Cocktails & Dreams

by Autumn Markus

  Nicholas snorted and picked up his phone again to call Travis. Walking to his doorway, Nick called out, “Babes…riiiight. You do realize that if you actually caught one, Samantha would rip your dick off and mail it home to your mother, don’t you?”

  “Don’t bring my momma into this, Dickolas.” Conor pointed a finger at Nick from the entrance of his own room. “Sam’s a one-off. And even if she wasn’t, Sam likes my junk too much to mess with perfection needlessly.”

  Travis answered his phone to the sound of Nicholas’s theatrical retching. “That’s charming, Nick. Hello to you, too.”

  Nick laughed. “Sorry. King Schlong made me do that.” Travis’s loud laugh made Nicholas review what he’d just said. “Wait. That sounds bad. God, I’m channeling Jena now.” Nick groaned and sank down on the bed, shaking his head as Conor caught on and bellowed laughter.

  “You can only dream, bitch. I don’t bat for the home team.” Conor continued to chuckle sporadically as he walked to the bathroom and began shaving.

  When Travis’s hilarity finally started to die down, Nicholas explained Conor’s plan and asked Travis if he’d like to come along. Trav agreed, and after a little wrangling over where to go, Conor cast his vote for “that skanky bar we went to last time,” making the vote for Stevie’s unanimous.

  There were quite a few more people in the bar than there had been the first night, and waiting at the bar for a pool table to open up seemed like a good option. After a while, Travis hooked up with a few other musicians he knew, and they took the small stage, burning through Stevie Ray and Clapton songs and getting the crowd jumping. Travis was in his element, and Nicholas was surprised to hear the throaty growl in which Trav sang, wondering if Leisa had ever seen this side of her man.

  Of course, thinking of Leisa made Nicholas think of Jena, and he found himself wondering what she was doing right then. He’d drifted into fantasies of picking her up and taking her home with him when Travis snapped his fingers in Nick’s face and smiled knowingly when he startled. Grabbing both their mugs off the bar, Travis headed for a table that had just been vacated.

  “Jena’s pretty great, isn’t she?” Travis chuckled and took a long swallow of his beer, pushing his sweaty hair back from his forehead and carefully setting his guitar aside. Nicholas flushed and nodded in reply, and Travis kicked the chair across from him out and waited until Nicholas sat down before continuing. “I’ve known Jena for quite a few years, Nick, and I’ve never seen her like she is with you. She’s a good girl, you know?” Nick felt himself relaxing again, and smiled a little. “Out of all the parties and clubs and generally crazy times we’ve had, I’ve only seen her go off with a party hook-up one other time,” Travis said, suppressing a smile as he raised his mug.

  That little smile nagged at Nicholas. It wasn’t the first time he’d had felt like Travis knew something he didn’t. Mind racing, Nick realized that Jena wasn’t the type to have gone partying in San Francisco by herself. Travis was her best friend…That son of a bitch, Nicholas thought with grudging admiration for how Travis had kept Jena’s confidence.

  Nicholas let envy lace his reply. “Lucky guy. Who was he?”

  Travis choked on his beer. “That’s Jena’s story, I guess,” he said when he could talk again, wiping his chin with his hand and glancing at Nicholas swiftly.

  Nick grinned at Travis and raised his eyebrows.

  Travis shook his head, chuckling. “When did you figure it out?”

  Conor quickly spun the chair next to Nicholas backward and sat straddling it. “Who, Captain Clueless? It couldn’t have been before last weekend, and I had to put the idea in his head. Though I’m pretty sure Jena confirmed it without words.”

  They both snickered.

  Nick dropped his head into his hands. “So let me get this straight. You both knew, and no one thought to clue me in?”

  Travis raised his hands. “I swear to God, I never thought you were that trashed when Jena got in the elevator with you. It wasn’t until you came into the office and had no clue who I was that I realized what had happened. I’ve been bugging Jena to talk to you about New Year’s since that day, but Leisa told me to lay off, and Jena was embarrassed enough already.”

  Nick laid his forehead on the table. “Leisa knows, too?”

  “Yep.”

  “So, basically, what you’re telling me is that I’m the last person to have full confirmation of who I slept with last December thirty-first.”

  “Sleeping was only the smallest portion of the evening, from what I overheard.” Conor’s loud guffaw filled the room as Nicholas banged his head on the table. “I can’t believe I went to the john and almost missed this. Classic.”

  Travis put his hand on the table where Nick was still methodically banging his head. “You are channeling Jen. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen her do that in the last few months.”

  Nicholas sat back in his chair and tried to decide what to ask next. “What has she said about it, Travis? I mean, I’ve sort of asked Jena about it indirectly—” Nick pointed at Conor, who had started chuckling again. “You shut up—but she just avoids the topic.”

  Travis looked conflicted as he stared at the beer he swirled in his mug and then he finally looked up. “I never said this, and I will beat the shit out of you if it gets back to me. Jena referred to herself as your ‘most forgettable fuck’ when she realized you didn’t remember New Year’s at all, and has refused to talk about it ever since.”

  Conor’s voice was quiet for once. “Ouch.” They sat in silence for a minute as the lights began to come up for closing. Conor continued with more animation. “Shit, she should have been there all those nights you woke me up with your noisy-ass dreams. Her face might have been a mystery, but she was definitely not forgotten. Either idiot, here, has the best imagination in history, or your roomie is one fucking incredible lay. No offense intended.”

  Travis and Nicholas both stared at him, mouths open.

  Conor’s look was uncomprehending. “What?”

  Shaking his head, Nick turned to Travis. “Ignore him. It’s not worth the effort it would take to explain on how many different levels that was offensive. You know Jena better than I do. How do I talk to her about this? Or should I let it go and pretend it didn’t happen? I don’t want her thinking…well, what she’s thinking. Idiot, here, is right about one thing: I can’t get her off my mind, and I haven’t been able to since that night. Jena is definitely not forgettable under normal circumstances. I just had way, way too much Jäger that night. It is evil, evil, delicious stuff.”

  Travis chuckled and stood to leave, grabbing his guitar. “Tell her that, man. She needs to know.”

  After Nick and Conor told Travis goodbye in the parking lot, the ride home was quiet. Pulling into an open space in the garage, Conor turned off the truck and sat in silence for a minute.

  “You know, Nick,” he began in his most serious tone, “we’re fucking lucky guys. You met a girl who lived a continent away that totally rocked your world and here you are, with her. And me?” He grinned wickedly. “I have all of blond, big-boobed Cali before me, thanks to you.” Con shook his head and looked intensely at Nick. “Do you realize how rare and wonderful that is? Probably you don’t, because of your monk-like existence, but take my word for it, it’s a miracle. You’re an idiot if you don’t talk to Jena and get your shit straightened out, my friend.”

  Nicholas nodded, and they walked in silence to their apartment.

  As Nick headed for his room, Conor grabbed his arm. “Hey. I’m really not an asshole. I know this is just as weird for you as it is for her, Nick. Just…talk to her before it gets any weirder, man.” He slapped Nicholas on the shoulder and continued down the hall to his room. “Besides,” Conor threw back over his shoulder with a sly smile, “you can’t take a chance on losing someone who can make you make all of those noises. God-damn!” He laughed as his door closed.

  Nicholas sat on the bed, thinking about everything he’d
learned that evening: Travis could sing and play his ass off; Conor could get cruder; everyone but him knew all about last New Year’s Eve. Most importantly, he was absolutely smitten with Jena Baker in every way possible.

  And Jena thought something was wrong with her.

  No wonder she had been so skittish. Nicholas had thought it was just the awkwardness of the situation, but she actually thought she was somehow lacking, because he’d been stupid enough to drink his face off. If Jena only knew deep she got under his skin in that one night, how he couldn’t stop thinking about her, how much he wanted her every damned day.

  Impulsively, Nick grabbed his phone and punched in Jena’s number. She answered after a half dozen rings and was laughing when she said hello.

  “Hi, Jen. What’s so funny?”

  Jena sighed theatrically. “We lost, Nicholas. Leisa and I had a bet on who would call first when you guys finally made it home. Travis beat you by about ten minutes.”

  Nick chuckled. “Sorry about that. I promise I’ll never make you lose again. Are you guys having fun?”

  “Yep. Lots of wine and chick flicks. Oh, and Leisa was teaching me how to strip. She’s really good at it; you should see her.”

  “That would be the last thing I ever saw if Travis found out. Besides, there’s only one person I want to strip for me.”

  “Are you propositioning me, Cooper?”

  “Do you want me to be propositioning you, Baker?”

  “Yes,” Jena whispered.

  “Come over, then. I’m waiting for you.” In so many ways, he thought.

  Jena was quiet for a second. “I’m not sure I’m a good enough stripper yet. If I go to all that work, I want your full attention.”

  “You’ve got all of my attention, Jena. Come over. Please.”

  Leisa’s laughing voice came on the line. “Are you trying to seduce my girl away from me, Cooper? Well, it’s no good tonight. She’ll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.”

  The line went dead.

  Yeah. Sweet dreams.

  He had to talk to Jena. Soon.

  Chapter Eleven

  “IT LOOKS LIKE JAMAICA threw up in here,” Conor yelled over the cacophony of Peter Tosh and what seemed like two hundred party guests, all yelling at the same time. “I’m gonna go hunt for a…what the hell do you call ’em? Oh, yeah, my Amazon temptress for the night. You go find the booze.”

  As Conor muscled his way toward a barely clothed beauty that was just visible in a crowd of guys across the room, Nicholas looked around. Yeah, Leisa had spared no expense and used no taste for this shindig. Palm fronds and fake hibiscus covered every available surface, sand colored carpet covered the floor, and a tiki bar was set up in the corner. Leisa herself was dancing on said bar, wearing a hot pink bikini, a black sarong, and some sort of straw hat covering her hair. Nick caught Travis’s eye from across the room as Trav stood watchfully next to her, ready to catch her when the inevitable crash occurred; Travis just rolled his eyes and pointed toward the kitchen.

  After yesterday’s phone foreplay and days without even seeing Jena, Nicholas was ready to shove people aside to get to her. He’d spent the rest of the previous night planning what he was going to say to her about New Year’s Eve, and he was nervous as hell, but sort of excited and relieved to get that night out in the open. Nick’s plan was to spend as little time as possible at this party, and then to take Jena back to his apartment and hash out everything.

  And then he planned to sleep with her, of course, because…well, damn. It had been too long.

  Nick paused when he spotted Jena talking to a girl while being ogled by the male half of the room. Her crazy laugh burst out, making made her body jiggle in interesting ways that were very obvious in the tiny green bikini top and matching sarong she wore. As Nick watched, he saw the most obvious ogler move closer, grinning, to slide an arm around Jena’s waist.

  “Hey!” he yelled, pushing his way through the inevitable dam of people in the doorway. There was no way he wanted any mouth-breather eye-fucking Jena, much less mauling her, even if she was looking very schwing-worthy. From a few feet away, Nick was just in time to see Jena grab the perv’s wrist. Mr. Gropey screamed and backed off, clutching his hand to his chest as the people in the room laughed and shook their heads.

  After a glare at the rapidly fleeing asshole, Nick held his hands up as he got to Jena. “Don’t hurt me, Ahnold. See, my hands are in full view. No need to do whatever the hell you did to that guy.”

  Jena laughed and slid her arm around Nick’s waist, squeezing lightly. “You learn a few tricks when you have two older brothers,” she said complacently. “You’re safe from the painfinger, Nicholas. You have special permission to put your hands on me tonight.”

  “That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” Nicholas said, leering jokingly and waggling his eyebrows.

  Jena’s friend cackled as Jena blushed from her hairline to…well, Nicholas couldn’t even think about where the flush that was even now spreading into her bikini top might end. Not if he wanted to continue to mix in polite company, anyway.

  “I hate you guys,” Jena mumbled, dropping her arm to her side, and her friend laughed even louder and drifted into the crowd.

  Nicholas turned Jena toward him and folded her into his arms, holding her as close as he could get her. “Have I told you yet how much I really like this outfit?” Nick slid his hands down her back to rest them on her hips, rubbing the soft skin above the low-slung sarong with his thumbs. “Dare I hope for two items of clothing tonight? It seems to be a tradition for the number to decrease.”

  “Not this time, Hopeful.” Jena quickly flipped up the side of the sarong, and Nicholas caught a glimpse of a bathing suit bottom. “Leisa’s parties can get a little out of hand, and I could just see someone grabbing this piece of cloth and leaving me commando. In fact, there was this one time—”

  Nick put his fingers over Jena’s mouth. “Nope. Don’t need to hear that one.” He lifted her up to sit on the countertop, his hands lingering at her waist as hers rested lightly on his shoulders. “So when do I get my striptease, Ms. Baker?” Nick leaned in to nuzzle her neck, nibbling a path to her ear. “You know I was thinking about that all day, don’t you?”

  Jena’s hands tightened on his shoulders briefly before moving up to stroke the back of his neck and smooth his hair. Nick closed his eyes, thinking he would purr if he could. “I told you last night, I’m not that good. I don’t want to embarrass myself again. I like to be the best at whatever I do.”

  Nick opened his eyes, and saw that Jena was looking vaguely in the vicinity of his chin. He used a hand to raise her face to look at him.

  “You’ve never done anything to embarrass yourself with me.” Nicholas kissed her gently and then laughed. “Well, except all of the times your crazy mouth has gotten away from you. And I like that a lot. It’s hi-freakin’-larious, remember?”

  Jena popped him on the back of the head and then sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to be at this party.” She laid a hand on his cheek and smiled when he turned his head to kiss her palm. “I missed you this week.” She sounded hesitant, as if she was unsure her sentiment would be appreciated.

  “I missed you, too,” he said, leaning close to kiss her again, this time lingering.

  Jena whimpered, her cool fingers on the back of Nick’s neck sending tingles down his spine. He deepened the kiss, ignoring everyone else in the room. He had a vague sense that he was forgetting something and then remembered his plan to talk to Jena about New Year’s.

  Reluctantly pulling away from her, Nick rested his forehead against hers, trying to think of a way to begin. A crowded party wasn’t the best place to talk; he wondered if Leisa would notice if they slipped out. “Jena, let’s go—”

  Nicholas felt a sharp pain in his side, and Leisa slipped under his arm, rubbing her knuckles. “Not so fast, mister. I can read your mind, and you aren’t going anywhere.”

  She pulled Jena off the counter and onto he
r feet. The hat was gone, and Nick was surprised to see Leisa’s usually wildly wavy blond hair smoothed down to curl around her face.

  “Nice hair.” He raised his hand over Leisa’s head like he was going to ruffle it, and she slapped his hand away.

  “Don’t even consider it, jerk. Do you know how long it takes me to make this mop lay down? I’m already losing tonight.” She sighed, looking at Jena, whose hair was falling in a silky curtain almost to her waist. “What I wouldn’t do to have Jena’s hair in my hands.”

  Nicholas smiled. “You know, I was just thinking that myself.”

  Leisa snorted. “Not in the same way, I’m sure.” Turning to Jena, Leisa jabbed her friend in the chest with a forceful forefinger. “Jena, I need you in the living room for a minute.”

  Jena looked at Nick, shrugging, as she was tugged rapidly backward and into the center of the crowded room.

  Nicholas followed them to the doorway and leaned against the jamb, wondering what was up.

  Leisa climbed on the coffee table and shouted for attention. “Thank you all for coming to my housewarming party. I knew free booze would draw you freeloaders out.” She looked around the room as a laugh went through the crowd. “We have another reason for gathering here tonight, as some of you know.” Leisa smiled and grabbed Jena’s arm as she tried to flee, a horrified look on her face. “Tomorrow is Miss Jena’s twenty-fifth birthday! She’s never let me give her a real party, so this is it, baby. Everyone say, ‘Happy birthday, Jena.’”

  Jena cast a murderous look at Leisa as the party guests laughingly chorused, “Happy birthday, Jena!”

  Nick was stunned. Wasn’t this something he should have known?

  Leisa listened to Jena’s mutterings for a minute, and then she laughed. “Before you kick one hundred percent of my ass, can I show you my surprise?” She gestured behind her with a flourish.

  A huge smile blossomed on Jena’s face as she spotted someone over by the bar and started cutting through the crowd. “Luke!” she shouted, throwing herself into the arms of a grinning man.