“Nice! As sexy as usual?” he laughed. “I know pickins’ must be slim, Runway.”
I tensed at the nickname he and Ethan always threw my way. I’d earned it fair and square with a taste for models, but it never really bothered me until that moment. It felt so cheap. So childish.
Luke was a bigger manwhore than I’d ever been, but I didn’t feel like pointing it out and stroking his ego. God knows it was big enough as it was. It amazed me he still found new toys to play within little old Briar.
“She’s beautiful,” I murmured, refusing to describe Elena like a piece of meat. “A perfect fit.”
She was more than that, but the fewer details, the better with Luke. He would shit all over it in a heartbeat, more jaded than I’d ever been. While I’d mess around with the same girl for a few weeks, Luke was strictly hit it and quit it, never keeping a chick around for more than one or two nights.
Elena was a friend. She was off-limits in a lot of ways, our secret held close to the vest for more than professional reasons. In Ithaca, she was my sense of calm, a person to trust in a den of deceit.
“Tall and skinny with legs for days? You love those string beans, I swear.”
“She’s built like a fantasy,” I replied, glancing at my inbox as a wave of new messages poured in. It would be another long night at the office. “But she’s brilliant and hilarious too.”
She was the polar opposite of my past, a beacon of light and laughter, who left me longing for her rays of warmth when she wasn’t around. It was enough to draw lines in the sand, protecting us both in the long run. It was hard to fuck her and drop her off after like a call girl, but boundaries were boundaries. I didn’t do relationships, period.
“You mean you actually talk to this one?” he laughed. “Usually you like your dick down their throat so they can’t talk. Damn, I thought I’d never see the day...”
“Shut up,” I grumbled.
She wasn’t like the others. She was more than a set of fake tits and a hole to fuck, real in every sense of the word — tits included. There were no ulterior motives. No demands.
“You like her?” he pushed.
“Of course I like her. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t spend almost every day with her.” The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them. What the hell was I saying?
“Oh, really? Getting serious now?” he teased. “Heard from Bianca?”
My guts twisted. “Let’s not go there.”
There was no sense bringing Bianca into things. Some of life’s baggage was better left in the dark where it belonged, and an ex that liked sending random texts every so often was no exception.
“It’s a valid question.”
“No, it isn’t.”
I knew he wouldn’t drop it, but I wasn’t giving in, focusing on the task at hand as I booked a room in Chicago. I had meetings with the current national director, taking on some of his duties as he transitioned out of the role. It’d be hell to do more tasks on top of Ithaca, but I had to make it work, even with the week-long national conference I had to fly to straight after in DC.
“You’re talking about liking a chick you’re fucking. I think Bianca and what not factor into the equation, no?”
Luke was always the first to call me on my bullshit. That’s what the middle child was for. They were a moral thorn in everyone’s side, always looking to keep the family intact. Bianca was a constant threat to it. Especially if another woman was involved.
“You’re being a jackass.”
“I’m looking out for you, dude,” he insisted. “I don’t want to see you get pinched.”
I ignored him and marked off the two weeks I’d be out of town on the company calendar, tagging additional days where visits would have me out of the office. I’d be getting to know New England like never before.
“If you like this one, you’ll tell her about Bianca,” he urged. “I know you better than anyone and would hate to see it implode on you.”
“Says the guy that hasn’t been in a relationship for more than a decade,” I shot back, instantly regretting my words. It was a low blow for a guy that had been all but gutted in the past. “Look, I like her, yes. I’m fucking her, yes. But that doesn’t mean it’s something that requires Bianca to be involved.”
“How so?” he demanded. I’d struck a nerve with the relationship jab.
“Because it ends once my assignment is over. We have an agreement.”
“And you really think she shouldn’t know?” he pressed.
“No, we’re not dating. You sound soft like Ethan.”
He sighed loudly. “Jason, I hear it in your voice. You like this one.”
“That’s neither here nor there.”
What was I saying?
“Jason, I’m not trying to be an ass, but hear me out. If you like this girl like I think you do, you need to do the right thing. She needs to know the truth.”
Elena
“Fuck!” Jason groaned, thrusting one last time before falling to pieces.
He flopped to the bed, covered in sweat, muscles glistening in the light. It was the same dance we enjoyed night after night, though the location varied from the bed to the balcony to the kitchen counter. That night it was the sofa and his bed; our destination changed thanks to a leg cramp on my end.
Sex was supposed to be the only thing involved,
