by Sophie Stern
“Your dad, too,” Lauren said.
“I’m glad he’s happy. I’ve missed them both. It’s good to be back.”
“Can I ask you something?” Lauren climbed onto the bed and sat close to where I was sitting. I had my legs crossed and she followed suit, imitating my posture.
“That sounds ominous,” I said.
“It is, a little,” she wiggled her eyebrows, but then laughed.
“Sure,” I said.
“What did you think of me when you met me?”
“That’s a lot less ominous than I was promised.”
“Come on.”
“What did I think of you? I liked you right away. You’re great for Felix.”
“It’s been a year since we started dating,” she told me. “You know that we met right after his birthday last year?”
“I remember,” I said. Felix hadn’t had a party. Not for 29. He’d been out at a club a few days after his birthday, though, and he’d run into what he described as the sweetest girl on the planet. He’d taken her home, and the rest was history. Lauren might be a teacher, but she was no prude, and she and my brother couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. Eventually, she moved in with him, and everyone was thrilled for both of them. It was the sort of sickly-sweet love story you only ever saw in movies or read about in books.
“When you flew out and I got to meet you, I was so excited,” she said.
“I was a little nervous,” I admitted. I’d flown out to visit Dad, and I’d spent a couple of days with Felix and Lauren. They’d both been so sweet and perfect together. Everything about their relationship was just wonderful. Everything they did made me smile. Together, they were the perfect couple. She pushed him to be a better person, and she kept my brother from working too much. That was important, I thought. It kept him grounded.
After I’d gone back to Monterey, the two of us had kept in touch. We’d become fast, easy friends, and we’d spent many long nights on the phone or online chatting. Lauren and I seemed to know everything about each other. She was even the first – and only – person I’d told about my totally unacceptable crush on my brother’s BFF.
Not that it mattered.
David and I could never happen. I didn’t have time for love or for romance. I was here to buy a house and to celebrate my brother’s milestone birthday with him. That was it. I didn’t need to even toy with the idea that David and I might hook up while I was here. Oh, I bet anything I could give that guy a run for his money in bed, but he was also my brother’s best friend.
He was off limits in all of the worst ways.
He probably viewed me like a little sister, anyway.
I’d confessed to Lauren that I liked him only once. I was drunk, and we both avoided talking about it ever again. I wasn’t even sure if she remembered all of the things I’d said.
“Nervous? Why?”
“Because you’re the girl my brother loves,” I told Lauren. That was the truth, too. My brother didn’t exactly find it easy to fall in love. He was the kind of guy who picked one girl and then loved her for an eternity. For him, Lauren was definitely the one. There was no doubt in my mind about it. In fact, there was a part of me that was pretty sure he was going to propose tomorrow, but I’d never tell Lauren that. I wasn’t about to ruin the surprise if it did happen.
And I wasn’t going to get her hopes up if it didn’t happen.
“Thanks,” she said. “I don’t know why, but I’m still kind of nervous around your family sometimes.”
“Really?”
She nodded, and I felt bad for Lauren.
“Trust me,” I said. “There is nothing to be nervous about.”
“You say that now, but you’re so much more confident than me.”
“Am I?”
She nodded.
“You exude confidence,” Lauren said.
I just shrugged. How could I explain that this was something entirely new for me? The entire “some people are just confident” thing was fake, in my opinion. Yeah, some people were confident. Most people weren’t. Most of the time, people who were “confident” were just cocky.
“I wasn’t always like this,” I finally said.
“You weren’t?”
“No. When we were kids, I was pretty shy. Ask anyone. Ask David,” I said before I could stop myself.
“Oh, I don’t think I need to ask David about you,” she smiled.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I already know what he’s going to say.”
“You do?”
Lauren nodded. Then she leaned forward, as though she was going to tell me a secret. I got slumber party vibes big-time. Suddenly, it felt like we were teenagers all over again, but this time, with the knowledge you only got once you survived your shitty twenties.
“Okay,” I said. “What?”
“He always asks about you,” she said, lowering her voice.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Because I don’t want Felix to know we’re gossiping.”
“I don’t think Felix is going to care.”
“Trust me,” she smiled. “He cares about this.”
“About what?”
“About you and David?”
“There’s no me and David,” I said.
“There could be if you wanted there to be,” Lauren said. She sounded almost eager, and I hated to break her heart, but I couldn’t let this go on. Did I like David? Back in the day, yeah. Had I been guilty of cyberstalking him and checking to see what he looked like these days? Also yes. That wasn’t really my fault, though. My brother was his best friend, so anytime Felix posted pictures of him and David together, I was bound to see those.
And yeah, David was super, completely fuckable.
He was so totally, absolutely fuckable that it made me sick.
I couldn’t let Lauren think that I wanted to date someone like David. Even if I wanted that, deep down I knew that it could never happen. I was too much of a player, and I was too busy. I didn’t have time to carve room in my life for someone like David. Besides, falling for my brother’s best friend would be messy. It would be really, totally, terribly messy. Maybe Lauren did remember my drunken confession after all. It didn’t matter because I needed to crush that idea right now.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this,” I finally said. “But I like sex, like, a lot.”
Lauren blushed.
“I love it, Lauren. Seriously. I’m kind of addicted.”
“Like, you’re a sex addict?”
“Not like that,” I said. “Look, I’m not really sure how to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it. I’m kind of a sex freak. I love sex, and I love having different partners, and I love being with people for exactly one night. Am I going to want to settle down one day? I’m sure that I will. Probably, I will. Everyone does, right? But not just yet. Not for me.”
“What about if you met the right guy?” Lauren asked, pressing me.
“What about it?”
“If you met someone you loved. Would you want to, you know?”
“Get married and have babies?”
She nodded, biting her fingernails. It was a bad habit that she needed to stop. I couldn’t exactly say anything, though. I was the kind of person who twirled my hair when I was nervous. We all had our little tics.
“I don’t know.”
“He’s a good person.”
“David?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s a heartless bastard,” I pointed out. “He wins even more cases than my brother, and he’s completely ruthless.”
“They both are,” she agreed with a sigh. “But I don’t love Felix any less for it.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m glad my brother has someone who’s so crazy about him.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You think you’re going to give it a go with David tomorrow? Not a relationship,” she quickly added. “I get th
at you aren’t ready for something like that right now, even if it’s with him. Just, you know...” Lauren blushed, and then she smiled again. “Just a one-night adventure.” Lauren started laughing.
I smiled. Would I give it a go? With David? I shouldn’t. I didn’t want to date him. I didn’t want to hurt him. He was hot, though, and so I was I. The two of us could have a lot of fun together if the odds were right.
“Let’s just say that if the opportunity presents itself, I’ve never been one to say no.”
3
David
I knew the second Zoey arrived at the party because there was almost a collective gasp as she walked into the room. Every head turned to see Zoey Lane entering the banquet hall in the world’s tightest, tiniest dress. It hugged every curve, and she looked good enough to eat.
“There’s no fucking way she’s wearing panties under that dress,” I said aloud.
“Hey!” Felix punched me gently in the shoulder. “That’s my little sister.”
“Hate to break it to you,” I said. “But she’s not little.”
“She is to me.”
“Well, not to anyone else.”
Zoey Lane looked like she was a sex toy. There was no other way to describe the confident, seductive woman who walked into the ballroom Felix had rented to celebrate his 30th birthday. There was a DJ, and there was dancing, and people were already getting drunk, and she fit right in. She was perfect. Everything about her was perfect.
“Don’t do what you’re thinking,” Felix said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, sipping my whiskey.
“You’re thinking about making a move.”
“I’m not,” I lied.
“Look, you can be a little bit heartless, and she’s...”
Perfect.
Beautiful.
Gorgeous.
Zoey Lane’s legs seemed to stretch on forever in that dress. Seriously, it should have been illegal for anyone to own a piece of clothing that hot. If she wasn’t careful, it was going to fall right off, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“She’s what?” I asked.
“She’s my sister,” he said.
“You’re protective. I get it.”
“You would be, too, if she was your sister.”
“It doesn’t look like she needs to be protected,” I pointed out. Felix’s eyes followed mine, and sure enough, we could both see that Zoey had made herself very comfortable. She was standing between two of our fellow attorneys. Jason and Taylor Watson were a tag-teaming duo. They won cases together in the courtroom and they won unicorns together in the bedroom. If there was ever a perfect picture of a power couple, it was them.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled, looking at them. Taylor was already running her hand up and down Zoey’s arm. Zoey seemed completely enamored with both of them, and I wondered if she was thinking of going home with them. Hell, she hadn’t even had a drink yet, and already the Watson couple was making a move. Nope. I couldn’t have that. Tonight was my night to shoot my shot. I wasn’t about to lose to the Watsons.
Without a word to Felix, I walked directly toward Zoey. I was halfway across the banquet hall when she noticed me, and our eyes locked. I saw so many different emotions in those eyes: excitement, anxiety, fear. She was a wild one, to be sure, and I wanted to play with her in all of the worst ways. I didn’t want to tame her, no. I just wanted to harness all of that wild, unmanageable energy that was flowing through her veins.
Zoey said something, but I couldn’t hear what. She turned, and she walked away from Taylor and Jason. The couple seemed a bit disappointed, but not mad. It was hard to get Taylor or Jason terribly worked up. Although they were known for being polyamorous, they were also wildly respectful of other people. If someone didn’t want to play, they never pushed. I had to admire that about them.
“Where’d Zoey go?” I asked when I got close to them. Jason and Taylor were holding hands while sipping their drinks. They turned to me.
“Zoey?” Jason asked, confused.
“The girl who was just here?” Taylor asked, curious.
“Yeah.”
“She said she had to use the restroom,” Taylor told me. “She went that way.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Hey,” Jason asked. “How do you know her?”
“Zoey?”
“Yeah.”
“Trust me,” I said. “The two of us go way back.”
Jason looked at me carefully, as though he was trying to read my mind. Knowing Jason, he probably was. It was fine, though. Jason was calculating, but he was fair. If he suspected that I had been into Zoey for a while, he’d back down. He was a shark in the courtroom, but he was a gentleman in real life.
“Good luck,” Jason finally said. “I feel like you might need it.”
Taylor just smiled and nodded as I took off, and the couple began scouting the room again, looking for the lucky girl they’d be taking home with them. I had to admit that their arrangement seemed to work well for them. I didn’t have time to loiter and see who they chose, though. I was on a mission.
When I reached the hallway, Zoey was there. She was scurrying away from the banquet hall, but she wasn’t headed toward the restrooms. Instead, she was going straight for the front doors of the hotel. Was the little minx running away? I couldn’t have that. I’d waited far too long for the chance to talk to Zoey. I wasn’t going to miss out on that now.
She didn’t look over her shoulder. She just pushed on the doors and headed outside. I started to run. What if she had called a ride or was going to try to grab a taxi? Nope. I only came here to see her. Out of all of the noble, wonderful reasons I could have had for sharing in my best friend’s celebration, the real reason I’d shown up was to see his little sister.
That was messed up, sure, but it was the truth.
When I got outside, I looked around, but she was gone. There was a small U-shaped area for valet drop-offs and people who needed to unload their luggage. I looked around, but she wasn’t there. Where the hell had she gone? Disappointed that I’d lost before I even got to play the game, I turned around to head back inside, and she was there.
Zoey Lane was standing between me and the door to the hotel, and she was looking at me like she wanted to fuck me or fight me.
And I couldn’t tell which.
“David,” she said.
“Zoey.”
“You chased me.”
“You ran from me.”
“I didn’t want to talk to you.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged, but it was the type of shrug someone would use when they did know, but they didn’t want to say anything. Why didn’t Zoey want to talk to me? It had been a million years since we’d chatted, but I remembered the last day we ever spoke in excruciating detail. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say that she did, too.
“I think you do know,” I told her. Fuck, she was beautiful. She had soft, pouty lips. She had big, beautiful eyes. She had a little pointy nose that I just wanted to bop with my finger.
“Fine,” she said. Her eyes sparkled with irritation. She was probably trying to look pissed, but she just looked adorable. I was filled with the urge to spin her around and spank that cute little ass of hers until she begged me for more, but I held myself together. We were in public, after all.
“Fine?”
“I’ll tell you,” she said. “I don’t want to talk to you because you punched my boyfriend.”
“Eric?” I laughed coldly. So that had been it. Of course, it had been. “He was hardly your boyfriend. I did you a favor.”
“You did,” she agreed. “And I never forgot it.”
“So, what’s the problem?” I asked.
“The problem? The problem is that it was wildly embarrassing to have a huge crush on someone and to find out in front of your brother’s best friend that he was a lying piece of shit.”
“So, you haven’t talked to me in years bec
ause of embarrassment?”
Surely there had to be more to the story than that. Like, there really, totally, completely had to be more to the story. I just wasn’t buying the idea that it had been enough to keep us apart.
“That’s part of it,” she said.
“What’s the other part?”
“No,” Zoey shook her head. “That’s all you get to know.”
“That’s not fair,” I told her quietly.
“Life isn’t fair,” she snapped. She looked away, and when she turned back to me, I was surprised to see her eyes brimming with tears. “Not everything is fair,” she told me.
“Give me a chance,” I said. We were still standing outside of the hotel. Cars were coming and going, but we were standing to the side of the doors out of the way. People were loading and unloading, coming and going, but Zoey and I were suddenly trapped in our own little world.
“Why?”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
“How?”
“Do you like gambling?” I asked her.
She considered this for a moment. I knew for a fact that Zoey Lane never turned down a bet. How did I know this? Because my best friend’s girlfriend, Lauren, had done a pretty good job getting to know Zoey. Lauren was a sweetheart, but she also loved to talk, and it wasn’t hard to get her going when the topic was something she cared about. In this case, Zoey. She’d been the one who had told me that Zoey loved gambling and betting and playing cards.
Well, this was a different kind of wager entirely, and it was one I knew sweet Zoey wasn’t going to be able to resist. I knew a lot more about Zoey than I should have, and I knew that Zoey was the type of person who liked to have fun. Even when we were kids, she’d always been curious, and that wasn’t going to be something she would have lost with age.
“Why?” She asked.
“I have an idea.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, still looking at me.
“Let’s go inside and I’ll tell you all about it,” I said. “It’s chilly, and you’re going to freeze to death in that dress.”
“So, you like the dress?” Zoey asked. She looked slightly hopeful. Maybe Zoey wasn’t as disappointed to see me as she made me think. Had she known I would be here tonight? Had she dressed like that because she wanted to show off for me a little bit? Part of me hoped so. My cock hardened. It definitely hoped so.