One of the Guys (14 page)

“There
you go, Lucy,” Jackson said, coming up and putting his arms around both girls’
shoulders. “Maybe Kate can take a night off from poker tomorrow night to take
you out. And then somebody else can win for once.” Lucy grinned. Jackson kissed
her on the cheek and then winked at Kate.

“That
sounds like a plan,” Kate began. Then she feigned forgetfulness and smacked
herself on the forehead. “Wait a second. You know
what,
I can’t play poker tomorrow night anyway. I have to go to a friend’s housewarming
party,” she said. “Lucy, why don’t you go with me?”

“To
your friend’s party?”
Lucy asked.

“Sure!
It’s just a girl I know from work.
Bought this big fancy
house on the beach.
He wants to show it off,” Kate said. “I’m dying to
see the inside.”

Lucy’s
eyes widened. “Do you think she’d mind?”

“If
I brought someone with me?
 
No way. She’s cool. You’ll like her. So
you’ll come with me?”

Lucy
shrugged. “Might as well, since this guy’s got poker plans,” she said, elbowing
Jackson lightly in the ribs.

“Great!”
Kate cried. “I have an early wedding tomorrow, so maybe afterwards, we can go
do a manicure and a pedicure before the party. How about that?
 
My treat.”

“I
can’t say no to that!” Lucy exclaimed.

Behind
Lucy’s back, Jackson gave Kate a thumbs-up.

*

           
Kate got to her house just seconds
before Max did. She closed her car door and smiled at Max as he pulled into the
driveway right behind her. He got out of the car wearing a faded t-shirt, plaid
flannel pajama bottoms, and flip-flops. He held up a pint of ice cream. Kate
reached for it, but he pulled it away, leaning in for a kiss.

           
“I’m not sleeping with you,” she
said. As soon as she said it, she wondered what was wrong with her. She wanted
to sleep with Chris, but he didn’t seem to have any interest. Max would sleep
with her in a heartbeat, and she didn’t want to.

           
“Just a kiss!”
Max said, puckering up.

           
Kate kissed him quickly, and he
handed over the container of ice cream. He followed her into the house and
plopped on the couch while she turned on a few lamps. He watched her as she went
into the kitchen to fetch two spoons. “Haven’t seen you much lately,” he said,
kicking off his flip-flops.
“Except for poker.
How
have you been?”

           
“Good,” she replied, placing the ice
cream and spoons on the coffee table. She stood on one foot to pull off a boot.
Then she switched to the other foot and tugged off the other boot before
picking them both up and tossing them into her bedroom. “Can I get you
anything?”

           
“Just come and cuddle,” he said,
taking the lid off the ice cream. He licked the ice cream off the lid and dug
his spoon in.

           
Kate disappeared into her bedroom
and quickly shimmied out of her jeans, looking forward to cozying up on the
couch. She pulled a pair of sweatpants off the top of the laundry basket and stepped
into them. She took off her sweater and bra, flinging them onto the floor, and
pulled on an oversized sweatshirt. Since she wasn’t worried about seducing Max,
she didn’t care what she looked like.

           
When she curled up next to Max and
dug her spoon into the ice cream, he was busy flipping through the channels
trying to find something to watch on television. He settled for a show on the
Food Network, something where a guy was being challenged to eat a four-pound
omelet. “I’m surprised you asked me to come over,” he said, waiting for her to
take another spoonful of ice cream.

           
“Oh yeah?
 
How come?” she asked, licking her spoon
clean.

           
“Because I figured you were seeing
someone,” he said, taking another spoonful.

           
“What makes you think I’m seeing
someone?” she asked. She had an odd feeling in her stomach. She hoped Chris
hadn’t said anything. And why would he?
 
What kind of relationship did they have, anyway?
 
It didn’t seem like it was really all that
serious. What would he say about it?

           
“Well, you and I were seeing each
other pretty regularly,” Max said slowly. “And I thought our arrangement was
working out okay. And then, all of a sudden, you kind of stopped wanting to
hang out.”

           
Kate stuck her spoon back into the
Cherry Garcia and forced a chunk of chocolate out. “How long did you think we
were going to keep doing that?” she asked.

           
Max shrugged. “Until it wasn’t
working anymore,” he said. “Is that it?
 
It wasn’t working?”

           
“I don’t know,” Kate replied. “It
was fine, I guess. I just don’t know how long two people can keep that up.
Just having sex.
Nothing else.”
 
She scooped up another spoonful of ice cream
and let it melt in her mouth slowly.

           
Max groaned. “I’ve told you before,
it doesn’t just have to be sex, you know,” Max said. “I’ve always thought we’d
make a good couple. Don’t you think?”

           
Kate smiled at him. He was adorable,
sitting cross-legged on the couch in his pajamas, happy to share his ice cream
with her. His dark hair stuck up all over the place and he looked pretty sleepy.
This wasn’t the first time he’d proposed that they give dating a try, but for
some reason, Kate just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea. “I don’t know…
We’re friends,” she said. She stabbed her spoon into the ice cream and leaned
back, resting her head against the arm of the couch. She stretched out her legs
and placed her feet in Max’s lap. She was friends with Chris, too. But that
didn’t stop her from attempting to have a relationship with him. She rubbed her
eyes.

           
“We could be more than friends,” Max
said, continuing to dig into the ice cream. “No?”

           
“I don’t know, Max. I’d hate to…
ruin things.”

           
“You don’t know that it would ruin
things.”

           
“I don’t know that it wouldn’t,
either. Can’t we just leave well enough alone?
 
Please?”

           
A look of disappointment crossed Max’s
face. He leaned forward, picked up the lid from the ice cream container, and
abruptly got to his feet. Kate sat up and watched as he went into the kitchen. She
could hear him put the ice cream in the freezer and put the spoons in the
dishwasher. When he came back, she was relieved to see that he was at least
smiling.

           
“Well?”

           
“What?” she asked.

           
“Are we going to cuddle or what?” he
asked.

           
Kate got to her feet and turned off
the lamps as Max made his way into her bedroom. She checked to make sure the door
was locked. She went into her room and closed the door softly behind her. Max
was already in bed with the blanket pulled up to his chin. He pulled the covers
aside so that she could climb in next to him.

           
She rested her head on his shoulder,
tucked just under his cheek. Hearing her sigh contentedly, Max smiled. “I can’t
believe you don’t think we’d make a good couple.”

           
“Good night, Max.”

           
Kate leaned up on one elbow and peered
down at him, her hair falling over his face and tickling his nose and lips. He brushed
the curtain of her hair away with the back of his hand, waiting for her to say
or do something.

She
wanted to explain to him how she felt, but she couldn’t put it into words. Things
didn’t make sense. She didn’t have a problem with just having sex with Max
before. That was all she had wanted from him, and she had never considered
having an actual relationship with him. They’d agreed in the beginning that it
would only complicate things, although from time to time, Max would try to
convince her to get more serious about their relationship.

Kate
bent her head and her lips managed to find Max’s mouth in the darkness. She
kissed him sweetly, waiting to feel some stir of excitement, but there was
nothing. “Good night,” she said.

“Is
everything okay?” Max asked softly, as she snuggled down against him again.

She nodded,
draping her arm over his chest and giving him a squeeze. “Just hold me, please,”
she murmured. He pulled the covers up over both of them and wrapped his arms
around her.

It felt so good
to be held… but Kate just wasn’t sure who was supposed to be holding her.

*

           
Kate couldn’t help giggling at Lucy.

           
She was sitting stiffly in the
passenger seat, so she wouldn’t smudge her freshly polished fingers and toes,
clutching a bottle of wine between her knees and holding a delicate potted
orchid on her lap.

           
“What is that?” Kate had asked. “What
are you doing?”

           
“I can’t go to a housewarming party
and not take a gift!” Lucy had squealed. “I might not know the girl, but I
figured if she doesn’t mind me tagging along, I should give her a little something.
Aren’t you taking a housewarming gift?”

           
“I hadn’t thought of it,” Kate said.

           
“We can tell your friend it’s from
both of us,” Lucy offered.

           
“I’m not that worried about it.”

           
What
had
been worrying her was whether or not she could pull off this
whole charade. She wasn’t the best at keeping secrets and she would be glad
when the whole thing was over with. She was relieved when the lighthouse popped
into view in the distance.

           
“These houses are huge!” Lucy
gasped, leaning against Kate’s shoulder to peer out of her side of the car. “Could
you imagine living in one of these things?
 
What does your friend do, anyway?”

           
Kate hesitated, not sure how to
answer the question. She was saved by the ringing of her phone. She grabbed it
out of the center console and pressed to her ear. “Hello?”

“Everyone’s
here. Are you close?” Jackson asked.

“Hey!
 
I’m almost there. And I’m bringing a friend
with me, if that’s all right.”
 
She
smiled at Lucy.

           
“Okay. Everybody’s here,” Jackson
repeated. “When you guys walk in, it’s going to look like the house is empty. Everyone’s
going to be upstairs in the loft.”

           
“Okay!
 
See you in a minute!” she said cheerfully,
hanging up the phone. She smiled at Lucy. “I guess people are already there,”
she said. As they continued down the road, she hoped that Lucy wouldn’t
recognize any of her friends’ or family members’ cars.

           
At last, they slowed down and pulled
up in front of the house’s mailbox. Lucy got out of the car and stood staring
at the house in admiration. “I can’t believe you know someone who lives here.”

           
“It’s gorgeous,” Kate said admiringly.
“Can’t wait to see the inside."

           
As they walked up the driveway
together, Lucy held up the bottle of wine and the plant. “Which one do you
want?”

           
Kate tried not to roll her eyes and
grabbed the orchid. She walked up to the door and pushed the doorbell. She let
out a shaky breath as the chimes echoed majestically inside the house. Like she
and Jackson had discussed, she waited a second, and then rang the doorbell a
second time. Then she tried the doorknob and pushed the door open. She walked
in and stepped aside, closing the door behind Lucy, who was looking around in
bewilderment at the bare, seemingly empty house.

           
Kate cautiously chanced a glance
upwards and saw everyone standing in the loft, silently looking down over the
railing. Lucy’s and Jackson’s parents were up there, along with Maggie and Mark.
There were some other family members that Kate recognized. The guys were up
there, too. Chris tilted his head away from his camera to smile down at her. Next
to him, Max stood with his arms folded across his chest, grinning with
excitement. Behind him, Kevin raised his hand in a silent, but obviously
excited, greeting. She smiled up at them. And slowly, quietly, Jackson
approached them from the kitchen.