Dual Wielding, page 7
When the work was done, Adrienne admired it both from above and in the mirror, and grinned. “I love it. The guys at work are wimps.”
“As is frequently the case.” While Etta cleaned up and wrapped the tattoo in plastic, she ran Adrienne through caring for the ink while it healed.
Adrienne was tentative when she put more weight on her leg, and then she was fine. We headed back to my Jeep. “Dresses next,” she said.
I tried to hide my wince, but it slipped out anyway. I didn’t have money for a new evening gown, but I could hit the discount racks and make something work. Mom had taught me a lot about building a gorgeous outfit from thrift store chic, I just didn’t expect to still be needing the knowledge all these years later.
“Sure. Dresses next.” It was why she told Phillip and Dustin we were taking this trip; she needed to come back with something.
Dustin had planned their company Christmas party this year, and for some reason decided it should be a formal affair. Since I hadn’t seen this group do anything like this in the past, I assumed Adrienne, and possibly Luna, had some influence on that decision.
When I happily agreed to be Adrienne’s date, I hadn’t realized fancy dress was on the play list.
Adrienne squeezed my hand, though not as hard as she had in the tattoo parlor. “I get it. It hasn’t been that long since I was strapped for cash. You can drop me off if you’d rather, but I’d love your opinion.”
Damn it. I wanted to go dress shopping, even if I couldn’t afford it. “Let’s go. Point me in a direction.”
She gave me directions to a little boutique tucked away from downtown traffic. When we stepped inside, my bank account whimpered and I had Pretty Woman flashbacks. Not the scene where Richard Gere gave Julia Roberts the necklace, but the one where she tried to go shopping on Rodeo Drive and the salespeople snobbed her out of the store.
I wouldn’t be finding any clearance racks in here. But I did help Adrienne pick out a few styles and colors.
Adrienne tried on several dresses, but the one that looked best on her had a strap on one shoulder and left the other bare. The bodice hugged her torso, in a gradient of white to gold, and flowed into a black skirt that just brushed the ground when she was in heels.
“You look amazing,” I said.
She pointed to a strapless satin dress in a rich purple that looked like it would hug the body all the way down, with a slit up one leg to make walking possible. “You need to try on that one. Excuse me.” She gestured to the sales lady. “Can we get this in her size?”
A few minutes later, Adrienne was zipping me into the dress. It fit perfectly and made me look good. The price tag scared me though. It was more than I spent on clothes in an entire year. Enough to buy me a guitar. Not a high-end one, but middle of the road.
“You look amazing.” Adrienne’s voice was all awe.
I twisted this way and that in front of the three-way mirror. I really did look incredible.
“We’ll take them both,” Adrienne told the saleswoman.
I grabbed Adrienne’s arm. “No we won’t.” I tried to keep my voice quiet. She’d found the one thing that embarrassed me.
“Give us a minute.” Adrienne smiled at the clerk, then grabbed my hand and tugged me to a quiet corner of the store. “Please,” she said. “Let me buy this for you.”
My humiliation climbed higher. “Please don’t ask.”
Adrienne looked me in the eye. “I told you, I know how it feels. You know I do.” The entire time, she spoke quietly enough only I would hear her, but it had to be obvious what we were talking about. “I got a good bonus, we’re splitting our expenses three ways at home, and I want to do this for you. It doesn’t put me out. It doesn’t change my opinion of you. You look amazing in that dress.”
If I were talking to anyone else, I’d question their sincerity, but it was impossible to do that with Adrienne. In her place, I’d want to do the same thing for friends. I’d probably buy non-stop presents for months for Danny and everyone if I had extra spending money. And I did love the dress. “Okay. But I’m paying you back as soon as I can.” I was already doing the math in my head to figure out how much I could give her a month.
“You really don’t have to, but yay.” She gave me a big hug, and turned back to the clerk. “I’ll take them both.”
I hated this so much. Always relying on other people and being so incapable of providing for myself.
Eleven
Danny
When Brandon crawled into bed, the night he and Reese fucked at home, he’d woken me up.
“Where’s Reese?” I asked. “Where were you?” The pair of questions pushed aside my sleepiness.
“She had to go. I was working. Composing.”
The first answer hurt, and the second one surprised me, but I was happy he’d found inspiration a second time. It was better to focus on the latter. “How’d it go?”
Brandon wrapped himself around me. “Beautifully. Get some more sleep.”
I hadn’t. It took hours for me to doze off again after he passed out.
And several days later, I was still rolling the brief exchange over and over in my mind. I’d brought it up a few times since, and Brandon didn’t think it was a big deal.
I spent the rest of the week between contract work at AcesPlayed, and working with groups at the shelter, and by Friday night, I was ready for the fun that came next.
Brandon and I followed the signs in the downtown hotel that directed us to the AcesPlayed Holiday Party. When we reached the ballroom, I had to pause in the doorway and take it all in.
Dustin had outdone himself this time. The room had been transformed from basic and bland. Evergreen branches, lights, and tasteful ribbons decorated the walls, and the two long tables lining the room had the perfect rustic feel to them.
It was my understanding he got a bigger budget than normal, because this wasn’t just a holiday party, it was a celebration of their game being in beta, and that they’d made it this far.
The entire affair included an open bar, and discounted hotel rooms for anyone who didn’t want to drive home after taking advantage of it. Brandon and I wouldn’t be drinking, but we did have a room, so we could step away from the world at the end of the night.
I loved all of it. The look, the setting, and the suits. Brandon looked sexy as fuck.
We weren’t the first to arrive, but we were close. We tracked down Dustin long enough to tell him everything looked great, then let him get back to running the show. Nigel and Jeremy were here, too. Somehow Nigel managed to get on Luna’s bad side her first few weeks with the company—I didn’t think she had such a thing, but apparently so—I thought he was a nice guy, though.
Actually, I liked most of the people at AcesPlayed. This last week in the office had been a lot of fun. The work, the colleagues… I wouldn’t go back to cybersecurity full time, but it was nice to dig in and get my hands dirty every once in a while.
We chatted with Phillip between his helping Dustin, and flitted from group to group as more people wandered in.
A sharp wolf whistle that had to be Dustin’s echoed through the room, and I turned toward the door. He was whistling for Adrienne, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from Reese. The way that dress hugged her, the slit up the side to almost her thigh, and the way she held herself like royalty.
“Fuck me,” Brandon’s murmur matched my thoughts.
Did he know he’d said that aloud? Regardless, I liked it.
Most everyone else went back to their conversations, but my eyes were glued on Queen Reese as she and her date strode toward us.
“I’m going to go say hi to Dustin, be right back,” Adrienne gave us a short wave and wandered away.
I twirled my finger. “Give us a spin,” I said to Reese.
Pink splashed across her cheeks, unusual for her but stunning, and she twirled in the dress. “I feel like a grown-up.” Her tone said joking, but a hint of seriousness lay underneath.
“You look beautiful.” I kissed her on the cheek. As I pulled away, more whispered through my mind.
Brandon grasped her fingers and kissed the back of her knuckles. “You look more than beautiful. We could get Jeremy over here to come up with a better word for it.”
“I think I get your point.” Reese’s easy smile was back, erasing any embarrassment. “You both look pretty fucking hot too.”
Brandon raised an eyebrow. “Of course we do.”
The conversation lulled. Why was there any pause at all? I couldn’t be the only one of us thinking about the sparks the two of them had been generating.
I could ignore that ache to be with her again when she wasn’t around, but looking at her now, next to Brandon, seeing the two of them strip out of their evening wear was all I could think about.
It was a dangerous path to let my desire wander down, but that didn’t mean I could stop myself.
When Luna arrived with Graham and Cole, it was a good excuse to break up the lack of conversation and say hi. Cole knew almost everyone in the room, and not because he’d been working with Luna and I for the last few days to update computers. He’d been one of the original employees at Rinslet, and he’d retired from the gaming industry early.
He was also Judith’s ex-husband, but their divorce was older than Brandon’s and my relationship. The two of them were friends-ish these days.
Wow. Reese was right, we really were grown-ups. I looked around the room, able to put a name to every face, and a pleasant memory to almost as many people. How many of them realized what an incredible family this was?
A little past the top of the hour, Dustin asked everyone to have a seat, because dinner would start soon, and he promised other fun after.
I wasn’t surprised at the way everyone broke up to claim the two tables. Creative teams were next to each other, Dev was by itself—though to be fair they were half the company. Judith sat at one table and Cole was at the opposite end of the room at the other.
But his choice had nothing to do with her. Luna was sitting near us, and Cole would move mountains for her. So would Graham. Taking a seat next to her was a no brainer.
I’d love to have something similar with Brandon and Reese. Yes, I was seated by them, but the moving mountains thing… Thinking the words made them feel more real, but I wouldn’t sacrifice what I had with Brandon to try to get there.
Chatter faded to the occasional snippet of conversation while everyone ate. I couldn’t keep my gaze from drifting to Reese, who sat across from us with Adrienne and Luna. Reese always looked like royalty, but tonight…
And she belonged here, with all of us. She and Adrienne had become quick friends over the last few months. This little pocket of people, with the decorations and Christmas music, it all warmed me from the inside out.
As dinner wound down, and the catering crew carted away plates, Nigel shouted, “What’s the stage for?” The slight slur in his words was indicative of the drinks he’d had. “Awards ceremony? Speeches?”
“It’s not ours,” Dustin said. “It was here when we got here, and we couldn’t find anyone to take it away, so we decorated it with the rest of the room and made sure there were lots of lights on it.”
“Aww.” Luna sounded disappointed.
Elliot rose halfway in his seat, enough to see her. “There’s no way you’re upset about extra lights.”
“I’m not.” Luna huffed. “But I was hoping the stage meant something.”
“We could play charades.”
I couldn’t see who made the suggestion.
Judith shook her head. “Definitely not with this group when half of you are drunk. Clothes will come off.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Chris—one of the developers—asked.
Reese smirked. “First time I think I’ve ever agreed with that asshole,” she muttered.
“How about a talent show,” Nigel suggested.
“Being anal retentive isn’t a talent.” Chris apparently had opinions tonight. “You were born that way.”
Elliot raised a few fingers. “Hang on. I want to know what Nigel’s actual talent is.”
Nigel pushed back from the table, and a hush fell over the room. When he grabbed the steak knife next to his plate, and then Jeremy’s and Judith’s knives, several people gasped.
“Whoa. Hang on.” Judith reached for him.
Jeremy stopped her. “Trust him.”
Nigel stepped away from the table to a clearing near the front of the room, and hefted the knives a few times. Then he started to juggle.
“Holy shit. Did you know he could do that?” I asked Brandon.
Brandon shook his head, his attention never leaving Nigel.
Nigel stopped, spun, and tossed the knives one at a time at the stage. All three stuck in the middle of a wreath hanging on the front of the structure.
The room erupted in applause.
Dustin joined Nigel at the front of the room. “Talent show is over. Unless someone can beat that without causing an insurance incident.” Dustin finished his announcement with more applause and pointed Nigel toward his seat.
Laughter rippled around us.
“Reese and Danny can.” Adrienne spoke above the chatter. “Maybe not beat it, but they can compete.”
Reese stared at her.
Adrienne shrugged. “What? It’s true.”
“They don’t work here, they don’t count.” Nigel sounded put out.
“I assure you, they do.” Brandon’s voice was hard.
I didn’t want this to escalate. The night had been nice so far. “I guarantee we can’t compete with knife juggling.”
“But will you sing anyway?” Luna asked. “Nigel only used part of the stage. The rest still needs love.”
It did sound like fun, and Reese had to be itching to cave. I was surprised when she said, “There are no instruments.”
Like that had ever mattered to us before.
“Sing. Sing. Sing. Sing.” Luna started the chant and half the room joined in. An unusual display of enthusiasm from the Dev side of the room.
I exchanged looks with Reese, and she was chewing her bottom lip. I stood and offered my hand, and she accepted as I pulled her to her feet.
We drew almost as much applause as Nigel and we hadn’t done anything yet.
“Do you want music?” Brandon asked softly.
Reese shook her head. “We’ll keep things low key.”
That hardly seemed like us, but okay. As we walked to the stage together, we quickly discussed what we were going to perform. It didn’t take much to decide—we had a medley of Christmas songs we performed whenever it was appropriate, and it was always a hit.
The mics on stage didn’t work, but it didn’t matter. This crowd, this setup, was perfection compared to some of our recent gigs. I stepped to the front of the stage. “First of all, another round of applause for Nigel, because holy shit dude.”
Everyone in the room clapped again, and as it died down, I looked at Reese. She moved her lips as she counted, but no sound came out, and she slid into the opening strains of Silent Night.
Twelve
Brandon
I was as in awe as everyone around me as Reese dove into a soulful rendition of Silent Night, with Danny offering a baritone harmony. Their voices blended beautifully, the way they always did, as the pair slid through three or four more songs. The tempo kicked up when Reese started in on All I Want for Christmas is You. Mariah Carrey had nothing on her.
It was impossible to ignore the flashes of chemistry between Danny and Reese as they sang to each other. Tonight I swore I could taste it though. How were they still apart, after all this time? And how amazing would it be to become a part of their dynamic? I wasn’t jealous—I didn’t want to break them apart—I wanted that cohesiveness the three of us had the other night in the basement.
They looked amazing up there. Danny in his suit, Reese in her dress. If I didn’t know Danny was mine, I’d assume they were the perfect couple.
As they finished, more clapping filled the air. Danny and Reese descended, joining the rest of us. Most everyone stepped up to tell them how great they sounded. Reese ate up the praise. Danny shrugged a lot of it off.
When I was able to get close enough, I pulled Danny away from the adoring audience, and let them focus on Reese.
“Should we ask her if she wants to stay?” My question came out before I could consider the consequences.
Danny studied my face, as if looking for the right reply. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
“It’s not a trick question. There’s no wrong answer.” Though I was hoping he’d say yes.
His frown was surprising. “I don’t know how well I’ll handle another round of the two of you together, keeping my hands to myself. I don’t mind most of the time, but tonight…”
The air was different. Charged. There was one concession I wasn’t ready to make, though. “I can’t watch her with you.”
“I don’t need that. As long as I don’t have to keep my hands off you,” Danny said.
“Is that a yes?”
Danny nodded. “From me it is. You still have to negotiate with Reese.”
That sounded like a good plan to me. Everyone was splitting off into the same pockets they did in the office, some talking about going home or to their rooms and others chatting some more.
Reese was talking to Adrienne and Phillip, and I joined them. “May I steal your date for the night?” I asked Adrienne.
She looked at Reese. “I don’t think that’s up to me.”
“I have candy in my van, little girl,” I said teasingly to Reese.
She smirked. “Not in your pocket?”
“Only one way to find out.”
Reese’s smile grew. “We’ll catch you two later. Tell Dustin it was a great party.”
When she and I reached Danny again, Reese slipped her hands in my front pockets. She teased my cock through the thin fabric. “I don’t think that’s candy,” Reese said.
