Big grinned slowly. If Maggie only knew just how much fun he'd had with her best friend. "Yeah, it was a great show. Alisha killed it."
"What'd you do after the show, dude?" James asked.
Pouring himself a glass from the pitcher of beer in the middle of the table, he shrugged carelessly. "Went home, had something to eat and got in bed." All true, he thought with an imperceptible twitch of his lips.
The couple once again exchanged glances, this time with matching expressions of surprise.
"What?" Big asked lazily, looking at his best friend.
"Nothing, really," James said, running a hand over his hair. "Just kinda surprised you didn't pick up one of those skanks at the reunion. No offense," he added as an afterthought.
"Sorry to disappoint, buddy." He did not in fact go home with a skank last night. "So, Blondie—who's your horse in this race today?"
"I don't really care," she said. "I'm more of a Browns fan. Though I see from your shirt and James's that you've converted to Giants fans. Turning your backs on the New York teams?" Maggie clucked her tongue.
"The Browns? Aw, that's cute," Big sneered, making James laugh.
"They do suck, babe," James agreed.
"Humph," Maggie sniffed. "I'm putting my money on the Eagles today."
"Shh!" Both James and Big said. "Ah, Maggie, cool it with the Eagles talk—Giants fans get pretty mean," James warned looking around sheepishly.
"Not saying I wouldn't do it, Maggie, but I'd prefer to not get into a fight today," Big added, taking a big gulp from his glass.
"Well, if Alisha was here, she'd wear her Colts jersey, get the bartender to switch one of the TVs and tell anyone who gave her crap about it to fuck off."
Big grinned into his glass. He'd pay money to see that. "I bet she would."
"Just stay away from Alisha," Maggie snapped.
His jaw twitched in annoyance. "You know what, Maggie? Lay off the mama bear act, alright. Alisha's an adult who seems like she could handle herself just fine in any situation. So why don't you stop jumping up my ass at every goddamn turn? It's getting really old."
"Dude!" James admonished.
"Fuck this. You guys have fun. I'll just go watch the game at home." He slid out of the booth and headed for the exit.
"Big!" Maggie called, making him pause. He turned and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, okay," Maggie said sincerely. "I know I'm super protective of Alisha, but that's just how we are with one another...how we've always been. You were right though. She can handle herself just fine and I should remember that more often. And as for you, you're an adult and what you choose to do with your time is your business and I shouldn't judge you for it. For James's sake, I'd really like it if we could just start over and try to get along. Do you think we could do that?"
Big considered her for a moment before finally shrugging. "Buy me a beer and we'll call it even," he said with a smirk.
Maggie smiled. "Okay then." Turning, she walked back into the bar and Big followed.
After a really long day and managing to survive both of her performances (barely), Alisha had just slipped her robe off and pulled back the covers, intending to sleep until noon, when she heard a knock on her door. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was just after midnight. Sighing, she put her robe back on and padded towards the door. Another relaxed knock sounded, and she switched on the light in her living room and Rosemary on her tiptoes to look through the peephole. Her breath hitched when she saw Big standing on the other side.
She swallowed thickly and pressed a hand to calm the butterflies in her tummy. Quickly, she checked out her appearance in the mirror in the tiny entryway and undid the locks on the door. She slowly exhaled a breath to calm her nerves and pulled the door open. When she did, she found him leaned casually against the frame with her red thong dangling from the crook of his finger. Her eyes shifted to his and when he grinned that sexy, crooked grin, she felt the exhaustion evaporate. "What are you doing here?" she greeted, a slow smile stretching across her lips.
Big twirled the panties around his finger and slowly looked her up and down. The short, emerald silk robe barely skimmed the tops of her thighs. The same thighs he intended to have wrapped around his body again. "Well, Larrington, you left this little breadcrumb behind for me to find and I thought I'd follow the trail. Looks like I found what I wanted."
Alisha bit her lower lip and stifled a laugh. "That was the cheesiest thing I've heard in a while."
He smirked wickedly. "But you still want to get me naked, don't you, Alisha?" he asked smugly.
She swallowed a moan and grabbed his coat. "Shut up," she ordered, pulling him through the doorway and dragging his mouth down to hers.
Chapter 12
"Goddamn, Alisha," he groaned, collapsing back against the pillows. His breathing was ragged, his vision spotty and his skin felt like it could burst into flames at any moment. He was sort of amazed that they'd survived. Kicking the covers off his body, he felt the beads of sweat evaporate from his skin as his brain slowly regained its function. Rolling onto his side, he expected to see her head resting on the pillow and not her feet. "The hell, Larrington?" he chuckled lowly, lifting up the covers, seeing her motionless save for the deep rise and fall of her chest as she tried to catch her breath. "How'd you end up down there?"
She emitted a little humming noise and opened one eye, taking in his sexy, humored expression. "Not sure. Brain not working," she muttered, stretching her arms
