His cell phone rang and jerked him from his slumber. He grumbled and blindly reached for the offending object on the nightstand. Seeing James's name on the ID, he debated whether or not to ignore it. Turning, he saw that the other side of the bed was empty, and he frowned. Damn. He'd had every intention of rolling over and having another piece of Larrington pie for breakfast. He pressed talk and managed a gruff, "What?"
"Hey, dude. We still on for wings and the game today?"
Big yawned hugely and rubbed his eyes, focusing at the red numbers on the alarm clock. It was already after one. "Yeah, I'll meet you at the bar."
"You cool if Maggie comes?"
He thought for a second that maybe Alisha would tag along, too, but then remembered she had two shows today. "Sure, man, whatever. I like Blondie even if she hates me."
"She doesn't hate you—she just doesn't want you messing with Alisha."
Way too late for that, he thought with an evil grin. "Tell your girlfriend to rest easy. Nothing's going on with me and Larrington. Look, man, I'll just see you later." He clicked off and tossed his phone back on the nightstand.
Rolling over and shifting the pillow under his head, he got a whiff of her perfume, turning all thought to the events of the night before. Alisha Larrington. Tons of hot and dirty sex. There wasn't much more to say except final-fucking-ly! He knew they would be hot together, but that exceeded every one of his (very high) expectations. She was sexy and feisty and vocal. Also f-l-e-x-i-b-l-e. Holy God. That really was the most fun he'd had in a long damn time. And then there was that little matter of her admitting, repeatedly, (okay, so maybe he'd prodded once or twice) that he was the best fuck she'd ever had. Take that Joe Fletcher. Douche nozzle. That was a big stroke for the ol' Biggerone ego.
He was a little surprised that she hadn't stuck around or even said bye before she left. Yeah, yeah, she had to work and—God—he was turning into a pussy. He and Alisha had both had an insane itch and they'd sufficiently scratched it. (read: fucked each other half to death) There was no need to turn it into something it wasn't. Still, hot sex was hot sex. And he and Alisha? A goddamned inferno! He'd like to have more of that and soon, please.
He closed his eyes and went back to sleep, as visions of naked Alisha riding him danced in his head.
Maggie picked at the bowl of peanuts in front of her, shooting James a worried look. "Are you sure I'm not intruding on your male bonding time?" she asked. The sweet smile he gave her in return calmed her nerves a little.
"Baby, I told you—you're not intruding. I think this will be a good chance for you and Big to get to know each other a little better. Are you really that bothered by what happened at your birthday?" He ran his hand over her knee and inched higher, resting it there. "Because even though he's my best friend and has been for years—that's just who Big is. Just accept him for that and you should be good."
She placed her hand on top of his and laced their fingers together. "While that was completely disgusting, that's not it really," she shook her head. "I just can't believe I was so off the mark with him. I wanted to push him and Alisha together so badly. Something really made me think they'd be great together and I thought he'd be the one for her. But Alisha's already had her heart broken and I think that Big would only destroy her in the long run. It's annoying because normally I'm super accurate with my matchmaking skills." She started ticking off her list of successes on her fingers. "First, there was my sister and her husband. They've been married for six years and have two kids with another on the way. Then, there's Cristina and Beau—married for a year. Russell and Adam, they've been together for over two years now and I while I'm not positive, I wouldn't be surprised if we were attending a commitment ceremony for them within the next year."
"You forgot one," he told her.
Maggie arched a brow. "Who?"
"Me and you."
Her face lit up with a bright, happy smile. "My gift started at an early age. I picked you out for myself a decade ago," she laughed softly, nudging his shoulder. "We just took a very long detour." She tilted her face up for a kiss and he dropped his lips to hers. Her head swam like bubbles in a glass of champagne, the way it always did when he kissed her. If she wasn't there already, she was definitely close to being completely and totally in love with James Keller.
"Go Keller," Big said proudly, sliding into the booth across from the lovebirds.
James and Maggie broke apart and cast their eyes at him. James's eyes smiled, and Maggie's rolled in annoyance. "Hi, Big," Maggie said coolly, feeling the warning squeeze of James's hand on her leg. She decided to try being a little nicer.
"Maggie," he nodded curtly, grabbing a handful of peanuts from the bowl.
She exchanged a quick look with James, who smiled encouragingly. "I hear
