by Cyan Tayse
“Oh, this should be good,” Evan says, pulling himself up off the floor. “Dan here is a bit like you, Cara. He’s done all kinds of crazy shit.” He grins, waving an empty bottle in the air. “Another one?”
“Yeah, man, that’d be great, thanks.”
“You want a hand?” Brianna asks, jumping to her feet and following him through to the other room.
Cara tucks her legs up underneath her again, toying with the tab on her can.
I feel like such a shithead. “Hey,” I say, placing a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She waves her hand dismissively. “We’re here to have a good time, aren’t we?”
“Okay, sure. So, we’re good?”
“Yeah, of course.” She smiles, stretching one of her feet towards me, giving me a little kick. “Stop being such a girl.”
“Evan!” Brianna giggles as she saunters back into the room, her face flushed, holding a bowl of chips in her hand. Evan trails behind, his arms loaded with booze, and his eyes fixed firmly on her ass.
With my hand still on her arm, I feel Cara stiffen briefly before she regains her composure. “Took you long enough,” she jokes, helping herself to a handful of chips. “Mmmm, salt and vinegar, my favourite.” Her words are muffled by the mouthful of chips she’s shovelled in there. And somehow, I still find her sexy. Go figure.
After unloading his haul on the table, Evan grabs two stubbies, popping the tops off both before handing one to me. “What’s it gonna be?”
“Yeah, Dan, what have you never done?” Cara asks, shuffling closer. “Mr All Kinds of Crazy Shit, I bet you can’t think of anything.”
I lean in as if divulging something juicy. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Evan doesn’t know jack shit.” She chuckles at my confession and the sound is like music to my ears. Who cares if she was making eyes at her best friend, I made her laugh. And I am determined to make it happen again. At least I was, until the next words slip from my mouth, “Okay, I’ve got one. Never have I ever, used vegetables in the bedroom.” I sit back, instantly feeling like an asshole as soon as I say it. Brianna’s eyes snap up to mine, her cheeks flaming red. She looks from me to Evan, to Cara and back again.
Why did you say that? You’re supposed to be winning Cara over, not embarrassing her friend.
“What are you? Some kind of prude?” Cara asks, taking a big swig of her drink. I don’t miss the wink she sends Bri’s way. “Who hasn’t spiced things up in the bedroom with a bit of fruit and veggie action?”
“Yeah, Dan.” Evan back-hands me in the chest. “You gotta spice things up a bit, bro.” He grins at Brianna, waggling his eyebrows at her. “Wouldn’t you agree, Bri?”
“Nothing like a carrot up your jacksie,” Cara adds, grabbing another handful of chips as if this is an everyday conversation. “Or a firm banana.”
“God, Cara! A banana? Wouldn’t that get all squishy?” Brianna is in hysterics listening to her friend come to her rescue. I have to admit though, there is something sexy about a woman who isn’t afraid to out herself to ease her friend’s embarrassment.
“Yeah, that’s why it’s gotta be a firm one, ya know, still a bit green. Believe me, you do not want to clean mashed banana out of your vajayjay.”
I nearly spit my drink clear across the room with that one. The way she said it was so blasé. Like she just doesn’t care what people think. And you know what? It only makes me want her more.
Chapter ten
Cara
Crisis averted. Brianna is giggling again, her cucumber debacle forgotten about. Who cares if Dan and Evan think I’m a freak? I certainly couldn’t give two shits. All that really matters to me, is that Bri is happy. Nothing makes my heart sing more than that cute grin she has. The one that makes her eyes sparkle and her dimples pop. Not to mention the way her laughter makes her breasts bounce. God, she’s sexy.
“Cara, you’re one of a kind, that’s for sure.” Evan chuckles. “Where did you find her?” He hooks his thumb in my direction as he takes a hefty swig of his drink.
Brianna’s eyes land on mine and the greens shine brightly as her lips curl into a grin. “Hanging upside down with her knickers on display.”
“Ppppptttt,” Evan’s mouthful of beer comes spewing out of his mouth and across the table.
“Dude! The chips!” I make a dive for the bowl, trying to protect my precious chips from his spray.
“Sorry.” He coughs, thumping his fist into his chest as he chokes on the liquid that is already halfway down his throat. “That was not what I expected you to say.” His voice sounds strained, as if he is fighting back another cough.
“You good?” I ask, sitting back and bringing the chip bowl with me. I don’t care who you are, you do not waste chips, especially salt and vinegar ones! I give the bowl a quick inspection to make sure there are no casualties. Holding one up I declare, “Nobody panic! The chips are still good!”
Dan’s deep chuckle rumbles beside me and my lady parts make an involuntary quiver. I can’t seem to keep up with myself. One minute I’m pining for Brianna, the next I’m ready to jump Dan’s bones. Decisions, decisions. Whatever is a girl to do?
“So, is that true?” He turns to me, flashing that boyish grin of his.
“That the chips are still good? Sure.” I toss one into my mouth to prove it.
“Excellent,” he says, reaching for the bowl. “That’s not what I meant though.” He snaffles a handful, keeping his eyes on me, waiting for an admission of guilt.
With a sigh, I pull my leg up, resting my heel on the edge of the couch, the bowl now resting between us. “Yes, I may have been upside down with my knickers on display, but in my defence, I was eight and we were on the monkey bars at school.”
“Well played,” Evan says with an imaginary tip of his hat to Brianna.
“She loves it really.”
“Mmmm, yes, tis true. I love to be the only one who has their laundry aired for all to see. Such fun!” She’s right though, I have never been one to shy away from the lime-light. What can I say? I like an audience. I swear I missed my calling. I should’ve been an actress or something. All this confidence, and nowhere to unleash it. “I can’t be the only interesting one here. Surely you two have done something outrageous. I mean, you are world famous in New Zealand.” I wink at Brianna as I reach across the table to retrieve another drink, making sure to give her an eyeful of the goods.
Dan scoffs. “World famous in New Zealand, eh? I think you’ll find we’re known abroad as well.” He huffs on his nails and brushes them against his shirt, a smirk playing across his face.
“Too right!” Evan stands up, emptying the last of his drink into his mouth before adding it to the others lined on the table. “Everyone’s heard of the Nomads.” He looks at me pointedly. “World famous in New Zealand,” he mutters with a shake of his head. He squeezes past Brianna’s knees, making sure to rub his hand across her lap as he does. A tinge of pink trails up her neck, giving her cheeks a rosy colour, and she looks down at her feet submissively. There is something so adorable about the way she reacts to attention from anyone who shows an interest. Of course, I’d prefer that it was me making her blush that way, especially after having a taste of what she has to offer.
My mouth begins to water as I recall the creamy flesh I had my lips on not so long ago. A deep throbbing in my core is getting me hot under the collar, and I have to lift my hair off my neck, to cool down a little. Brianna’s eyes are locked on mine, watching my every move, her lips parted, and all I can think about is how it would feel to slide my tongue between those lips.
Dan coughs uncomfortably beside me as he shifts in his seat, drawing her attention away. Her blush deepens and she searches the room for anything to look at but me.
Evan returns from the bathroom, stopping abruptly in the doorway, his eyes swinging back and forth between the three of us. “Woah, what did I miss?” When nobody answers, he simply shr
ugs and grabs himself another beer. “Must be my turn then, huh?”
“Sure is.” Brianna reaches her hand out, those gentle fingers of hers brushing against his thigh as he walks past her. “What have you got for us?”
Envy courses through my body as I watch her stroke him tenderly. I know she felt the connection we had, but obviously she’s not ready to deal with it yet. Fine. Two can play at that game.
Scooting closer to Dan, I lift my legs up and over his, taking his hand and placing it on top of my thigh. If my actions surprise him, he doesn’t show it. “Yeah, Evan, do your worst.” I stick my tongue out at him in a childish manner, unable to contain the jealousy streaking through my veins.
“Right then.” He looks at me with one eyebrow raised. “Never have I ever…”
Chapter eleven
Dan
Don’t say it, please don’t say it.
“… been in love with my best friend.”
Shit, he fucking said it.
All eyes are on Cara, waiting for her to confess her feelings for Brianna, so I do what any guy trying to get his dick wet does; I fucking take a sip of my beer, don’t I? As expected, those eyes all turn on me, eager for me to dish the dirt. Of all the things that could have come up in this godforsaken game, this is the one I never wanted to relive, yet here I am, about to spill my guts.
“Let’s get this over with,” I say, leaning back in my seat. “What do you want to know?” Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Cara takes a sip of her drink, surreptitiously admitting her guilt alongside me. I know the other two are too preoccupied with me to notice, but I don’t draw attention to it.
“Everything. We want to know everything.” Evan watches me, as if waiting for me to admit that I’m making it all up. If only that were true.
“Yeah, who was she?” Brianna asks gently, sensing my unease.
“Her name was Nikki, and we’d been friends for ten years. Her family moved in next door to us when we were twelve. She was this crazy tom-boy who liked to climb trees and ride bikes, like me. We’d bike to and from school together every day, and spend our weekends exploring the neighbourhood.”
“She sounds like fun,” Cara says, wiggling further down the couch so that she can hook her legs over the edge, her ass pushed up against my thigh. My hand drops back down to rest on her leg, just above her knee.
“She really was. We did everything together.” My eyes glaze over as I take another swig of my drink. “It wasn’t until she got her first boyfriend that I realised how I felt about her. The guy was a prick, used to treat her like shit. If it wouldn’t have upset her, I’d have knocked some sense into him.” Without meaning to, my grip on Cara’s thigh tightens and she lets out a tiny gasp. “Sorry,” I whisper, caressing the tender spot.
“So, what happened? Did she leave him?” Brianna is perched on the edge of her seat, her eyes boring holes into mine.
“Yeah, eventually. After that, I took it upon myself to be her protector. Word spread that anyone who hurt her would have me to deal with. I was in the first fifteen by then, and had packed on quite a bit of muscle. No one would go near her.”
“You cock-blocked her?”
“Yeah, I guess I did.” I chuckle, raking my hand through my hair. “Anyway, when school finished, we went flatting together. One night, after a few drinks, she broke down in tears, asking me what was wrong with her that no guy would go near her. I felt like a right shit, but I couldn’t admit to her that it was my fault, so I just held her as she cried. When she looked up at me with those big eyes full of pain, I couldn’t help it. I kissed her.” Brianna gasps and Evan makes a fist pump in the air. “She kissed me back and well, you probably know what happened next.”
“You got it on,” Evan sings in a poor attempt at a Marvin Gaye impression, wiggling his hips suggestively.
“Evan!” Brianna says, slapping his leg playfully. “They made love. He was in love with her.” With her elbow resting on her knee, she drops her chin into her palm, turning back to me with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Was it everything you’d hoped it would be?”
“No.” I shake my head. “It was so much better than I’d ever imagined it could be.”
“So, you became a couple?”
“For two blissful days, yes.”
“What happened?”
“One of the boys came by, saw us together. I’d heard he’d had a thing for her, but I never expected him to react the way he did.”
“He punched you, didn’t he?” Evan doesn’t know the story, so I shouldn’t be mad at him for saying it so lightly, but my jaw clenches tight all the same. As if she can read my mind, Cara’s cool hand lands on mine, her thumb drawing slow circles, giving me something else to focus on.
“He confronted me, made sure she heard about how I’d scared everyone away from her. The hurt in her eyes… I couldn’t bear to see it.” An image of her grey eyes clouded with tears flashes in my mind. “I told him to leave but he refused, kept pushing me. He swung, but I saw it coming and ducked. I didn’t know she was standing behind me.”
I train my eyes on Cara’s hand, knowing that if I make eye-contact with anyone right now, I won’t be able to stop the tears. “She flew backwards, landed on the glass coffee table…”
“It’s okay, Dan, you don’t have to keep going.” Cara sits up and wraps herself around me, her chin resting on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers, rubbing her hand up and down my arm.
“Shit… I… fuck, I’m sorry, man, I had no idea.” I can hear Evan speaking, but can’t bring myself to acknowledge him. “I didn’t know…” I feel more than see them get up and leave, the door closing softly behind them, their hushed voices echoing in the hall.
“You okay?” Cara asks. “Anything I can do?”
I shake my head. “I feel like such an ass. I never meant to get into it like that. What a downer, huh?”
“Weeeellllll,” she draws the word out, a grin playing across her face. “I mean, I didn’t wanna say anything…” I nudge her with my elbow and she responds by hugging me tight. “You’re not so bad.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She pulls back, staring into my eyes. “You don’t fool me, ya know? I know why you did it.”
“Did what?” I ask.
“Took the fall for me.” I start to protest, but she shushes me with a finger to my lips. “Thank you.”
Chapter twelve
Cara
With my finger pressed to his lips, and my arms still wrapped around his shoulders, I am in the perfect position to kiss him if I want to. The only thing is, he knows about my feelings for Brianna, that’s the only reason he jumped on in there and saved me with his devastatingly sad story. I can’t exactly jump him now; that would be in poor taste. Oh, sorry your ex got all mangled, but thanks for saving me back there, you wanna make out? Somehow it doesn’t seem like the appropriate thing to say in this situation.
There goes that plan, I guess. Not only have I made Brianna uncomfortable, sending her fleeing into Evan’s arms, but I’ve single-handedly cock-blocked myself with Dan. Guess I packed my skimpy clothes for nothing.
A cough outside the door reminds me that Evan and Brianna made themselves scarce. “You good? Can our friends come back to play?” I ask, my lips pushed into an over-the-top pout, duck-face, if you will. Whatever you want to call it, it has the desired effect. Dan’s grin spreads across his face as he lifts one of his fingers to flap up and down on my lips. I hum against his fingers, the sound reverberating. Oh yeah, we are back in business. “It’s okay, guys. You can come back in now,” I call.
When Evan pokes his head around the door, I give a quick nod to let him know everything is all good. “Shit, man, I’m really—”
“Ut!” I interrupt him with my hand in the air. “Not another word, everything’s easy breezy up in here, right, Dan?” I bend my arm, resting it on his shoulder as I wait for him to answer.
“Like Sunday morning,” he says with a wink, and I find myse
lf snorting out a laugh. I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. “She gets me.” He points his thumb over his shoulder at me.
“Anyone who doesn’t should be ashamed. Seriously, that shit was gold right there.”
“Damn right it was, Lionel, my man.” Evan raises his palm to slap down onto Dan’s in appreciation. “So, we still drinkin’?” He sits back down, popping the cap off his next bottle of beer and placing another on the table in front of them. “I grabbed you one just in case.”
“Cheers.” They clink their bottles together before taking a swig. “You guys still up for playing, or did I ruin it for everyone?”
“I’m in if you are.” I let my hand slap down on his chest. Brianna’s tiny hand is engulfed in Evan’s with no look of moving. They exchange a look, as if needing to drive the point home some more before answering with a nod.
“Hell yeah, I’m in.” With a tug of his hand, Evan pulls her to sit on his lap. Not that I can complain, I’m practically sitting in Dan’s lap myself, but I am past the point of caring. Brianna has made her point loud and clear. I should never have got my hopes up like that. The entire time we’ve been friends, she’s never once suggested that she might be interested in trying a taste of the peach.
“Must be your turn then, Bri.” Lifting my foot, I poke my toe into her knee. “You think of anything while you were out there, or were you two too busy getting busy?” My hips rotate in some form of distorted pelvic thrust while I simultaneously pull a sex face. Yeah, I’m that girl.
“Cara!” Bri giggles, grabbing a handful of chips and throwing them at me.
“What?” Placing my hand against my chest, I feign shock. “You mean you haven’t… you’re a…?” I gasp.
“Shut up!”
“Wait, are you for real?” The look on Evan’s face is priceless as he almost salivates over the prospect of being her first.
“No!” we both chorus before erupting into a fit of giggles. “Sorry to burst your bubble there, mate. Bri’s been around the block a few times. And then some!”
