“On the trampoline.” He sits on a stool, studying me as his finger goes back and forth from the jar to his mouth.
I look out the window into the garden, seeing four bodies bouncing around. Satisfied the coast is clear, I join my mate, taking a good swig of my beer. “Something weird just happened.” I cut straight to the chase.
“Weird how?”
“I think I just made love to a woman.”
He scowls. “We’re looking after your daughter because you needed to keep a work appointment.”
“It was a work appointment,” I confirm. “But the woman I told you about, the one I met at the club last night. She answered the door. And we ended up in her bedroom.”
Jesse laughs. “You dirty dog.” And then the laughter is gone. “Wait. What do you mean you think you made love to her?”
“Well, I definitely didn’t just fuck her.” I laugh under my breath, feeling more and more shell-shocked by the minute. “Last night I fucked her at the club. It was good. So fucking good. But it was still just a fuck.” That’s utter bullshit. “Today I definitely didn’t fuck her.”
“Did you look into her eyes?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get tingles everywhere?”
“God, yes.” I get a fresh bout of those tingles.
“Did you lose all reason?”
I inwardly laugh. “Well, I didn’t use a condom.”
Silence. Silence that drives me crazy after only a few painful seconds.
“Jesse?”
“Drew…” he sighs.
“What?”
“You just made love to a woman,” he states, so matter-of fact. “Drew Davies just made love to a woman.” His laugh is torturous, and the confirmation of my fears has me up and pacing his kitchen.
“Jesus.” I breathe, my panic building with the confirmation of what I already knew. “She asked for cold and emotionless. I feel like I’ve ripped her off.”
“Why did she want that?”
“I don’t know, and it’s driving me nuts because I really want to.”
He’s laughing again, this time harder.
“Thanks for your help, mate. Has Georgia been okay?”
“Fine. I won’t tell her that Daddy dumped her for another woman.”
I wince at the very thought, guilt starting to chew at my conscience. “This woman lives in a house worth at least thirty million,” I tell him, nodding when Jesse’s eyes widen. “And there’s no mortgage on it.”
“It’s definitely hers?”
“I’ve checked the title deeds. It’s hers.” I did that the second I left.
“Fuck.” Jesse’s cheeks puff.
Fuck, indeed. “She’s a sports therapist.” I roll my shoulder, remembering her hands exploring my body keenly. The warmth. The relief. The glorious feel of her skin on mine. I laugh, taking more beer. “It was fucking torture being in that house with her alone. I couldn’t slap my mind into line, and the most fucked-up part is that I had no desire to chain her down. I just wanted to sink into her and enjoy it.”
“Doomed.”
I look up at my friend. “Huh?”
“You’re doomed, Drew.” Jesse gets up and screws on the lid of his jar, wandering across to the fridge and putting it on the shelf inside. “Feeling crazy?”
“Insane.”
He grins, resting back on the worktop with his big arms folded across his big chest. I have to admit, considering the guy is in his mid-forties, he’s fucking prime. “Feels kind of good, doesn’t it? And scary.”
“More scary,” I admit, just as Ava breezes through the door, her breaths short, her cheeks pink.
“What’s scary?” she questions, fetching a bottle of water from the fridge. Jesse swoops in and mauls her for a few annoying moments, as she wriggles in his arms.
“Love. Love is scary.” He wraps his forearms around her shoulders and hauls her back into his chest. I smile. Their love is as potent and rich today as it was eight years ago. It was both pure and devastatingly toxic, raided by challenges, but here they are as strong as ever.
And then my smile falls when I register what Jesse’s just said. “Who said anything about love?”
“Wait.” Ava’s out of Jesse’s arms in a heartbeat, ignoring his affronted expression and low growl. “Who’s in love?”
“No one.”
“Drew.”
Mine and Jesse’s answers collide, and it’s me growling now. “I met someone.” I admit, and Ava’s eyes dance with joy. I’m quick to bat it down. “Just met.”
“And made love to,” Jesse pipes up, reclaiming his wife and putting her back where he wants her.
“Drew Davies made love to a woman?” Ava gasps. “I need to call Kate.”
I roll my eyes dramatically. “Okay, let’s leave it there.”
Jesse’s mouth falls to Ava’s cheek. “He has that confused, insane, crazy shit going on.”
She laughs. “No one does crazy like you, My Lord. Who is she?”
I pout. So much for leaving it there. “Her name’s Raya.”
“And she lives in a fuck-off big house worth a cool thirty million,” Jesse adds.
There’s so much I still don’t know about Raya. The sadness, the house, the man. Mystery is embedded into her skin, but she uses it like a barrier to keep people out. I want in so badly, and that terrifies me.
“What have you got to lose, Drew?” Ava asks seriously, fighting her way out of Jesse’s arms.
I laugh. What have I got to lose? “My mind. Besides, it’s all about Georgia.”
“Come on,” she coos, coming over and resting her arms on the counter, leaning in. “Being in love won’t make you a lesser father, Drew. You need to start trusting. Not all women are as batshit and deceitful as Coral.”
I knew that. Of course, I knew that. But trusting is easier said than done when you’ve been fucked over. Imagine if I had actually cared about Coral. The bitter aftertaste of her betrayal still lingers, as strong now as it was back then. That’s what’s kept my life relationship free. I’m just fine on my own. Me and Georgia. My time as a dad kept at a safe distance from my more risqué choice of relaxation. Besides, Raya has secrets, and she clearly doesn’t want to share. Trust isn’t only an issue for her.
“Anyway,” Ava goes on. “Since we’re talking batshit, men can be, too, you know.” She casts her gaze slowly across to Jesse.
He balks. “Me?”
“I’ll go fetch Georgia.” And with that, she sashays off, slow and seductive, transforming Jesse’s affronted state into appreciation.
“I’d better be off.” I leave my beer half finished. “Thanks for watching Georgia for me.”
“Anytime.” My friend approaches me and rests his hands on my shoulders, holding tightly. He looks serious. “They call it head over heels for a reason.”
“I’m not head over heels, for fuck’s sake. I’m just…bewildered.”
“Right.” He kisses my forehead, the great pansy. “Shit, is that what she smells like?” He inhales my skin deeply, humming in pleasure.
I don’t know what comes over me. I shove him away, my face bunched in disgust.
And Jesse just grins. Because he gets it.
Chapter 6