“Yep,” I called back.
“I think I need to take a lover, and I may need your help with that,” she said as she stepped out onto the porch before she proceeded to hiccup no less than six times in a row.
Like I said. Drunk Reese was always a good time.
“My point has been made. Nothing about this is normal,” Cage said under his breath so only Hugh and I could hear him. Reese laughed hysterically, either that my brothers had just heard her confession or that she couldn’t control the noises coming from her mouth. She had a bottle of water in her hand and unscrewed the top and took a long pull.
“See ya,” I said, saluting them as they walked down the driveway.
Reese was shouting her goodbyes as I locked the door and turned to face her.
“You sure you want to go dancing? You seem a little drunk. That bastard better not have been driving you around if he was drinking.”
“He didn’t drink. He was on call. And I’m fine. I want to go dancing with you, Finn Reynolds. I can’t even remember the last time I went dancing.”
I turned toward her and zipped up her coat, glancing down at her bare legs that were covered up to just below her knees with her white cowboy boots. I led her down from the porch, and we walked toward Garrity’s, the bar my family owned, which was only a three-block walk from my house.
“Tell me what happened,” I said as her hand found mine. We’d always been affectionate with one another. It was just the way we were when we were together.
“He’s sleeping with her,” she spewed, not hiding her disgust.
“Did you really think the guy was going to go a year without sex and then get a girlfriend and not sleep with her?”
“Well, I haven’t slept with anyone.”
“Because you’ve never had good sex, so you don’t know what you’re missing.”
She came to a stop and faced me. “You’re right. That’s why I need to take a lover. Carl thinks we’re both having good freaking sex. He basically called me a boring lover. I’m the one who kept trying to do new things. He didn’t think his,” she paused and held up her pointer and middle fingers and completely over-accentuated the air quotes, “’future wife and mother of his children should be curious about sex.’ Well, guess what, Chew?”
“What?” I smirked.
“I’m curious. I wanted to find a profession that challenged and excited me. And I want to get drunk on a Tuesday night just because I can and then go dancing at Garrity’s with my best friend. And the biggest shocker of all…” she said, raising a brow and waiting for me to beg for it.
“Yes?”
“I’m curious about sex. About all the orgasms. About trying anything other than boring old missionary with a few heavy grunts that is nothing to write home about. So, maybe Carl’s right. Maybe we will become better people while we’re apart, and when we find our way back to one another, we’ll be better for it.”
“Let me get this straight.” I moved closer, my mouth just a breath from hers. My gaze locked with those familiar sage-green eyes. “You want to go bang a random dude, experience real sex, and then go back to your boring boyfriend who doesn’t please you?”
She rolled her eyes. “He pleases me in many ways. We want the same things. A family. A home. A happy life.”
“And the sex?”
“Well, Carl claims he’s having all the good sex now. And he likes it. So maybe when we both know what that actually is, we’ll be able to have it together. But I’m not going to be the only one who doesn’t have it while he’s out there doing it with Christy freaking Rae Lovell,” she said, her voice louder now.
“Don’t you dare add a fourth name to that monstrosity.” I chuckled before putting an arm around her shoulder and leading her toward Garrity’s. “I think you should experience some goddamn fun and a whole lot of good lovin’. It’s going to be life-changing.”
“Yeah? Well, he asked me if we were sleeping together.”
“You better have talked me up, Miney. I’m a fabulous fucking lover.”
“I told him you were amazing. That we were explosive together.” She paused to hiccup several times again before continuing. “I wasn’t about to look like a pathetic, sexless woman, sitting home pining over my ex, who was talking about all the good sex he’s having. That’s what sold me on this new idea. While we’re apart, Carl won’t be the only one living it up. If he doesn’t like it, I guess he’ll have to get his shit together and beg me to come back.”
“Well, I’ve got bad news for you.”
“What’s that?” she asked as we approached the bar, and I reached for the door.
“As far as everyone in Cottonwood Cove knows—and the rest of the world, if I’m being honest,” I said, pausing as she rested against the door and looked up at me, waiting for me to finish what I was saying. Country music boomed from the bar.
“Yeah?”
“You’re my woman. And I can’t have you out there looking for a random man.”
Her lips turned up in the corners. “You want me, don’t you, Chewy?”
I did, didn’t I?
Cage was right.
The thought of claiming Reese in a way I never imagined possible didn’t have me running scared.
I wanted her as more than my fake girlfriend.
As more than just a best friend.
I wanted to make Reese Murphy feel good in a way her boyfriend never would.
Even if I knew I couldn’t keep her forever. Eventually, she’d go back to Carl because that was who she wanted to spend her life with.
And my life would return to normal.
Dating and having a good time.
But for this short time… I wanted this.
“Bah! I got you.” She patted my cheek and chuckled. “You should have seen your face. The fear. Don’t worry. I’m more than aware that this isn’t real, Chewy. So, we’ll just have to figure out how we’re going to find me a lover that I can sneak around with. Come on. Tonight, I just want to dance with you.”
She led me to the dance floor, and I wanted to stop her and tell her she was wrong.
Because for the first time in my life, I realized I wanted a woman who didn’t want me back.
ten
Reese
I woke up with my mouth dry and my head pounding. I’d had several tequila shots at Garrity’s, and if memory served, Finn had tossed me over his shoulder and walked all the way home when he’d insisted that I’d had enough.
And then I remembered that he’d tucked me into my bed and put a glass of water on the nightstand for me. I felt around for the glass, and just as my dehydrated mouth started to water, I knocked the glass onto the carpet and spilled the water.
Damn it.
This was why I’d never been a big drinker.
But I’d had a lot of fun.
Too much fun.
Finn and I danced for hours.
I stumbled to my feet and found my phone. It was three o’clock in the morning, and I’d been asleep for less than an hour. I made my way to the kitchen and poured a large glass of water, chugging it beside the sink.
I heard a noise.
It sounded like someone was groaning.
Finn was known for sleepwalking, and I couldn’t even count how many times he’d wandered around when we were kids and when we lived together as adults.
“Chewy?” I whispered as I tiptoed down the hall toward his bedroom.
The house was dark, but a light was coming from beneath his door, which was cracked open. I stood beside it and heard a deep moan.
I pushed the door open the slightest bit and saw the lamp sitting on his bedside table was turned on, providing just the slightest bit of light. I heard the gruff noise again, and I tiptoed toward the bathroom. I was still drunk enough that my walk felt a little wobbly, but I was sober enough to be curious about what was going on.
Was he sleepwalking?
Did he have a woman here?
We’d come home alone together.
I held my breath as I moved through his dimly lit bedroom. The bathroom door was ajar. The light from his closet must have been on, because there was just enough light to make out his silhouette. He stood over the sink, head down, boxers shoved down as he gripped his dick and stroked himself.