Reunion

by Michael Bailey

  “Hindsight being twenty-twenty and all.”

  “Exactly. I can run all the scenarios through my head, knowing what I do now, but it won’t do me a damn bit of good. I can’t change anything that happened, no matter how much I regret it. But.” I approached him slowly, fearing that he may run although that made no sense since it was his room. I slid my hand around the back of his neck and pulled him closer until his face was mere inches from mine. “Life doesn’t give you do-overs. It rarely gives you a second chance, either. I can’t help but to think that’s what’s happening right here, right now. A second chance. And, if you’ll let me, I’d like to take it. With you.”

  Charlie sucked in a breath. Leaning his head into my chest, he said, “I’d like that.”

  I didn’t tell him about Grace. I didn’t want to overload him. And while she had been tied into where my head was at the time, it wouldn’t have been fair to place any of the blame on her. The decisions I had made thirty years ago were purely my responsibility, as were the regrets. Eventually, however, I would. At least I hoped I got the chance.

  I woke up the following morning completely disorientated. I was in a strange bed in a strange room, with a strange man in the bed. Someone was pressed against my back, one bare leg slung over mine and an arm wrapped around my torso. For a moment, I was at a complete loss. Then memories from the night before slammed into me, and my eyes flew open. I instantly regretted it. The light from the window hurt my eyes, forcing me to close them again.

  Noah! I was in bed with Noah.

  I searched my memory, looking for anything that would give any indication to what had happened the night before.

  I slowed my breathing, forcing myself to relax. Noah’s soft, rhythmic breathing helped. The arm around my torso tightened its grip, pulling me closer to Noah’s warm body. His chest hair tickled against my back, and I nestled in even closer, relishing the feel. It had been a long time since I had woken up in bed with another man. I wanted time to stop if only so that I could live inside that moment. I wasn’t sure when I would get it again, if ever.

  We had talked the previous night, about things that had happened decades ago. I hadn’t said everything I had wanted to; I hadn’t told him how angry and hurt I had been when he decided to walk away. The truth was, that hadn’t been his decision at all, but mine. It wouldn’t have been fair to lay all of that at his feet, especially now that I knew what I did. I suspected there was more to his story, though, something dark and painful. But if it was that bad, I knew instinctively that I had to allow him to tell me in his own time.

  I just hoped we got that time.

  I felt Noah shift behind me, grinding against my backside. I smiled to myself, wondering if he was still sleeping. I got my answer a moment later when I felt the feather-light touch of his lips pressed against the back of my neck.

  “Morning,” he whispered, voice raspy from sleep.

  “Morning,” I whispered back.

  “Sleep okay?”

  “Like the dead.”

  He let go a soft little chuckle before kissing the back of my neck again. I felt his lips curve into a smile before I heard him say, “Good. Me too.”

  It was the truth, though. I had slept well. I knew on some deeper level that it was because of him, but I decided to keep that to myself. Conversations, like the one we had the previous night, had a tendency to take a lot out of someone, both emotionally and psychologically. And, I had woken wrapped in his arms. How could I not have slept well?

  I rolled over to face him, dislodging myself from his leg in the process. He kept his arm tight, however. “What’re your plans today?”

  “Nada. Brushing these teeth because I know I have morning breath. Shower, get a bite to eat. Catch up with the guys. What about you? Don’t you have to meet the realtor.”

  “At noon. I was thinking…maybe…if you wanted to come with me…” My voice trailed off, suddenly feeling very self-conscious and insecure. I was sure he had better things to do than to go from building to building with me as I looked for a new location for the restaurant. He was here with his friends, after all, and I had monopolized the entire previous night. “You don’t have to,” I rushed out.

  He smiled at me, saying, “Do you want me to?”

  I gave a noncommittal shrug, hoping that covered up my insecurities. “It’s up to you. No biggie if you don’t want to. You’ll probably be bored anyway.”

  He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “Don’t try to backpedal now. You offered, and I accept.”

  The rush of pure joy I felt was unexpected. I shouldn’t have felt this good about him joining me, but it wasn’t something I could control. I tried to not overthink it but failed miserably. It was like the night we had spent together had cleared most of the years of anger and hurt that had built up. We were getting a fresh start, and I couldn’t have been happier.

  I pulled back for a moment to really study him, picking up little things that I couldn’t see in the darkness of the bar the previous night. The slight graying at the temples, the tiny crow’s feet on the side of each eye, the laugh lines at his lips, and the little crease on his forehead. While I couldn’t see much of his build while he was clothed, now he lay pressed against me in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs. For a man in his late forties, he had kept in shape. The six-pack he’d had at the age of eighteen was gone, and his hips had widened somewhat, but overall he looked amazing.

  “Something I can help you with?” he asked with a knowing grin.

  I felt my cheeks heat with embarrassment at being caught, but opted to be honest. “Nope, just checking out the scenery. It’s not every day that I wake up with an athlete in my bed.”

  “Former,” he stated, with a hint of sadness.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Former athlete. I haven’t played in years.”

  “Any reason why?”

  He shrugged, rolling onto his back. “It’s a generic story, really. Happens all the time.”

  I shifted to be closer to him, laying my head on his chest and looking up at him. I sensed it wasn’t an easy story to tell. Plus, I just wanted to be close to him. Sue me.

  He sighed. “It was nothing, really. A simple accident and totally my fault.”

  “So tell me.”

  He glanced down at me, carding his fingers through my hair. I may have purred like a kitten, but I couldn’t be sure. “I was playing ball in college. Thought I was hot shit—”

  “A trait you had in high school too,” I teased.

  “Ass.”

  I kissed his chest, as if to make up for the comment.

  “Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted. I was sliding into home plate. The catcher had just caught the ball and was bringing his arm around at the same time. His glove, with the ball in it, slammed into my kneecap, shattering it.”

  I grimaced, looking down at his legs. I grimaced again when I saw the scar that ran the length of his right knee. “That had to have hurt.”

  “Serious understatement. I was out of commission for months. Actually had to use crutches then a cane for a while.”

  I tried to remember from the previous night if I had noticed any limping, but I hadn’t. “Looks like it healed up okay.”

  “It did. But, not in enough time to salvage my career.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” And, surprisingly, I was. He had never been an overly cocky jock, letting his athletic skill go to his head. I knew, even back then, how much the sport meant to him. To hear that he was forced to leave something he loved behind because of something that was out of his control was…well, I hurt for him.

  “Thank you. But it was probably the best thing that could have happened. It allowed me to concentrate more on my classes, and it showed me who my real friends were, not just the ones that hung on because I was an athlete. As bad as it was at the time, it ended up working out for the best.”

  Noah’s cell phone vibrated. I rolled off him as he reached over to grab it. “
It’s Thomas,” he stated. “He’s wondering where I am.”

  I didn’t say a word. I did, however, wonder if Noah would tell Thomas he was with me, and if he would even remember who I was. I also wondered how Thomas would take the news. While we didn’t have much of a relationship back in high school, I certainly knew who he was. Everyone did. You couldn’t be one of the star athletes in school without having a certain amount of notoriety. But he also seemed to be a lot like Noah, down to earth and centered. It was no wonder that he was one of Noah’s best friends.

  I slid up to the head of the bed, propping one pillow at my back to lean on and using another to cover myself. I suddenly felt very vulnerable.

  I watched silently as Noah typed out a text with his thumbs. A moment later, the corner of his mouth quirked up into a smile. “Thomas wants to know if we wanna go down to the restaurant for breakfast.”

  “We?” I squeaked out. Then, because I realized I squeaked, I cleared my throat and lowered my voice. “We?”

  “Yes, ‘we.’”

  Well, I guess that answered my question. “Um…sure. When?”

  Noah went back to typing on his phone. Glancing over at me, he asked, “How long do you need to get ready?”

  “Um…say…a half an hour.”

  “Half an hour it is.”

  Shit! My stomach flipped at the idea of meeting Noah’s friends. Was it too soon? We had only reconnected the night before, and I was already being reintroduced to his friends. Would they think something had happened between the two of us the night before? Probably, but that couldn’t be helped. My head spun and I had to fight a wave of nauseousness.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Noah asked, breaking me out of my head. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

  “No. I do. Want to, that is. It’s just…”

  “A lot at one time.”

  I nodded in confirmation.

  “Trust me. You have nothing to worry about with them.”

  “Them? As in both?” My nerves spiked. I might be able to handle one of his friends. But two just seemed like a tag-team match in the making.

  He grinned at me. “Yes, both. But they’re great guys. My best friends. And, I’ll be with you.”

  “And that’s supposed to help how exactly?”

  His grin widened. He leaned over and kissed me on the lips. The kiss went a long way to ease my frayed nerves, but I couldn’t let him know that.

  “You have nothing to worry about. I promise.”

  “Spoken like someone who really has nothing to lose.”

  “And that right there is the exact reason you shouldn’t be worried. Do you think that I would want you to meet them if I thought it would go badly? Do you really think I would want to put you through that? Or them, for that matter.”

  “No,” I mumbled.

  “Good. Then get that fine ass into the shower so we can get this show on the road.”

  I stood from the bed and couldn’t help myself as I gave my ass a little shimmy. He did say it was fine, after all.

  “So,” Thomas started the moment we sat down at the table. “You two fucked.”

  “Again.” Ethan chimed in.

  I heard Charlie groan to my left and felt my face heat up. “Dude, what the fuck?”

  “Exactly!” Thomas said.

  “Deets!” That from Ethan.

  “I told you guys, nothing happened.”

  I spared a glance in Charlie’s direction. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but with these two. I couldn’t blame him. I felt the same. With best friends like these…

  Thomas continued, completely oblivious to Charlie’s discomfort. “You told us you spent the night together. We just naturally assumed you two got it on.”

  Ethan, ever Thomas’s Number Two, said, “Naturally.”

  I caught Charlie’s glare just before he said, “What did you say to them?” His voice was like ice, cold and angry.

  “I didn’t say anything. Just that you and I spent the night together.”

  “‘Spent the night together,’” he repeated.

  The words rolled around in my head for a moment before I realized how that could sound. I saw where the confusion is coming from. I whipped around to my two best friends, each wearing matching smirks. “No, assholes. We just slept together. Nothing else.”

  “That’s what we said,” Thomas said, and I was once again at a loss as to how the hell they could get something so completely tawdry out of something as innocent as Charlie and me sharing a bed.

  Charlie groaned again, sliding down further in his seat. “Seriously?”

  I turned to him. “What?”

  “Are you purposely phrasing things like that?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Charlie wiped his hands over his face. “They think we had sex because of your phraseology.”

  “No, they think we had sex because they’re pervs.”

  “No argument there,” Thomas laughed.

  “But we didn’t have sex,” Charlie said. Then his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. “Or did we. Did I have so much to drink last night that I can’t remember?”

  “Damn!” Ethan yelled, covering his mouth with his fist. “I never took you for a bad lay, Noah.”

  Thomas, of course, started laughing his ass off. I wanted nothing more than to crawl under the table.

  Blessedly, the waiter arrived to take our order. I asked for coffee and a bagel, and Charlie ordered the same. Because Thomas is incredibly helpful, he ordered us each a bowl of cottage cheese. Looking me dead in the eye, he said, “Because it’s high in protein.”

  Ethan simply guffawed.

  I’d had enough at that point. “Listen, the both of you. Charlie and I ran into each other at the bar. You already know what happened to my hotel room. Charlie had a double, and he offered me his spare bed. End of story.”

  “Did you sleep in the same bed?” Ethan asked.

  “Were you naked?” Thomas added.

  “Yes,” I answered, almost sheepishly. “And no.”

  “So, which is it?” Ethan asked at the same time that Thomas asked, “You shared a bed, but didn’t get naked?”

  “Nope.”

  Charlie’s sigh of relief was audible. I wasn’t sure if I should have been happy by that or offended.

  “Well, that’s disappointing,”

  “Tell me about it,” Ethan added.

  The waiter returned with our orders, complete with two cups of cottage cheese. Obviously, he didn’t realize that Thomas had been joking.

  Once he finished setting our food in front of us and left, I turned to my friends. “Are you two idiots finished?”

  Thomas and Ethan looked at each other and shrugged. “For now.”

  “Thank you. Now that your comedy routine is out of the way, proper introductions are in order.”

  “Oh, you don’t need to do that,” Charlie said. “I already know who these two are.”

  “We remember him from high school too. How’s it going, Charlie?”

  “You do?” Charlie asked, obviously shocked. He wasn’t as invisible back then as he thought he was.

  “Of course we do,” Ethan stated. “You may not have hung around with us, but you always seemed to be right there.”

  “Yeah,” Thomas said. “We could never figure out why. You always seemed to be on the verge of hanging, but something always stopped you. It wasn’t until Noah came out to us that we figured out why.”

  Charlie’s blush was adorable. “Was I that obvious?”

  “Not to anyone that wasn’t paying attention. But we did think it was strange.”

  “I told them about us dating in high school,” I said.

  Charlie looked at me and asked, “Why?”

  “I’m sure you may have noticed, but these two can be persuasive.”

  The smiles that came from Thomas and Ethan were brighter than the sun. And incredibly cheeky.

  “When Noah came out to us,” Ethan star
ted, “we asked him how he knew. He told us he had dated, and we beat him into submission until he told us.”

  “Not literally,” Thomas added.

  “Never thought it,” Charlie mumbled.

  “So we couldn’t be more thrilled that you two have hooked up again.”

  “Bad choice of words, Ethan. They’ve reconnected. Apparently, they haven’t consummated anything yet.”

  “Guys,” I said in warning, “don’t start again.”

  Thomas threw his hands into the air in mock surrender. “Promise. We won’t.” Then, in one smooth motion, he turned to Charlie and asked, “So, what’re your intentions toward Noah?”

  “Thomas!” I yelled. I couldn’t be sure, but I’d swear every head in the restaurant turned toward our table. I didn’t care, however. I’d had enough.

  He turned his attention back to me. “What?”

  “That’s enough.”

  “Okay, fine. But, Noah, you have to know that with everything you’ve been through, Ethan and I are going to be a little protective.”

  “This isn’t ‘a little,’ guys. This is over the top. I appreciate it, I really do. But I’m an adult, and what you’re doing is truly cringe-worthy.” At this point, I wouldn’t blame Charlie if he wanted nothing to do with me because of these two assholes. Plus, I hoped that Charlie didn’t pick up on some of what Thomas had said. I didn’t feel that now was the time or the place to go into everything that had happened with Grace, and the fall out. Not that I was ashamed of the outcome. Far from it, I was proud of everything I had been able to accomplish. But we were just beginning to get our legs under us. There’s no telling where this was headed. Bringing up something as dark as Grace would certainly put a damper on whatever was happening between the two of us. I’d tell him eventually, if I had the chance. Now just wasn’t the right time.

  “So,” Charlie started, “what is it you two do? Besides give Noah a hard time, I mean.” I caught his glance in my direction, and knew what he was doing. Changing the subject to ease some of the tension that had begun blanketing the table. I silently thanked him. I certainly didn’t want him to meet my closest friends with a bunch of crap hanging over us.