Unconventional

by Rebecca Royce

  Sometimes I couldn’t believe the things that came out of my mouth. I was the girl who said nothing, and I’d just said that to him. Who was I here? And could it last?

  The show was spectacular. At one point, a character appeared in the middle of the audience out of nowhere and everyone gasped. Banyan had looked sort of bored when the show started, but even he had gotten into the music. I didn’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.

  Banyan took my hand in his and squeezed. He leaned over to whisper in my ear. “See? I told you that things would get better.”

  He’d been right, even if it was putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. I was happy tonight, and that would have to do.

  We left the theater, and Maven jumped on his app to call a ride share car. It was a beautiful night. Brisk, but not freezing. The city seemed to glow. There were lights everywhere. “Do you guys do this all the time? Go to shows?”

  Chance put his arm around me, drawing me to him. He smelled like coffee. “No. Never, actually. This is touristy. We live in Manhattan, but this isn’t what we usually do.”

  “We didn’t grow up together, but we must have encountered each other on more than one occasion and not known it,” Maven finished.

  “Doing what?”

  Banyan shrugged. “Clubs. Bars. Parties. Lots and lots of parties. That’s how we got so good at it.”

  “Seems like a funny thing to say. Being good at partying. Can you be bad at parties?”

  They all said ‘yes’ at the same time. When they agreed, they really agreed.

  “Surely you guys must study. I mean, you’re smart. You’re headed for med school, Chance. And you want to go to law school, Maven. Banyan, you put out a tremendous amount of work. It can’t be partying all the time.”

  The car arrived, and Banyan walked over to open the door. “I put in the minimum amount of work to maintain the required GPA. Nothing more, not ever.”

  Chance was right behind me. The streets of New York seemed louder all of a sudden. I couldn’t say exactly why. “Imagine what you could do if you did more than what was required.”

  “Nothing interesting.” Banyan winked at me.

  I scooted into the SUV, the guys crowding in around me and behind me. Chance ended up in the back, which couldn’t be comfortable. “Switch,” I told him, and he and I bumped into each other until I was in the back of the car.

  The driver pulled out into traffic, horns blaring. Maven turned to look at me. “Chance studies like a son-of-a-bitch. I have never found school to be all that hard to manage. I do a minimum amount of work, and I make good grades. Everyone in our fraternity has a 3.5 or better. I have better.” He shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it, but it starts early. Even as wealthy as we were, I had to be pretty good at school to get into the best ones. Otherwise, they would have had to make some kind of large donation, and it would have been a whole thing I’d never hear the end of.”

  Banyan climbed into the back seat, which caused the driver to tell him to sit down. “Sorry.” He gave the woman a broad smile. “I wanted to be closer to Giovanna and further from Maven and his deep thoughts.”

  Maven laughed, throwing his head back. “What now?”

  “You guys don’t have to tour me around New York. Whatever you were going to do, I could come along with you or wait behind and read. Or take myself out. Don’t worry about me.”

  Chance shook his head. “We’ve got to get her a fake ID. Not so you can drink, just so you can go, Vonni. Can you make that happen, Banyan?”

  He held up his phone. “On it.”

  “It’s like whatever you want, you guys can have, isn’t it? You know someone.”

  Chance nodded. “Sometimes. And sometimes it’s like we can’t have anything we want at all.”

  Banyan scoffed, his fingers moving faster than I could follow on his phone while he texted. “Don’t know what he’s talking about. I can have anything I want.”

  I waited for his easy, joking grin, but it didn’t come. Chance stared at him, a sad gaze clouding his expression before he made eye contact with Maven, who shook his head. Chance smiled at me. “Okay, one more night staying in. Presumably, by the time we wake up tomorrow, Banyan will have procured your fake ID. And then tomorrow night, we’ll go out. Oh, and I’ve made arrangements for New Year’s.”

  I leaned forward. “What are we doing?”

  “Yeah,” Maven added. “What are we doing?”

  Chance grinned at me slowly. “That’s for me to know and you three to find out when I deem it appropriate.”

  Banyan put his phone in his lap. “Done.”

  I cleared my throat. “What if I didn’t want a fake ID?”

  Banyan leaned against the window, slightly closing his eyes. “Then you can cut it up and throw it out.”

  “Do you not want one,” Maven asked me, capturing my gaze with his blue eyes.

  I shrugged. “I guess it’s fine. Next time you could ask.”

  Banyan shook his head. “I almost never ask.” He smiled at me, opening his eyes. “But if you want me to, I can try.”

  “I do.” It seemed important to put that out there.

  Chapter 12

  We stopped at a restaurant and ate. It was tapas, and the food was supposed to be delicious. Banyan ordered a bottle of sparkling wine from California.

  “For a bottle of sparkling wine to be labeled champagne, it has to be made in Champagne, France and produced using the méthode champenoise.” Banyan took a sip of his drink. The waiter had poured me some without blinking. It probably had something to do with the money Maven slipped him when we sat down. Or maybe they just didn’t care here.

  Chance kicked me under the table lightly. “Banyan likes to think he knows everything about wine.”

  “I do. I was practically breast fed on the stuff.” He shifted in his seat. “I’m going to paint tonight. I’m getting jittery.”

  Maven slammed down his phone. “My uncle didn’t keep his promise. My mom knows I’m in town.”

  “How pissed is Barbara?” Chance wiped his face. “And when should we expect her?”

  Maven put his head in his hands. “Tomorrow. Actually, I’d really love to keep her from the house. Once she comes in, she never gets out. And she’ll spit her vile nonsense at all of you.”

  She sounded absolutely horrifying. My parents talked badly about people but not to their faces. I wasn’t exactly sure which was worse. “I’m sorry. This is on me. You wouldn’t have called him if not for me.”

  “Not your fault. You hardly fell on purpose.” He raised one dark eyebrow. “Want to help me out?”

  I supposed I would, since Maven had a way of getting people around him to do what he wanted. “Sure.”

  “Careful agreeing to that so quickly. We don’t know what he wants yet. And when it comes to Barbara, he’s not reasonable. Anything to get away from Mommy.” Banyan looked at his menu. “What do we all want to eat?”

  Next to me, Chance had gone still. He put a hand on my thigh, squeezing it gently. “What do you want her to do, Mave?”

  Maven shrugged. “Be my girlfriend.”

  Chance’s hand dug into my thigh for a second before he quickly eased up. “Come again?”

  I opened my mouth. “I thought none of you wanted girlfriends.”

  Banyan set down his menu. “That’s not going to work for me.”

  Maven held up his hands. “For two hours. Be my girlfriend over lunch with my mother. She’ll love you. You’re all kinds of interesting, and you’ll get her off my ass for a while. She’ll go back to her own world after. Couple of hours.”

  I swallowed. “I’m not great in those situations. I realize I’ve been chatty with all of you, but I’ll probably freeze and be very, very quiet.”

  He nodded. “That’s fine. She’ll interrogate you and talk a lot. You’ll hardly have to do anything.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want to, and you’ve just put her on the spot.” Chance leveled a glance to Maven. “I’l
l go. She can poke at me for hours. I won’t mind it.”

  Maven tilted his head to the side. “She knows you. Giovanna will be new. What do you say? Fine to tell me no.”

  I was going to do it. How bad could it really be? “You and that superpower.”

  His smile was broad. “Awesome.”

  Banyan drummed his fingers on the table. “Can we order?”

  I looked down at the menu. Be my girlfriend….

  For just a second, my heart had stuttered. I didn’t mind the sound of that. But it wasn’t just Maven I wanted to hear it from. Chance’s hand was still on my leg and across the table. Banyan grinned at something Maven said, which lit up the table. I was in big trouble. They’d never ask me to pick. They’d all been very clear they weren’t boyfriend material. I was going to have to keep my heart intact. For the first time I realized they had the ability to break it.

  Yes, friendship was how this had to stay. I could never let myself even imagine anything else. I couldn’t have them all.

  How on earth would I ever choose?

  I shook my head. What did it matter? We were friends and they were showing me a good time for a little while. The vacation from myself. That’s all it would be.

  We had all stayed up to watch an old black and white movie in the second living room, but only Chance and I were actually still awake. Banyan snored across the room. His head was in a funny position. I bet if I moved him slightly, he’d stop. Not that it mattered. Maven was out cold in a lounge chair, one arm flung over his head, his mouth slightly open.

  The movie ended, and Chance elbowed me. “Come on. My room.” I took his hand and let him lead me to the end of the hallway. “I think your bed might be more comfortable. I had a bunch of mattresses brought in when I took over the place. They should all be the same, and yet, they’re not.” He gave me a dramatic sigh. “I want you to myself. Tonight. Is that okay?”

  I nodded. I’d craved this all day. “Yes.”

  Chance shut the door and locked it. “It opens from the inside. You want out, you just turn the lock and go.”

  I walked over to him and put my hands on his shirt, grabbing on to the white cotton. “I’m not worried. You don’t have to be.”

  “I’m always going to want to make sure you’re okay.” He nuzzled his nose in my hair. “I know this is… different. Like how we’ve become friends is not exactly the status quo.”

  I nodded. “A little unconventional to say the least. But you guys do this, right? You share girls. That’s what you told me.”

  He sighed, his hand coming into my hair. “Not like this, no. It’s not usually this long term.”

  I digested that piece of information. Chance kissed my temple, and I wanted to get lost in the moment. Still, I had to know. “I never want to be where I’m not welcome. I’ve spent most of my life as the third wheel with people who made me but didn’t seem to want me around. Am I overstaying my welcome?”

  He jolted, his arms coming around me. “Are you kidding? No, this isn’t me saying to go. This is me saying to stay. Even though this is so different.”

  I kissed him, wanting my lips pressed to his. He sighed against me and then took over the kiss. Chance whispered my name before he laid me down on the bed. “You wore the blue all day.”

  He slipped my sweater off me and stared down at my breasts, confirming for himself what he’d just said. “I spent hours in several lingerie departments. I’m afraid that the women there probably know about my little obsession.”

  “Well, then they’re just jealous.” I loved feeling this way with him. Chance made me feel… sexy in a way I didn’t usually. As though his eyes couldn’t stop looking at me. “That I got to wear all the beautiful stuff. How did you know my size?”

  He gave me a sideways smile. “I looked. At your bra. I wish I could say I had some magic ability to tell women’s bra sizes, but I don’t. I wanted to know, so I found out.”

  I nodded. “Pragmatic.”

  “I tend to be.”

  We quit talking. The only sound in the room was the small moans Chance made when he kissed me, again and again. His finger strummed up and down the strap of the bra, stopping before he got down to my breasts, never actually touching them. He lifted his gaze to meet mine for a second. I nodded at him. Yes, he could touch me.

  He undid my bra, setting it aside before he clasped my nipple in his mouth and bit down, hard. I cried out, digging my nails into his back. He sucked on one nipple, sending jolts of pleasure through my body as he reached with his other hand to massage the other.

  My breasts weren’t usually all that sensitive, but when Chance touched them, it was an entirely different thing. I trembled with pleasure, my back slightly arching off the bed. “Fuck, Chance.”

  He stopped sucking to smile at me. I pushed on him to turn him over. This couldn’t be just about me. I wanted to touch him, to know his body, too. I pulled his shirt off of him, more clumsily than he’d done for me, and bent over to kiss him right above his heart.

  Chance touched my cheek, stroking his thumb down the side of it. “You’re so pretty. You know that, right?”

  I put my finger on his mouth to stop him, and he bit the end of it. In this position, it was easy to rub against him, even with our clothes on. He was hard, and each time I pushed on him, he’d moan. I loved the sound. It wasn’t going to be enough, not right then. We needed our pants off, and he must have known it, too.

  We scrambled to strip off the rest of our clothes in an almost frenzied manner. Then his mouth was on mine again, fast and hot. Chance sighed. “Slow down,” he whispered. “We’ve got nothing to rush to.”

  I tried to. He was right. Chance flipped me over, and we lay side-by-side instead of me on top of him.

  This wasn’t a race and getting finished sooner wasn’t necessarily the goal. Instead, we lay on the bed together, touching and stroking. The longer we touched, the harder he got, and I wasn’t even caressing his cock yet.

  Eventually, I couldn’t resist him anymore. My ears rang from wanting him and there wasn’t another second I could delay the outcome before I was just going to lose my mind. I squirmed, trying to get closer and he smiled against my mouth. He liked this, the little bit of torturing me, of the delayed gratification.

  I stroked the top of his erection, and he closed his eyes. His cock jumped in my hand. He might be good at holding off but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to come, too. He sucked in a long breath. “Better grab the condom while I still can.”

  He rolled away from me and opened the drawer in the side table next to the bed. A few seconds later he had sheathed himself. His cock stood out, erect and tempting.

  My insides pulsed. He slipped a finger inside of me and found my clit with his thumb. I forced my eyes to stay open, just for a few extra seconds. I wanted to see him doing this to me, I wanted to know I had his total attention. For those few moments before I had to close my eyes in order to just feel how he played my body like an instrument, I could see something in his gaze I couldn’t name. What was it?

  Whatever it was passed fast and soon I had to let my lids close. I had to just be in that moment, just feel what he did to me. He pressed hard, and I shuddered. My breaths came in quick gasps. I wasn’t going to be long. He’d revved me up with all of the petting.

  I opened my eyes. “I want to come with you inside of me.”

  “Let’s do it.” He pulled me beneath him. “This way. So your arm doesn’t hurt.”

  I beamed down at him. “That’s right. I somewhat remember this.” I arched my back to slip him inside of me. He was big and he stretched me.

  “Fuck, Vonni, you feel good. How do you feel this good?” He kept himself above me. “Like… fuck. I don’t know.”

  I couldn’t even begin to analyze how perfect he fit inside of me. Chance moved his hips, hitting me in all the right places, and I cried out. Yes, he’d just managed to rub against my clit and that was exactly what I needed. What I always craved.

  In
and out we rubbed and stretched until I was begging and he was crying out my name. Still, neither of us had come. Chance had wanted this to last, and he was getting his wish. Fuck. Why couldn’t I come? I needed to come. I needed to right then. Fuck. What I needed was Chance. I needed… I needed…

  He jerked his hips, hitting my clit really hard, and I exploded. The world whited around my eyes. He said my name on a whisper, exploding inside of me.

  This was… everything.

  I opened my eyes when the morning light blasted through the windows in the room. I didn’t remember falling asleep. I really must have passed out. Chance had an arm around me, and I slept on top of his other arm. He breathed deeply, evenly. We were both totally naked.

  He said something, but it was a mumble, and he wasn’t awake. The last thing I remembered was… yeah… coming hard. I rubbed at my eyes. I hoped I hadn’t passed out.

  A knock sounded on the door. “Hey, sorry to disturb, but it’s almost lunch. I need Giovanna to get up. Get dressed. Get ready for my mother.”

  Chance groaned. “Fuck. Me.”

  I rolled over in his arms. “We don’t really get to sleep in, do we?”

  He smiled, a long lazy grin. “No, but I slept great. Did you?”

  “Ah, yes.” Should I tell him the truth? “I don’t actually remember falling asleep.”

  He rubbed the back of my head before he kissed me. “Oh you were so cute. Curled right up and fell asleep in my arms. I wore you out. That’s all.”

  The knock came again. “Did you guys wake up?”

  “Maven is relentless when he’s anxious.” He rolled over. “Yes, we’re up.” Chance got out of the bed. He grabbed his boxers and pulled them on before he flung open the door. “Morning, Maven. Did you say something about lunch with your mom? Because I couldn’t hear you obsessing about it down the hall or anything.”

  As he strode into the room, Maven laughed. “Just wanted to make sure that Giovanna had enough time to get ready.”

  What kind of thing did I have to get ready to do? “I can shower. Is there anything else I have to do?”