The Last Rule of Makeups (Breakup Bash)

by Nina Crespo

  She hadn’t thought of the rule in ages, but it was fitting. She’d created it years ago after Grey but before Kevin. She, Alexa, and Nat were just getting to know each other after meeting at L’Enfant Plaza in DC where they would catch the metro at the same time after work. On Friday evenings, they’d started going out for drinks together at a restaurant near the station. One night, over glasses of wine, they’d entered into a mostly teasing discussion about the rules of dating, and she’d latched onto that rule, having recently had a decent one-night stand abruptly change into a lackluster memory when she’d agreed to meet the guy again a few days later. The spontaneity factor was gone. Sleeping together again had been disappointing, and they’d shared an awkward good-bye afterward.

  She didn’t want that experience with Grey. Years ago, their good-bye had been bittersweet, but they had parted on friendly terms.

  Grey paused at the entryway of the kitchen fully dressed, holding the towel. “Do you want me to put this in the bathroom upstairs?”

  “I’ll take it.” She accepted the plush terry cloth still slightly warm from his body heat and walked with him to the front door.

  He paused after opening it. “What’s your number?”

  She told him without a second thought. Just because he had her number didn’t mean that he would call her or that she would hook up with him again.

  Grey tapped it into his phone. A moment later, hers rang in her purse in the living room. He leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers.

  As she sank deeper into the lingering kiss, Cori dug her fingers into the towel, fighting the urge to reach out and hold onto him instead.

  He pulled back a fraction, and the warmth from his mouth bathed hers. “Now, you have my number, too. If you need me, call me.”

  Chapter Ten

  “If you need me, call me…”

  As Cori stood at the beige marble topped kitchen counter at Alexa’s house, taping the bottom of a small empty packing box, Grey’s offer and the deep timbre of his voice played through her mind—a sensual caress that still made her shiver with need just like it had when he’d said it a couple of hours ago.

  But sleeping together again wasn’t what he’d meant. Having him by her side at the party would have provided a buffer, but being with him again had been about having an escape, not involving him in solving her problems.

  Alexa walked in the doorway of the kitchen, wearing a faded blue T-shirt and jeans.

  She hadn’t been at the house when Cori had arrived twenty minutes ago. She’d pulled up a short time later, still wearing the clothes she’d worn to the party the night before. Apparently, there was a lot for Alexa to catch her up on. Long girl chats. She’d miss having them with Alexa. Sure, they’d talk on the phone after she moved away, but it wouldn’t be the same.

  Cori forced a small smile. “Hey. I thought I should start getting the boxes ready. Do you have bubble wrap or packing paper to wrap up the fragile stuff?”

  “Some. I need to buy more.” Alexa went to the living room and came back with three rolls. She slid a red metal stepstool in front of the counter near the fridge then climbed up to take mugs down from an upper shelf in the wood cabinet.

  Packing would take a while. Almost every cabinet nestled amidst the stainless-steel appliances was full.

  Alexa handed her two logoed mugs. “Where did you run off to last night?”

  “I didn’t run off.” Cori wrapped the mugs. “I got into a conversation with an acquaintance.”

  “Was it one of your angel investors?”

  She’d mentioned Grey to Nat and Alexa once when they were laughing and chatting about old boyfriends. She’d raved about him so much, they’d teased her about still being in love with him. Alexa had a good memory and rarely forgot anything. Mentioning Grey now would just open up unwarranted curiosity.

  Cori tucked the mugs into the box. “Nope. No one special.” She switched the topic to Nat. Their friend’s divorce hadn’t gone smoothly, and both of them were concerned about her, but Nat remained tight-lipped about her situation.

  Alexa handed wineglasses to Cori from the middle shelf. “I wanted to leave with her, but she told me to stay put.”

  The news made Cori pause in wrapping a glass. When she and Nat had texted each other last night, she thought Alexa had been there with her. “Nat left you behind? I assumed when I—ugh, doesn’t matter what I thought. We suck. You should be mad at us for ditching you.”

  “It turned out okay.” Alexa gave a coy smile.

  “From the look on your face, I don’t feel so bad about leaving you behind. Spill. What happened? Did you meet someone?”

  “Kind of. Do you remember that Hot Body Hunk who danced for me at my bachelorette party?”

  “Ha! How could I forget? You kept pushing everyone out of the way to jump on his lap during the Musical Hunks game.” The game had been similar to musical chairs, but when the song stopped, the goal was to end up in the lap of a Hunk. Alexa had managed to end up in a certain dark-haired dancer’s lap most of the time.

  “I did not.” Alexa’s mouth widened with a smile. “Anyway, I saw him again.”

  So that had been him walking into Escapade West. As Cori put two and two together about Alexa and the Hunk, she couldn’t stop her mouth from hanging open. “You hooked up with him, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t leave his place until this morning.” Alexa laughed.

  “Guess I owe Nat lunch. She was right about you.”

  As Alexa came down the stepstool, she gave Cori a mock glare. “I can’t believe you guys had a secret bet going on me.”

  “A small one.” Genuinely happy for Alexa, Cori couldn’t stop a smile as she taped the box shut. “I thought you’d join in the fun of watching the Hunks but go home alone. She predicted you’d live up to the Bash motto and get your freak on.”

  “No wonder Nat kept throwing condoms at me. Too bad you guys didn’t get a chance to put them to good use, too.”

  Actually, she and Grey had almost used every single “Do Me” condom that had been in her purse. But she wasn’t discussing that now.

  “Yeah.” As she continued taping the box, Cori forced a nonchalant laugh. “Too bad nothing exciting happened. At least not for me. Nope. Nothing to report.” Other than a lot of orgasms, her mother cockblocking her, and Grey ending up stuck in the pantry closet. And how she’d pathetically stood at the closed front door after he’d left, breathing what remained of his delicious scent on the towel he’d used.

  If you need me…

  Grey’s voice, as smooth as silk, seeped into her thoughts.

  No. She didn’t need him. Their one-night stand plus a few hours afterward was done. Finished. Over.

  “I think it’s sealed.” Alexa took the roll of tape from Cori’s hands. “What’s wrong? And don’t say nothing. I know you. What is it?”

  Her brief hookup with Grey was supposed to have been simple, not complicated. But for some reason, she was having a hard time wrapping her mind around the situation. Taking a break from relationships for six months wasn’t just about enjoying herself but also a chance to figure out what she wanted. Now her mind and Ms. V were stuck on wanting Grey. She couldn’t let her vagina rule her life. Cori smoothed her hand over the top of the box. “I can’t say. I need to sort it out in my mind first.”

  Alexa gave her a nudge as she put the tape on the counter. “You know I’m here for you, right?”

  The sincerity in her eyes almost raised tears in Cori’s. They were friends for life. Not even Alexa moving a thousand miles away could change it.

  “Stop worrying. I’m fine. Now enough about my boring life. Tell me more about your sexy stripper. How was it living out your fantasies with him last night?”

  “It was…” Alexa’s face glowed.

  “So great, you can’t even describe it. That says it all.”
>
  “I honestly don’t know what to say. I couldn’t keep my hands off Rafe. I just wanted to have sex with him over and over again.”

  “Ooh. He even has a sexy name. It must have been hard walking away from him this morning.”

  “It was. I’m still tempted to go back to his place for a quickie.” Alexa gave her a sheepish look.

  “Why don’t you?”

  “Excuse me. What happened to ‘never retrace your steps back to a one-night stand?’”

  That old rule again. But this was the happiest she’d seen Alexa in a while. If Rafe was the cause, she should keep seeing him.

  Cori pushed the packed box farther down the counter. “If being with him was that enjoyable, I can’t blame you for wanting seconds. After all you went through with Brad, you deserve thirds and fourths. It’s not like you’re going to take him seriously. Right?”

  “Theoretically… But what if the experience is like eating a piece of dark chocolate? I mean the really good kind?”

  “Well…” Cori hesitated with a shrug as she thought about running into Grey and sleeping with him. She couldn’t deny she wanted more of him, any more than Alexa could deny wanting more of Rafe. “Then you have to apply the moderation principle. If you get just enough, you’re satisfied. But eat too much and you end up feeling worse than when you started.”

  “True.” As Alexa took a plate down from the lower shelf and wrapped it, a contemplative look crossed her face.

  Cori accepted the wrapped plate from Alexa.

  It was true. And in Alexa’s case, the moderation principle would be easy to follow. She’d enjoy her last few weeks in town with Rafe then leave with some great memories.

  And, honestly, if Grey went to Dana’s and Ben’s engagement party with her, she’d probably enjoy the moment. And as far as the one-night-stand rule, the premise that she’d based it on didn’t really apply to her and Grey, either. They already knew each other, and sexual compatibility had never been a problem for them. And it still wasn’t. So if they hooked up again before or after the party, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Like Alexa with Rafe, it could be a short-term thing. After all, he was only in town for a few weeks. No deeper feelings needed to be involved. So why should she suffer through the party alone if she didn’t have to?

  When they took a break for Alexa to pick up their takeout order from the Greek place up the street, Cori made a phone call.

  Grey picked up after the third ring. “Hey, Cori.”

  “Hi.” She took a long breath. “Is your offer to go with me to the party still open?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Cori slowed her steps in the parking lot as she walked to the reception hall where Ben’s and Dana’s afternoon engagement party was underway. The skirt of the greenish yellow cocktail dress she’d never wear again swirled around her legs.

  Seafoam green. Dana had insisted that everyone on the Ross side of the family wear it so they could feel like they were really part of the festivities. It was a nice thought, but someone really should have talked her out of choosing a color that resembled baby poop. The photos of the party were going to look like a hot mess. Literally.

  Cori glanced to Grey, who walked beside her. “Okay, I told Dana and my aunt I was bringing a plus-one, but I didn’t say who, so you being here is unexpected. But it doesn’t have to be a glaring surprise that makes everyone curious about us. Just remember what we talked about. No PDA. My family will read too much into it. And whenever possible, avoid using the words ‘we’ or ‘us’ when it comes to us because, again, my family will go on the offensive and demand details that are none of their business. We’re still good friends. That’s all they need to know.”

  As she walked slightly ahead, he tugged her back.

  “I got it. You don’t have to tell me again. But I do have a question.” Already ignoring the PDA rule, he took her by the waist.

  “Grey…this isn’t the time to play.” She pressed her hand over the green tie, nearly matching her dress, that he’d bought and paired with a white shirt, and dark suit. Instead of high tops, he’d gone all out for the occasion with black dress shoes.

  He mocked a serious look. “I’m not playing. It’s a really important question.”

  Everyone should have been inside already, but Cori still glanced around the parking lot for any stray family members. Curiosity got the best of her. “What?”

  As he glided his hands to her hips, he whispered in her ear. “If we get to do what we did last night as friends, what do we get to do if we’re really good friends?” He nipped her earlobe with his teeth.

  Memories from the night before of them sitting on her couch watching television reared up. Her playfully biting and sucking on his earlobe had led to him pulling her onto his lap and his hand sliding under the hem of her fitted tee. A short time later, her shirt was on the floor along with the rest of their clothes. The couch cushions and throw pillows had ended up there, too, with her on her knees on top of them…and Grey gliding into her from behind. His hard thrusts in and long glides out had made her shake with needy anticipation. And the orgasm that had followed…

  No. She had to wipe those images from her mind. She couldn’t walk into the party with lust written all over her face. Imagine if he was around all of the time? She’d— Whoa. Reverse that. There was no imagining Grey being around all of the time. And there was no “really” attached to them being good friends. His coming to the party with her was convenient and at most a favor, nothing else. But a little sexy quid pro quo later for helping her out could be fair.

  She rested her hands on the lapels of his jacket, easing away from the kisses he brushed down her neck. “We can find out.”

  He tightened his hold on her hips and looked at her. “We can?”

  “Yes.” Smiling, she slipped from his grasp. “After the party. Come on.”

  She took his hand, but as they got closer to the entrance, she let go. It would be hard not to keep holding his hand or indulging in spontaneous kisses for a few hours. But she’d definitely indulge in putting her hands all over him later that night at her place.

  He let her precede him inside the event room with gold chandeliers and filled with round white linen-covered tables.

  Thankfully, someone had found a way to incorporate Dana’s yellow and green wedding colors into understated yet elegant white and pink rose and calla lily centerpieces.

  Everyone was still enjoying cocktails. On the left side wall, a DJ set up at a table played a combination of jazz and slow pop music tracks. Laughter and conversations echoed from the back of the room where a little more than half of the seventy or so people were gathered near the two corner bars. The rest mingled around the buffet tables lined up along the side wall that had dishes filled with an assortment of hot hors d’oeuvres and artfully arranged platters of fruits and vegetables.

  The seafoam green dressed Ross family was its own United Nations, representing all skin hues from the lightest to the richest brown. Friends of the family had also followed the assigned dress code. Aside from their golden yellow attire, it was easy to identify Dana’s more conservative future in-laws. They looked overwhelmed.

  As Cori and Grey joined the group, her two uncles and their wives saw them first and gave them both enthusiastic greetings.

  She shouldn’t have worried about extended conversations. The hug-fest alone, as they went from family member to family member then to Ben’s family, then through a round of introductions to friends of Dana and Ben, made it impossible not to keep their conversations brief.

  Cori’s father, Jackson “Jay” Ross, hung back on the outside of the crowd nearer to the empty tables. Her mother had made sure he’d gone in on the family color theme, complementing his grey suit with a green pin dot tie and matching pocket square. With his shaved head and closely groomed mustache and goatee, people often told him he was an older version of
Shemar Moore. But he wasn’t smiling.

  She left Grey with one of her uncles and made her way to her father. And where was her mom?

  “Hi, Dad.”

  He held the tall glass in his hand filled with reddish orange liquid and garnished with an orange slice out of the way as he kissed her cheek. “Hey, Tater Tot.”

  Only her father got away with calling her that. Legend had it that at the age of three, she had a thing for Tater Tots and Elmer’s Glue. She outgrew the toddler glue addiction, but the Tater Tot nickname he’d given her had stuck around.

  Cori slipped the glass from her father’s hand. “What’s this?”

  “Cardinal Punch.”

  She took a sip. The bartender had really skimped on the rum, brandy, champagne, and everything else that usually went into one. But it was tart and refreshing.

  As if reading her mind, he added, “It’s non-alcoholic. Keep it.”

  Cori chuckled. “Let me guess, Mom is watching you like a hawk this afternoon.”

  “No more than usual.”

  As she took another sip of the drink, she studied her father. He looked tired. Her mom had been worried about him overdoing it at the party, but the festivities hadn’t really started yet. Was he feeling okay? “Where’s Mom?”

  “With your aunt Isabel and uncle Reggie trying to make sure Dana doesn’t have a meltdown over running out of shrimp cocktail.” Her father huffed a chuckle. “Your cousin’s more hyper than usual.”

  With Dana’s perfectionist tendencies in play, she probably was losing it over the lack of food.

  She followed her father’s gaze to Grey, who’d finally extricated himself from the group. He came in their direction.

  Her father glanced at her. “I didn’t know you two were back together.”

  “We’re not. We’re just friends. He’s only in town for a little while.”

  “So, he’s leaving soon?”

  It wasn’t like her father to interrogate her. “Yes.”

  Grey joined them. “Hello, Mr. Ross.” He shook hands with her father.