Miles for Love Series Box Set, page 88
I giggle. “Paul’s have, too. We hardly ever do it anymore. I think it’s a ‘been married too long’ kind of thing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Especially since he got his promotion.”
Her eyes bulge. “Like…it’s been a year?”
“No,” I laugh. “Not that long. It’s been a couple of months. But since he got promoted, his mind is elsewhere.”
“Ever think about reigning him back in? Going away for a romantic trip or something?”
“No, not really. It’s not a bad idea, though.”
“Honey, you have to do something.” She says, half-joking. “You don’t want to end up in one of those sexless marriages…like what I had. They suck.”
“Yeah.” I agree.
She elbows me. “Call Tyler.”
“For what?”
“Ask him if he and his brother want to double date tomorrow night.”
My jaw drops. “Now?”
“Why not now?”
“Well, he just left.” My voice has raised an octave. “He’s not even home yet.”
“So? Everyone has Bluetooth.”
“What am I supposed to say? Won’t it be weird asking a gay guy to go out on a double date with his brother?”
She shrugs. “If it is for him, he’ll say no. But it’s worth a shot.”
“Have you ever been on a blind double date with a gay guy?” I snuffle a laugh.
“No. But I like to live on the edge.”
“No shit.”
She’s not giving up. “Call him.”
I sigh, pulling my phone out of my purse. She visually gets excited. Frankie is rubbing her hands together, smiling, like she’s waiting to hear her promising Lotto numbers being called. I press his number in my contacts. As I suspected, he’s still in his truck. “Hey,” he chuckles. “Didn’t I just leave you?”
“Yeah. Sorry about that.” I snuffle again. “Listen, is your brother…the one you live with…”
“Grant.”
“Yes. Is he single?”
“Err…yes…why?”
“Frankie would like to meet him.” I look at her and she’s smiling like the Cheshire Cat.
“Ooookay. Why?”
“Because she thinks that if he looks anything like you, that she wants his body.” I sneak in, and receive a punch in the arm from Frankie. I laugh and grunt, swearing at Frankie for the hit, Tyler laughs.
“You so got a shot for that comment, didn’t you.” He guesses, chuckling.
“Yeah, but it was worth it.” I add. “You get bonus points if we make it a double date, with you and I.”
“Really?” he seems genuinely impressed.
“If it’s too weird, we call it off now. Frankie’s just…antsy from her trip.”
“Ah,”
“You don’t have to answer right now. You can talk to Grant first, of course, and call me back or let me know.”
Frankie leans in and speaks into the phone. “Tomorrow night.”
Surprising me, he says. “What about this weekend? You think your husband would let you go away for a weekend?”
“For a whole weekend?” I squeak.
Frankie is about to explode.
“Yeah, we go to this place about an hour or so away, outside of Raleigh. It’s on the water. We’re having some friends over on Saturday night, but other than that, it’s just us.”
“I’ll see how Paul feels about that. And I’ll check with Frankie.” She’s nodding like a cartoon dog who’s just been offered a walk. Her tongue might as well be wagging. “She’s good with that.”
“Okay. Let me know what Paul says. All you girls need is clothes. We buy the food up there.”
“And this won’t be too weird?” I ask, my face scrunched up.
“Ripley, it won’t be like a date. But don’t tell Frankie that.” He says evenly. “It’ll give her and Grant time to get acquainted, and it’ll take the pressure off us. They’ll be enough dudes there that she’ll have her fill.”
“Will any girls be there?”
“Yeah. Not all the guys are single. They bring their girlfriends, and Grant does have a way with the ladies. He always invites a few.”
“Sounds like a college party.”
“Call it what you want. It’s a lot of fun. We play drinking games and hang out by the fire. Go out on the boat.”
“It does sound like a lot of fun.”
“What did I tell you?”
“Okay. Sounds good. But if Grant vetoes it, we understand.”
He lowers his voice. “Um…Grant pass up a chance to get laid? I don’t think so.”
I chuckle. “Fair enough. I’ll talk to you later.”
“See ya.”
When I hang up, I look at Frankie. “Don’t think I didn’t overhear that bit about getting laid.” She tries for offended but fails miserably.
“Like that isn’t the truth?” I guffaw.
She shrugs after a beat. “Fine. Go home and talk to Paul so we can pack.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Come on, girl, don’t chicken out now.”
“Who is this for, anyway?” I chuckle.
“Me…and you.”
“How…exactly…does this benefit me?”
“Well, you don’t have to spend a boring weekend at home with Paul, for one.”
I give her a look like she just tried to sneak an insult in without me noticing. “Nice.”
“Okay, I’m gonna go. Talk to Paul. Let me know what he says.”
I rise with her. “I’m going now, too.”
We hug quickly and say our goodbyes. When I get home, Paul is in bed already, scrolling through his phone. “How was the auto show?”
“Good. Drake’s car is beautiful.”
“Cool.” I get undressed and ready for bed. Paul rises and walks into the kitchen as I’m brushing my teeth. I follow him after I’m done. He’s getting a drink of ice water.
“We don’t have any plans this weekend, do we?”
He shakes his head. “No. Not really. Did you have something in mind?”
I make up a little white lie. “Frankie and I were thinking about going away for the weekend to a cottage up north.”
“Oh yeah?” he takes the last sip of his water. “Didn’t she just get back from being away?”
“Let’s just say she can’t get enough.” I joke. “Remember that it’s still summer, technically. Frankie wants to get as much of this hot weather as she can before it’s gone.”
“Alright. Have fun.” He says. “I’m going to bed.”
I send both Frankie and Tyler a text. “All is a go from here.”
Tyler texts me back a minute later with a thumbs-up emoji. Frankie texts me something lewd and I head off to bed.
***
We take my car since the last time Frankie and I went somewhere together, we took hers. “I didn’t even have to unpack.” Frankie says. “I just washed my luggage from Cabo and re-packed it.”
“Well, it’s been a while for me. I had to go through what I needed like a dozen times.” I say. “Paul started to wonder what was really going on.”
“And did you actually tell him?”
I give her a look. “I may have omitted a few facts.”
“Like?”
I sigh. “Like the fact that there will be people other than you and I there.”
Her face lights up. “You lied?”
“Usually your best friend should chide you for telling a lie, even a little white one. Not you. No, you encourage lying. Makes me wonder what kind of an influence you have on me.”
“A good one.” she points out as we climb into the car. We’ve just grabbed our stuff and placed it in the trunk. We’re meeting Tyler and Grant at their house and driving up together. “You know as well as I do that if you had told Paul the truth, that this little outing would never happen.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Then why did you lie?”
I hate it when she’s right. “Shut up.” I mutter.
Turns out, Grant is even bigger than Tyler. Frankie is very impressed by this. Her eyes nearly pop out of her head when she sees them both come out of the house as we pull up. “Fuck…me.” she utters.
“I guess that’s what he’ll be doing.” I giggle.
“With any luck.” She states, not taking her eyes off him. “Look at the ass on him.”
“His ass is what you’re looking at?” I bark. “Look at his arms!”
She does a double-take on me. “Are you…checking him out?”
“Well, it’s fruitless checking Tyler out, now, isn’t it.” my voice is flat. She smiles.
The boys see us exit the car. “Hey, how are you guys?” Tyler says. “This is my brother, Grant.”
“Yeah, we saw you from the car.” Frankie says, laying in on thick. Grant smiles.
“Nice to meet you.” Frankie says. They shake hands, and I notice that Frankie is giving him her ‘bedroom eyes’ look.
“Likewise.” Grant says, and then he shakes my hand, even though his eyes are still on her.
“You guys can just follow us up, right?” Tyler checks, breaking the tension in the air.
“Sure.” I say.
“And just give me a ring if you run into any trouble.”
“Sounds good.” I grab Frankie by the cuff of her sleeve. “Let’s go, hormones.”
When we get back into the car and close the doors, I say. “Are you at least going to wait until we get there, or do you want me to pull over, so that you two can get it over with now?”
“Oh, man, Rip.” She growls. “He is one fine piece of ass! I don’t know how I’m not going to sleep with him straight away.”
“It’s easy. You just don’t sleep with him.”
“Oh, I’ll try.” She shakes her head, watching him get into the truck. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“Just…promise me that you’re not going to make a complete ass out of yourself by being so obvious? I mean, it’s great for Grant, but it makes everyone else around you feel uncomfortable.”
She blinks and looks over at me as we watch the boys pull out of the driveway. “Does it really make you that uncomfortable?”
“Well…yeah.” My voice raises an octave. “Think about it. Put yourself in my shoes. It’s awkward and, even just now when you gave him goo-goo eyes, you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Rip.” She pats my hand. “I had no idea. I’ll take it back a notch.”
“Thanks. You really are a good friend.”
“You, too.”
Chapter 9
Tyler
As I drive home from the little café where I met up with Ripley, I see that Grant is home, and it looks like his buddy Rick is here, too. I walk in the door, and I don’t see them at first. Then I realize that they’re playing pool in the rec room on the opposite side of the living room. “Hey, buddy.” I greet Rick.
“Hey. How’s it going?” Rick asks, shaking my hand. He’s an old military friend of ours, but he was always closer to Grant.
“You up for the lake this weekend?” Rick asks.
“Totally up for it. I can’t wait.” I say.
“I’m already packed.” Grant says, taking his shot. The balls clink together softly as they hit, sinking one into the side pocket.
“Hey, you mind if Ripley and her friend Frankie come along, too?”
Grant observes his cue, setting up his next shot. “You mean the teacher that you told you were gay?” he chuckles at the last word ‘gay’.
Rick cracks up. “You did what?”
Unable to focus properly, Grant stands up straight, chuckling. “He got bamboozled by this chick last week, so now he’s telling any new chicks he meets that he’s gay, so they won’t come onto him.”
“Great plan, man.” Rick barks facetiously.
“Thanks.” I’m sarcastic. “But I’m going to tell her the truth this weekend.”
“Why?” Grant scoffs. “I thought you didn’t want to ruin what you had with her.” he’s teasing me, and I want to punch him.
“She’s married.” I point out. “And she told me that she was married. That’s the only reason why I lied at first. I’m sick of being lied to by these chicks.”
“So you lie to them.” Rick’s voice is flat. They’re both enjoying this way too much.
“Fuckoff.”
“Seriously.” Rick says, trying not to laugh. “What…that chick you were banging before…Valerie, was it? She was married?”
Grant takes this. “Yeah, and her husband called up Tyler, threatening him. You should have heard Tyler stripping him a new one, man, it was brilliant.”
“I bet it was.” Rick nods. He knows that nobody fucks with either of us and gets away with it. “So, why did you go and tell her that you were gay, man? Didn’t she figure it out that you’re so not gay?”
“Not yet.” I admit. “But I hate lying to her. I almost told her tonight. In fact, I was just about to, when her friend showed up out of the blue.”
“She hot?”
“Who? Ripley or the friend?”
Rick shrugs. “Both.”
“The teacher’s pretty hot if you ask me.” Grant volunteers, and then he looks at me. “Her friend…what did you call her? Frankie? She hot, too?”
I’m feeling uncomfortable talking about this. Truth be told, I think that Ripley is very attractive. Frankie is okay, but she seems a little too wild for me. “Yeah, her name is Frankie. She wants to come and meet you, loser.”
“Yeah?” he scoffs, but he’s smiling. “Why?”
“Ripley says because she thinks I’m hot. So, therefore, anyone related to me, should also be hot.”
“Sounds desperate enough for me, man.” Rick says.
“Have you lost your marbles? Seriously, Ty, you can’t invite Lacey’s teacher out for the weekend. It’s…screwy.” He shudders.
“Well, it’s too late. I already did. Suck it up, man.” I state.
“Hey, her friend likes you, man. Don’t complain.” Rick chides. “You don’t want her, I’ll take her.”
“Isn’t it like incest or something, man?” Grant asks, rubbing his arm as though just talking about it is going to make him catch something.
“She’s not related to Lacey or to the family, stupid.” My face scrunches. “What’s your problem, anyway. Last time I checked you were up for a good lay.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll be the judge of how much of a good lay she’s going to be.” Grant says, lining his shot up again.
“Fine. They’re coming either way.” I say, walking down to the basement. I’m sufficiently pumped up enough that I need to blow off steam with a good workout.
***
Grant gives me a look as we step into the truck, after he’s just been introduced to Frankie. “Fucking aye.” He says. “She just may be a good lay after all.”
“Good for you.” I mutter.
“You’re just pissy because for once in your life you haven’t got a prayer for getting laid, seeing as you told most of the female population that will be our guests this weekend, that you’re gay.”
“That’s not it.” I whine, irritated, as I slide my key into the ignition.
“You know, you’re becoming shittier and shittier with lying. You better come clean ASAP when we get there.”
“I’m not telling her straight away.” I look at him, annoyed. “I need to…pick my moment.”
“Why the fuck do you care so much, anyway? Just blurt it out or just tell her casually.” Grant suggests. “You don’t know each other enough for her to get really bitchy over it.”
“Just…let me deal with it, okay?” I wave. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“Fine.”
When we arrive at the cottage, the girls hop out of Ripley’s car, and instantly I can see that Ripley is impressed. The cottage, I’ll admit, is beautiful. It sits on a bank of land before the water. While there is no sandy beach, there is a dock, with a Bayliner moored to it. A white picket fence outlines the perimeter, while matching white window frames and a wraparound porch highlight the simplicity of the dwelling. Robust, thick trees pepper the cottage, and our neighbors, lending modest privacy. The water softly rolls up to the dock, causing a gentle bobbing of the Bayliner. “Is that your boat?” Ripley says, after observing the cottage with awe.
“Yes. We can go for a ride later if you want.” I say.
“Sure. I’d love to.” Ripley says, smiling.
“You like fishing?” I ask.
“Love it. Haven’t in years.”
“I’m out. Not into sailing…unless you guys want to help me hold my hair back.” Frankie says, complaining.
“You went to Cabo and you hate sailing?” I ask, disbelieving.
“Honey, I hung out on the beach and at the swim-up bar.” She says, matter-of-factly.
Grant is impressed. “That’s okay. We can hang out here. Play some cards or start the fire, while they go out on the boat.”
Frankie smiles. “Sounds good to me. I even brought marshmallows.”
“Cool.” Grant smiles. “Let’s go get unpacked. Anyone hungry?”
“Starved.” Ripley says.
“I could eat.” I say.
“Alright. I’ll go get the barbecue started.” Grant offers. “You guys want to go head over and grab dinner from the market?” he addresses Ripley and I.
Ripley and Frankie exchange a look.
“Unless you girls would rather go?” Grant says, retracting.
“Whatever. It doesn’t really matter. We’re all hungry.” Frankie shrugs. “Why don’t we split up, since Ripley and I don’t know where the market is, anyway? I’ll stay and help prep for dinner, while Rip and Ty go get the food.”
“Okay.” Ripley says, looking at me. “Your car or mine?”
“We’ll take the truck.” I offer. To me, she looks a little tired. “You guys all cool with steaks and veggies?”
We all shake our heads. “Sure, it’s quick and easy.” Ripley says. “You guys have aluminum foil?”
