“My phone doesn’t seem to be on vibrate, but I didn’t hear it ring. I wonder if it got damaged in the wreck.” I contemplated the boredom of going to the cell phone store for a repair and decided to buy a new phone. I’d get Todd one as a present to help apologize for my blunder.
“Call him.” He tapped my phone. “I promised him you would as soon as you woke up.”
“I’ll call him in two minutes.” I pushed Wes off the bed and got up to use the bathroom. As soon as I finished, I peeked out of my room to find Wes moving around my kitchen. I collapsed onto the bed, grabbed my phone, and hit my speed dial.
“What’s going on? Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick.” Todd’s voice came shrilly out of the phone. I pulled it away from my ear before he made my headache worse.
“Todd, I’m so sorry. I’m the worst friend ever.” I dropped my head into my free hand, ashamed of myself.
“I thought you’d been ax murdered!” He sounded close to tears.
I winced and rubbed my head. His voice rang too loud for my headache. “I was confused and disoriented, and the guys took care of everything. I didn’t think to call.”
“That’s crap!” I grimaced again and turned the volume the rest of the way down. “You always call me, unless you do need help, then you take everything on yourself and try not to bother me. When’re you going to learn? I want to be there for the good and the bad!”
“I’m sorry, so sorry, Todd. You know I love you, and you’re my best friend in the whole world. I’ll make this up to you.” A cell phone wouldn’t be enough. I’d have to grovel. I hated how much he worried.
“Damn right you will, missy!” His voice softened. “Now, are you okay or not?”
“I think so. I’m banged up and sore. I have a mild concussion, that’s throwing me a little. Overall though, it could’ve been a lot worse.” I curled onto my side, tired.
“Do you need anything?”
“No, Arch feels guilty I was with him when this happened, and the three of them haven’t let me lift a finger.”
“Good. Let them. They almost got you killed. I’d like to concuss all of them!” I could picture him waving his fist as he spoke.
I laughed. “I don’t think to concuss is a thing.”
“I’ll make it a thing. I’m that mad.”
“There’s no way Arch could’ve avoided this, Todd. Don’t be mad. And if they keep spoiling me like this, well, hell, I could get used to it.” I wouldn’t complain about the spoiling part, only the pain.
“I’ll be up in an hour-ish to check on you. I love you.” His sad voice hit me right in the guilt. I really hurt him.
“I love you, too, and again, I’m sorry I didn’t call you.” Tears fell down my cheeks. I hated causing him any sliver of pain, especially considering how he spoiled me.
“I forgive you if you promise to call if you need anything at all. Even if you only need someone to lift the remote and change the channel for you. Call me!”
“I promise. I promise with sugar on top.”
“Okay. Bye.”
I tried to decide what to do next—wallow in my guilt until I fell asleep or go forage for food. Mouth-watering smells soon drifted into my bedroom. Searching for food won.
I still wore the boxers from my middle of the night embarrassment, but I made a stop in the bathroom to splash water on my face and brush my hair. I didn’t want to look too dragon lady-ish and scare him away completely.
I walked out to find Wes gone and Gray cooking in my kitchen. “Good morning,” I said.
“Morning. Sorry for the intrusion, but I make a better breakfast than Wes does.” I laughed at their switcharoo.
Bacon sizzled in a pan, and biscuits rose in the oven. He even put butter out to soften. I helped myself to a glass of orange juice and sat on one of the bar stools across from the cook top to wait for my breakfast to be finished.
“You practice law and cook? What else can you do?” I winked, feeling much more flirtatious than normal. His head rose from the pan with a mixed expression of desire and incredulity. He liked me teasing him. After his care at the hospital, it was good to tease him a bit.
“I love to cook. So you know, I can make things more complicated than a simple southern breakfast,” he replied as he stirred gravy for the biscuits. I caught him tossing Satan bits of bacon out of the corner of my eye.
“Oh? You’ll have to try to impress me one day. I love to cook, as well.” I could make a handful of dishes, and the rest? Follow the recipe and pray.
“I’d be glad to if you’ll return the favor.”
I grinned into my orange juice. I’d made another date with one of my hunky lawyers. It was some sort of record. I couldn’t wait to tell Todd.
“Do you have any other surprising talents I should know about?” I asked him casually, masking the fact that I was dying to get his answer.
“A few, I guess. I play guitar, but I don’t take it seriously.”
“Cool! Have you ever played in a band? I can totally imagine you rocking out on stage.” I needed to chill. I was being a little pushy.
“For a little while in high school. We argued all the time, so I gave it up.”
I dialed it back a bit, tried not to sound overly interested. “Anything else?”
“I can do a wall flip,” Gray remarked casually.
“A what?” How does a wall flip work?
“A wall flip. Where you run up the wall then flip down to the ground.”
“Oh, you cannot. That’s stuff they do on TV,” I said with a teasing grin.
“Only on TV, huh? I’ll show you one day. I love to show off my talents.” He laughed as he dished the gravy into a bowl. “With my luck, now I’ve bragged about it, I’ll fall on my head.”
I laughed along with him. “I hope you don’t. I want to be impressed by both your cooking and your smooth moves.” I put air quotes around “smooth moves,” to let him know I still didn’t believe he could do it.
A knock interrupted our mild flirtations. I started to get up and answer it.
“Freeze, lady,” said Gray. “I’ll get it.” I grinned wryly and sat down.
He jogged over to the door, and I noticed he wore plaid sleep pants and a tight white tee. He filled out the pants perfectly.
According to my monitor, Arch and Wes stood in the hall. Gray let them in.
“It smells amazing in here!” Wes exclaimed. He sauntered over to me, also wearing sleep pants and a tee, black with the name of a band on it. He leaned forward and embraced me. “When you’re feeling better, we’ll reschedule our date.” He kept his voice low as he released me. He didn’t want his friends to overhear.
I stared blankly into his blue eyes, completely forgetting we scheduled a date.
“Remember, Ellie? Coffee?” He kept glancing at my head, concerned.
“Of course. I remember.” I turned away and took a sip of juice to avoid blurting out the wrong thing. “I’d also like to reschedule for as soon as possible.”
“Reschedule what?” Arch walked over to us and caught the tail end of our conversation. He still wore his neck brace and seemed uncomfortable.
Wes saved me from answering. “Coffee,” he said casually. I averted my eyes. I didn’t want to cause any jealousy or arguments. My various dates overwhelmed me: a theater date with Arch—hopefully to be rescheduled as well—a coffee date with Wes, and now a cooking date with Gray. The sensible voice in the back of my mind repeatedly asked me if any of them knew the others were interested. They knew Arch and I went on one—failed—date. Why else would we have been together, dressed up, when we crashed?
My stomach rumbled, causing Gray to stare at me from his position in the kitchen. “It’s almost done, try not to starve to death.”
I rolled my eyes at his sassiness. “I’ll survive, thanks.” I blew him a raspberry to drive my point home.
“If you do that again, I’ll give your lips something to do.” Arch’s voice behind me made my spine stiffen. The
erotic tone to his voice shot straight to my, um, heart, and my insides became uncomfortably warm.
“I’ll try to refrain,” I whispered. Gray placed a plate full of food in front of me. Saved by the gravy. I decided to pretend calories cooked by gorgeous guys didn’t count. I’d spend some time swimming soon to burn them off.
The plate in front of me overflowed with yumminess. I dug into my bacon, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, hash browns, and grits. A traditional and delicious breakfast. “My mom used to cook breakfasts like this,” I mumbled around a mouth full of egg. It took a moment for the guys to respond to my sudden over sharing.
“How old were you when she died?” asked Wes.
“I was eight, so some of the memories are vague. This is awesome.” I smiled my thanks at Gray.
The guys made their own plates, and someone refilled my orange juice glass. I almost missed who it was because I tilted my head upward, moaning over the flavors invading my mouth with my first bite of gravy. I opened my eyes in time to watch Wes almost spill juice everywhere because he stared at me and not the juice pitcher in his hand. Gray’s and Arch’s attention was also on me. Arch scratched idly under his brace as he stared me down.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” said Wes. He stopped the flow of juice in time, and I slurped it down to keep it from spilling over the side.
“Why is everyone still staring at me?” I suspected their minds were in the gutter, but feigned innocence.
Gray replied for the group. “I guess we’re used to doing things together, no one else. It’s kind of a novelty to have a lady in our mix.”
“You don’t date?” They were successful and hot. They’d have women banging down their doors.
“We do.” Arch chimed in.
“We’ve all been searching for a more serious relationship, but in the meantime, we figured there’s no harm in having fun,” Wes tried to explain. “We haven’t had an abundance of time the past few years, but when we do, we never introduce any of the girls to each other.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Don’t get offended,” said Arch. “But, girls are catty sometimes. We don’t want to get any girls around each other to cause drama.”
Gray continued where Arch left off. “We always planned on introducing any serious relationships to each other, but we haven’t had many.”
Another knock interrupted my musing about what it would take to be considered a serious relationship with any of these guys. They were picky.
I swiveled in my chair to see Todd and Rick on the monitor. Arch paused, waiting on my permission. “Do you want me to let them in?” he asked in a hushed tone.
“Yes, please. I’m surprised Todd didn’t use his key.” Time to face the music.
He opened the door, and Todd and Rick stopped inside the door. Todd’s face morphed from worry to delight—I presumed because of the plethora of masculine sex appeal gathered in my apartment, all still wearing pajamas.
“Hello, pumpkin,” Rick said. “We came to see what we could get you. We’re making a grocery run.”
Wes introduced himself to Rick first. “Hi, I’m Wes, a friend of Ellie’s. I went to the grocery store last night, but I’d be happy to make any runs if she needs it. You don’t have to go to any trouble.”
I cocked my head at Wes, confused by the show. While his words were kind, I couldn’t quite shake the comparison to a puffed-up rooster as I watched. Todd walked around him with an eye roll and hugged me tentatively. His arms barely touched me.
“It’s okay, you can hug me. Don’t bump my head is all.” He squeezed tighter, and I awkwardly stood up to return the hug properly. “I’m still so sorry I worried you.” I fought tears, guilt overwhelming me.
Rick put his arms around both of us and chastised me. “I thought he was going to come unglued. Never again, El. Never again.”
I disentangled myself from their arms to look directly in their eyes when I apologized. “I really am sorry, guys. You’re my family. I…” I trailed off. “I don’t know what to say.”
“We forgive you because we’re best friends, and that’s what we do. But, never again.” Todd clapped his hands. “Now, what do you want from the store?” I gazed deep into Todd’s eyes, blinked twice then widened my eyes. There was no rhyme or reason to my eye movements except as a signal to him. I needed him to get something specific for me, something I didn’t want the guys to know about.
He nodded once and tapped his nose to show he got the drift. Hopefully, he got the same drift I tried to send.
The rest of the list I verbalized. “Some gummy bears. And some cherry tomatoes. And that new book came out today.” Todd, Rick, and I shared a love for cheesy vampire romance novels and the latest steamy one just came out. “I’d love to read it while I’m resting this weekend.”
“You got it, pumpkin.” Todd kissed my cheek before pulling Rick toward the hall. “See you shortly.”
Three men swung their gazes to me as the door closed. “Why wouldn’t you ask me for those things at the store?” Wes asked.
“I would’ve, but they were going anyway. And if you must know, I didn’t want to tell you which book we’re reading.”
Arch burst out laughing. “Why in the world not?”
“People like you tend to make fun of books like it.”
They began to shift in their seats, offended. Oops. I’d stuck my foot in my mouth. “People like us? What does that mean?” asked Arch.
I grew more embarrassed. “I don’t know! Hip, cool… You know what I mean.”
Gray gawked at me like I was a life-sized Rubik’s cube. “You think we’re hip and cool and that you aren’t?” Didn’t I say that already?
“Uh… Yeah. I’m a bookworm. A nerd.” I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t mind being different from them. I’d never had a problem with being dorky. “It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy your company, and I assume you enjoy mine. I’m guessing you like being my friends or you wouldn’t be here.”
Significant glances passed among the three of them. Arch spoke first. “You’re right about that. If we didn’t like being around you, we wouldn’t be here. But we don’t look at ourselves any differently.” He snorted. “You think we can’t be nerdy? Gray has an enormous comic book collection; Wes had acne until he was twenty, and me? I write Star Wars fan fiction.”
The room went silent. If my expression matched Gray’s and Wes’s, I had wide eyes, eyebrows nearly to my hairline, and a gaping mouth. Gray recovered first.
“Dude. You write Star Wars fan fiction? I don’t even know how to feel about that.”
“Like, what kind of fan fiction?” I asked.
“Please say smutty Leia,” Wes begged.
Poor Arch looked like he regretted his confession. I tried to spare him by fighting the laughter back. “It’s no big deal. Something I do after work sometimes, to wind down. I’ve got quite a large following online. It’s no worse than owning eight hundred comic books!” He glared at Gray accusingly.
“It is so much worse than owning eight hundred comic books!” Gray’s voice sounded like a thirteen-year-old going through puberty as he tried to talk through his laughter.
My giggles erupted from my chest; I couldn’t hold them in anymore. “Okay,” I said through my chuckles. “Arch and Gray, you’re dorky enough to hang out with me, but Wes, having acne isn’t enough. I need something else.”
“There is nothing else. I’m cool. Always have been.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
Arch snorted. “Try again, homie.”
Wes flashed me an innocent smile that didn’t fool me for a second. “I swear, Ellie, I’ve never done anything embarrassing.”
“I’ve got two words for you, man,” said Gray. “Peter Pan.”
Wes’s face blanched. “Gray Baron Morales! You promised!” Wes brought out the big guns, using Gray’s whole name.
Arch nearly bounced up and down with uncontained exuberance. “Why don’t I know about Peter Pan
? What’s Peter Pan mean?” The neck brace made his excitement more comical. He turned his entire upper body to look from one of us to another.
We all stared at Gray, waiting on him to spill Wes’s secrets. He grinned, furrowing his eyebrows evilly. “Sorry, Wesley. She needs to know you’re normal, too.” He rocked a little before the words flew from his mouth. “Guys, Wes played Peter Pan in a community theater production in high school. He wore tights and everything.”
I couldn’t picture the enormous blond man wearing tights, prancing around on a stage as Peter Pan. It was easier to imagine him on a football field or playing volleyball on a beach.
“That’s not embarrassing, Wes,” I said in an attempt to console his bruised ego. “I think the ability to act is an admirable quality.”
“I didn’t mention the best part, then,” said Gray cheerfully. “He was horrible. He forgot all his lines. Tripped like three times. Stepped on the fairy’s toes. It was ridiculous. I don’t even know how he got the part.”
“Okay. That part’s pretty funny,” I said, and my giggles renewed. Wes even started to chuckle.
“I guess it was pretty silly. I’d always wanted to be in a play, and I tried it. I hated it. I hated memorizing lines and getting all dressed up.” He shrugged. “I never did it again.” He paused for a moment, considering. “Except when I became a lawyer. We act all the time. But that’s totally different. There are no tights,” he deadpanned before leaning back in his chair, face pensive once again. “But, if it helps you realize we aren’t as cool as you think we are, I do love to read. I love to read all sorts of stuff. Vampires, werewolves, classics, spy books, comedies, you name it.” We all forgot about finishing our meal, too wrapped up in the confessions of our dorky sides.
The remains of breakfast hardened on our plates as we talked. Todd stopped by and passed me a small box hidden in a brown paper bag. I peeked inside and found a box of tampons. I snickered. “I knew you’d know what I meant.” He blew me a kiss and left to spend the day with his love. When he left, Gray and Wes commanded Arch and I go take naps while they cleaned up the kitchen.
Falling For Them Volume 2: Reverse Harem Collection Page 42
