Luckily, she didn't have to scramble to think of something better than “we were curious”, because right then Liam stomped out of Wulf's bedroom. He was yanking his shirt into place, grumbling to himself.
“If you had any idea what a prolonged erection does to a man, you'd -” he was complaining, and then he noticed Wulf.
“Ah. I see how you got in now,” Wulf said simply. “You two don't have beds of your own?”
“Well, yours is a Tempurpedic. Better for back pain,” she explained.
“I'm going to be sick. What happened to your no-sex rule?”
“See? At least someone has a good memory,” she snapped, looking over her shoulder at Liam.
“Ignore her,” he joked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “She gets cranky post-coital. I've told her time and time again, though – three orgasms is my limit. She has to work for it if she wants more.”
Then he slapped her on the ass and walked into the kitchen. She stared at Wulf as they listened to the fridge being opened.
“Cranky, huh?” he finally broke the silence. “You never got cranky with me.”
“Indifference isn't much better,” she replied, and he barked out a laugh.
“What are you two doing in my apartment?” he asked again.
“Liam has a key,” she explained, her mind racing for a suitable excuse. She didn't want him knowing that she was curious about him at all.
“So because he has keys, you thought it would a good idea to give yourself a tour? All you had to do was ask, I would've gladly shown you around,” he told her.
“Oh, please. We all know that wouldn't have happened. It would've been a no, followed by a bunch of excuses, and then a couple more nos.”
“Well, I guess we'll never know. I'm still waiting for a real answer, Tocci.”
“We, um,” she darted her eyes to the kitchen. Liam was humming as he moved around. What the fuck had he gotten her into!? What was she supposed to say?
Sorry for barging in, Liam wants to go to the beach, and thought he'd ask me to go with him from inside your apartment. What a nut! By the way, cute picture you've got on your tablet.
Thinking of the picture, though, set off a firestorm in her brain. Liam wanted to go to the beach. The picture on Wulf's tablet was of her and him, on their way to Carmel. Which had a beach. Her family was also in Carmel – her mother would die to see Wulf again, and she would also absolutely love Liam. Both responses would equally annoy both men. It would be priceless. And Liam and Wulf stuck on vacation together? She was having trouble holding in the laughter from just thinking about it. She took a deep breath and smiled big at Wulf.
“I thought you might be home, I wanted to talk to you about something. But then you weren't here, so we let ourselves in, so we could wait for you.”
“Really. What was so important that you felt the need to break in?” he asked.
“I wanted to invite you back to Carmel,” she said. He finally looked surprised.
“You want to go home with me?” he asked, and if she hadn't known better, she could've sworn he sounded hopeful.
“Yeah. See the home front. Spend a few days on the beach. Sun, sand, surf,” she suggested.
“That … sounds interesting. And you're sure you want to do this with me?” he checked. Katya nodded and closed the distance between them.
“I think it could be really fun. Enlightening, even,” she said, stepping so she was at his side and pressing her hand against his chest.
“And no sex,” he clarified.
“Hmmm,” she thought for a second. “How about – if you promise to go on this trip with me, I won't completely rule out sex.”
“Deal,” he said without hesitation. She cocked up an eyebrow.
“You sure? You promise?” she asked.
“Promise. I'll clear my schedule. Are you set on Carmel, though?” he asked, taking out his phone and tapping away at it with one hand. “If it's the beach you're after, I can rent a house in Malibu, we can -”
“You're out of mayo,” Liam reappeared, holding a huge sandwich in his hand.
“Goddammit, I forgot about you,” Wulf growled, not looking up from his phone.
“You ready to bounce, angel cake?” Liam asked. She nodded and headed to the front door.
“Sure. And guess what?”
“What?” he asked around a full mouth.
“Wulfy's coming to the beach with us!” she exclaimed, holding the door open. Both men's jaws dropped, Liam's while still holding food in it.
“Excuse me?” Wulf managed to ask.
“Carmel,” she said again. “Malibu sounds awesome, but my mother and father are in Carmel, and besides, it has some pretty decent beaches.”
“Wulf is not invited,” Liam insisted.
“Wulf does not want to go,” Wulf added.
“Wulf and Liam don't have a choice – if you want me to go to a beach with you,” she said, pointing at Liam. “Then Wulf goes. And you,” she shifted her point to Wulf. “Promised. Remember?”
There was another long silence, then Wulf cleared his throat.
“Yes. Yes, I did. I'll go to goddamn Carmel. But remember – you made a promise, too.”
Katya smiled again.
“This is going to be a great weekend, boys. I can already tell.”
15
Torture was fun, Katya decided.
Getting to see Wulf and Liam squirm and fidget and generally be as uncomfortable as possible was the best thing ever. It did wonders to ease the pain that still sat in her chest.
They were driving to Carmel. Liam had rented an SUV for the trip – neither he nor Katya had a car, and Wulf's Mercedes was totally impractical. He bitched about their vehicle choice, but fell into a sullen silence after the first ten minutes.
It was only a two hour drive down from San Francisco, and after half an hour of silence, Liam couldn't stand it anymore. He finally started chatting. He was excited to meet Katya's family, and curious about Wulf's. Then he talked about his own family.
“We should've stopped in Santa Cruz,” he commented. “My mom lives there – she's dying to meet you, Katya.”
“Me!?” she exclaimed. “Why me?”
“Because.”
“Does she know Katya isn't your girlfriend?” Wulf asked, not looking up from his phone as he spoke.
“She knows I have a girl in my life who is a very good friend that I like a lot. That's all she needs – she's already picking out baby names. Sorry, angel cake,” Liam replied, glancing in the rear view mirror. She shrugged.
“It's fine. My mother is the same way,” she assured him. Wulf chuckled.
“I remember. She told me that you and I were going to have three kids, two boys and girl, and she thought at least one of the boys should be named after your father,” he said. Katya groaned.
“Oh god, she didn't really, did she?”
“She did. We had a nice little talk over coffee. Your mother loves me.”
“Only because she hasn't met me, yet,” Liam pointed out, smiling big.
“She's going to die for you, Liam. Take it a little easy on her, I don't want her falling too in love with you when I'll only have to explain that we aren't anything,” she explained.
“Well, who knows? Maybe by the end of the weekend, that'll change,” he said. Wulf glared and Liam laughed. “So what about your mom? How is she? Hoping you'll marry the girl next door?”
“My mother doesn't care about my love life,” Wulf replied.