Chapter 21
Avoidance
Anna spent the car ride either flirting with me or talking about how great Denny and Kiera were. And because I couldn’t ask her not to talk about them, I had to nod and agree with her. By the time we arrived at Matt’s, I was done with my evening.
I knocked on the front door after seeing both Matt’s and Griffin’s cars in the driveway. I didn’t know what they’d been doing tonight, but hopefully they were coherent enough to help me entertain Anna. She shifted her weight and rubbed her arms while she waited. I wasn’t sure if she was actually cold or if she wanted me to put an arm around her like I had earlier when I’d escorted her into the dance club. I wasn’t in the mood to be gentlemanly though, so I simply stared at the door and left her to her own devices.
It cracked open a heartbeat later and Matt’s face appeared in the opening. He didn’t seem surprised to see me; I often showed up with no warning. He simply said, “Hey,” and opened the door all the way. As Anna and I stepped through, Matt raised his hand in greeting to her. He looked around for Kiera and Denny, but not seeing anyone else, he shut the door.
“You have any beer?” I asked him.
He nodded toward the kitchen in answer. I turned to leave, then looked back at Anna. I supposed I should be cordial. “You want one?”
Anna was busy taking in Matt and Griffin’s home, but she paused to look at me when I asked my question. “I’d love one,” she responded, her eyes trailing down my body. I resisted the urge to sigh. I just did not feel like being checked out right now.
Matt extended his hand to the living room for Anna while I headed into the kitchen. While I was walking, I heard Griffin’s voice floating down the hallway. “Who the hell is here? And when the hell are we going to that party at Rain’s? We shoulda just headed straight there from Pete’s, like Evan did. But, no, pissy boy needed to come home and change. Pansy. It’s not like I knocked that beer into your lap on purpose!”
I smirked, knowing Griffin wouldn’t leave the house again once he realized Anna was here. He probably wouldn’t leave her lap. Opening Matt’s fridge, I found a pack of beer that I liked and grabbed a couple of bottles for Anna and me. Popping open the tops, I headed back out to the living room. As predicted, Griffin was all over Anna. Standing well inside her personal space, he was smiling down at her and playing with a strand of her bright red hair.
Not really wanting to interrupt them, I handed Anna her bottle as casually as I could. She still turned and looked at me though. “Thank you, Kellan.”
She winked at me and Griffin frowned. If he didn’t get into her pants tonight, I’d never hear the end of it. And if he did get into her pants tonight, I’d never hear the end of it. I was fucked either way. And I really didn’t give a shit. Wanting alone time with my bottle, I collapsed on the far end of the couch.
Matt looked at me, then at Griffin. “We were just about to head out. You guys want to come?”
I shook my head—I did not want to go hang out with a bunch of random drunk people. I wanted to stay here, sipping on my beer in solitude. Or as close to solitude as I could currently get.
Before I could vocalize my objection, Griffin piped up. “Nah, let’s bag that shit. Here’s cool.” His eyes returned to Anna’s chest. Anna looked over at me, maybe for guidance, since we were kind of together tonight, but I ignored her and stared at the condensation droplets on my sweaty bottle. Was Kiera sweaty right now? Oh God…why did I have to think that?
When Anna spoke, she didn’t seem bothered in the slightest that I was being an uncommunicative date. “Sounds like fun. I’d love to keep dancing though. Can you turn on some music?”
I watched Matt shrug and grab the remote to his sound system. Thumping bass hit me a minute later and I almost put my hands over my ears. God, I never wanted to listen to club music again.
Matt turned on the TV to some sports recap, minus the sound, and sat back into his chair. His foot on his knee rocking with the music, he alternated between halfheartedly watching the television and watching Anna and Griffin. Anna laughed and giggled, drinking her beer and bumping her hip into Griffin’s. She extended her hand to me a few times, like she wanted me to join them, but I always dropped my eyes. Not tonight.
She stopped trying after a while and fully gave herself over to the D-Bag desperately trying to get her attention. When I was halfway through my second beer, they were halfway down each other’s throats. Still laughing and giggling, Anna scratched and clawed at Griffin in a way that only amplified my pain. That had been Kiera earlier, when she’d been ardently attacking me. Undressing me. Wanting me. God, why did she go home with him?
Inevitably, Griffin pulled Anna toward the hallway, toward his bedroom. She went willingly, with a huge smile on her face. She didn’t even look my way when she took off to be with another man. Wasn’t that fitting? Everybody else in the world was having sex tonight but me. And Matt. But he didn’t seem as pissed about that as I was.
The minute Griffin and Anna were gone, I motioned to the music. “I think they’re done with that now.”
Matt clicked it off, then turned the volume on the TV up. As best we could, we tried to drown out the sound of light banging and laughter that was coming from Griffin’s room with sports stats and kitschy theme music. I didn’t care about what we were watching, but I kept my eyes glued to the screen. I didn’t want Griffin’s and Anna’s noises to remind me of Kiera and Denny, and how Denny was probably driving into Kiera right now. Jesus.
“You okay, Kell?” Matt asked from the chair.
I finished my beer and looked over at him. “Yeah, why?”
He indicated the hallway leading to the bedrooms with a lopsided grin on his face. “You don’t usually let Griffin get the girl.”
Even though Griffin had music playing in his room, I could hear Anna saying, “Oh my fucking God, yes…fuck yes!” I did not want to think about what he was doing to make her say that. But thinking about Griffin getting off was better than thinking about Denny getting off, so I actually smiled at Matt.
“Every dog has his day,” I told him.
Matt snorted, then leaned over and bumped fists with me. As I got up to get another beer, he said, “I’m gonna need a drink for this. Grab me one, will ya?”
I nodded as I headed for the other room. Anna’s groans grew more pronounced the farther from the TV I got. “Oh God, Griffin. Fuck…me…yes!”
I quickly grabbed Matt and me some beers. When I got back to the living room, I saw that Matt had changed the TV to The Matrix. It was blaring now, but I could still hear muffled moans and groans from down the hall. I ignored them and focused on the movie, and on my beer. I really didn’t care what the fuck Anna and Griffin did, or about the fact that it took them over two hours to do it.
When the movie ended, they were still finishing up. “Holy Jesus, fuck yes, don’t fucking stop, so fucking good, oh my God, God, yes, yes, fuck yes, right there!” The sounds after that were highly complimentary, and then, blessed silence. Thank God.
Matt looked over at me with disgust on his face. “Jesus. Think we ought to get him an ice pack?”
A small laugh escaped me, which was saying something, considering how crappy I felt. Glancing at all the beer bottles on Matt’s coffee table, I told him, “I don’t think my date is leaving anytime soon, and I don’t think I can drive. Mind if we crash here tonight?”
Yawning, Matt stood and clapped my shoulder. “Of course not, man. Me casa is su casa, you know that.”
I raised my bottle to him. “Thanks.”
He idly scratched his chest as he set down his empty beer. “Now that the jackrabbits are done humping, I’m going to bed. See ya in the morning.”
Nodding, I watched him walk away. More giggling started up from Griffin’s room. I groaned as I finished my beer. This was going to be the longest fucking night on earth.
I awoke sometime the next morning with a knot in my back like I’d slept on a rock. Much to my dismay, I woke up to the sound of people screwing. Are you fucking kidding me? Were they still going at it, or did they wake up early to start again? I put the couch pillow over my head. It was way too fucking early for this crap.
From down the hall, I heard Matt yell, “Will you two shut the fuck up!” Guess I wasn’t the only one irritated.
Deciding now was as good a time as any to get up, I slunk off the couch and schlepped to the kitchen to make some coffee. At least that was one thing I could look forward to today. As I poured water into the machine, I wondered if I could go back to my house. I knew I had to, I had to take Anna back there, but the thought of walking through the doors and seeing Denny and Kiera beaming at each other as they remembered their epic night of cosmic orgasms was enough to make my stomach clench. I didn’t want to see their dopey, love-filled smiles. Especially knowing that I had primed Kiera for their night. I got her ready. I got her all hot and bothered. I practically gift-wrapped her for him. Fuck, that pissed me off.
Making the coffee extra strong, since I was feeling sluggish, I decided to not go back into my house today. I’d do a drive-by. From down the hall, Anna agreed with my decision. She was shouting, “Yes, yes, yes!” with absolute abandon. Good. My mind was made up then. I wasn’t going home today.
By the time Griffin and Anna were done “getting to know each other,” it was close to lunchtime. Griffin’s room stank like sex when they walked out of it. Both of them were disheveled, blurry-eyed, and walking a little funny. I wasn’t surprised. Marathon sex did that to you.
Not really wanting to leave, I waited for Anna at the front door. She was still dressed in her club clothes, and Griffin had his hand up her short dress as he hugged her goodbye. When she pulled back, he cupped her face and kissed her, hard. “I wish you were in town another night,” he told her. That shocked me. Griffin wasn’t one to do repeat performances. Not that I was one to talk. I didn’t very often either. Guess all the “Fuck me harder” screams had made an impression on him.
Breathless, Anna murmured, “I know, me too. I’d love to fucking do that again.”
Griffin tilted his head toward his bedroom. “So let’s go do it again.”
Biting her lip, Anna sighed and shook her head. “Can’t. I have a flight today, and I really should spend some time with my sister while I’m here.” Smiling, she added, “But I’ll send you pictures for your spank bank when I get home.”
Griffin groaned and dove in for her mouth again. “I’m going to be jerking off for the next three days straight thinking about you.”
I rolled my eyes. I hated to break up this love fest, but I really didn’t want to hear about Griffin masturbating anymore. “Ready, Anna?”
Reluctance clear on her features, she looked back at me with a sigh. That was a far cry from yesterday, when she was practically licking me with her eyes. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Finally able to get some sleep, Matt was snoring as we left the house. Griffin was scratching his junk, or prepping himself for a marathon solo session. Okay, now I did want to get out of here. Griffin met eyes with me after Anna walked through the door and mouthed, Un-fucking-believable. Then he flashed ten fingers. Yeah, thanks, genius. I already figured out that she was pretty spectacular from the massive amount of expletives coming from your room.
I sniffed as I followed Anna to my car. Where the hell was I going to go? What the hell was I going to do? And how long could I avoid my home? Unfortunately, not nearly long enough. But I could at least avoid it today. I could at least avoid the afterglow. Kiera’s, that was. Anna’s was impossible to ignore. She was fanning herself when I climbed into the car. Even though I was not having a good morning, I smiled at her. “Have fun last night?”
Rubbing her legs together, she let out a long groan. “Oh my fucking God, Kellan. I have not come that hard, that many times…ever.” Eyes blazing with residual desire, she said, “Griffin’s dick is pierced. You ever had sex with someone with a piercing?”
I couldn’t help but smirk. She was so different from Kiera in so many ways. “Not with a guy, no, but, uh…yeah, I’ve done piercings.”