by Jackie Lau
Okay, maybe it would take more than a couple times.
This wasn’t love, though. Love might not happen instantly, but there was always a spark from the beginning. He’d been in love four times—he knew this. Plus, that’s how it had been for Nick and Lily. Greg and Tasha—that was a little different, as they’d known each other since kindergarten.
But he and Jo had known each other for a long time, too.
Except, not really.
He’d known of her, but three years was a huge age difference when you were a kid. They hadn’t become friends until they’d both ended up here, at Finn’s, disappointed by the people they were supposed to marry. They’d been friends for four years now, and okay, he was suddenly attracted to her, but that didn’t mean he was falling in love.
It just meant he hadn’t had much sex in the past year, and Jo was here, and convenient, and very lovely.
How had he never noticed that before?
As she sipped her Guinness, he watched her throat, which he’d kissed on Wednesday night. She always drank Guinness at the bar. He wasn’t a fan, but it was her favorite beer, and now he found that very endearing, like the freckle on the back of her earlobe. Or the way she’d slide her hand up her neck and smile shyly at him.
He needed to get them back to their simple friendship.
“You excited for the hockey game on Sunday?” he asked.
“Yeah, we’re going to kick their ass,” she said, her competitive spirit coming out. “Can’t believe we lost last year.”
Every year on Groundhog Day, there was a hockey game between Mosquito Bay and the nearest town to the north, Ashton Corners. They charged admission and sold snacks, and the proceeds went to charity. Last year, Mosquito Bay had lost for the first time in five years, and Jo hadn’t been happy. She was usually fairly easygoing, but when she really got into something...
Yeah, he was never going to forget her phallic Pictionary drawing.
“We’ll win this time.” He didn’t care about the outcome much, but he wanted Jo to have what she wanted.
Just because he was her friend, that was all.
Both towns’ teams were mostly male, but Jo was one of two women on their team. Suddenly, the thought of her whipping down the ice on a breakaway turned him on.
What the hell?
He wouldn’t let himself get too worked up about it. It was just because they were sleeping together. It didn’t mean anything.
Alright. Time to return to what had started their friendship: their break-ups. That was a safe topic, and it would remind him of why he never wanted another serious relationship.
“Did you always plan to return to Mosquito Bay after dental school?” he asked. This wasn’t directly about his break-up, but thinking about staying or leaving Mosquito Bay made him think of Marianne, as Jo would know.
“I did go off to university with the intention of going to dental school after undergrad. My dad talked about me taking over his practice, and at first, I didn’t like the idea. I was determined to do everything all by myself, start over on the other side of the country, or at least on the other side of the province.” She chuckled, then said with a shrug, “I was a teenager. But after a few years of living in Hamilton, I tired of city life. My dad was getting old, and I knew how much it would mean to him if I came back to Mosquito Bay. By the time I got into dentistry, that was my goal. A stable job, my family nearby. A quiet life, but I like it.”
“Me, too.” I like that you came back here. I like that you’re a part of my life.
He took a gulp of beer and looked at the television above the bar. There was a game on, but he hadn’t paid any attention to it until now because he’d been talking to Jo.
“I looked forward to going away for school,” he said, “although I didn’t spend much time thinking about what I’d do with my life afterward. But a part of me always thought I’d come back, if I was able to get a job in the area, even though...”
“What is it?”
He turned toward her. “My family isn’t like most of the other families in Mosquito Bay. There’s the Chin-Williams, but they’ve all left now, and the Lee family that runs the convenience store. The Lams are good friends of my parents, but they live in Ashton Corners. We don’t quite fit in. Nick was always very aware of that, and he hated it. For me, it wasn’t a big deal—maybe it helps that my appearance doesn’t make me stand out as much. Either way, this is my home, and it’s not perfect, but I like it. Marianne thought she’d like it, too.”
As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter where we are, Marianne had said. Zach had been a stupid young man, and he’d believed her. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d come from Toronto; she’d grown up in a small city. And Mosquito Bay wasn’t isolated, unlike some of the towns up north. Inland from Mosquito Bay, it was farming country, and there were towns every ten or fifteen kilometers. London and Sarnia weren’t all that far. Toronto was less than three hours away.
It hadn’t been enough, though.
But all his bitterness was gone now. The thought of Marianne didn’t cause the pain in his heart that it once had. In fact, he realized this wasn’t anything new; he hadn’t thought of her much in the last year or two.
Jo nodded and squeezed his hand.
Jo, whose plans for life weren’t incompatible with his. She’d grown up here, too, and she’d lived here as an adult for several years. He didn’t see her changing her mind about this. Jo was pretty steady, and she knew what she wanted.
And one of the things she wanted was another relationship.
As long as she kept sleeping with him, she couldn’t have a boyfriend—unless she was into such arrangements, but he didn’t think she was.
Just a little longer. Surely it wouldn’t take much longer, and then he’d let her go. He’d encourage her to date and pursue what she wanted.
But for tonight...
He placed his hand on her leg, his fingers gently stroking her inner thigh.
Jo made an inarticulate noise that sounding like “gunhhh.”
“Any plans tomorrow?” he asked conversationally, as though he wasn’t touching her.
“Some...cleaning,” she managed to say. “And...” She shook her head, then hissed, “What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing.” He circled his thumb over the inside of her knee. It seemed to be a particularly sensitive part.
“Zach...”
She was pretending to be annoyed with him, and it was kind of adorable.
But truth be told, he couldn’t keep this up much longer.
“Want to get out of here?” he asked.
This time, they went to his house. He recalled how tentative she’d been last weekend, but there was none of that today. It thrilled Zach that she felt comfortable enough to push him up against the front door and pin his hands at his sides.
Her kisses were wet and sloppy and tinged with Guinness, but he didn’t mind. She tasted fantastic. Guinness and Jo.
His jeans were getting very tight.
He freed his hands from her grasp and dragged down the zipper on her jacket. She was still kissing him as though her life depended on it, as though nothing was more important than this kiss.
And perhaps nothing was.
He needed to touch her. He bunched up her sweater with one hand, and his other hand unbuttoned her jeans and slid inside her panties. He groaned as he encountered her wetness.
“You’re so sexy,” he breathed.
“You really think that.” It wasn’t a question; she was just stating it with wonder in her voice.
“Of course I do.” He ran his finger over her slit and released a shuddering breath.
Zach shucked off his coat, got down on his knees, and looked up at her. She was still wearing her jacket—though it was unzipped—and her hat and her boots, but it would take too long to remove them now.
He pushed down her jeans and underwear and put his mouth between her legs.
She gripped his hair, and that wasn’t
unpleasant, not at all.
He hadn’t gotten to do enough of this last weekend, but he’d make up for it now. When he gave her one long lick, she threw her head back against the door. Encouraged, he licked her more urgently and slid two fingers inside her tight channel. She clenched around him, and God, he couldn’t stand it anymore. With his other hand, he unzipped his own jeans, removed his cock from the slit in his boxers, and started stroking himself as he pleasured her. When he glanced up, she was looking down at his cock, and then, goddammit, she licked her lips.
“Zach...”
He’d never tire of hearing her utter his name like that.
Jo said his name again as her legs slipped out from under her, her back sliding down the door until her ass came to rest on the floor.
And the whole time, he was pleasuring her.
Her hands were in his hair again, urging him on. He moved his fingers faster, in and out, and stroked his dick more quickly, too.
Jo wasn’t a screamer, but she gasped and jerked as her climax overtook her. Her head tipped back, exposing the column of her throat; he looked up at her face as he continued to lick her and help her wring every last bit of pleasure from this.
Afterward, she collapsed on the carpet in the hallway, but she didn’t have the blissed-out expression that he’d expected. Instead, her eyes roved over him hungrily.
“Take it off,” she said.
He didn’t know what she was referring to, so he took off everything. His shirt, his pants, his boxers.
She reached for his cock and pumped it a few times. When he pulled a condom out of his pants, she rolled it on.
And then she sank down on him, right on the carpet near his front door.
Had he ever had sex here before?
He didn’t think so.
But his thoughts were wiped from his mind as she began to ride him. He loved seeing her above him, like a brilliant goddess. She leaned forward and pressed her breasts against his chest and kissed his mouth.
Possessiveness curled through him. He bet she wasn’t like this with anyone but him.
He cupped her ample ass in his hands and urged her on. He buried his face between her breasts and sucked on one.
When he could take it no more, when he felt the need to be in control, he twisted them over so he was on top.
For a moment, though, he didn’t move. He just held himself above her and grinned, and she squirmed beneath him, her pretty brown hair fanned out on the carpet.
“Zach,” she said, “fuck me.”
Those words, tumbling from her lips...
He pushed into her again and again, each stroke more intense than the last, as she writhed beneath him. When he licked his thumb and pressed it to her clit, her eyes opened wide, and when she pushed up against him one more time, she emitted the prettiest sigh he’d ever heard, and he growled as he found his release inside her.
As he came back down, and they lay there with their arms around each other, just inside the door to his house, he started laughing. He couldn’t believe they hadn’t been able to wait to get to his bedroom—or at least a couch.
Jo tucked her body closer to his and laughed, too.
He felt a bone-deep satisfaction that he hadn’t experienced in a long, long time.
* * *
When Zach woke up, he was cold, and it was still dark out.
He checked his alarm clock. It was three in the morning.
The reason he was cold? He was naked and didn’t have any blankets. Jo, apparently, was a blanket stealer, which was rather charming, actually. He was pleased to learn this detail about her.
Stealthily, he slid over to her side of the bed. She had a strong grip on the blankets, and he had to tug firmly to get them out of her hands.
“Zach,” she murmured.
He wasn’t sure whether she was conscious or not.
“Why are you taking my blankets.” She sounded a little more awake now, but still vulnerable; he felt special for being able to see her at a moment like this.
Not that he could see anything but shadows in the dark room, but he could touch her and hear her.
“I’m freezing,” he said. “You’re hogging the blankets.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Oh. So I am.”
She adjusted the blankets so he was covered, then snuggled up against him, her front pressed against his back. He was the little spoon.
He enjoyed having her arms around him. And he had blankets on top of him now, so he was cozy and warm. He could stay here forever, cocooned in the darkness with her. He still felt that deep satisfaction from earlier, like he was exactly where he belonged.
After a while, however, Jo wiggled against him and stroked her hand over his chest, and he started to get hard.
He rolled over and slipped his hand between her legs, finding her slick with moisture.
“Yes,” she murmured.
As he slid his finger inside her and she moaned, he realized something terrifying.
There was no way he’d be able to “get her out of his system.”
It would never be enough.
* * *
Zach had fallen asleep soon after their middle-of-the-night sex, but Jo was still awake.
When she’d felt hopeless about her crush before, she used to console herself with the thought that maybe the sex would be bad.
But that was the exact opposite of the truth.
He made her feel sexy, desired, and completely comfortable to initiate things. Why, she’d pushed him up against the door and stuck her tongue down his throat, and that hadn’t been weird, not at all. Nor had it been weird when she’d said, “fuck me.”
She’d forgotten it could be like this. Both the sex, as well as the quiet moments cuddling in bed together, when it felt like all was right in the world.
Maybe it had never quite been like this for her before.
She was falling even more in love with him.
But he was still Zach Wong, and he hadn’t said anything more about what was going on between them. In fact, tonight he’d asked if she’d always planned to come back to Mosquito Bay after university, and she’d figured he was thinking of Marianne.
It didn’t seem like he wanted anything close to what she wanted.
And she deserved better, didn’t she?
She’d deserved better than the sex she’d had with Matt; she’d deserved a partner who’d actually respond—even if it was to say he wasn’t interested that night—when she put herself out there and tried to initiate.
She deserved the sex she had with Zach.
But she also wanted a relationship, and she shouldn’t settle for a guy who seemed to have no intention of giving that to her.
She should stop sleeping with him, but the thought of giving up that intimacy made tears prick at the back of her eyes. She liked being able to show him how she felt even if she couldn’t tell him. She liked feeling good about her body.
Just a bit longer...and then maybe she should give up their friendship, too.
She hated the thought. Their friendship had been a great comfort to her after her break-up with Matt, the thing she looked forward to every week, even before her crush.
However, she needed to move on, and as long as she kept seeing Zach at least once a week, it would be hard for her to extricate herself.
She needed a clean break.
Next to her, Zach released a single snore, and she laughed through the tears that were now falling down her cheeks. She wanted more nights like this.
She snuggled up close, careful not to wake him or steal the blankets.
Just a little longer...
Chapter 10
There were twenty seconds left in the game. The score was tied at four.
Zach, who’d assisted on Mosquito Bay’s second goal, was on the bench next to Shawn, but Jo was on the ice. His eyes didn’t follow the puck. They stayed on her.
And then she got a breakaway and he was yelling.
<
br /> She was going to do it!
When she was a couple meters from the net, she took her shot...
...and scored.
Of course his Jo didn’t miss.
His? Well, they’d been fake dating for a few weeks. He supposed he was used to the idea of being with her.
When the game was over and she skated over to the bench, he took off his helmet and greeted her with a kiss. A few people whistled, but he ignored them.
“You were amazing,” he said.
“So were you.”
“Not as good as you.”
She laughed a little, but he could tell she was proud.
They all went out for beers at Finn’s afterward, and he kept close to her side the whole time. He didn’t want to leave her, but he could only stay for an hour—he had other plans.
When he got back to his house, Sebastian Lam was already there. Sebastian had been back in Ontario since December, but he’d only contacted Zach last week. And he hadn’t gone to the hockey game—hockey wasn’t really his thing.
Sebastian and Zach were the same age. They’d attended different elementary schools, since the Lam family lived in Ashton Corners, but they’d seen each other all the time as kids and been best friends. Later, they’d gone to high school together.
It had been a few years since they’d seen each other, though, as Sebastian had gone to med school out west and stayed there to do his residency. He’d returned to be a family physician in a small town near Stratford.
“Good to see you, man,” Zach said, giving his friend a back-slapping hug.
“Same,” Sebastian said gruffly. He was about the same height as Zach, but a bigger, sturdier guy.
They went inside and Zach pulled out a beer for each of them. They sat at opposite ends of the couch in the living room, and for a minute, it was quiet.
They were good friends who’d hardly seen each other in years. Shouldn’t they have something to say?
Zach was miffed that Sebastian hadn’t contacted him earlier, that he’d had to hear it from his parents, but he wasn’t sure he should bring it up. And the biggest thing happening in his life was his fake relationship with Jo, but he didn’t know what he wanted to reveal about that.
