Hard (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Lindy sat in her office at WECDC staring at her computer monitor but seeing nothing. It was Thursday evening and she had at least another couple of hours of work ahead of her. She had tried to put her wild and wonderful weekend behind her and focus on the tasks at hand, but it was hard, and it showed in her work.

In frustration, she spent the day with the children because they kept her focused and entertained, but that meant a long night as she still had all the office duties to perform, like payroll, which was due tomorrow.

This is so stupid!
she raged at herself.
I had my fun, but now it’s time to get back to work! Forget Treble, he doesn’t fit in my plans! There will be time for that later. Once Bridget is married and the WECDC #4 is opened, things will be easier and then maybe something can happen.

But even as she thought it, she knew she was kidding herself. There was never enough time. If she could just forget how he made her feel.
It’s just sex.
But even as the thought crossed her mind, she smiled.
Yeah…it’s just sex…but holy shit, what sex!
It hadn’t helped when Treble had called her late Tuesday night and described in great detail what he was going to do to her next time he saw her. She had almost challenged him to come over and prove it, but held her tongue. Now she wished she hadn’t. With a huff she squirmed in her chair and opened the online payroll program.
If I will just focus, I can be done in two hours, and then I can get the hell out of here.

She was waiting while the system generated the pay report for her review when her cell began to ring. Pursing her lips in annoyance that her task was being interrupted, she dug in her purse for the phone.

“Hello, Treble,” she said, wanting to be cool and aloof, but unable to keep the warmth out of her voice.

“Hello to you, too. Have you eaten?”

“No. I’m still at work.”

“It’s nearly seven! Why are you still there?”

“It’s been one of those days.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Since you haven’t eaten, I’ll take you out to dinner. I know a place.”

She couldn’t help but smile as memories came flooding back. “Does it involve bad food but great views?”

He chuckled. “Only if you want it to. No, this place is local. Best burgers in town.”

She sighed. “I can’t, Treble. I still have to finish the payroll for tomorrow then I have—”

“Is there a problem?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you are giving me the brush-off, I would rather you just tell me.”

“No! Nothing like that!” She slumped in her chair. “I enjoyed our time this weekend, probably more than you realize. But I have responsibilities and things I have to do. I want to see you tonight, I really do, but it isn’t a good night. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I get it. Like Tuesday. Fine. If you change your mind, you have my number.”

“Treble, I—” she began but he was gone. She looked at her phone and sighed.
Why does everything have to be so fucking hard! Tomorrow…I’ll call him tomorrow and we can work it out.
She looked at the little box on the computer screen that told her the report was ready for her review. She clicked the OK button to display the report, pouting as the information appeared. Getting the payroll right was important, and she knew that, but somehow it didn’t seem as important as it once did.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

“I’m done with that bitch,” Treble snarled as he hung up the phone.

“Who? Lindy?” Stiles asked as he handed Treble a beer before sitting down with a sigh, putting his feet up on the table. He had a couple of hours before his next appointment, so he was taking a break while no one was around.

“Yeah. She’s just stringing me along. If she just wanted to fuck me, I could live with that, but she isn’t even doing that.” He took a long pull of his beer, curling his upper lip back as he swallowed.

“I don’t know what to tell you, my friend. I’m surprised you even called her again.” He was in a good mood and nothing could bring him down. He hadn’t seen Bridget since Sunday when she left to have dinner with her family. But that was okay because soon it would all be out in the open and they wouldn’t have to hide their love anymore. She had promised she was going to tell Terry they were done as soon as he got back from wherever the fuck he had gone. Then…then he didn’t know, but it wouldn’t matter. So long as they were together, he could deal with anything else.

“Yeah, well, it serves me right. I just have just taken my fuck and moved on.”

“That’s what you normally do,” Stiles teased.

“And this is why,” Treble growled before taking another pull on his beer.

“So why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know. I liked her, I guess.”

“Because she was a virgin?” Stiles had been pleasantly surprised how caring Treble had been with Lindy after he had told him. The way Treble went through women, Stiles didn’t think he had it in him.

“No, that had nothing to do with it. I liked how she seemed to bloom over the weekend. She turned out to be tiger in the bed, but she still has some of that sweet innocence about her.” He paused as he thought. “I wonder if her sister is that way?”

“Don’t go there, man,” Stiles warned, working hard to keep his tone light. He and Treble hadn’t been in a fist fight since they were about ten, but if made a play for Bridget, it would be on. “You don’t need that kind of trouble. You remember what happened the last time.”

Treble grinned. “Yeah, okay. But that was her mother, not her sister.”

“Which would probably make it worse,” Stiles said, just to drive the point home that Bridget was off-limits.

Treble took another swallow of beer. “Yeah, knowing my luck, you’re probably right.”

“Look,” Stiles said as he leaned forward. “Far be it for me to give the great J. J. Treble advice on women, but why don’t you give her a little time? She is probably confused about what she wants. This is all new to her, remember?”

“It’s not that hard, Stiles. She either wants to be with me or she doesn’t. If she does, she should just say so. Same if she doesn’t. But this ‘oh, I want to see you but I can’t’ bullshit is just that. Bullshit.”

Stiles nodded, knowing
exactly
how that felt. But Treble wasn’t working under the same constraints that he was and he needed to relax a little. Listening to Bridget talk about her little sister, Lindy seemed like one of those women that needed a little space and wouldn’t just jump into the sack at the drop of a hat. “Would you rather have her hanging all over you all the time?”

“No, but—”

“So you like independent women that have their own lives and don’t need you to make them happy?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“So what are you complaining about? Is it just about the sex?” Stiles asked, the irony of the situation not lost on him. He was more like Lindy, Bridget more like Treble, and yet Bridget had ended up with him and Lindy may end up with Treble.
Maybe opposites really do attract.

“No. Well, maybe a little. But mostly it’s about the fact she can’t make a commitment. It’s not like I’m asking her to marry me, for Christ’s sake. I just wanted to take her to dinner and spend a little time with her.”

Stiles looked at Treble for a moment, his words cutting deep. He didn’t want Treble to make the same mistake he did. “Have you told her that?”

“What?”

“That you want to spend time with her.”

“Not in so many words. But if I didn’t want to spend time with her, why would I even bother calling?”

Stiles shook his head, realizing that Treble was making the same assumptions that he did when he and Bridget first hooked up. “That chick you were hooked up with a week or two ago, what was her name?”

“Chastity?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Didn’t you call her back after the weekend?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Why?”

“Look, Stiles, I know you like to go all mystical and philosophical sometimes, but if you have something to say, just say it.”

“Did you call Chastity back because you wanted to spend time with her or because she fucked the shit out of you?”

“Both, I guess.” Stiles said nothing and just looked at him, waiting for him to admit the truth to himself. “Okay, it was because she was a good lay. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“It doesn’t matter to me, man. I’m just trying to help you clarify your thoughts. So, why do you want to see Lindy again? Is it because she was a good lay or something else?”

“Can I say both?”

“You can, but is it the truth? You been with anyone since?”

“No.”

Stiles smiled to himself.
Treble is smitten. I need look out the window and make sure the world hasn’t ended.
“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I guess I need to recharge my batteries.” Treble took another pull on his beer. “Look, I see where you are going with this. I like her, but I damn sure don’t love her.”

Stiles’ hidden smile appeared on his lips.
It’s time to educate the boy and pass along something I’ve learned.
“I didn’t say you did, or even should. Even if you said you thought you loved her I’d call bullshit on that. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something there. How do people fall in love, Treble J? It doesn’t just happen. It’s a process, it takes time. But it has to start somewhere, and that usually is when someone seems just…right…somehow. Like there is something different or special about them. Would you say that about Lindy? Is there something special about her, something that makes her different from all the other women you’ve slept with?” Stiles waited while Treble thought it over.

“Maybe. But what do you know about love? Hell, you live like a monk. When was the last time you got laid? It’s been at least a year.”

“Sex and love aren’t the same thing,” Stiles said softly, taking a pull from his own beer to hide his smile.

“I know that!”

“I suspect you do.”

“You want another?” Treble asked as he rose, holding his bottle with two fingers.

“I’m good,” Stiles said. It wasn’t cool to be drunk while inking and he had an appointment later.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m not going to beg her to see me. There are too many fish in the sea for that shit,” Treble proclaimed when he returned with another beer.

“I can respect that. Just don’t do something you’ll regret later,” Stiles cautioned. If Lindy was anything like her sister, Treble could very well throw away the best thing that could happen to him and never even know it.

“You know me, brother. No regrets.”

Stiles snorted, as he thought of the mess he and Bridget were in.
Regrets? Yeah, I have a few. If only I had told Bridget how I felt before now.
“See that you keep it that way.”

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Wednesday night, Bridget lied in bed as Terry slept beside her, his hand on her back. He had arrived home earlier that afternoon, and had been anxious to see her after work today. He had taken her to dinner before they had returned to his house where they made love.

She had promised herself she was going to tell him at the first opportunity, and though she had agonized about it all evening, she hadn’t been able to do it. It wasn’t fair to him, or Stiles, and she knew it, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to tell him. Tomorrow morning she would tell him and allow the chips to fall where they would.

As she lied, wallowing in her own misery, she began to cry softly. Terry was so glad to see her, his face lighting up at the sight of her. He clearly loved her, and she had strung him along. He didn’t deserve to be treated like this, but to break it off would break his heart and her own heart was breaking just thinking about it.

His phone began to buzz on the side table. He slapped at it a moment before picking it up. “Yep?” he muttered as he took a deep breath and sat up. “Now? Where’s Doctor Glendal? Oh,” he said as he rubbed at his face. “Okay, sure, I’ll be right there. Get another ward prepped in case we have to go in.”

He turned to look at her, his eyes sad. “I’m sorry, babe. There’s been a car accident and they need me at the hospital. A little girl has glass embedded in her eye.” He took her face and pulled her gently to his lips. “I’ll call you later,” he said as they parted and he slid out of the bed.    

“Okay,” she replied, ashamed that she felt relief that she wouldn’t have to have the talk now.

He quickly dressed in the same clothes he had worn earlier, running his fingers through his hair but not bothering to comb it as he hurried out of the room. Bridget fell back on the bed. This was her future life, a loving husband, but a man that left her flat in the bedroom and was on call or working nights at the hospital more often than not. He said it would get better when he was no longer interning, but then residency would follow with its own challenges.

She lied there, thinking. She
wanted
Stiles, but could she face her family and friends afterwards? With a growl in frustration, she rolled out of bed and began to dress. She would have to call a cab, but she didn’t care.

***

Stiles listened while Treble chatted up a couple as he inked the letter V on the woman’s finger. Her husband had just finished having O and E tattooed on his fingers so when they held hands, the word LOVE was spelled out. She was being a trooper, but this wasn’t her first trip to the rodeo since she had an elaborate tribal design on her left shoulder.

It was nearing ten, and as soon as he finished this last letter on the woman, he was done for the day, the Closed sign hung out after he had finished the man so they could finish in peace and on time. He smiled as the machine buzzed, filling in the last bit of the letter. He was slightly surprised that Treble was still here, even if the woman did have huge boobs that were almost falling out of her top with nipples making two dents in the fabric. On the other hand, Treble did like them top-heavy, so maybe he shouldn’t be surprised after all.

Over beer, while waiting on the couple to arrive, Treble had tried to convince Stiles to go out and pick up a couple of women with him, but he just wasn’t interested. He had all the woman he could handle and he wasn’t interested in anyone else.

Treble’s phone rang and he fished it from his pocket. “What?” he barked as he rose and walked into the waiting area.

“Remind me not to have him answer
my
phone,” Stiles teased as Treble walked away, causing the man and woman to twitter.

“I have to go,” Treble said as he stepped back into parlor.

“Okay,” Stiles said without pausing in his work, having divined the caller from the snippet of conversation he heard as Treble stomped into the waiting area. “Don’t be stupid.”

***

He was just finishing up when he heard the door open. “We’re closed,” he said without looking up as he carefully shaded the bottom of the V. When the customer didn’t say anything, and the door didn’t open again, he pursed his lips in annoyance.
Can’t they read?
he groused to himself, but put a smile on his face as he looked up.

“I just need to ask a question,” Bridget said with a smile.

“Be with you in a second,” Stiles said as he returned to his task. He was surprised to see her, and didn’t know why she was here, but he hoped it was to deliver some good news. She seemed very upbeat, though, for someone that had destroyed a man’s life.

He inked in silence for another few minutes before finishing. “There you go,” Stiles said as he wrapped the woman’s fingers in individual bandages. “Leave that on for a couple of hours and then wash gently. It’s just like when you got the tribal on your shoulder.”

The woman grinned at Stiles. “Got it. It looked great! Thank you so much.” The woman hopped off the couch before pouring into her husband’s arms to kiss him. “You’re stuck with me now,” she purred.

“Nowhere else I want to be,” the man replied. “Do we owe you anything else?” he asked, turning his attention to Stiles.

“Nope. You’re covered,” Stiles replied, removing his gloves to shake the man’s hand.  He escorted them out then locked the door.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, turning to face Bridget. “Where’s Terry?”

“He got called in. There was an accident or something.”

Stiles began to quickly disassemble his machine for cleaning. “And you came here…?”

“Because I couldn’t stay away.”

He smiled but didn’t look up. “Did you talk to him?”

“No. I didn’t have the chance.” She saw him stiffen as his hands became still. She moved closer and sat down on a nearby stool, rolling close. “He got called into the hospital! What was I supposed to do, tell him he couldn’t go because I had to break his heart first?”

He sighed softly to himself and started putting the machine back together. “You didn’t have a single chance in the last two days?”

“One day! Not even that! I didn’t see him until this evening. We had dinner out, and I didn’t want to make a scene. I was going to tell him when we got home, but then he was called away before I had a chance. Cut me some slack, okay? This isn’t easy you know.”

“I know, but you have to do it.”

“I will! I didn’t come over here to fight.”

“Why are you here?”

Bridget smiled as she leaned in closer. “I think you know.”

“No.”

“What do you mean
no
?” she asked, shocked he would reject her like that.

“I mean no. As in this can’t continue like this. You need to make your choice, Bridget.”

“I have!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure! What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me is you. I love you, Bridget, but you’re still scheduled to be married to another man in, what, nine days?”

“I’m not going through with it!”

“Then
tell
him!”

“I will!”

“When?”
Bridget glared at him a moment then pulled her phone out of her purse and started dialing. “Who are you calling?” he asked.

“Terry!” she snapped as the phone rang.

“Levin Children’s Hospital,” the voice said.

“Yes, I would like to leave a callback for Doctor Terry Lewis. Have him call Bridget. It’s important. He has my number.”

“Doctor Lewis is in surgery at the moment, but I will put a note in his file to call you,” the woman said after a pause.

“Thank you,” Bridget said then hung up. “Satisfied?” she asked, still glaring at Stiles as she returned the phone to her purse.

“For now.”

“Asshole.”

“Bitch.”

“Prick.”

“Cunt.”

She was pissed off at him for backing her into a corner and forcing her hand. She knew he was right, but all she wanted to do right now was get laid and have him fill the need that Terry left in her earlier. She stood as her temper flared. “I came over here to spend some time with you and all you can do is get pissy!”

“Let’s be clear, you came over her, the-soon-to-be-the-wife-of-another-man, to have a little on the side. I’m not willing to do that anymore.”

“I called to tell him!”

“But you still didn’t, did you?”

“I think I should go!”

“I think you should. At least until you can figure out what you really want.”

“I want you!”

“Then why are you still marrying Terry?”

“Fuck you, Stiles!” she snarled as she spun toward the door. His words were like a lash because he was right.

“That’s all you’ve been doing, Bridget. Fucking me, just like you’re fucking me now. You don’t want me, not the real me. You just want a fuck buddy, someone to scratch the itch Terry can’t reach. You told me Saturday night you were going to break it off as soon as you could. But you haven’t. You lied to me about what you were going to do. Maybe you even lied about loving me, just to keep me coming back for more. Is that all I am to you, a good fuck? Well, I’m tired of being your fuck toy. It’s time to woman up and make your choice, because you can’t have it both ways anymore.”

Bridget stood, her mouth agape. “You don’t believe that!”

“No? Show me where I’m wrong.”

“I love you! You said you loved me!”

“I do. But I’m not going to be used by you anymore. It has to end. I’m not sleeping with another man’s wife.”

“I’m not married yet!” she yelled, her skin burning as if standing in the summer sun.

“But you’re going to be.”

“Why are you treating me like this?” Bridget asked, her voice becoming soft. She didn’t understand the sudden change in Stiles from Saturday night.

“Because I don’t know who you are. Are my old lady or Mrs. Terry Lewis? You can’t be both.”

“I’m your old lady.”

“Prove it.” She began to unbutton her shirt. “Not like that,” he ordered. “Break it off with Terry.”

Her fingers stopped three buttons down, but then resumed unbuttoning her shirt. “You heard me call him. You can be here when I tell him.” She slid her shirt over her shoulders and allowed it to fall to the floor. “This is just to pass the time.”

“Put your shirt back on. I’m not doing this.”

“Yes you are,” she purred as she released the clasp on her bra and allowed it to join the shirt on the floor. This was their first heated disagreement, and she didn’t understand why Stiles standing up to her was turning her on, only that it was a welcome change from the ever-agreeable Terry. As good as the sex with Stiles was anyway, she was looking forward to makeup sex with him. She loved makeup sex, and had picked fights with lovers in the past just so they could make up.

He watched her sway toward him, pushing her shorts down as she walked, and he could feel his cock hardening despite himself. “Damnit, put your clothes back on!” he growled, refusing to let her lead him around by his cock.

She smiled, the bulge in his pants obvious. She had never had to convince a man to bed her before, and she relished the challenge. “Later.”