When she and Simon were in Istanbul together, no hankypanky happened. She was real clear on that. They were always just friends, friends who were thrown back together in an unreal setting and bonded quickly.
“Simon’s just that guy, you know? The guy that I might only see once every five years, but if I needed something, he’d be there in a second,” she told me, and I bought her another shot. “He’s a great fucking guy.”
Simon stepped away to say good-bye to someone who was leaving.
“You two seem serious. You’re not gonna break his heart are you?” Viv asked.
“What?” I sputtered, taken off guard.
“Are you?” she asked, her green eyes narrowing on me.
“Is this where you tell me if I break his heart, you’ll break my face?”
“Shit, no— I’ll kill you.” She grinned. I really shouldn’t like this girl, but I did.
“Well, I have no intention of dying anytime soon. Good enough?”
“Good enough for me. Seriously, though, he was messed up for a long time. He tries to be all playboy suave, that whole girl-in-every-town bullshit—thank God that’s over. He seems happy with you, so I’m happy.”
“I’m . . . glad.”
“He and I come from a similar background, same upbringing. If his parents hadn’t been killed, he likely never would’ve left this life. Which is a great life, don’t get me wrong. But Simon always seemed like a guy who needed more. Shitty way for it to happen, but after his parents were gone he went out and explored a bit, did something else with his life,” she mused thoughtfully, swirling her drink in her glass.
“He’s an adventurer, no mistaking that,” I agreed. “You must be too.”
“Me? Maybe once, but now I’m pretty settled. I’ve got my business; it’s doing well—what do I need adventure for?”
I looked at this girl, who looked so different from everyone else in this place. She was almost vibrating with energy; she looked like she could handle anything. And her eyes sparkled at the idea of an adventure. Yet she worked with computers all day?
“Yeah, you look like you’re really settled,” I replied, arching an eyebrow.
She swung her gaze back to me, challenging. “You just met me—how in the world do you think you’re entitled to make an observation like that?”
“You had your hands on my boyfriend’s ass—that pretty much entitles me to call it as I see it.”
“Marry this girl, Simon,” she said without taking her eyes off me. He’d just appeared behind her, something she knew without having to look. “Marry this girl and make globe-trotting babies with her. Like tomorrow.”
She clinked my glass, drained her own, kissed Simon soundly on the mouth, and sauntered off into the crowd of trust funds, her fishnets clashing with the twinsets in the most delightful way.
“Oh, I love her,” I said, laughing even harder when I saw Simon’s face. “Relax, Wallbanger. No one’s getting married tomorrow.”
He studied me for a moment, then grinned. “You about ready to go?”
“Really? Already? You don’t want to stay?”
“I’ve seen the people I wanted to see, and it’s been great. But there’s something I’ve been thinking about all night,” he said, resting his hand in the small of my back and bringing me into his dance space.
“What’s that?”
“You’re not wearing anything under that dress, are you?” he murmured, dipping his nose along my jawbone, making me shiver.
“Busted,” I admitted. His hand moved just south of the small of my back, but not so low as to be indecent.
“Wicked girl,” he breathed.
“Let’s go say good-bye to the apostles,” I replied, making his brow furrow in confusion. “I feel like fucking the Homecoming King.”
? ? ?
We said our good-byes to everyone, offering congratulations again to Trevor and Megan. Simon seemed to be truly happy for them, and a little sad to say good-bye. Amid promises to keep in touch and last-minute retellings of past glory, he laughed until he damn near cried. The apostles gathered, they wished him well, and made him swear he wouldn’t stay away so long. He promised to return.
We finally saw Tammy Watkins. And they were indeed huge.
Simon and Viv exchanged phone numbers, then she hugged him tightly.
We made the quick drive back to our hotel, his hand tangled with mine on the console in between, his thumb making tiny circles on the inside of my palm. When his eyes met mine, they burned. We didn’t speak much, and when we walked down the hallway to our room, he kept that hand solidly in the small of my back.
Once inside the room however, that hand roamed.
I was pressed up against the inside of the door, his mouth fierce and demanding. My hands went to his shoulders immediately, struggling to remove his coat. “Do you know how intoxicating tonight was for me?” I said, panting. His hands closed briefly around my throat as he turned my face to kiss my neck. Mmm, possessive. I wanted to be possessed by this man, tonight and every night. “To watch all those women, all those girls who probably had their first orgasm back in high school thinking about you.”