Man Candy (16 page)

“Mmmm, I love steak. I can be over around six and I’ll bring some wine.”

“Sounds perfect.”

I placed one last kiss to her lips and turned to leave. I was six feet out the door when she called my name. I stopped and turned to see what she needed. “Thank you for tonight and not getting upset that we didn’t... you know.”

I gave her a lopsided grin. I absolutely adored how she always trailed off and ended with “you know.” It was endearing that she didn’t say sex or fuck. “Remember when I told you I would do anything for you?” She nodded, so I continued, “Those weren’t just words, sweetheart.”

As I drove home with a silly smile on my face, I couldn’t help but think that this girl was giving me the worst case of blue balls and somehow I couldn’t be happier about it.

That Friday night, I was kicking back with Tanner, shooting the shit and drinking beers on my back deck. Our mother had come over for dinner earlier that night. After she left, neither of us felt like going out, which seemed like a rarity these days.

All night long, I found my mind continually drifting to Clarissa and what a fabulous week we had together.

On Monday, she joined Ed and me for lunch. It was important to me for the two of them to get to know each other better. I didn’t need to worry though. It was all too easy for Rissa to charm Ed with her wit and sense of humor. He never stood a chance—much like me. Had it not been for the amount of love I knew he had for his wife, Ella, I might have been concerned.

When we parted ways after lunch that day, Rissa surprised the shit out of me by planting a soft kiss on my lips before strutting over to her car and driving away. Not even Ed’s ribbing could ruin my high after that.

Later that night we spent over an hour on the phone watching
Seinfeld
together on television and talking about absolutely nothing before finally saying goodnight.

On Tuesday, she came over after work and we ate out on the back deck watching the sunset. Eventually we moved from the table over to the two-person chaise lounge, my mother had insisted I buy, where we proceeded to make out until it was close to her bedtime.

I had kept things chaste between us even though my body was racing to take it all the way. I had struggled with that decision. Ultimately, I decided there was something to be said about the buildup, and when we finally did come together, I wanted to take my time with her and know neither of us had to worry about going to work the next day.

Wednesday and Thursday went much the same way as Monday with us ending the night on the phone together. Both times we stayed on until she ended up falling asleep and I had no choice but to hang up. I found it incredibly adorable listening to her soft snores before I did though.

“I heard you and Rissa have been spending some time together or trying to anyway,” Tanner said with a hardy chuckle.

“I knew you two were behind that stunt last weekend.” I pointed my beer bottle at him and scowled.

“It didn’t sound like it took much convincing to get her out of your house, bro. Do you need some pointers on how to satisfy a woman?”

“Fuck you. I don’t need any help in that department,” I scoffed.

“You sure about that? First rule in seduction, they aren’t supposed to run away from you. If anything you should have to kick their asses out of your bed.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and willed myself not to kill him. He could be such an ass sometimes. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

Tanner laughed long and hard at that, muttering, “Such a pussy” in between.

“What’s going on with you and Meredith? You both said you weren’t back together but this is twice now I’ve seen the two of you hook up.” Turnabout was fair play in my book. If he wanted to harass me about Rissa, I sure as shit was going to needle him about Meredith.

He shrugged and finished the last of his beer. “We’re having fun.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah that’s it. Since when do you care so much about who I’m sleeping with?” he asked like it was some big transgression to be asking.

“Settle the fuck down.” I gave him a look that told him he was being crazy.

“Yeah whatever. What do you want to do now? I’m over this heart to heart shit.”

“You mean you’re done busting my balls now that I’m busting yours?”

“Isn’t that what I said?” he asked with a smirk.

“How about we play Madden on the PlayStation?” I suggested even though it would probably end up in us fighting. We were both too competitive to play video games with each other. That didn’t mean it stopped us though.

He looked at his watch and shrugged. “Sure I got some time before I have to meet Lucy.”

“Wait a second. What about Meredith?” I asked in confusion when we both stood and headed towards the house.

“What about her?”

Thinking better about pursuing the conversation, I opted to let it go. “You know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

He put me in a headlock as we walked into the house. “It’s about time you stopped acting like a girl and asking so many questions.”

*****

Clarissa

“Okay, dish, sister,” Meredith said as soon as we slid into the booth at the bar.

I sipped my martini and pretended not to know what she was talking about.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Do not hold out on me. I want to know what’s going on between you and Ben,” she bitched.

“A lady never kisses and tells,” I said coyly.

“You are such a bitch. Just tell me,” she whined. It was very unladylike and unattractive.

“Why should I? After the stunt you pulled last weekend?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she huffed and looked out into the crowd, trying to avoid my scolding her.

“Yes you do. You knew what would happen if I stayed at his house so you harassed me until I agreed to leave with you. If I hadn’t said yes, you would have pounded on his door until I came out. I’m not stupid, Mer. I know how you operate.”

“It was funny. Okay? After the way you two were ready to go at it during the photo shoot, Tanner and I thought it would be fun to mess with you guys.”

“And was it?”

“Yeah and I won fifty bucks from his sorry ass.” She did a little dance in her seat that made me want to slap her.

“You two bet on it?” I yelled.

“Hell yeah. He swore I was going to have to go in there and pry you off Ben’s dick. Lucky for me you weren’t all that attached to it,” she snickered.

I was actually growing very attached to it, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. It was long and thick—by far the biggest one I had seen. All in all he was mouthwateringly beautiful for sure. Ever since last Saturday when I saw it for the first time, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. No one needed to know all the erotic fantasies I was having about climbing on his cock and riding him hard.

“Okay so spill.” She was like a rabid animal when she wanted something, so I figured I could give her a little something to chew on.

“We’re... exploring things,” I said evasively.

“You mean each other, right?” she said with a cheeky grin.

“He’s explored,” I mumbled in hopes she wouldn’t hear me. Unfortunately, she had supersonic hearing.

“And you haven’t?”

“No we’ve done some stuff but not everything. I’ve gotten down to my birthday suit, but he’s never really gotten out of his boxers,” I admitted.

“Has he given you an orgasm?”

“Three amazing orgasms,” I said with a dreamy sigh. He really knew what he was doing in that department. I had no cause for complaints.

“And you haven’t done anything for him?” she asked unbelievingly.

“We’ve dry humped a bit and I had my hand around him a couple times, but no.”

Talking about this stuff was not that easy for me. I was a bashful person most days. The only time I ever found myself uninhibited when it came to discussing sex was when I was either drunk or in the act with a lover. I wasn’t a dirty talker, but I didn’t mind telling a man what I wanted. Most times they didn’t hit the mark, but at least I tried.

Meredith hooted and slammed her hand on the table as she laughed. I didn’t know what she found so funny. “You’ve left that poor boy with blue balls a couple of times? That is priceless. Tanner is going—”

“To never find out about it,” I finished for her.

“Come on,” she whined.

“Nope. It’s not up for debate. Either you keep your mouth shut or I never tell you anything ever again,” I warned. I didn’t want Ben to hate me if Tanner found out about our sex life.

“Ugh, fine. How come you guys haven’t done the deed for God’s sake?”

“I’m taking my time with this. I’m guarding my heart.”

“Oh, sweetie. He’s not Scott. Ben wouldn’t cheat on you. I’d even go so far as to bet that if you let him, he’d worship the ground you walked on for the rest of your life.”

“It’s not just Scott. It’s Scott, Steve, Jordan, Alex, Michael, and Walt,” I reminded her.

“Was Walt the one with the weird foot thing?” She scrunched her nose and stuck her tongue out in disgust.

“Unfortunately, yes.” I cringed remembering the guy who crashed at my friend’s house in college after we partied all night. I woke up to him trying to take my socks off—twice. After the second time, I threatened to throw him over the balcony if he didn’t stop. Needless to say I never talked to him again after that. “In one way or another every guy I’ve ever cared about or been intimate with has screwed me over. And the last one was a doozy. So forgive me for not rushing into anything with Ben.”

“I get it. You could at least give him some relief though.”

“He’s fine,” I assured her.

“You can’t tell me he didn’t get hard the times you were fooling around. How long do you think he’s going to take you leaving him high and dry?”

I hadn’t been overly concerned with that until she put it that way. I knew Ben didn’t want to push me. Now I worried I was taking it too far and leading him on. Then again, if he couldn’t respect my wishes then he wasn’t the guy for me.

Was I testing him? I guess I was and I really hoped he would pass. I wasn’t sure I could deal with another letdown. Ben seemed so promising, it would be extremely disappointing if he didn’t deliver on that promise.

“I tried to... you know... and he stopped me. Said it was about my pleasure, not his.”

She sat back with an amazed look on her face. “Shit, he’s good.”

“You have no idea,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Oh girl, I heard that and now I’m wondering how alike Ben and Tanner are in that department.”

“How about we not compare?” I said, disgusted with the thought of knowing anything about Tanner in that way. When I caught the heated look on her face, I shouted, “And stop thinking about Ben like that!”

“You’re no fun,” she complained.

Over the conversation, I threw back the rest of my drink and slid out of the booth. “Drink up, bitch. We’re dancing.”

*****

Meredith waved at me as the cab drove away and I proceeded to stumble into my house. Flipping on lights as I went, I left a trail of shoes and clothes behind me as I made my way to my bedroom where I fell face first down on the bed.

Meredith and I may have had a
little
too much to drink. It was the best way to keep her from butting into my love life. Not to mention it was so much fun to get tipsy and dance with hot guys.

We should really do that more often.

Rolling over on my back, I placed a foot on the floor to stop the room from spinning.

“It’s too quiet in here,” I said to the empty room.

Using my foot on the floor as leverage, I lifted my ass off the bed and grabbed my phone from my back pocket. Scrolling through my list, I giggled when I got to Ben’s name in my contacts—Hotty McHotPants. At some point during the night, Meredith and I had decided to dub him that name
Grey’s Anatomy
style. I wanted McMagicTongue, but somehow hot pants won out.

Jabbing the screen with my finger, I put it to my ear and sang the song that was stuck in my head—“One Minute Man” by Missy Elliot.

“Hello?” His sleep roughened voice washed over me, making me shiver. He was just so... sexy.

“Hey.” I tried out a seductive voice but wasn’t sure if it hit the mark or not. Oh well, didn’t much matter anyway. Ben liked me just the way I was. Or so I trusted anyway.

“Is everything okay?” I heard the sheets rustle on his bed and I imagined him naked under there. Yum.

“Were you sleeping?”

“Yeah. It’s... three o’clock in the morning. What were you girls doing tonight?”

“Oops!” I smacked myself in the head when he said how late it was, which made me start laughing hysterically.

“I take it you went drinking?” He rightfully deduced.

“I have.”

He chuckled at that. “I remember how much fun a drunk Rissa can be.”

“I can be a lot of fun,” I said in a low voice.

“I know you can. I’m glad you made it home okay,” he mimicked my tone sending more shivers across my skin.

“I missed you,” I admitted out loud. Apparently I didn’t have much filter right then because there was no way I would have told him that sober.

“I missed you too, sweetheart.”

“I wish you were here right now. I’m
horny
,” I whispered the last word into the phone.

Ben groaned loudly. “You’re killing me, Riss.”

“I wish I was blowing you. Your cock is like perfection and I want it in my mouth,” I blurted out, quickly slapping my hand over my mouth when I realized what I said. Definitely no filter. There was nothing but silence on the other end, so I whispered, “Ben?”