing wrong by you.”

  He sat, blinking, staring at me as if I wasn’t speaking English.

  The crushing weight of rejection slammed into me. I went to stand, but his hand flew out and grabbed my wrist.

  “Forget I said anything,” I said.

  “Reece …”

  I counted two seconds. There were two whole seconds of silence before he slammed his mouth down on mine.

  13

  SPENCER

  Bad idea. Really fucking bad idea.

  Not because I didn’t want it. Oh, hell no. It was a problem because I’d forgotten how electric it was when our mouths were fused together. Our tongues tangled, our breathing became heavy, and for a moment I was lost in everything Reece.

  She hadn’t slept with her fiancé because of me. I didn’t know what that meant, but it did mean I could no longer pretend I only wanted to be her friend.

  Hands pressed into my chest, and I thought she was trying to push me off her, but when I went to pull back, she gripped my shirt and pulled me closer. I cupped her face and pushed into her, pinning her beneath me on the couch. I groaned as her body rocked underneath me, giving my dick the friction needed to almost send me flying off a cliff.

  What was I, a fucking teenager? I hadn’t come in my pants since my first girlfriend gave me a handy over my shorts behind the toilet blocks at school. So classy. Yet, here I was, at twenty-seven years old, trying to rein in the need to explode. And all she’d done was kiss me.

  Fuck.

  Perhaps it was because the fantasy of her never lived up to the reality. I’d been remembering and reliving our night ever since it happened. But the memory was dimmed because her mouth on mine felt better than any of the times I’d jerked it thinking of her.

  The small whimper of need that escaped her when I pulled back drove me crazy, urging me to bury myself in her immediately. But my cock needed
a breather, or it’d all be over way too fast.

  I pulled up off her and reached between us, cupping her over her pantsuit and rubbing the heel of my hand against her clit. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she bit her bottom lip. Even without the friction on my dick—the sight of her beneath me, losing every shred of control—I was still on the edge.

  Her arms wrapped around my neck and pulled me closer so our lips came back together. My hand made little circles, and she moaned into my mouth. Reece threw her head back, breaking our kiss. My lips trailed down her neck, but I froze when her whole body tightened beneath me.

  She let out a whispered “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck” and shuddered, slowing her hips as she ground against my hand.

  I lifted my head. “Did you just—”

  She laughed and went red. Or perhaps she was already flushed from her obvious orgasm. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. Second trimester sends all the blood to that area. Makes it sensitive.”

  A grin spread across my face. “You never have to apologise for coming, Reece. And now there’s one out of the way, how about we go for a few more?”

  For a split second, I worried she was going to freak out and push me off her. Instead, she giggled.

  Taking that as an invitation to push for more, I ran my nose down the side of her cheek and to her neck, peppering light kisses as I went. “I’m thinking one on my fingers, my mouth, and then maybe my cock.”

  “You’re ambitious,” she croaked but arched her back, wanting to get closer to me.

  “I’d say arrogant,” a deep voice came from behind us. “Damn, dude, that’s impressive.”

  Reece and I scrambled apart faster than fifteen-year-olds getting caught by a parent.

  Fucking Blair.

  “Jealous?” his hook-up snarked at him. I couldn’t remember her name, although Blair did introduce us.

  “Whatever, honey. There’s the door I promised to show you. Don’t let it hit your ass on the way out.”

  “Harsh, Blair,” Reece said.

  But it was too late. The girl stormed out my front door, slamming it behind her.

  “What was that about?” Reece asked.

  “Bitches be cray,” he said and threw himself on the armchair across from us.

  Great, apparently we were going to have a conversation while I sat there shirtless and with a painful hard-on. Just great.

  When we looked at Blair expectantly, waiting for an explanation, he blew out a loud breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I have to stop telling them I’m bi.”

  “That sounds healthy,” I said.

  “I always thought it was better to be upfront, you know? Now I’m thinking it’s easier to stay in the closet. At least until a couple of dates in.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “It was going all good, we were having fun, and then—Reece block your delicate ears—”

  She scoffed. “No matter what you say, pretty sure it’s not the dirtiest thing I’ve heard tonight.”

  I tried to hide my smile. I swear I did.

  “True,” Blair said with a laugh. “And we’re so going back to that in a second, but yeah, she was riding me and saying shit like ‘tell me I fuck better than a guy.’” He shuddered. “My dick didn’t want anything to do with her after that. I don’t get why liking both guys and girls is such a big deal.” He sounded defeated which was so unlike Blair.

  “I’m sorry, hon,” Reece said. “You’ll meet someone one day who won’t care about that.”

  He shrugged. “I’m done with hook-ups. Fucking always gets me into trouble.”

  “Amen,” I said.

  He chuckled. “Right. At least my hook-ups haven’t led to an eighteen-year sentence.”

  “That you know of,” Reece said.

  His eyes widened. “Don’t be mean.”

  Reece smirked.

  “So,” Blair said, “anything you two would like to share with the group?”

  “Nope,” I said.

  “Anything you’d like to share?” Reece asked him. “Like maybe about a certain guy you’re hung up on who broke your heart?”

  Blair’s eyes darted to mine and then back to Reece. “Well, this was a fun talk.” He stood and couldn’t get back to the guestroom fast enough.

  “What do you know about the guy?” I turned to her. “All he told me was it was some big complicated mess.”

  “Nothing. It was something Trevor said. I had no idea he had an ex-boyfriend apart from the guy he told us about years ago.”

  “Maybe it’s Gage,” I half-joked. In the years we’d known Gage, we’d never seen him with a woman. He was always with Pip but they constantly claimed they were just friends.

  “Gage is not gay.”

  “Could be bi.”

  “Nah. No way.” She pursed her lips as if she was seriously considering it. “If anything, he’s asexual. I’ve never seen him with anyone.”

  “Neither.”

  An awkward silence fell between us.

  “So … uh … umm.” Words would help right now, brain.

  She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. We got lost in the moment. Probably shouldn’t happen again.”

  She went to stand, but I grabbed her wrist again. Fifteen minutes ago, this same move ended with us attacking each other on the couch.

  I quickly dropped her hand. “Can I ask why it shouldn’t happen again? I mean, we’re having a kid together.”

  “I-I don’t know. There’s a long list of reasons why it wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  “Name three.”

  After a small pause, she may as well have pulled a knife from behind her back and stabbed me with it. It would’ve been as painful as her words. “I can name the only one that matters: we wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t pregnant. We both know that.”

  My jaw hardened as I gritted my teeth. “Got it.” When I stood to leave, it was her turn to stop me.

  “Wait …”

  “What?” I stayed motionless, looking out the front windows because I couldn’t bring myself to look at her.

  “You can’t tell me I’d be here if this wasn’t your baby. What if Blair had stayed behind at the pub that night instead of you?”

  A muffled voice came through the wall. “I wouldn’t have broken bro-code. And if I did, I would’ve wrapped it.”

  “Stop listening in, asshole,” I yelled back.

  Reece lowered her voice. “What if you never felt sorry for me and didn’t feel like you needed to fuck my problems away?”

  “You think that’s why I had sex with you that night? Out of pity? Are you clinically insane?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That means I had sex with you for way more selfish reasons than that. I did it because I fucking wanted it. Not because I felt bad you were upset or confused and going through something I had no right getting involved in.”

  “And that’s come with lifelong consequences. I’ve changed your life forever. You could be with anyone you want. It’d be a waste to ruin your chances with someone who deserves you by messing around with me.”

  Without another word, and before I could stop her, she rushed off to her room, closing the door behind her.

  I cursed under my breath and stormed into my room at the other end of the house.

  After a few minutes of pacing, I was calm enough, and I threw myself on my bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I stared at my ceiling in some sort of trance.

  When a knock sounded at the door, my heart kicked up.

  “Yup?” I croaked and cleared my throat.

  The door opened, and whatever hope I’d had that it was Reece came crashing down when Blair walked in and closed the door behind him.

  “I gave you fifteen minutes to fix your blue balls situation.”

  “Gee, thanks.” Little did he know that wasn’t a problem at all after being told the reason Reece was here was because I’d knocked her up. And the reason I knocked her up was because I was the only guy there. That mad
e me feel real warm and fuzzy.

  “You know, she didn’t say she didn’t want you,” Blair said, as if he could read my mind.

  I sat up and glared at him. “Huh?”

  “She basically said you were too good for her.”

  “What?”

  He sighed. “Were you listening at all? She said you should be with someone who deserves you. Ergo, she thinks she doesn’t. So show her that she does.”

  “No offence here, but are you trying to give me relationship advice right now? The guy who keeps sleeping with whoever while in love with someone else?”

  “This isn’t about me. It’s about my two friends who fate decided to dick around for over a decade. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been in love with Reece since high school. She’s the reason you didn’t get serious with Shayla. She’s the reason you moved her into this house—not the baby. I have no doubt that if it was me who stayed at the pub that night … well, I never would’ve gone there because it’s Reece. No offence. But in some warped universe, had it been me, or any other guy for that matter, I think you would’ve moved her in here anyway. Whether the kid was yours or not. Because that’s the type of guy you are.”

  He was right. I would have.

  “So fucking man up already and show her you’re the guy she’s going to end up with. Because before you know it, she might decide to move to Sydney and fall in love with a guy named Derek.”

  “Derek?”

  “What? It’s a real name. Hypothetical situation, but real name.”

  Something told me there was way more to it than that. “That’s pretty specific for a hypothetical.”

  “Well, that is my advice. And now I really am going to bed.”

  I threw my head back on my pillow.

  How do I show her I’m the guy for her when she won’t give me a chance?

  14

  REECE

  I went to work early on Saturday morning, picked Cody up from Cole’s after my shift, and shamelessly used him as a shield all afternoon so Spencer couldn’t talk to me about the night before.

  Hooray for being mature.

  Sometimes I hated how sarcastic my conscience was.

  Sunday morning, Spencer decided not to play fair.