Paul
It was so much easier lusting after Friday when I thought she liked to eat p-ssy as much as I do. I could put my arm around her and pretend like the scent of her didn’t shoot straight to my dick, since I couldn’t do anything about the attraction anyway. But now all I can think about is putting my arm around her and having her perfume shoot straight to my dick. Then I think about kissing her again. Then pulling her on top of me and letting her ride me until we’re both sweaty and satisfied.
F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck.
I have rotten luck. And even worse timing, apparently.
Friday could be pregnant. That means she’s been getting it on with one or the other, or both, of those bozos. She’s been having a great time while I’ve been wearing my hand out to thoughts of her.
I get a bottle of water from the fridge and tip it up, closing my eyes as I drink it gulp after gulp.
The privacy curtain I pulled shut makes a clinking sound, and I keep drinking with my eyes closed. I know it’s not her because my skin doesn’t start to sizzle. When I open my eyes, I find Matt leaning against the counter with his arms crossed. He has a smirk on his face that annoys the hell out of me.
“What the f*ck are you doing?” he asks.
I hold up my water bottle. “Drinking water, numbnuts. Why?”
“You know that’s not what I mean.” His foot starts to tap.
“None of your business,” I murmur. I hate it when Matt does this. He’s so gentle and quiet. He’s pretty much the opposite of me in every way, except for our looks. And even in that, he’s thin and wiry, but strong. And I’m…not thin or wiry.
He points toward the front of the store. “Friday is all of our business,” he hisses quietly. “She’s family, Paul.”
“I know,” I breathe. “Another reason why it’s best to keep things the way they are.” I throw my bottle into the recycling from across the room.
“Well, you’ve already f*cked up the atmosphere,” he says. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing,” I say. “I’m going to do nothing.”
Friday has been a part of our circle for four years. But almost all of that time, I thought she was a lesbian. The five minutes when I didn’t is when the trouble started.
“It didn’t look like nothing when we got here. You were kissing her eyelids and she didn’t seem too put out by it.”
“She’s not in the right position for what I want,” I say. I can’t tell him about her being pregnant. It’s not my story to tell.
He grins. “Well, what position did you want her in?”
“Shut up,” I grouse.
“If she’s in the wrong position, flip her the f*ck over.” He throws up his hands. “Hell, turn her upside down if you have to.”
“It’s not that easy.”
His gaze softens. “Nothing worth having is easy to get.”
If anyone would know, it’s Matt. He battled cancer and thought he would never get married or have a kid, and now he has three with twins on the way. He fought, and he won.
“Is she worth having?” Matt asks.
“I don’t know.” I shake my head.
“Do you want to find out?”
“I don’t know.” I drag a hand down my face.
“I never took you for being a quitter.”
I heave in a breath. “I’ve never quit anything on purpose. But this fight might be more than I want to take on.”
“Hell, you knew she had baggage. Layers. You told me you wanted to find out everything about her. Find out why she doesn’t have a family. Find out why she’s all alone in New York. Find out why she’s living in Pete’s spare room until tomorrow.”
I spin to face him. “She’s living with Pete and Reagan?” I didn’t know about that. “Why?”
He shrugs. “She had to move out of the dorm after graduation. They had an empty room. But Reagan’s parents are coming to stay for two weeks, so she’s going somewhere else.”
“Where?” I ask quickly.
He shrugs. “Does it matter?” But he’s grinning.
F*ck yeah, it matters. “Is she going to stay with one of the douchebags?”
“What douchebags?” Matt scratches his head.
“Never mind,” I say. Hope swells within me. I shouldn’t let it, but it does. I get out a piece of paper and write on it in magic marker:
ROOM FOR RENT
PRICE NEGOTIABLE
ONLY BEAUTIFUL LITTLE
BOMBSHELLS NEED APPLY
PREFERABLY ONES NAMED FRIDAY
I walk out of the back room and go to the bulletin board. I stick a thumbtack in the “advertisement” and walk away.
I hear a snicker from behind me and turn to grin at Logan.
You’re a d-o-o-f-u-s, he signs, fingerspelling the last word because there’s no sign for something so stupid.
I know, I sign back.
He looks a little worried for me, but I don’t care. I can’t get where I want to go if I don’t take a first step. Regardless of whether or not she’s pregnant, she needs a place to stay and I have two empty rooms. And she’s family, for Christ’s sake.
I’ve never wanted to eat out a member of my family, though. I scratch my head. I should probably stop thinking like that.
I whistle to myself as I walk to my office. I have some paperwork to do before my first appointment arrives. And I need to give Friday time to find my ad.