Uninvolved (27 page)

They were not planning on
having
a big crowd, maybe
twenty
people total
.
Becka was bummed when Dave told her he could not get the night off. Becka had wished he could be there but understood. That day
,
Becka went straight from work to his apartment
.
He was
watching TV in the living room
.
Becka gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then ran to the bedroom to change
.
She threw her work clothes back on top of the sexy outfit she bought for him
.
After checking her makeup and shaking out her hair
,
Becka walked back into the living
room
to give him a private show.

She started by standing directly in front of him, blocking his line of sight to the TV
.
Leaning over him to pick up the remote
,
she kissed him and then us
ed
her teeth
to
gently tug on his lip ring before
straightening
back up. She changed the channel to a smooth
R
&
B
station and set the remote back down.

Now with his full attention and a backgrou
nd beat she could work with
,
Becka slowly began unbuttoning her dress shirt while doing her best Marilyn-
e
sque Happy Birthday solo
.
Once her impromptu strip tease had ended with a pile of her work clothes by her feet
,
Becka stood in front of him in his real birthday present.

Becka had chosen a hot pink teddy with black rosettes and matching garters that clipped to her sheer black stock
ing
s
.
She straddled Kyle and eased herself down onto his lap
.
Becka could feel how hard he was through his sweats and the thin material of her thong
.
She
moved against him
,
causing him to groan as his hands flexed and squeezed her ass.

Becka
yelped as he swooped her up and then laid her down across the sofa
,
covering her with his body
.
Kyl
e kissed her sweetly before h
e grinned and stood, taking off first his shirt
,
then hi
s pants before laying back down on her.

"Happy Birthday
,
babe
,
" Becka whispered in his ear
afterward.

"Best birthday ever
,
" Kyle laughed
,
kissing her neck.

"Don’t get too comfortable
,
" she mumbled
.
"I want to hop in the shower before we go to your parent
s’
house."

Kyle got up so she could shower and then showered himself as she did her hair and makeup.

Becka
wore a simple sundress with wide navy and white stripes
, paired with
lime shoes and
a matching
clutch
.
Kyle wore beige slacks and a blue polo
.
Becka smiled at his choice
.
He
knew that was her favorite shirt
.
She
always remarked on how the blue made his blue eyes pop.

Kyle shook his head at the bundle of balloons tied to his parent
s’
mailbox
.

“It’s l
ike what a parent would do for a kid's party
,” he said.

Becka tried in vain to cover her laugh
but
seeing
how close Kyle was with his folks made Becka feel homesick
.
Sure
,
she kept
up with her mom
on Facebook
and spoke to Lilly frequently
, but
it wasn't the same thing as seeing them in person
.
This visit to Kyle's folk
s’
house was also going to be the first time she would be meeting his younger sister
, Robin
.

Fifteen minutes later
,
Kyle grabbed her hand to pull her towards the door
.
"My sister just got here."

Becka turned to see a very pretty blonde walk in on the arm
of
none other than
Nate
.

"Happy Birthday
,
bro
,
" the blonde said
,
pulling Kyle into a hug.

"Thanks, Robin
,
" he said and then pull
ed
Becka to his side
.
"I want you to meet my girlfriend
,
Becka."

"I h
ave heard so much about you
,
" Robin
said
,
pulling Becka into a hug.

Becka's eyes flashed to
Nate
's as she said
.
"It is so nice to finally meet you."

"This is my friend
,
Nate
,
" Robin sa
id
.
"We used to play on the same soccer team
."

Becka felt so strange shaking
Nate
's hand in front of Kyle
.
It felt like he held her hand a beat longer than needed
.
He looked confused, then angry or maybe disappointed
, she couldn't tell
. Even now, here with Kyle all she wanted was for Nate to pull her into his arms.
God, he looked good in his black slacks and crisp grey dress shirt
.
Embarrassed, Becka did her best to avoid his eyes
.
Becka watched Lucy's eyes widen with shock when she
and Curt
walked in and saw the four of them standing together.

"Happy Birthday
,
Kyle" she said
,
handing him a gift and then nodded towards Becka
.
When Kyle went to set the gift in another room
,
Lucy grabbed Becka's hand and pulled her outside.

"What is
Nate
doing here?" Lucy gasped.

"He knows Kyle's sister
.
Oh my God, this is bad
.
This
is so so bad
.
What am I going to do?" Becka asked
,
freaking out.

"There goes
the whole not telling him you had a boyfriend thing
,
" Lucy grimaced.

They went back inside
,
and Becka did her best to avoid
Nate
.
It clearly did not work.

"Hey
,
kid
.
"

He was standing behind her
.
Becka
turned, slowly raising her eyes to his.

"So how long have you and Kyle been dating
,
Becka?"
Nate
asked coolly.

"Don’t ev
en go there
,
Nate
,
" Becka huffed
,
turning to leave.

"Wait
.
Don’t
go
,
" he breathed.

"I can't even wrap my brain around you being here tonight
,
" Becka whispered.

"How are you all getting along?" Robin asked
,
joining them.

"Oh fine
,
" Becka mumbled.

"Turns out
,
"
Nate
began
,
"that Becka and I work for the same company
.
I thought she looked familiar
,
so I had to come over and ask."

"What
a small world
,
" Robin gushed
.
"I really am so happy to meet you Becka
.
M
y brother is crazy about you, so take good care of him."

Becka flushed and then jumped as Kyle's arms circled her from behind.

"There's my girl
,
" Kyle said
,
nuzzling her neck.

She
rested her arms on top of his and cringed as
she
saw
Nate
's eyes harden
.
Honestly needing a drink
,
she pulled Kyle with her to the kitchen where his father was playing bartender
.
Becka
jokingly asked for a double
,
and he obliged
.
Drink in hand
,
she hung back as Kyle circulated
.
Lucy came to stand with Becka, making her feel less awkward.

It did not help that
her
eyes were constantly drawn to
Nate
.
What made it worse was how often he met her gaze
.
Trying to find a distraction
,
Becka and Lucy raided the buffet and made frequent visits to Mr. Wyrick for refills
.
Kyle, the prefect boyfriend
,
did not want to pull her away from her friend as he worked the room
.
He
would catch her eye from time to time and
,
grinning
,
blow her a kiss.

Becka
went to stand by him before it was time for cake
.
Kyle stood proudly with his arm around her waist, in front of his closest friends and family
.
Becka felt like a fraud
.
His mom brough
t out the cake
,
and they all sang
happy birthday
.
Kyle
held her hand as he blew out the candles and then at the calls for "Speech,
s
peech!"

"Thank you
,
everyone
,
for coming out tonight
.
It means so much to me that you are all here
.
I especially want to thank my mom and dad for hosting and pouring some pretty strong drinks
.
Seriously
dad, whew
.
Plus I
want to thank Becka
.
You
have made this the best bi
rthday ever
.
I love you
,
babe
,
"
Kyle said
,
pulling her into a sweet kiss.

Her stand
-
in boyfriend just professed his love to her in front of the guy she really wanted to be with
.
After their kiss
,
Becka stood uncomfortably by his side as he cut the cake
.
She locked eyes with
Nate
and cringed
.
This
was going to really suck
.
Nate
wouldn’t
ever
talk to her
again
.
She
just knew it
.
Now, w
hen she tried to make eye contact with him, he would just g
aze right through or past her.

I can't deal with this
,
she
thoug
ht to herself
.
Finding Lucy
,
Becka
asked her if she could give her a ride home
.
After she had a ride all set
,
Becka told Kyle she wasn’t feeling well and that Lucy was going to drive her home
.
Sweet, tho
ughtful boyfriend that he was
,
Kyle
offered to leave his own birthday party to take care of her
.
She
made him promise to stay and enjoy his evening.