by Staci Hart
“Not too bad,” Shep said, every word loaded, “other than the fact that my future wife is salivating over Penny’s guy.”
Everyone laughed but me. I was a hundred and ten percent sure that he could wreck my face without breaking a sweat.
“Come on, girls,” Shep said. “Leave Penny alone so she can do her job without an audience.”
They grumbled about it, but he effectively shooed them off, leaving Penny and me as alone as we could be in a tattoo parlor full of people.
Penny was engrossed in her work, and I watched her, smirking.
God, she was so beautiful, so talented, so strong and wild and free. A force of nature. I couldn’t imagine ever changing her, couldn’t imagine ever taking what made her her away. To lose those qualities would be tragic, a loss to everyone who knew and loved her. The thought that Rodney had tried to pin her down all those years ago, that he hadn’t been happy until he’d stripped it all away, made me hate him all the more.
“Something about you with that gun in your hand is almost too much for me, Penny.”
Her eyes caught mine and moved back to her work, though she was smiling. “You shirtless in my chair is almost too much for me, Bodie.”
I chuckled. “Tell me you’re free tonight.”
Her smile fell at that. “I wish I were. I promised Ronnie and Ramona that we’d go out. You know, since last time we tried to go out, I bailed on them.”
“Worth it.”
She laughed. “So worth it.” She shot up in her seat, eyes wide and smile big. “Oh my God, I have an idea. We should all go out together. Like, you should come with us and bring your brother. Make a group thing out of it. I want to hook Veronica up with Jude — she needs to get laid so bad. And then Ramona can bring Shep, and maybe Joel and Annika can come too.”
“I doubt Veronica has trouble with that on her own.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Well, I’m sure Jude would be down to help out,” I joked.
She lit up like a floodlight, her red lips smiling wide. “It’s perfect. This way I can see you, and Veronica can get the grump nailed out of her. Everybody wins.”
I shook my head, smiling at her. “Schemer.”
She shrugged and got back to work. “I get what I want.”
“I’m sure you do.”
As she worked, I considered the fact that she’d just asked me on a date. A group date, sure, but we would be going out with her friends, the important people in her life. In public. Not just getting together to hook up. No, we’d be hanging out all night, and then we’d hook up.
If that wasn’t a date, I didn’t know what was.
As she traced the lines of the ocean on my skin, I wondered if she realized it. I wondered if she knew. Or maybe things were just the same for her as they ever were. Maybe this was all just for fun, all for the thrill.
But I told myself not to overthink it. Because if I did, I might lose the glimmer of shine I’d found on Penny.
* * *
Penny
My eyes scanned the thick crowd at Circus, looking for Bodie. We stood clustered next to a gigantic painting of Siamese twins in an ornate gilded frame. Ramona and Shep laughed with Joel and Annika, leaving Veronica and me on the edge of the circle, a little isolated. I considered canoodling with her, but she seemed as edgy as I was. Setups weren’t her thing. Waiting wasn’t mine.
Not that Veronica wasn’t great company, but after having my hands on a half-naked Bodie all day and not doing anything about it, I was anxious to see him. And by anxious, I meant I felt like my insides were trying to get outside.
I should have gone home with him like he’d asked me to after his tattoo. But I wanted to see him tonight even more than just the afternoon, and I was afraid to overdo it with both. In hindsight, I should have just committed. God knew I couldn’t get my fill of him, so it wasn’t like I had to save myself.
I laughed to myself at the thought. The most he’d gotten out of me in a day was six orgasms. Six. The last one had taken him a full hour, but Christ almighty, was it a ringer.
My phone buzzed in my hand, since I was holding it like a needy girl in preparation of him getting there, and when I saw it was him, I fired off a response, navigating him to us.
I caught sight of him and hopped over, my heart doing all the warm and squeezy things in my chest. I slipped my hand into his much larger one and popped up onto my toes to kiss him for a brief, fluttering second.
“Come on!” I yelled over the music. “This way.”
I led him, Jude, Phil, and Angie over to the group, standing between the tightrope walker in pasties with a sparkly thong and a platform for two hoop dancers who might have been naked — they were covered in body paint and glitter and sparkles.
Veronica perked up as we approached, and I smirked.
I doled out introductions where necessary, saving Veronica for last.
“Jude,” I said, grabbing him by the arm and pushing him toward her with my free hand, “this is my friend Veronica.”
She smiled. He smiled.
“I dunno. I’d say you were more of a Betty.” One of his brows rose salaciously.
Her smile flattened faster than you could say douchebag. So did mine — that look meant he didn’t have a chance in hell.
“Hey, Jude. Don’t make it bad,” Veronica snarked, throwing the Never heard that before back at him.
A girl in a top hat and red tails mercifully interrupted the awkwardness to take drink orders before disappearing into the ocean of people, and I leaned into Bodie, smelling him like a weirdo. I couldn’t help it. The smell of his soap and whatever other products he used made me think of my face buried in his neck or his pillows or his chest. Other places too, places where I’d like to be buried in at that moment.
He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“How’s your arm?” I asked, sliding my hand around his middle.
“Still works,” he answered with a flex.
I giggled like a dum-dum and leaned away, though I kept my arm around his waist, my fingers fiddling with the top of his pants.
“Thanks again for today,” he said. “I wish you’d let me pay you.”
“I’ll tell you what — you can pay me back later.”
He angled toward me, pressing his lips against my ear. “Oh, I plan to,” he whispered straight to my vagina.
A shiver rolled down my back. “Can’t we just leave now?”
“We could, but I’d rather tease you for the next couple of hours first.”
I laughed as his hand slipped down to my ass and gave it a squeeze. “Ugh, I hate waiting.”
“I know. That’s why I love to make you wait.”
Within a few minutes, everyone had moved around and mixed up, talking with each other, and I smiled to myself as I floated from group to group, happy that the odd collection of friends jelled. Joel and Phil were deep in a conversation about sci-fi that I understood zero of. Angie, who was the sweetest little bookish thing with big brown eyes and a giggle that instinctively made everyone in her radius giggle with her, had been talking with Ramona and Veronica about baking. Shep and Jude laughed together, swapping stories with Bodie, who smiled at me when I walked up.
Everything felt so good. All of us hanging out and talking and laughing. Bodie hanging his arm on my shoulder and kissing my temple and touching my hand, reminding me over and over again how much I enjoyed being around him. He made me feel good, and I wanted to make him feel good too.
The group shuffled around a few times, and a little while later, I found myself watching them all from the outside with Ramona, who bumped my arm.
“Have I told you that you’ve ruined my life?”
I frowned. “What? Why?”
“I went to the grocery store yesterday, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the little old checkout lady’s nipples when I noticed how pale her lips were.”
I burst out laughing. Ramona
looked pleased.
“Bodie’s great, Pen.”
I smiled. “He is, isn’t he?”
She nodded, smirking. “I never thought I’d live to see you on a real date.”
I frowned. “This isn’t a date. This is a preamble to naked cartwheels and an attempt to get Ronnie laid.”
That earned a laugh. “First, this is totally a date. And you guys have been all over each other in the cutest way.”
My frowned deepened. “Yeah, because we’re hot for each other.”
“Oh my God, Penny. It’s a date. Open your eyes.”
I blinked, watching Bodie from across the room. “I mean, I guess technically it is, but that’s not what we’re doing. I’m not his girlfriend.” I said it like it was a filthy word.
Ramona laughed, shaking her head at me. “You know that being a girlfriend doesn’t mean you’re chained up in somebody’s basement, right?”
“If you say so.” I took a sip of my tequila.
She let it go, thankfully. I was starting to feel itchy.
Ramona nodded to the group. “So Jude and Veronica went over about as well as lead frisbee.”
I sighed. “Man, I’m so disappointed. They had to go and open their mouths and ruin my plans.”
She chuckled. “They didn’t even make it two sentences into a conversation. But look at them eyeballing each other.”
“I think they’re trying to explode each other.”
They really were — the two of them were staring across the room with narrowed eyes, and I wondered what else had been said. It must have been seriously infuriating, and I wished I’d heard every word.
“Well,” Ramona started, “even if the Ronnie trap failed, the Bodie trap is still fully in place and ready to blow.”
I snickered. “Yeah, it is.”
She smiled at me. “I’m happy for you, Penny. I really like him.”
I sighed wistfully. “He’s perfect for me right now. I had no idea that guys like him existed in the dating wild.”
She opened her mouth like she had something to say but stopped herself, smiling instead. “Speak of the devil.”
When I followed her eyeline, I found Bodie walking over, his eyes on mine in a way that made my knees go weak, though there was nothing lewd or suggestive about it. It was just pervasive, slipping into me, through me, spreading all over me in a way that set me on fire.
“Hey,” he said with a smile.
“Hi.” I smiled back like the fool that I was.
Ramona touched my arm. “I’m gonna go make sure Shep’s not telling any stories he shouldn’t. You know how chatty he gets.”
I laughed. “Oh, man. Hopefully not the dick sock story again.”
“Oh, he’s well past that. We’re into koala bear territory.”
I waved her away. “Go. Run.”
And with that, she headed back to the group, leaving me and Bodie alone.
“Having fun?” I asked.
“I am. I like your friends.”
“I like yours too.”
“Too bad about Veronica and Jude though.”
I pouted. “I know. We were just talking about that. Honestly, I’ve met your brother, and I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea. Pretty much the only thing they have in common is that they’re single.”
“Not true. They’re both artists, and they have smart-ass mouths.”
I laughed and stepped into him, resting my hand on his chest. “So, I was thinking about you surfing the other day.”
“Oh, were you?” He pulled me closer.
“Mmhmm. And I was thinking about what a badass you are.”
He laughed. “Said the badass.”
“When you guys go, can I come with?”
One of his brows rose. “Any chance I might get you on a board? Because that would fulfill so many fantasies.”
I drew a little circle on his chest with the pad of my finger. “Only if you promise to surf shirtless. I think it might be worth getting eaten by a shark to see that once before I die.”
When he chuckled and kissed me, I thought I might melt right there in his arms.
“Have we waited long enough?” I asked when he broke the kiss like a tyrant.
“That was the question I came over here to ask. Are you ready to go?”
My heart thumped, and my lips smiled. “Only since you got here.”
We said our goodbyes and headed out, hand in hand, then with our arms around each other as we walked to his apartment.
I thought about what Ramona had said, thought about Bodie and how easy it was to be with him. Even having been with him all night, he was never needy, always independent. In fact, I had been the needy one, seeking him out to touch him, kiss him.
I had no idea what had gotten into me, but when I actually thought about it, it freaked me out.
Were we dating? Was I his girlfriend? I couldn’t even say the word in my head without my insides shriveling up.
But when I thought about how I felt about Bodie, those shriveled up insides bloomed and filled up again. He’d told me it could be easy, and now … well, now I was on a date with him, one I’d set up without even realizing I was doing it.
If that wasn’t going with the flow, I couldn’t imagine what was.
He hadn’t put any demands on me, hadn’t pushed the boundaries of what I was comfortable with. He hadn’t done anything but let me breathe, let me be, and somehow that was exactly what I needed. And he knew it.
We’d been on a date, and I hadn’t felt trapped or uncomfortable or cagey at all. I felt good. I felt happy.
So I took that as a sign that I was on the right track. And if we could keep on being easy, then I could stay put — for a little while at least. Ride the wave. Enjoy the scenery. Get high off of Bodie.
I did my best not to think about what would happen when I came down.
10
STEAK AT STAKE
Penny
The next afternoon, I took a sip of my champagne, facing the mirrors in the bridal shop, but I turned as Ramona came out from the dressing room, cheeks pink and eyes shining.
She looked stunning and stunned and absolutely gorgeous.
She was a rustling of lace and silk chiffon as she spanned the room and stepped up onto the platform, pressing her palm to her stomach.
The dress itself was simple and beautiful with beadwork that looked Edwardian — structured and flowing all at once in draping designs. Her waist was waspish from the corset underneath the soft fabric, and the sweeping neckline cut the slightest V between her breasts, framing her chest and neck tattoos like they had been made for each other.
“It’s happening. This is it,” she whispered with a shaky breath. “I … for a long time, I didn’t think it would. He never asked, you know? He couldn’t leave Joel, but Joel finding Annika changed everything. I should buy that woman an island.”
Veronica and I laughed and moved to her side, turning to look at our trio in the wide-angled mirrors. But Ramona was looking down at us, smiling and crying.
“Thank you. Both of you. I couldn’t do this without you, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to share this with me the way you two have.”
Tears filled my eyes too, and Veronica and I stepped up onto the platform to hug. The three of us hung onto each other for a long moment.
When we turned back to the mirror, I looked us over. “Damn, we look good.”
We laughed. It was our final fitting, and everything was perfect. Our bridesmaid dresses were dove-gray chiffon, soft and flowing and long, each a little different. Mine tied around the waist with a deep V and flowing skirt that made me feel like a goddess. Veronica’s was strapless, the top corseted and the skirt the same as mine.
I reached for the small table next to the platform where Ramona’s champagne stood, bubbling and waiting for her, raising my glass as I placed hers in her hand.
“To your next beginning,” I said simply.
And we touched our champagne flutes together
with the sweetest of tings before taking a sip.
I’d barely noticed the camera crew until they began to pack up. One of the cameramen nodded to me with a smile as they disappeared.
Another thing to thank Annika for — she’d made sure we were bothered as little as possible. In fact, I bet she’d cut the emotional stuff altogether. After having her own personal life thrown all over network television last season, she’d made it her mission to preserve the privacy of our lives as much as she could.
The shop girls materialized to inspect Ramona’s dress, and Veronica and I moved out of the way so they could work, still sipping our champagne. I felt a little bubbly in the head — I was on my third glass.
Ramona eyed me. “So, I hate to ask this.”
“Uh-oh.” My mood was instantly not so bubbly.
“Well, I put you down for a plus-one for the wedding, so I need to know if you’re bringing someone.”
I squirmed.
“I paid for an extra steak, Pen.”
Veronica rolled her eyes lovingly, if that’s a thing. “Just ask Bodie. You’re seeing him. And I bet he looks good in a suit. I mean, unless he’s a vegetarian because then what will Ramona do with his steak?”
I snorted. “Ugh, I don’t know, guys.”
Ramona and Veronica shared a look.
“She doesn’t think last night was a date,” Ramona said like I wasn’t in the room.
“Ah,” Veronica said back, equally traitorous.
“Listen, I realize it was a date.”
Ramona perked up and cupped her ear. “What’s that? You said I was right?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you were right. He’s just … I don’t know. Easy. He’s like a heart ninja.” I made a karate chop with my hand.
“So why don’t you ask him to the wedding?” Veronica asked.
“Hey, you don’t have a date either.”
Veronica’s lips flattened. “We’re not talking about me.”
“You could always ask Jude,” I offered.
She balked at that. “I wouldn’t want to slit any throats at my best friend’s wedding. There will be steak knives there.”
I laughed. “Oh, come on. He’s not that bad.”
