dance. And tomorrow, when I stopped by Briana’s apartment to pay some attention to her cat, he’d be getting a visit. Maybe he’d be glad. Maybe we’d go have coffee and discover we had a lot more to say to each other. Or maybe he’d just tell me to fuck off. “You never know,” I told Teddy. I hadn’t said that aloud in a long time. A long time ago it used to be one of my favorite everyday phrases, back when I was an optimistic sister trying to counter her brother’s pessimism. “You never know,” I said, louder this time, to my listening guinea pig. Teddy stared at me with simple eyes and then crapped in my palm. Such is life.
CHAPTER EIGHT STONE
Saturday was full of work and I was glad. Early in the morning we had to be over at the university to set up for some crusty faculty brunch thing. Then as soon as we were done there we headed to another east valley wedding that needed some chairs. Unfortunately that wedding didn’t feature a nice girl waiting around for someone to dance with her in the moonlight. I kept thinking about Evie in ways that were both sinful and sweet. I wanted to fuck her. I wanted to hold her hand. I wanted to take her to a movie and share buttered popcorn with her. I wanted to put my mouth on every inch of her body and demand she return the favor. I wanted to kiss her softly and hold her protectively against my chest. Nuts, all of it. I know. But that’s what happened when a guy spent four years without doing any of those things. Five minutes in the company of a decent girl and she became fucking mythical. Bash kept pushing me toward some cheap fun instead. It was tempting. Last night after we got home he went out for an hour and returned with a pair of giggling coeds who were all long legs and suntanned sex. I’d been sitting in an armchair finishing the final chapters of A Tale of Two Cities when the girls busted into my space and started making offers. Bash already had his hand all over the tits of one of them while the other one stuck out her chest and licked her lips as she looked me over. “Come here,” she pleaded, pulling the left strap of her tank top down. I wanted to. I was so goddamn hard already it was practically a health crisis and I knew once I got a taste of that I wouldn’t be able to stop. I could go all goddamn night, using this girl and exhausting every fantasy fuck that had tortured me for four deprived years. The girl – named Mara or Tara or something – made an impatient face when I didn’t budge. She stood up. “All right then,” she purred. “I’ll come over there.” With one practiced move she dropped her shorts and showed off the flimsy red thong underneath. It was nice to look at. It would be even nicer to find out was underneath. “You’ll have to excuse me,” I said as I stood stiffly. “Got an early morning tomorrow.” It was a lie. All I had going on tomorrow was an afternoon family barbecue at my cousin’s house. My excuse sounded artificial even to my own ears. Plus everyone in the room could probably tell that my cock was just about popping out of my shorts. Mara or Tara had her mouth stuck in a little ‘O’ of shock. This wasn’t a girl who was used to being turned down. I almost wanted to apologize to her. She was young and she was hot and she was looking for a good time. Nothing wrong with that. The Stone Gentry who’d lived four years ago would have already dropped his pants, spread her out and started hammering away until he got what he needed. But I was no longer that free spirited boy who took and used and took some more. Apparently I’d lost something besides years in lockup. “Gentry!” Bash howled with disbelief. He took his hands off the perky tits he’d been exploring and shook his head in disgust. “Forgive my roommate,” he told the women. “Stone’s got a few personality