“You took the sheet, sweetheart.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
Where the hell had the comforter gone? It didn’t matter he could cover up if he wanted to with a pillow or one of his hands. He didn’t want to, and he was enjoying how uncomfortable he was making me.
“Why don’t you come back to bed. When we’re done, I’ll make you some breakfast?” My eyes darted toward him only to see he was stroking himself.
Heaven help me.
Look away! Look away!
It took all my self-restraint to pull my eyes away. Finding Matt stroking himself was enticing to watch.
“I can’t. I have to get home. I’m sure my friends are waiting for me,” I sucked in a deep breath and peeked over at him. “I don’t do this. As in never.” I let out a sigh of relief when I found my underwear underneath a chair and shimmied my way into them from under the sheet.
Arms wrapped around my waist as he tried to tug the sheet loose, but I held firm. Taking a few steps away, I turned to look at him. Matt let out what sounded to be a frustrated sigh. “Hey, relax. I didn’t think you were the type of girl who…”
“Who what? Has sex with anyone she meets? Sleeps with a guy the night she meets him?” I whispered-yelled so no one else could hear me.
“No,” his eyes went wide. “I didn’t think any of those things. My only thought was that I met a beautiful girl last night and had the privilege of having a nice night with her. The rest was just a bonus.”
Bonus. That was a nice way of putting what we’d done last night. It was my turn to sigh as I said his name. “I don’t know what you want from me. At this point in my life, I don’t know how to do anything except be a mom.”
“I’d like to get to know you better. From what I do know about you, I really like you, and I don’t know,” Ryan replied with a shrug. “We can see what happens if you want. I’m leaving. Later today actually. If you give me your phone number, we can keep in contact.”
“So, you want to be friends?” I asked uncertain what he wanted or the entirety of the male population, for that matter. I’d been out of the game for too long and was feeling hopeless in the man department. Maybe what little time I spent with Matt could teach me a little something about the dating world or maybe I was just fooling myself.
“I’d like to be more than friends, but if you’re not feeling it, then I guess we can just be friends.” His shrug was nonchalant, and I had to remember he was an actor. Did he really not care if we were only friends?
Was I being naïve to think he wouldn’t play me or had my time with Decker jaded me into thinking the worst about all men in any romantic sense? One of my best friends was male. Ryan had shown me that men could be good, great even, but I hadn’t seen him with any woman in a romantic sense since high school. Hopefully, he was better with the ladies now than he was then.
“What do you want?” he asked pulling me out of my musings.
What did I want?
I wanted to get on with my life. I had a strange feeling that the man in front me giving me his sad puppy dog eyes was the answer. Matt was still naked, and I was trying not to look at his erection that was still very happy to see me as I took him in with the morning light. In the light of day, I could see that his hair was brown with blond ends, short and curly even though it was cut short all around except for the top which was a little longer. Matt was cute. Very cute, in fact. I wouldn’t say he was handsome, but he knew how to use his looks to get the ladies. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be one in the long lists of women that had been in his life. I didn’t read gossip magazines, but I did love to look at People magazine in the checkout line. From what I had seen, Matt had not let his divorce bring him down. He was taking advantage of being a single man out on the town. The question was would Matt take advantage of me or would I never see or hear from him again after he left today.
“I’ll give you my number,” I finally answered. His satisfying smile told me he liked what I’d said. Never mind the still present erection that was pressed against my hip. Dipping his head, Matt placed a soft kiss on my lips before he started to grind into me. “But I really do need to leave and find my friends.”
Matt gave me a look of disappointment and nodded his head. “Let me get dressed. I’ll walk you out.”
* * *
“So, did you give him your number,” Taylor asked after I had given her the rundown of everything that had happened last night and that morning. She was quiet the entire time except for a few noises. It was starting to make me nervous. I didn’t want my best friend in the whole world to think I was a slut.
“Yes,” I whispered into the phone before head-planting face first into my couch cushion. I was beyond embarrassed to tell her of my maybe one-night stand with Matt. What had I been thinking? Oh right! I hadn’t been thinking. I let all the alcohol I had consumed that night make my decisions for me.
“Good for you,” Taylor exclaimed making all my worries about how she’d perceive me go away. I still had plenty of other things I needed to talk to her about and figure out. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. There’s nothing wrong with a one-night stand.”
“How’d you know?” I asked, closing my eyes.
“Because I know you.” She answered back softly. “You’ve got to forget all those things Decker implanted in your head.”
“I know, I do.”
“Something else is bothering you. What is it?” she asked, knowing me too well.
“Why didn’t Dawn or Shelli stop me? Dawn’s known me since junior high. She knows I’d never sleep with some guy I’d just met. If anything, she encouraged me. I’m so stupid.” I turned to stare up at the ceiling. “Why did I have so much to drink especially when I hardly ever drink? Do you think she’s getting back at me from when she found out about Ryan and me?” I groaned at the thought. Would Dawn really do that to me after all these years of friendship?
“I don’t know,” Taylor answered back sadly. “She’s always seemed a little off to me. You know I’ve tried to be her friend but she’s never really let me get to know her. I know she didn’t know about you and Ryan at first, but not why.” Silence hung on her end as Taylor waited for me to explain how I’d betrayed my friend all those years ago.
“When I first met Ryan, Dawn was interested in him, but they weren’t going out. I’d only met him a few times before I started going out with one of his friends, Mark. I don’t know why I went out with Mark because I wasn’t attracted to him in the slightest. It was probably because he asked me, and I was desperate to have a boyfriend. We didn’t go out that long before I broke up with him. For some reason after I broke up with Mark, I went to Ryan’s house, and after that, we started to hang out together as friends. I’m not sure what happened with him and Dawn because she never talked about him or initiated us hanging out with him after those first few times. One day we were at my house, and Ryan kissed me. After that, we were boyfriend and girlfriend, you know how it was when you were a teenager.”
“Don’t remind me,” Taylor laughed.
“I don’t know if we discussed it or if we just knew that we needed to not tell Dawn about us or what, but we kept it a secret. My explanation as to why Ryan was around so much was that I had no money and Ryan was willing to pay for the gas for us to go out, and that’s why he was always tagging along. I was more stupid and trusting back then and told a mutual friend of ours about Ryan.”
“You’re not too stupid or trusting. You’re just right. That’s why you’re my best friend,” Taylor said softly, but with conviction.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I sniffed a few times. “Thank you. I love you, my sweet friend. I wasn’t looking forward to telling you about last night. You’ve made me feel so much better. I only wish we could’ve done it in person instead of over the phone. Mason and I are going to have to come and visit you soon because we miss you guys so much.”
“Now you’re going to make me cry,” she sniffed. “We miss you too, and we’d be h
appy to have you anytime you want to come. Let’s plan a weekend soon.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I sniffed again, missing my best friend even more.
“Now finish telling me about your secret romance with Ryan,” she laughed. Taylor had seen Ryan and me together numerous times, and she knew there was zero spark between us now. She thought it was funny that we’d once been a couple.
I took a deep breath and a sip of my water before I continued. “I believe that it was obvious that I liked Ryan way more than any friend should when he went out of town for a couple of weeks. I was a typical love-sick teenager; depressed and didn’t want to do anything. I quit my summer job and stayed in bed the whole time. He called me once while he was away. You would have thought I won the lottery or he told me he loved me for the first time. I was flying high from one silly phone call,” I laughed bitterly into the phone. “Anyway, I was surprised to learn from our friend, Laura, that Dawn had lost her virginity to this guy that I hated because he was a cocky asshole and-” I paused for effect because what best friend keeps that information from the other. “She had also had sex with another guy. I was shocked and didn’t feel too bad about not telling her about Ryan and me. Then one day Dawn, Laura, and I were all in my car and for some reason, I don’t know what it could have been, Laura said something about me having sex with Ryan. So, I fessed up to Dawn and told her, but I didn’t tell her that I knew about her having sex with those guys and she never told me. Ever. Not once did she ever mention having sex with those guys. Now that I think about it, it seems strange.
“Our friendship was a little strained when I started to date Decker because Dawn didn’t like him at all, but she never gave me a reason why. After a bad breakup with her boyfriend senior year, we got close again, but never as close as we’d once been. As a friend, I’d hope she’d be looking out for me and not encouraging me to drink beyond my limits and leave me with a man when I was too drunk to know how stupid I was being.” Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and then let it out with a sigh.
“I don’t know what to tell you, sweetie. I hate to say that maybe Dawn isn’t over you not telling her about Ryan. Maybe she’s jealous that in the end, Ryan chose you and not her and that you two are still friends. Have you talked to Ryan about her?”
“No,” I answered shaking my head even though she couldn’t see me through the phone. “But maybe I should see what he has to say about it. It’s been a couple of weeks since I talked to him, so he’s due for a phone call. I should do it before Mason gets home tomorrow night though.”
“I know how you hate it when he’s at his dad’s, but at least it gives you a little time to do something for yourself and you deserve it. Maybe tonight you can take a nice relaxing bath and read. I’m actually surprised Dawn got you to go out since you usually binge read almost the entire time Mason’s gone.” she laughed, and it felt good as I laughed along with her.
“It was a struggle to not whip out my phone and open my Kindle app and start reading last night, but I managed. How stupid am I?” I asked my best friend.
“Not stupid at all. Time will tell about Dawn and maybe going out last night was a good thing if it shows you she’s not the friend you thought she was. Plus, you went out and finally had sex,” she shrieked and then started to laugh. “I know you’re not happy about a casual hookup, but you got out there, met a man, and did the dirty. Not only did you do the dirty, but you did it with a Hollywood hottie. I won’t even get started on how jealous I am that you got to meet Colton Patrick. You didn’t by any chance get a selfie with him?”
It was my turn to laugh. “Sorry to disappoint, but there were no selfies. I have a feeling that if there were ever a moment when one could have been taken, Dawn and Shelli would have seized the moment. I’m not going to lie, I was in shock and fangirled on the inside, but they were so obvious about it. I’m still surprised Colton had us back to his house.”
“Me too,” Taylor agreed. “It’s still cool though.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t have if the neighborhood wasn’t gated. There’s no way for them to get even remotely close and he definitely didn’t share his code. I wish you could’ve seen his house it was gorgeous,” I told her wistfully. “If I could pick a place for Mason and me to live it would be there, but I’ll never have that much money. Wherever I do move, I want us to be neighbors when you move back.”
“Oh my God, Ben, and Mason would love that and of course, so would I. Have you been looking at houses?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t found one that I love yet, and I still need to save up some more money. I can’t believe Dawn didn’t want to tell me where we were going last night because she thought I’d turn her down. Am I that cheap?”
“No, you’re not cheap at all. You want to move to a nicer house, and unlike Dawn, you don’t have a stepfather to buy you new cars and houses. Don’t listen to her. Damn it,” she sighed, her breath hitting the phone’s microphone. “I’ve got to go. Jack’s calling for me. I love you and let me know when you want to come.”
“Okay, thanks for everything! I love you too. We’ll make plans to see each other soon. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Not knowing what to do with myself except be sad that my best friend was over seven hundred miles away, I called Ryan to let him weigh in on Dawn.
“Hang on a second,” Ryan answered before covering it up with what I assumed was his hand. I could hear muffled noises, but that was it. After a couple of moments, he got back on the phone with me. “Hey! How are you?”
“Okay. How are you?” I asked back.
“I’m better now that I’ve heard from you. You sound kind of down. What’s up?”
“What were you doing when I called?” I asked putting off telling him about last night.
“Stalling, huh?” he chuckled. “Okay, I was fixing Amber’s car, and now I’m leaving. Heading back into town. Do you have any plans for tonight?”
“No, why do you ask?”
“Want to hang out or go to dinner?” Ryan asked with a smile in his voice. It was rare that he was ever in a bad mood and just talking to him could always put me back to rights with myself.
“I’d love to hang out. Maybe we can get some Chinese and eat it here or at your house. Whichever you prefer.”
“I need to grab a shower so how about you call in the order, and I’ll pick it up on the way home, and I’ll see you when you get there.”
“Sounds good. Hey, Ryan?” I called before he could hang up.
“Right here,” he called over the line.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. What are friends for?” As if he were right in front of me, I knew he was smiling again. Both his mouth and his eyes always smiled back at me, and I loved that about him.
“I’ll see you soon,” I replied before hanging up and calling to make our order.
Letting myself in, I took out all the food containers and placed them on the kitchen counter. I had started to make my plate when Ryan walked into the room running a towel through his wet hair.
“Are you going to tell me what’s up? You sounded kind of down on the phone,” he said as he came up and gave me a side hug. Going by looks, Ryan was my ideal man. He was tall, six feet exact, with blondish-brown hair, and blue eyes with thick arms and legs that were built from hard work. For some reason, I had a very specific type of man that I found attractive. I wasn’t one of those women would like the tall, dark, and handsome unless you were substituting dark for blond. Ryan hit all the right marks, but he’d been in the friend zone for a long time and he was never moving out of that category.
My ex-husband looked nothing like what I was attracted to and maybe that was why I had a very distinct type now. He was tall, but that was the only characteristic I could check off my list. Instead of blond his hair was black, and his eyes were almost as dark as his hair. In truth, now that we were no longer married, and he couldn’t control me the way he liked, he scared me. I wasn’t sure
what he was capable of. I only knew that he wanted to ruin my life in any way that he could. If he couldn’t be happy than no one should.
“I’d just got off the phone with Taylor. I miss her and Ben. I’m going to look at my schedule and plane tickets tomorrow to see when I can go visit her. Do you want to come?”
“Let me know when you’re thinking, and I’ll see what I can do. Anything else?” he asked, knowing that wasn’t all that was bothering me, as he started placing heaping pile of food on his plate.
“Yes,” I grumbled as I took a seat on his couch. “How can you read me so well? Am I that easy?”
“Nah, I don’t think you’re easy to read. Actually, I’d say the exact opposite is true, and the only reason I can tell is that I’ve known you since you were sixteen. I’ve had plenty of practice reading you, but if you don’t want to talk about it, I’m sure I can find a movie for us to watch.” He looked over at me and smiled letting me know that no matter what I chose to do it was okay with him. Probably because he knew that I would eventually spill.
“To start off, I went out last night with Dawn and Shelli.” I paused looking over at him with noodles hanging out of his mouth.
“Did you have fun?” He asked once he didn’t have a massive amount of food preventing him from talking.
“I guess.” I shrugged. “There’s lots to tell. First, we went out to dinner, and that was fine, and then we went to Flux.”
“Fancy,” he replied before his brows furrowed and he asked, “Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”
“Not unless it’s my ass that needs to be kicked,” I half-joked.
“I think you need to tell me what happened.”
“You will not believe who we met,” I said knowing I had a huge smile on my face reliving the moment in my head.
“Of course, I’ll believe you.” Ryan brows snapped together as he twirled his finger in the air signaling me to continue.
With Love, Alex: Fairlane Series #0.5 Page 3