by Anita Claire
Gray looks over at me, he knits his brow. “What?”
“My sister was right. You have filled in.”
His head quakes as he continues to look at me. Shit, does he think I’m hitting on him? Cassie’s words come floating into my brain. She thinks he’s had a crush on me since junior high. We never talk about the opposite sex with each other, though I know he isn’t gay and that he’s had girlfriends over the years. I have one too many men right now; the last thing I need is a third. He’s in school, he might move back to Washington DC. Getting involved with Gray would be complicated. We’ve known each other way too long to have a causal relationship. Sex might ruin everything, and if it doesn’t, am I ready for something that serious. These thoughts quickly fly through my brain as I shrug my shoulders casually and give him a trim smile as I say in an easy voice, “You were such a skinny kid, you look good, you must be working out.”
He smiles. “But, my hair and clothes.”
Rolling my eyes, “I don’t think there’s a person living in Silicon Valley that would receive Leigh’s approval.”
“What about Cassie?”
“I’m sure Leigh can find some disparaging remark for Cassie. That’s why I was kind of surprised she almost gave you a compliment.”
“Two Cole women in one day giving me a compliment, it must be my lucky day.”
Smiling in response, I’m glad the atmosphere between us is relaxed. Am I abnormally horny, I wonder, or am I lucky to be surrounded by such good looking guys? Gray grabs his gear. We walk to the beach together as I zip up my running jacket to ward off the cold. At the top by the stairs, we lean on the wall and watch the swells, the ocean is crowded with surfers; I wonder how I’ll pick Gray out.
He hands me his keys as he says, “I’ll meet you back here in ninety minutes.” Gray’s so old school. He has a watch and sets the timer. He looks at me as he smiles and says, “Can’t do this with a smart phone.”
How’d he know what I was thinking?
Checking my phone for the time, I watch him head down the stairs and into the surf. Standing at the wall for another ten minutes, I watch as he jockeys for a position and waits his turn. Before he takes off he looks up at the wall, I wave in response. Waiting until he rides his first wave, I smile at his proficiency.
Checking my phone again and setting the timer, I see that Nate’s texted: Reno.
Walking towards Santa Cruz boardwalk, I watch the surfers as I set my sights on the end of the pier.
A half an hour later, I turn around and head back to our meeting spot. Leaning on the wall, I try to spot Gray. There are just too many guys wearing black wetsuits to pick him out of the crowd. A couple of different guys flirt as they walk up the stairs, I just laugh and joke back telling them I already have a surfer, I don’t need another one. Finally, it’s Gray heading up the stairs. He meets my eyes with a big relaxed smile.
“Get in some good runs?”
“Yeah.” He starts eyeballing some guy who’s standing behind me.
“Come on, let’s go.” He grabs his board with one arm and puts the other around my shoulder.
“What’s with that?” I ask.
“I didn’t like the way that guy was looking at you. There are a lot of weird guys around here. You probably shouldn’t dress so revealing.”
“Revealing? The only skin showing is my face and hands.”
“He drops his arm from my shoulder and backs his head up as he looks me over. Yeah, you’re all in Lycra. Those running pants and jacket are completely form fitting. I didn’t like the way that guy was checking out your ass.”
I’m not sure where to go with this conversation. I’ve never had a brother, so I don’t know if what he did was brotherly, or if it was just possessive. Changing the subject, I ask him if he wants to stop for coffee. By the time we’ve gotten back to the car, we’ve decided where we’ll stop.
Throwing his board in the car, he smiles as he says, “I’ll wash it off when I get home.” Gray pulls his wet suit down to his waist and washes the salt water off his head and body with one of the gallon jugs of fresh water he’s stored in his car. He covers up his nice chest with a T-shirt, then sweatshirt, then a fleece. He pulls his wetsuit all the way off and washes his legs.
Pulling out a beach towel, he wraps it around his waist and changes from his swimsuit into jeans. He joins me on the tailgate, as he washes off his feet and puts on his socks and sneakers. We get back in the car. Gray looks over at me and says with a smile, “Do you have plans for dinner? Do you need to get home?
I shake my head, “I was thinking of texting Isabelle or Hita. I just haven’t gotten around to it.”
He smiles, “Instead of stopping just for coffee do you want to grab something more with me? I’m not really in the mood for leftover turkey.”
I smile back, “That would be fun, any idea of where we can go?”
Gray shrugs, “There are some places in downtown Santa Cruz, or we can go back over the hill.”
Pulling out my phone I look at the time, “Santa Cruz is fine, but it’s kind of early.”
He smiles then asks, “How about we just get a pizza and watch a movie.”
In an excited voice I reply, “We haven’t done that since we were kids.”
He shrugs, “Yeah, it would be nice.”
I nod, “We have every premium channel and Netflix at my place, I’m sure we can find something to watch.”
Gray points his car to the freeway as we talk about which pizza place to order from as we plan to stop on the way back. I order the pizza and check my texts.
Gray asks, “What about your bike? Isn’t it at your parents?”
I shrug, “I can get it some other time. I don’t want the pizza to get cold. It’s not a big deal.”
Checking my messages I see that Nate made it to town, I text him back. Once home I grab a big towel and cover up the ottoman, placing the pizza box on top. We eat pizza and drink beer as we argue about what movie to watch. I vote for Sci Fi, while Gray wants to watch super heroes. Finally, we compromise on military intrigue. Getting comfortable on the couch I find my feet touching Grays. ”Oh, sorry,” I say, as he turns to me and laughs, “Hey, it felt good.”
I laugh back. “What, my feet?”
He moves a little closer and runs his finger down my arm, “No. You.”
I suddenly can’t breathe. Our eyes connect as I say, “Gray…”
His voice is soft as he moves real close. “Remember in high school when we kissed?”
I nod.
“I spent years thinking about that kiss.”
Softly, I say, “I did too.”
“You know you were the first girl I ever kissed.”
“Was that when we were in sixth grade or ninth grade?”
Gray moves a little closer, he smiles as he softly says, “I forgot about sixth grade.”
“I don’t think either of us liked kissing that much in sixth grade.” I add.
He moves a little closer, I can feel his breath when he says, “Yeah, but by ninth grade, it was all I could think about.”
I chuckle, “I remember thinking it was a really nice kiss.”
Gray moves a little closer, his lips touch mine, the same way they touched mine when we were kids, except he’s filled in…everywhere. His lips feel gentle and warm, sending a light shiver down my arms. I close my eyes and kiss him back. Our kiss feels nice; it reminds me of how innocent we were. Gray moves a little closer running his hands through my hair. My scalp tingles in response, as our kiss gets stronger and deeper.
Gray moves a little closer as I feel my back against the couch. My hands reach up and I run my fingers through his hair. His tongue darts into my mouth. He uses it to lick my tongue. The surface of his tongue against mine makes my jaw and neck ignite in a million prickles. Our kissing continues, I find myself on my back with Gray over me. In the dark recesses of my mind I can hear an inner voice say, you really like Zach, you have a date with Nate tomorrow, you can’t be doi
ng this, it will be way to confusing. While an even stronger, more primordial l voice says, don’t stop, this feels too good.
My primordial voice wins as my legs wrap themselves around Gray’s waist and both hands roll through his hair. Gray moves his hips, dry humping me as the friction of his jeans through my yoga pants provide just enough stimulation for sexual sparks to roll down my legs and over my stomach. I moan as I crave more friction, rolling my pelvis against him. He runs his hands down my side and over my butt, saying slowly and deeply into my ear, “I’ve wanted you since forever.” Cassie’s words from a couple of weeks ago run through my head; “Don’t fool yourself Juliette, it’s always about sex. If he’s such a great catch, why don’t you go for him? You know he’s always had a thing for you.”
Shit, what am I doing? Then that stupid primordial voice of mine speaks, Go for it, you don’t have a boyfriend, and you don’t have any commitments. It’s Gray, it’s not like it’s just a hookup. There goes my stupid primordial voice again.
Gray’s lips end up on my neck. How did he find that spot that both tickles and sends shivers down my back? I giggle as I gasp, both at the same time. I can feel the heat of his hands as they move over my lycra formfitting top. I want more as I remember how nice his chest looked today after surfing. My fingers have a mind of their own as they snake up his T-shirt luxuriating in the heat and strength of his body. His hands take a cue from mine as I feel his fingers cross the naked planes of my stomach causing me to gasp. He sits up, and I open my eyes. Is this all? Is his conscience stronger than mine?
I watch him reach behind his head and pull his T-shirt off with one quick stroke. He kneels on one leg, unbuttoning his jeans. I reach my hand up just wanting to touch the planes of his chest, and roll my hands down his stomach, tracing my fingers down the V that disappears into his jeans. He stares at me, finally saying in a soft deep voice, “Can I see you? I’ve always wanted to see you.” I sit up, and nod as I grab the bottom of my top with both hands and start pulling it over my head. His gaze is on my chest, my breasts swelling over the cups of my bra. He reaches over and in one quick move unsnaps the front clasp. His pupils instantly dilate. I throw my bra off and onto the floor as his fingers gently trace the swells of my breast. I find myself staring at his lips, already slightly swollen from our kisses. I lean into him as our mouths reconnect. In the background I can hear the music escalate from the movie. Stupid movie.
Gray at first kneads my breast, and then pulls me close. My breasts smash against his chest, his arms wrap around my torso. He feels warm. The skin on skin sensation feels amazing. Gray runs his hands up and down my back as our kiss grows. I twist my fingers through his hair, and then run them down his back. He bends back a little more running his hands over my butt, massaging my cheeks. His hands are now under my yoga pants as I feel his fingers run down to my thighs and then roll up over my cheeks. He then reaches his fingers down past my cheeks as a finger explores me from the back.
I gasp; he chuckles, as his hand comes up to my pants waistband as he rolls them and my panties off my hip. I kick them to the floor. One of his hands explores my breasts as another grabs my thigh. I run my hands down to his crotch, as we both roll his jeans off his hips. He leans me down onto the couch. With his weight on both of his forearms he places himself between my legs. I reach for his fully engorged penis. He gasps as I drag my finger along the vein in back and then around the tip. From somewhere he pulls out a condom. Rips it open with his teeth as he questions, “You good?” I gasp, which gives my primordial self a second to take over, I smile and nod. As his hand that’s massaging my breast moves down to my clit, rubbing it in just the right way, I feel a shudder of energy roll down my legs and up through my chest as my body visually starts to shiver.
Gray smiles, he positions himself over me, runs his penis over my folds, hikes one of my thighs over his arm, then plunges himself into me. I hiss as he stretches me, the size of him burns on the way in. He then rocks himself out, and back in as I gasp loudly with each plunge. We both start gasping as he grabs the thigh that’s already in his hand and on an inward stroke pivots me around so I’m on my stomach. He then thrusts inside of me, hard, and deep, grabbing me around my breasts tightly as I feel a few more thrusts. He joins me with a couple deep moans. Then he lets me go, laying briefly over me, his head on my back. Both of us are breathing hard. My body quakes and shivers and a buzzing feeling floats from the back of my skull down my shoulders and along my spine. Gray runs his hand down my back as my body jumps in response. He moves off me, and off the couch. His hand runs over my butt as he whispers into my ear, “I just got to live a high school fantasy. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.”
I feel weak as I nod unable to speak as the orgasm still rocks my body.
He kisses me by my ear and places the throw blanket over me. Gently saying, “I need to hit the head.”
Chapter 22 –The Next Day
In the early hours of the morning I wake, I feel cold, as I realize I’m on the couch, naked with only the light throw blanket coving me. I look around. My clothes are twisted and strewn. The pizza box is sitting on top of the ottoman; beer bottles lay on the floor. The TV is off, the lights are off, Gray’s clothes are gone and so is he. Shit, did we really have sex last night? I grab my clothes off the floor and scurry to bed. I’ve only been with Chris and Stephan. I guess there is now one more guy to add to my list. Did I really just hook up with Gray? I grab a sweatshirt and pull it on. Shivering, I pull my quilt over my head. I know Kelly would give me a high five and tell me sex can just be sex, but then again look at the choices Kelly makes, and this was Gray.
In the morning I wake snuggled up in bed. Was last night just a vivid dream? I reach down and feel the gummy remains of sex. I thought I was on team Zach, why would I sleep with Gray? What does sleeping with Gray mean? My brain swirls with confusion as I realize I’m supposed to be going on a date today with Nate. I see my purse lying in my pile of clothes I dumped when I came to bed. Quickly jumping out of bed I grab my phone then jump back in. I check to see if I have any texts. Why am I so attached to receiving texts from Nate? Would Nate’s texts be construed as cheating on Zach? Was sleeping with Gray cheating on Zach? Am I with Zach or am I with Gray? Maybe I’m not with either of them. Why am I going out with Nate today? Damn, this is so confusing, should I just cancel?
Work is so much easier; problems eventually have a logical solution. I send Gray a text that says, Hey, then I can’t figure out what else to say. Finally I just send it. I decide not to dwell on any of these men as I get out of bed, clean up last night’s mess, then head over to the pool.
In the locker room after the workout Amanda asks if I’m going to join them for breakfast. Since I haven’t heard from Nate, I figure I might as well go.
She then gets a bit of a smile, “Has Zach texted you?” I look at her in surprise as she continues, “I told him he had to send you a text every day he didn’t see you. That’s what the other guy is doing.” She laughs, “He looked kind of horrified. Why is it that guys just hate to text?”
Changing the subject I tell her, “I’m glad that you and Kevin were able to make it to Meredith’s for Thanksgiving.”
Amanda smiles. “Yeah, I’m going home for Christmas, so I couldn’t go home for Thanksgiving. I’m glad Kevin finally decided to stay.” She then continues, “I was hoping he would take me home with him for Thanksgiving.” She looks sad when she says this. But then catches herself and with a forced smile says, “But going to Meredith’s was great.”
In a soft voice, I respond, “Amanda, maybe you should take some of your own advice and make him work for it.”
She looks down at her feet, when she looks back up there is a tear in her eye. “But, what if he doesn’t?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I kind of freaked when I found out Meredith told you about Nate. But Zach then took me out on a real date, he’s texted the last couple of days. Maybe Kevin needs a wakeup call.”
She no
ds, but doesn’t really look too happy about it.
Amanda and I head outside and meet up with Kevin and Austin. Austin tells me that he went to Sean’s for Thanksgiving. No one mentions Kelly or Zach. We head over to Crepevine. Again. This time we don’t even discuss where we’re going.
Amanda asks, “What are your plans for the day?”
Obfuscating, I smile and say, “My sister’s in town. I’m sure my mom has something planned.” I’m confused enough; I don’t need her calling Zach and telling him I’m out on a date with Nate. Avoiding checking my messages during breakfast, I am itching to check them on my walk home.
My chest just clenches, nothing from Gray.
Zach: Heading over to Topanga with my brother.
Yeesh, does he think texting is like Four Square. Should I give him a sexy response? After sending him a bit of a flirty text I look at the rest of my messages. Sure enough, Nate’s texted.
Nate: Can I pick you up at noon?”
Smiling as I walk, I text Nate: yes. I justify to my conscious: Gray is just a friend. Last night meant nothing. I like Zach. Nate’s another friend in from out of town. You’re just showing him around. Shit, who am I kidding?
Cassie’s now home; this unnerves me since I don’t trust her around a guy I like. But then I remind myself that lately I’ve been attracting guys like bees to honey, so I ought to just chill. I look guiltily over at the couch and ottoman; did I leave any trails from last night? I don’t have time to ruminate; I need to focus on the next guy. When did I turn into a woman like this?
As I look at my closet I realize I have no idea where I’m going with Nate. Figuring jeans and a girly long sleeve fitted T with an intricate tribal print is rather generic and fine for almost anything, I go with that. Then I fluff my hair with Curls Rock, apply some sunscreen and mascara, and figure I’ll add on the shoes and jacket based on our destination. Cassie comes out of her dressing room wearing jeans, sneakers, and a yoga T—a normal look for me, but an unusually dressed down look for her.