The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (84 page)

“That’s it.  Reese, no Screw for you tonight.  Enough, already.  I’m really starting to losing my patience.”

“Oh, you’re an angry elf,” I mutter as I reluctantly get up from my barstool.  The girls fall over themselves laughing.  I love that movie.  Wait, what am I supposed to be doing right now?  Oh, yeah, we’re leaving.

The four of us toss back our drinks, grab our purses, and follow Marcus to the front door.  He instructs us to wait by the curb as he brings the truck around.  He mutters something about being afraid of us wandering around the parking lot, but I can’t quite follow what he means.

As we stand there waiting for Marcus to come back with our ride, Ryker pulls up on his motorcycle.  “Ladies, how are we getting home tonight?” he asks as he gets off his bike.

Emmy tells him, “Camilla’s honey bear went to get the truck.”

“That’s right,” Camilla agrees, “Marcus is my honey bear.  And I’m going to be giving him all the honey he wants!”

Ryker ignores my friends and asks me if I need a ride home.

“No.  Not from you,” I explain as slowly as I can.  “You’re not supposed to be here.  We didn’t call you for a ride.  We called Marcus.  Why are you here, anyway?  Are you following me?  I don’t think Evan would like that, you know.”

“Like I said before, you shouldn’t be out alone without someone watching out for you.  If McGuire was half the man he thinks he is, he’d be here right now instead of me.”

“Evan’s not here because he trusts me.  He knows I wouldn’t want to have a real orgasm with anyone but him.”  There.  I told him.

“Jette, get in the truck.  Right now,” Marcus demands. 

Hey, where did he come from?  “Marcus, you’re sneaky.  I didn’t even hear you.  Were you in Special Ops or Black Ops?  I bet you were.  You’d be really good at it, too.”

Marcus ushers all of us into his SUV and shuts the door.  We watch as Marcus talks with Ryker, but we can’t hear what he’s saying.  He waits while Ryker rides away before he gets in the truck to take us home.  “Okay, girls.  I think that’s enough excitement for one night.  Where to first?”

Emmy excitedly tells him, “I want to go to Adam’s house.  He never says no to me, you know.  He’s not mean, like you.”  She takes out her phone to text him that she’s coming over.  “He gives me all the orgasms I want.  And not the kind in a glass – the real kind.”

“I bet he’s good at it,” Reese remarks with a smirk on her face.  “You can tell by looking at him.  Does he give good orgasms, Emmy?”

“Ooh, yeah!  One night, he let me have five of them.  I thought he broke my vagina,” she says.  “I want to play a game.  We’re going to play Two Truths and A Lie.  Everybody gets a turn.”

“Sounds like fun.  How do you play?” I ask.

“Jette, everybody knows how to play.  When it’s your turn,” Emmy explains, “you have to tell two truths and a lie.  We have to guess the lie.”

Camilla asks, “Does it have to be about sex?”

“Obviously!” Reese answers.  “Camilla, you go first.”

“Okay.  Let’s see.  One.  I gave it up to Marcus on our second date.  Two.  Marcus likes to be on top.  Three.  Marcus likes to sleep in the nude.” 

“Fuck me,” Marcus gripes.  “Do you girls have to talk about sex?  I’m right here and I work with all of you!”

Emmy guesses first.  “You lied about the second date sex.  You definitely made him work for it.  You have to try and make them harder, Camilla.”

“Ha, ha.  I win!  The lie is that Marcus likes to be on top.  I’m the one who likes to be on top.”  Poor man just keeps driving, doing his best to ignore us.

“I’m hoping you’re all going to be too drunk to remember this in the morning,” he groans.

Camilla picks Emmy to go next.  “Ready?  One.  Adam likes to tie me up sometimes.  Two.  He gave me an orgasm under the table in a Manhattan Restaurant.  Three.  I kissed a girl once, and it was hot.”

“Holy crap,” Marcus mumbles to no one in particular.  “Get me the fuck out of here.”

“Let me guess,” I jump in before anyone else.  “It’s got to be the restaurant orgasm.  I was with you both times Adam took you to dinner in Manhattan.”

“Nope, sorry Jette.  I win.  All three are the truth,” Emmy proudly proclaims.  “I pick Reese to go next.”

“Eww, Emmy.  That means that he ... that you ... right there?  Seriously?”

“Yup!”

“Shut up, it’s my turn,” Reese interrupts.  “Here goes.  One.  I lost my virginity at fifteen.  Two.  Once, I woke up naked in bed with a guy I’ve never seen before.  Three.  I’m in love with Derek.”

We all gasp.  No one says a word.  “Well, isn’t anyone going to guess?” Reese asks.

“Reese, are you in love with Derek?” I ask.

“You’re not supposed to guess the truth, you’re supposed to guess the lie.  I wasn’t fifteen, I was sixteen when I lost my virginity.  I win.”

“Reese, honey, if you’re in love with Derek, why did you break up with him?  Is he a bad lay?” Emmy asks.

“Hell, no.  Derek can go for hours.  He likes to try new things and do all kinds of stuff.  I just can’t be with him.  That’s why.”

“Reese, you must be really drunk, because that doesn’t make any sense at all,” Camilla chimes in.

“Derek has no money.  I grew up poor.  I wore hand-me-downs and boys jeans until I was sixteen.  I can’t ever do that again.  The man I marry has to have money.  Being poor sucks,” she declares.  “I’m tired,” she says as she lays her head on my shoulder and quietly falls asleep.

My eyes are starting to get heavy, too.  I hear Adam’s voice as Emmy’s door opens and he removes her from the vehicle.  He’s so sweet and gentle with Emmy, like she’s precious and fragile.  I suppose in some ways, she is.  “Good night, Emmy.  Go get your orgasms,” I call out to her.

“Hey, man, what the hell happened tonight?” Adam asks Marcus as they shake hands.

“They got a load on and all they wanted to do was talk about sex.  I know more about you than I ever wanted to know, dude.”  Marcus leaves his window open as he drives to our next stop, Reese’s place.  The cool air blowing in our faces wakes us both up.  Reese pulls out her cell phone and starts texting.

“Who was that?” I ask.

“If Emmy can get laid tonight, then so can I.”  Marcus pulls up to Reese’s apartment and helps walk her to the door. 

Now that I’m alone in the back seat, I decide to lie down, just until we get home.  The back seat of his SUV is so comfy.  I could sleep here all night.

The next thing I know, I’m being picked up and carried away.  I’m so tired, but I’m curious, too.  I open my eyes just enough to see that it’s Evan’s strong arms holding me and carrying me inside his home.  “Wait a minute.  I don’t live here anymore.”  God, he smells good.  I snuggle up and put my nose in his neck, close my eyes and inhale.  “You smell good,” I tell him.

“You drank a lot tonight, baby.  You can’t go home alone.  You’re staying here tonight.”

“But Reese is alone.  And she’s way drunker than I am,” I tell him.

“She’s not alone, baby.  Derek’s there with her.  Marcus stayed until he arrived.”

“Oh, that’s nice.  Did you know I had Sex on the Beach tonight?  I tried to get a Blow Job, but Marcus wouldn’t let me.”  Evan laughs at me.  That’s not nice. 

Evan carries me into the kitchen and gets me a glass of water and a few aspirin.  “Here, take these,” he says.  I do as I’m told.

“Tell me again why I’m here,” I tell him.

“Auggie stayed at his parents’ tonight so you could go out.  You’re too drunk to go home alone,” he tells me.

“Oh, yeah.  Do you really love me, Evan?” I ask.

“I do.”

“That’s nice.  Are you going to marry me?”

“Probably.”

“That’s nice.  I want to get married some day.  Don’t you think we’d make pretty babies?” I ask him.  “I hope they’re all boys and they look exactly like you.”

“Oh, baby.  You don’t want boys like me.  We’re nothing but trouble.  We’re going to have beautiful girls that look just like you.  And they’ll be smart, too.”

“Okay.  Can I go to bed now?  I’m tired.”

Evan lifts me up and carries me into the bedroom.  He helps me undress, then tucks me into bed.  He kisses me on the head and whispers, “I love you, Juliette.”

I close my eyes and breathe in deeply.  “The bed smells good, just like you.”

“Good night, baby.”  Evan turns and walks to the door, turns out the lights, and walks away.

“Evan!” I yell as panic grabs hold of me.  “Come back.”

“What’s wrong?  Do you feel sick?  Wait, I’ll go grab something.”

“No, don’t leave.  I don’t want to be alone.  Please don’t go away again.”

“Okay.”  He slips off his clothes and climbs into bed with me.  He curls up on one side, and pulls me close.  We fit together perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle.  It feels so good to be back in this bed.  I grab hold of his arm that’s resting across my middle. 

“Good night, Evan.  I love you, too,” I answer as sleep claims me. 

As I’m drifting off to sleep, I hear Evan whisper softly, “Forever.”

Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

I
wake early the next day, well before the sun.  As I attempt to adjust my position, I feel a tugging sensation in my middle.  Once the fog in my mind clears, I realize that pulling sensation is Evan’s arm.  A smile slowly etches across my face as I listen to him sleep.  I know he’s sound asleep without even looking.  His breathing is slow and steady, and I can feel his warm breath sweeping across my shoulder.  I cuddle into his warm embrace a little more deeply and drift back into a blissful sleep in the arms of the man I love.  I have the most magical dreams of beautiful little brown haired girls all holding Winnie the Pooh honey bears.

The next time I wake, the sun is shining brightly through the window, casting the room in a glorious ray of blue light.  My head is resting on Evan’s chest and this time it’s my arm holding tightly across his middle.  He looks down at me and moves a stray hair behind my ear.  “Good morning,” he hums happily.  “How are you feeling today?”

I look up into his piercing blue eyes.  He smiles, flashing the most hypnotizing dimples.  “Too soon to say, really.”  Evan’s arm is wrapped tightly around me, stroking my back and sending tiny sparks of electricity shooting through me like wildfire.  I wrap a leg around his, the need to feel close to him nearly overwhelming.

With my free hand, I take advantage of the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the chiseled perfection of his beautifully formed chest.  I trace the lines that outline his well-sculpted abs.  When I begin to explore the tiny hairs just below his navel, he grabs my hand, brings it to his lips, and kisses each of my knuckles.

“If I stay here much longer, I can’t be held responsible for what happens next, Juliette.”  Evan holds me tightly, and the evidence of his affections for me is pressing firmly against me.

“I’m afraid to get up, Evan.  I’m frightened that this is just another dream and when I get up, I’ll wake and you’ll disappear again.” 

“Oh, sweetheart.  I’m not going anywhere.” He squeezes me again.  “But I’m also not going to be the one to disobey doctor’s orders.  When I bring you back into our bed, there will be no doubt about what may or may not happen.”  He gives me a playful slap on my ass.  “You get that beautiful ass in the shower and I’ll start the coffee.  Don’t be long.”

Evan slips from the bedroom and I watch as he disappears from view.  When I attempt to make myself vertical, the realization of last night’s over indulgence becomes crystal clear.  My head feels like it weighs a hundred pounds.  I definitely overdid it last night.  I haven’t felt this bad in a long time.

After a long, hot shower, I join Evan in the kitchen where I find him staring out the window, holding a cup of coffee, and dressed in a pair of long shorts and a crimson red Sentinel’s t-shirt.  My eyes dart to his bare feet.  I’ve always felt there was something strangely intimate about a man’s bare feet and I’ve given it quite a bit of thought about why the sight of something so banal brings me such joy.  God knows there’s nothing attractive about men’s hairy feet.  As I’m standing here, I think I finally understand.  I never had a man in my house growing up.  It was just my mother and me.  The men who visited our home came and went, friends, neighbors, uncles, and cousins.  Their visits were always short and infrequent.  A man walking around in bare feet represents the close intimacy of family, of belonging, of comfort.  Seeing him standing there, I know exactly where I belong, where I find my comfort, and where I want to build my family.

“You look deep in thought, Juliette.  Is everything okay?” he asks.

I nod my head.  “Oh, yeah.  Everything’s good.  Really good.”

I pour myself a hot cup of coffee and take a seat at the kitchen table.  Evan joins me and asks, “Did you girls have fun last night?  You were so cute when you got here.”

“I was cute?  I vaguely remember leaving the bar last night with Marcus.”  I close my eyes and try to recall what happened after that, but I come up blank.  “Why didn’t Marcus bring me home last night?  Was I that bad?  Did I say anything embarrassing?”

“A true gentleman doesn’t reveal his secrets.” 

“Well, tell me this.  Can you tell me why I dreamed of beautiful little brown-haired girls and Winnie the Pooh?” I ask him.