“Good. Sounds wonderful.” Silence sat between them for a moment while Maya rubbed her forehead, then her mother said, “Do you remember Sondra Bloom from school?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“I was just talking to her mother, Helen, the other day. Sondra’s getting a divorce.” She laid the information down like a trump card, and Maya could see what was inevitably coming next. “Infidelity…on his part of course.”
“Mmm hmm,” Maya moaned.
“So I invited Helen to have Sondra sub for our tennis group, and she did. So Sondra comes walking onto the court, and I was shocked at her weight. She was unrecognizable.”
Maya dug a knuckle into her own forehead. “I’m so sorry, Mother, but Sebastian needs help with breakfast. Can we talk later?”
“Of course. Have fun…but not too much fun, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll see you.” She ended the call, her heart rate instantly calming. Maya had been prone to anxiety her entire life, but the attacks had eased up drastically once she moved out of the house and away from her mother. It’d gotten so bad when she was in high school that she’d actually hyperventilated a few times. She hadn’t done that in decades, thankfully.
She padded back inside which was empty of everyone including Sebastian, so she headed over to the kitchen sink and washed out all the cups and bottles. She filled Sebastian’s tea kettle with water and put it on the stove as Chase and Felicity shuffled down the steps. “It was good to see you again, Maya,” Chase said.
“You, too.”
Felicity turned to Chase. “I’ll see you tonight.” Maya lifted her eyebrows discreetly, but Felicity got that look in her eye and Maya cringed. “Hey, Bo and Maya should come with us tonight.”
“Oh, no,” Maya said. “That’s okay. Sebastian and I are going out.”
“Well, if you change your mind,” Chase said, and leaned down and kissed Felicity quickly. With a wink, he said, “See you.”
Once he was out the door, Felicity turned to Maya. “Well?”
“Well, yourself?”
Felicity waved her off. “We didn’t do anything. We were dead to the world after all those shots. Besides, it’s not like I’m gonna be banging the headboard against the wall with all of you in the house. That would have been weird, and rude.”
“Do you like him?” Maya asked.
“I do,” Felicity said like she was sort of surprised about it. “He’s really fun. So easy to be around. What about you?” She got that deviant look in her eye.
“We just fell asleep on the couch together.”
“Did you kiss him?”
Maya frowned. “No. Should I have?”
“Well, if you wanted to, yes.”
Maya slid the chair back from the kitchen table and sat. “Okay, I know you’re going to fuss at me about being anti-feminist or something, but I want to be kissed. I don’t want to have to do the kissing. Is that so nineteen-fifty-five of me?”
Felicity joined her at the table. “Of course not, sweetie. There’s nothing wrong with wanting the man to take the lead. It’s not necessarily my style, but if it’s what you prefer, that’s okay.”
“What I would prefer is to be kissing him. At this point, I’m not even sure I care who initiates it.”
Felicity narrowed her gaze. “What do you think his holdup is? I mean he clearly likes you. Any moron can look at him with you and see that.”
“It feels that way,” Maya said with all the conviction she felt.
“Well, how did you leave it this morning?”
Maya rolled her eyes. “Nowhere. Stupid Ken called me as we were getting ready to part from one another.”
“That goddamned job of yours.”
“Felicity,” Maya said, feeling that protective slant toward her job. It was like a family member. She could talk bad about it all she wanted, but nobody else could.
“No, I’m just saying. It’s like the place couldn’t function without you. They have zero boundaries. What did he want?”
“Just a password.” She’d leave out the ten o’clock conference call she had to jump on.
“Well, Bo knows how to get in touch with you if he wants to.”
“So you and Chase are going on a date tonight?” Maya asked.
“Yeah, is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay. Go, have fun. Bastian and I will do something. I’ll make him take me somewhere good for dinner.”
“Where is he?” she asked, looking at his open bedroom door.
“I assume he went to the market to get breakfast stuff. I’m going to make some oatmeal.” Maya stood. “Do you want some tea?”
“I’ll hold out for the hard stuff.” Felicity turned on the television and started flipping.
After a while, Sebastian came through the front doorway with Ashe in tow. “One bite of these cinnamon rolls will change your life.”
Maya lifted a spoon of oatmeal to her lips. “I’m feeling guilty enough about the cake. Don’t get near me with those things.”
Sebastian handed her a bowl. “Don’t worry, freak. I picked you up some organic fruit.”
“Oh. Thank you.” Maya pulled off the top.
Felicity reached into the bag. “I, on the other hand, will have a life-changing cinnamon roll.”
Ashe took a seat at the kitchen table with them. “So, who’s got a story to tell?”
“Felicity’s saying nothing happened with Chase and her,” Maya said.
“It was the shots,” Felicity said. “We’re in our mid-thirties. You can either have shots or have sex, not both.”
“What about this morning?” Ashe asked.
“With everyone in the house?”
Ashe shrugged and then gave a wide-eyed grin. “He’s a tall, cool one, isn’t he?”
“Fabulous kisser,” Felicity said.
“You know who else is a good kisser?” Sebastian asked.
“Who?” Felicity asked.
“Bo.”
Maya looked up from her fruit. “What?”
“You heard me.” Sebastian took a bite out of his own bowl of fruit.
Felicity scooted her chair closer. “Look who’s got a story now.”
“You’ve kissed Bo?” Maya asked.
“It’s true, I was there,” Ashe said.
“What? How?” Maya asked. Was he gay? He wasn’t gay. But that would answer why he hadn’t kissed her yet. Her stomach knotted.
“May I?” Ashe asked. Sebastian gave a single nod, and Ashe leaned in. “It was last fall. We’d all been to a big Halloween bash, and then we went to Wooley’s in PCB afterward.”
Felicity held up a hand. “Wait. What is PCB?”
“Panama City Beach,” Maya said. Felicity lifted her eyebrow and Maya pursed her lips at her, but couldn’t help a smile.
“A gay bar in PCB,” Sebastian clarified.
“Bo got asked to dance by a queen, and Sebastian started ruffling his feathers about being a homophobe,” Ashe said.
“Bo’s a homophobe?” Felicity asked.
“Oh, no. Sebastian was just giving him a hard time. Anyway, to prove his point, Bo walked over and laid a big kiss on Sebastian’s lips. We all about fell out.”
Sebastian gazed off into the distance. “That man has the softest lips I have ever felt in my life. Am I right or am I right, Maya?”
Maya sat in shock. How was this possible? This man who had woken places in her core she didn’t know existed was going around kissing gay guys, but wouldn’t even kiss her.
“Well?” Sebastian asked.
Maya took interest in her fruit. “I wouldn’t know.”
“What? You mean he hasn’t kissed you yet?” Sebastian asked.
“No, he hasn’t. Apparently he’s fine to kiss a gay man in front of a group of people, but he can’t kiss me in the privacy of a car or in this house, or anywhere else for that matter.”
“That’s just weird,” Ashe said. “The way you two were carrying on last night was exhausting. It was like perpetua
l foreplay.”
Maya froze. “You mean last night when we were playing Truth or Dare?”
He gave a slow shake of his head. “No, when you thought you were the only ones awake.”
She winced. “So you heard…everything?”
“Maybe not everything, but enough. He leaned in. “Would you like me to give you a little performance later?”
Maya closed her eyes tightly as heat engulfed her body. She rewound the night like a tape recorder, remembering comments about Adam Lambert and Ashe being sexy and what his relationship with Desiree may or may not consist of.
She rubbed her temple. “I’m just a little mortified right now. I’m going to head upstairs to prepare for my conference call.”
“You’re working today?” Felicity asked.
“Just a call. I’ll be off in a half hour, and I’ll be all yours.”
As she headed up the stairs, Ashe stood and belted out what Maya was pretty sure was an Adam Lambert hit. “Oh, God,” she said, covering one ear with her free hand and vowing never to speak words ever again.
Chapter Eight
Felicity took a twirl. “Well, what do you think?”
Maya finished up the last of her work emails, but emails were like termites—they just kept on multiplying. She shut her laptop. “Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Your hair looks good like that.” It hung around her shoulders in a tousled, easy, beach girl kind of way. “Sebastian did a fantastic job.”
Felicity cradled the auburn waves with her hand. “Really, you think?”
“Absolutely.”
Maya was happy for Felicity. She seemed to be having a good time, and she deserved it. But Maya couldn’t help a twinge of disappointment. She hadn’t heard a peep from Bo today. Not that she was expecting to, but she’d hoped.
Felicity checked out the window. “So, where are you and Sebastian having dinner?”
“He said he’s taking me to a local place here in Seacrest.”
“Uh huh,” Felicity said, her eyes glued to the window.
“Will you relax? I’m sure he’ll get out of the car and come to the door for you.”
“Mmm hmm.” Felicity walked toward her.
“Are you okay? You seem nervous.”
Felicity waved a hand. “I’m fine.”
“Sebastian, come on,” Maya said. “I’m getting hungry.”
“You’ve been on your computer,” he shouted from the bedroom.
It was true, and it’d also gotten her suckered into another conference call for the next morning. “I’m off now.”
“Miracle of miracles.” Felicity took another look out the window, and then perked up. “They’re coming!”
Maya eyed her. “They? Whose they?” Sebastian came out from his bedroom with his comfy clothes still on. Maya looked him up and down. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you dressed?”
Felicity squared herself in front of Maya. “Okay, don’t be mad.”
Maya’s stomach churned. “Felicity, what did you do?” She bolted for the window. The big, black truck she had seen in Bo’s driveway that first night was sitting there.
“I told Chase I wasn’t comfortable going out with him alone, that I didn’t know him very well, and that I really wanted you to come, and asked if he could bring Bo.”
The blood drained from Maya’s face, and she clenched her fists. “You didn’t.” She nodded. “Jesus, Felicity. I’m sure that was real believable seeing that you’ve had sex with him, and he slept in the bed with you last night.”
“I’m just trying to help things along.”
“I don’t need you to do that. If he was interested, he would call or text me. He knows where I am.”
“This is the last time I interfere. I swear. I just think there’s something there we’re missing. If we don’t get to the bottom of it tonight, I promise I’ll drop it.”
Maya frowned at her, but the car doors shutting outside sent her into motion. She rushed to the bathroom and checked for lipstick on her teeth, smudges on her face, and bats in the cave. She smoothed out her hair, and then looked down at her dress. No wonder Sebastian had been so particular with the outfit she picked for the night.
Maya came out of the bathroom and stopped in front of the two of them who stood side by side, a guilty as sin, united front. “You both suck.” The doorbell rang.
Sebastian drew the corners of his mouth outward. “Smile!” He scurried to the front door and opened it. “Hello, straight boys. Come in.”
Chase wrapped his arms around Felicity. “Hey.” He turned to Sebastian. “You okay with us taking them for the night?”
“Of course. Take away. We’re sick of each other already.”
Bo approached Maya. “You look good.” He went to give her a hug, and she stiffened. He stopped. “Are you okay?”
“Can I talk to you a minute?”
He frowned. “Sure.”
Maya walked toward the French doors and through to the pool area, Bo in tow. She turned to him. “I’m sorry about this. I had no idea you were coming until like two minutes ago.”
“You don’t want to go?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I just, I didn’t want you to think—”
“I’m not thinking anything, trust me. It’s been a long, busy day.”
“Well, if you’re tired, and you just want to go home and crash, I’ll totally understand.”
“Look, if I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be here. You look really nice. Let’s go out and eat.”
Her fueled anger toward her meddling friends softened. “Okay.”
“Come on.” He opened the door for her, and she went back inside, relaxing a little.
“Everything okay?” Chase asked.
“It’s all good. Let’s go,” Bo said. “Sebastian, you want to come?”
“No, you kids go, have a good time. Don’t do anything I would do.”
“No worries about that,” Chase said with a smile.
“Damn. Well, you know where I am if you change your mind,” Sebastian said. Chase winked at him and ushered Felicity out the door.
Maya glared at Sebastian, and he put his fingers to either side of his mouth and pushed his smile up farther. Bo offered him a hand, and Sebastian took it and shook it. “Later, man.”
Sebastian held his hand for a moment. “You, on the other hand, can do whatever you want with that one.”
Bo opened the door to the restaurant, letting them all walk in. Local artwork and photography covered the walls. Maya’s eye was caught by a black and white picture of a little girl in a white dress running toward a sailboat. A price tag hung at the bottom of it. She slowed and took a closer look. She grabbed Bo’s arm. “Bo, look at this. Is this our Ashe?”
“Yeah, he’s really good. I’ve got his stuff up at the shop.”
She lifted an eyebrow, impressed at his good taste. She wanted to see those pictures and his store, but she didn’t want to seem too interested, especially since he was pretty much hijacked to come on this date.
Chase and Felicity sat on the same side of the booth, so Bo and Maya slid in opposite them. Gazing at the menu, Maya decided to suck it up and order something as is without asking if it was organic, gluten-free, or low in butter or oil. Chase ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, and she was happy for them to bring on the wine. Her nerves could use it.
“So we found out a fun fact about Bo today,” Felicity said, her eyebrow going up. “Is it true you kissed Sebastian?”
Chase perused his menu. “I knew you were gay.”
Bo huffed a laugh. “That’s true. The kiss. Not what he said.”
“Bullshit,” Chase said.
“No, they’re right, I did.”
Chase looked genuinely confused. “Are you serious?”
“He was giving me a hard time about being homophobic, and I couldn’t think of any other way to convince him I wasn’t.”
“There were other ways,” Chase said.
Bo smiled. “It go
t a laugh, anyway.”
“How have I not heard this story?” Chase asked.
“’Cause you’re always working.”
Maya grinned. “They were at a gay bar, and Bo had been dancing with a drag queen.”
Bo looked over and gave her a look. “She asked. I didn’t accept.”
“Well, that’s just rude,” Felicity said.
“Are you calling me a homophobe now?”
She shrugged. “Let’s see where the night goes. If it takes us to a drag bar, you can redeem yourself.”
He glanced over at Maya with a closed-mouth grin. “I’m actually good right here.” Her stomach did a quickstep.
“Well, your kiss left quite an impression on him,” Felicity said.
Bo shrugged. “Of course it did.”
“How about you? What did it feel like kissing a dude?” Chase asked.
“You want to find out?”
Chase threw his napkin at Bo.
The girls laughed. Maya couldn’t help but be a little turned on by the thought of these two hunky straight men kissing…passionately…touching. A look from Felicity indicated to Maya that she wasn’t the only one thinking it.
“Chase, what do you do?” Maya asked.
“I’ve got a little property management company. We manage houses and condos up and down 30A.”
“By little, he means the biggest one in the area,” Bo said. “And he’s building a hospital right now.”
“A clinic,” Chase corrected. “I’m part of an investment group. We’re dipping our toes into a few things.”
Felicity looked a little prouder to be his date. She motioned between the two guys. “So how do you two know each other?”
“We’ve got a mutual buddy, Blake,” Chase said. “You might have met him last night, but they weren’t there long. He’s newly coupled up and can’t stay out of the bedroom for too long.”
“That sounds atrocious,” Felicity said. “Not the bedroom part. The couple part.”
“You not into the couple thing?” Chase asked, his expression impassive.
“I find it binding, like someone’s mummified me.”
Chase chuckled. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
Felicity motioned across the table. “Maya’s better at it than I am.”
Maya tucked hair behind her ear, feeling a little put on the spot. Bo looked over at her, considering her. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but the server appeared. While everyone placed their orders, Maya thought about what it’d be like to be Bo’s girlfriend, coming home to him every night, eating dinner together, watching TV, lying in bed with him reading. Who was she kidding? Like she’d ever read another book if he were beside her in bed.
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